And here’s the traditional “what I got for Christmas” post that seems to be de rigeur on any blog worth its mettle.
I did receive mostly books, and mostly genre books.
My genre of books, if you will.
And without further ado, here’s a list of my latest acquisitions.
Once again about female characters in fantasy.
The painting here on the right is by the great Donato Giancola.
It’s my idea of a fantasy sword-woman done right.
She has character, she projects strength and toughness but she has class.
OK, so maybe there’s no reason in the ‘verse to handle a sword like that (or so they told me) but who cares – I can believe she’s a real woman.
No brass bikini, no empty, inflatable-doll-like curves to please an adolescent audience.
And the adolescent audience is what’s making me nervous.
And a quick survey of the fantasy and sword & sorcery field in my country* has been dis-heartening. Continue reading
I’m not a good person, so I blame science fiction and fantasy fans.
Been around them too much lately – they bored me to death.
Or maybe, it’s the fact that I read – and wrote – too much genre stuff in the last months, and I’ve reached a sort of saturation.
I’m bored!, like Toyah used to sing.
So it’s time to do some serious detox – because without variety, everything you read (and write!) feels the same, and boredom ensues.
Therefore, in this month of May, I’ll stay clear of the fans, I’ll take long brisk walks and I’ll read history, and crime fiction.
And I’ll write… oh, well, a western.
And for a curious coincidence – or maybe not – I just fell in love with this mystery TV series from Australia, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, which involves history, murders, guns, and a gorgeous, independent woman.
Perfect.
It must be the season – it’s cold and rainy, and the countryside looks deserted and dreary.
I feel like ghost stories.
And while I’d like to go and write some, I’m having lots of fun reading the first book in the Sgt. Janus series, by Jim Beard, published by Airship 27.
Sgt. Janus, Spirit Breaker is a solid collection of stories that are at the same time very traditional and yet very original and fresh and new.
This is exactly what I needed in these lonely rainy nights.
Sgt. Janus – the man himself – is a fine addition to a long gallery of occult detectives, and I’ll certainly check out the other books in the series (there’s one out, Sgt. Janus Returns, and more to come).
This is the Christmas week, so we’ll be not publishing a lot of contents.
January will mark the first anniversary of Karavansara, and we’re planning some celebrations.
But right now, I’m trying to recharge a little my batteries, and to do so I’m enjoying the marvelous book Vanguard published about the life and art of Margaret Brundage.
Excellent stuff – not only the pulp magazine artwork is gorgeous, but Brundage’s life is quite interesting.
The book is beautifully produced, and was an early Christmas gift.
I spent last night playing Strange Bedfellows with a friend.
It’s not as bad as it sounds.
Strange Bedfellows is a parlor game inventes – as far as I know – by British novelist M. John Harrison.
It’s quite simple, but can be fun.
The game is played indoors, wherever there are some book shelves.
The idea is to look at the books on the shelf, and pick a pair of books that sit side by side.
And now imagine: it is a dark and stormy night, and as the fury of the elements thrashes the countryside, in a small inn, two travellers are forced to share the same bed for the night.
The two authors of the two books are the two travellers.
The night is cold.
What do they talk about, laying there side by side?
Do they just talk?
It’s funny, slightly risqué, the sort of game book-lovers like to play.
Can even be played solitaire – and used as a writing prompt.
If played in two can lead to some spicy situations.
If played in a group, normally degenerates in a lot of sillyness, but fun.
Picking the fiction shelf is usually better than picking the non-fiction shelf.
The game began, last night, because my friend had been told that, on her Goodreads (virtual) bookshelf, Agatha Christie sitting side-by-side with Virginia Woolf was an unusual sight.
But then, what of Harlan Ellison and Arthur Conan Doyle, currently sticking together on my shelf?
What about Roald Dahl and the Dalai Lama sharing a bed in that lonesome hotel?
What would Louise Brooks say to H.P. Lovecraft, and what would he respond?
A messy book collection is sure to grant hours of delight, starting conversations and some quiet fun.
Sometimes it feels like a conspiracy.
Martin Johnson was the cook on Jack London’s Snark during the ship’s two-year cruise in the Pacific.
Johnson put together a sideshow with photos and stuff from that adventure, and made a living travelling through rural America.
In Kansas, he met a young woman called Osa Leighty.
They fell in love, got married, and became adventurers.
It was 1910.
In the following years, Martin and Osa Johnson were captured by cannibals on tropical islands in the Pacific, explored Africa, met European royalty and assorted savages, and made lots of documentaries, which were extremely popular.
Much of the material in the films – some of which were among the first talkie documentaries ever produced – was later remixed and restyled as a series of TV documentaries in the ’50s.
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Karavansara 