36th Annual Los Angeles Vintage Paperback Show

Kyle and I had a BLAST at this show yesterday!  We have never been to this show before and was thrilled at all the wonderful books and authors that were there.  When we got there, we were almost immediately spotted by Chris, who told me via facebook, that he wanted me to sign his copy of Weird Fiction Review #5.  I was flattered and so I officially gave my first autograph.

My handwriting is horrible, I will have to remedy that.

We then headed to look at some books before Cody Goodfellow arrived.  Then we spotted him sporting an awesome Robin Hood hat, complete with feather, and I asked him how is Helmet of Winning was doing.  He said he hasn't used all the trophy people I gave him yet and was hard pressed finding a baseball helmet that wouldn't crack when drilled into.  And also a drill that works for this job.  He signed my A Darke Phantastique and then pointed out he knew about my 2 star review on his Electric Eye that I gave him to sign.  Whoops!  I then pointed out that I really liked his story in A Season in Carcosa though!  :D  He's a really cool guy and I was ecstatic that he a) remembered who I was and b) remembered my name!

 

 

Next up at 11pm, was William F. Nolan, George Clayton Johnson, Jason V Brock, Sunni Brock, and Joe R. Landsdale!

Nolan went on about the beauty of the Centipede Press reprint of Logan's Run and I had to agree with him.  The book is a beauty and he drew a lovely little picture inside of it for me.  George Clayton Johnson and Jason V Brock signed it as well.

 

When I got to Jason and gave him my contributor's copies of Spectral Realms No. 2, he wanted to play a little game with Nolan.  He wrote a little note in it and then showed it to Nolan and then Nolan wrote another note and passed it back.  They were trying to see who could write in the smallest handwriting.  Sunni ended up winning.

 

Nolan's other signatures-

 

                                                     (Landsdale dedicated this story to Nolan so I had Nolan sign it too.)

 

Jason's other signatures-

 

 

 

 

 

Sunni's signature-

 

Next up was Joe R. Landsdale.  I wasn't really familiar with a lot of his work, I read some of his work on the Horror Zine, and it wasn't until recently that I realized that I had a bunch of anthologies that he was in.  My dad is a fan though and he gave me an anthology with him in it that he wanted me to get signed for him so I decided to bring what I had with him in it as well because why not?  Might as well and who knows if I'll ever get that chance again.  So we got up to him and he commented on my King in Yellow shirt.  Asked if I was promoting it and I just said I was wearing it because it fit with the atmosphere a bit.  Kyle then mentioned that we've been in the Horror Zine with him before and he looked at me and asked my name.  I told him and he knew that I wrote poetry.  Can you believe the shock I was in!?  From my name he knew that I have written poetry for the Horror Zine.  He lit up and shook my hand exuberantly and said it was nice to meet me.  I was blown away by that.  I wasn't even going to mention the Horror Zine, figuring he probably wouldn't know/remember me in it.  And then Jason V Brock, who was sitting next to him, told him I was a trouble maker lol.    

 

 

 

 

Next up was Peter Atkins, who I would get to speak more with after the show.

 

Richard Lupoff was a sweetie and commented on my King in Yellow shirt as I gave him my A Season in Carcosa to sign.  He also liked my pentacle which he called a medallion.

 

('To Ashley, fellow devotee of the master!')

David J. Schow was next and I gave him my copy of Fangs, which he didn't even know he was in.  He looked over it, looked at his story, and told me he has never seen this before.  He never got a copy of it from the editor!  He was glad I brought it and got to see it for the first time.

 

 

 

Denni Etchison was so sweet.  I told him I was in WFR5 with him and he remembered that I told him that through facebook.  He then told us that there was an after party being held in a hotel about a mile away at 4pm and that since I was in WFR, I was entitled to go.  How badass was that?!  Another moment I was completely blown away.

 

 

 

I also met R.C. Matheson, Larry Niven, and Jerry Pournelle to get some things signed for my dad but I didn't have anything personally from me for them to sign.

After that, Kyle and I ate and then shopped around a bit and we both picked up some good books.  I got a Penguin book with Dunsany stories and Sword Woman by R.E.H. and Kyle got CAS letters to Sterling and Justine by Sade.

