Two posts during the month of October still counts as sporadic posting related to Halloween, right? Let’s just reset and pretend I never promised to post about Halloween, or banned book week either. Instead of those things I said I would do, please enjoy this Poe Pumpkin. I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out. In case you can’t tell from the picture, it’s a raven, and I scribbled lines from The Raven on it as well. It’s Halloween for literature geeks. Happy holidays!
I won’t be attending the World Fantasy Convention at the end of the month, but I’ll be there in spirit, and my words are going on my behalf. “A Mouse Ran Up the Clock”, will be appearing in Electric Velocipede #19, which is making its debut at World Fantasy. Check out the pretty cover and the table of contents over at the Electric Velocipede blog. If you happen to be lucky enough to be headed to the World Fantasy Convention, consider picking up a nice, shiny copy of your very own.
We brought our new puppy home on Thursday night. As far as I can tell, he appears to be made of pure adorableness. His name is Pippin, Pip for short (and he’s pretty short), named after Peregrin Took of Lord of the Rings fame. He’s a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, with a tail - no docking here, thank you very much! He’s been introduced to the cats, and he most definitely wants to play with them. The cats are unsure, but everyone is getting along. After a little more time, I think Baku will be thrilled to have a new playmate - and Smaug will probably also be thrilled…that Baku has a new playmate.
More unbearable cuteness below the cut…
Ellen Datlow posted her full Honorable Mention list for the Best Horror of the Year Vol. 1 yesterday. I was very pleased to see two of my stories made the list, Strange Fruit from Paradox #12 and Teeth from Horror Library Volume 3. The full list can be found here.
Looking at the list really brings home just how much work goes into these year’s best volumes, on top of all the other wonderful projects Ellen and other year’s best editors work on. It’s vaguely mind-boggling. Thanks, guys!
Christmas gets twelve days and an advent calendar, but where’s the love for Halloween? Why should St. Nick get all the pre-event buzz when Old Nick’s got a perfectly good holiday worthy of a countdown of its own? (And no, stores putting out their candy and plastic skeletons in July doesn’t count. Same goes for the Christmas trees that come out the second Halloween is over.)
In order to right this grievous wrong, throughout October I will sporadically make various Halloween-related posts in anticipation of the big day. After all, if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing in a half-assed way!