The after party was fun when we finally found the right hotel and hotel room number.  We metsome new people, ate pizza, had drinks.  We then joined Dennis Etchison and Peter Atkins downstairs by the pool and spoke for a few hours on various things.  It was the best part of the night.

 

Book Review- The Fall of the House of Drake: Seven Black Pixy Tales with Interlaced Ballads by Adam Bolivar

I have always been a fan of fairy tales and not just the fluffy stuff.  The real gruesome Grimm Tales has always been a little obsession of mine so when I heard that Adam Bolivar was coming out with a book of new dark 'pixy' tales, I had to get it.  And I was not disappointed.  This book is an excellent addition to the fairy tale world, complete with riddles, rabbits, dragons, and Satan, of course.  The ballads are perfect gems to fit between tales and add charm and flow to the stories.  This book has a haunting charm to it and I would definitely pick up a copy as soon as you can.  Only 50 paperbacks are made and the hard copy is already sold out!

Get it here!

Book Review: Inanna Rising: Women Forged by Fire edited by Amanda M. Lyons

I have to admit that the cover, the title, and the description of this volume threw me off when I read the book.  I thought this would be more oriented toward ancient themes, such as warrior women from the past such as the Celts, Scandinavian shield maidens, Spartans, and such.  So I was a bit thrown off when I read stories taken in modern and even futuristic themes.  It's my fault though, for the guidelines were about strong women rising up from their own personal hells and that could be in any time frame.  Saying that, I still enjoyed the book.  Seeing Red by Michael Kanuckel and A Raven's Blessing by Sam Reese and Melissa McDannell, however, were my favorites for both themes fit my taste the best.  I definitely want a sequel to Seeing Red, that is an awesome tale.  I did enjoy the new take on Bathory in Forged in Blood and Steel by Susan Simone, the Lovecraftian theme in The Sleeper Beneath by Alex Shalenko, the new take on pirates in the Thirteenth Ship by Christina Engela, and the Vodun zombies in Dead Woman's Hand by Aghori Shaivite.

 

Book Review- Spectral Realms No. 2 edited by S.T. Joshi

Another amazing issue of weird poetry!  I was quite eager to finally get this and I was not disappointed.  This time I was happy to see greats such as William F. Nolan and John Shirley in this volume.  D.L. Myers takes us on a desolate road of our dreams in his poem the Dark Road from Yorehaven.  Adam Bolivar's ballad, the Ballad of Jack Keeper, is a haunting fairy tale with a dark ending I much enjoyed.  Among the Ghouls shows us the pleasures of the dead in K.A. Opperman's poem.  Wilum Pugmire's "The Outsider" gives chills with his melancholy narrative.  This is just a handful of fantastic poetry I enjoyed.  Other works from notable authors such as Ann K. Schwader, Fred Phillips, Wade German, Michael Fantina, David Barker, Dan Clore, Leigh Blackmore, and Donald Sidney-Fryer are worth the read.  This is a great volume of weird poetry that also contains other goodies such as book reviews from Sunni Brock, reprints of poetry, and a fascinating essay (part one) from Leigh Blackmore on Leah Bodine Drake.

          

Spectral Realms No. 2 and the Complete Poetry and Translations Vol. 1: The Abyss Triumphant by CAS

I got a few lovely gems in the mail today.  My long awaited copies of Spectral Realms No. 2 finally came!  And it is just as lovely as the first!  I am so thrilled to be in such a wonderful journal as this and to be in the company of such poets as Donald Sidney-Fryer, Ann K. Schwader, Leigh Blackmore, and many others.  I also got the first volume of poetry of Clark Ashton Smith which I am so excited to have!  Just one more volume to acquire....

 

 

My Inanna Rising Copy Is Here!

This book is beautiful!  My awesome poem, Medusa, starts this books off and I am so stoked about that!  I have never had a piece of work be the first in any journal or anthology before so that is exciting for me.  I have four poems in this kickass looking anthology about strong women rising up from their own personal hell.  I can't wait to read it.  You can order Inanna Rising: Women Forged by Fire by Amanda M. Lyons here.