A month or so back, I interviewed Joe R. Lansdale for the San Antonio Current ("Crazy sort of folk" July 1, 2009). As is common with interviews, a lot of it didn’t end up in the final publication. This won’t be a big surprise to anyone who has interviewed Joe, but I had enough left over for two blog posts.

In this second and final installment, Joe discusses story collections, young adult fiction, and other things Lansdale.

How does the recent Chicken Fried and Sanctified: The Portable Lansdale differ from the forthcoming Best of Joe R. Lansdale?

Instead of calling it The Best, I think they’re gonna call it Selected Stories. They will differ dramatically. Probably, two or three stories will overlap, but it will have a lot of stories.

What other collections are forthcoming?

The next independent collection will contain stories that will never be reprinted again because I got the rights to reprint a Hellboy and couple of other things I don’t own.

People say, “I kinda resent you having these short story collections that have the same stories.” My answer to that is “Go fuck yourself.” The reason for that is very simple: Just because you bought it doesn’t make you have to buy the next one. Also. every two or three years there is a whole new group of readers and those books are no longer available. I’m not just trying to appeal to the people who already enjoy the work. I’m trying to appeal to the people who have not had the opportunity. A lot of new readers are just starting to be interested in my work. They’ll go to buy a collection and you won’t find Writer of the Purple Rage or By Bizarre Hands. A lot of these things were small printings to begin with and some of them are way out of print or nearly out of print. So every few years, [the stories] are valid to be re-released.

What’s next for you?

I just sold a young adult novel to Delacorte. It’s set in the 1930s and called All the Earth Thrown To the Sky. Same [time] period as The Boar and The Bottoms. The novels takes place in Oklahoma for a large part and moves toward East Texas.

Also, Keith [Lansdale, Joe’s son] and I edited the Son of Retro Pulp Tales. It’s suppose to be out at the end of July.

Do you find it difficult to write for young adults in terms of violence?

No. I always see them as different. It’s not that I can’t write without violence, but I don’t want. Depends on the book. When I wrote The Bottoms, there is violence in it but there’s almost a young adult feel to that novel. And The Boar is an example of what I can do. A lot more of the modern young adult books isn’t like See Spot Run or the Hardy Boys. I’m getting an opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time. If this goes well, I’m planning on doing more.

More in Part I.

A month or so back, I interviewed Joe R. Lansdale for the San Antonio Current ("Crazy sort of folk" July 1, 2009). As is common with interviews, a lot of it didn’t end up in the final publication. This won’t be a big surprise to anyone who has interviewed Joe, but I had enough left over for two blog posts.

This first entry focuses on the unpublished questions pertaining to Hap & Leonard.

Why did Vanilla Ride first appear in Italy?

There are two reasons. First of all, Italy has been very good to me, so my last three books have appeared there first. I purposely wanted that to happen. I’m a bestseller over there. This book is a bestseller over there. I made an effort to give them that little bit extra. The other reason is their publishing schedule works much quicker than ours. I will probably go back to America first then Italy second depending on publication. But the last three I purposely did that.

Is Black Lizard planning to reprint all of the Hap & Leonards?

They are. They’ve reprinted four of them and the other two are due this fall.

What about the shorter stories such as “Veil’s Visit”?

I’ve actually thought that particular section with Veil could possibly go into one of the novels. I think that’s a possibility. I also have another one “Blue to the Bone” that is often erroneously thought to be Vanilla Ride with a title change. It was one that I started that was farther into the series than I originally anticipated. I don’t know if I’ll do a novel or it’ll become a novella or what. I feel certain that’ll eventually come to pass.

Do you have Hap & Leonard’s lives mapped out?

No, not really. I have ideas and I borrow things from my own life, but I also borrow from people I know. I have a general idea of where they are going, but it’s a very general idea. I do some things on instinct. The stories come out of the characters— little revelations and little ideas. The little things will change the whole course of the novel. The characters themselves redirect my plans.

What’s the status of a Hap & Leonard film?

There’s been a lot of film interest in ’em. I’ve been offered two deals [recently], neither of which I’ve accepted. They just couldn’t meet the terms I wanted.

The violence in Vanilla Ride seemed extreme even for you.

I never can tell. To me, I don’t notice any difference between this one and the others. I really don’t. When I look at Bad Chili, I think “Whoa! That was pretty violent.” I always think of it and Two Bear Mambo has the most violent of the Hap & Leonard series. Nightrunners and Waltz of Shadows, those are VERY violent. I never think about that. I never think that I’m going to make this scene violent or what. It just sort of arrives. I’ll read these others books and this book is just a violent as my books. Why don’t they talk about these people? As other people have told me: “But they don’t write violence the same way. They don’t have that kind of poetic description.” I appreciate that.

More in Part II.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Finch by Jeff VanderMeer

Promo copy:

In the occupied and oppressed city-state of Ambergris, the detective John Finch must solve a sensitive double-murder for his inhuman masters, the Grey Caps. Nothing is as it seems as he negotiates his way through the landscape of spies, rebels, and deception. The fate of the city is in the balance, with Finch caught squarely in the middle.

A blunt sharp shock to the system, VanderMeer’s latest takes noir mystery, adds surreal fantasy, and comes up with a startling new hybrid.

One of the most eagerly anticipated novels of the year, VanderMeer returns to the surreal world of Ambergris. In my Austin Chronicle review I had this to say about his previous novel: “With literary stylings, a complex, riveting plot, and ideas that lesser writers could not imagine, Shriek: An Afterword further establishes Jeff Vandermeer as the finest fantasist of his generation.” I even listed it among my favorite books of 2006. This moves up to the top of my must read pile.

My Dead Body by Charlie Huston

Promo copy:

NOBODY LIVES FOREVER. NOT EVEN A VAMPYRE.

Just ask Joe Pitt. After exposing the secret source of blood for half of Manhattan’s Vampyres, he’s definitely a dead man walking. He’s been a punching bag and a bullet magnet for every Vampyre Clan in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, not to mention a private eye, an enforcer, an exile, and a vigilante, but now he’s just a target with legs.

For a year he’s sloshed around the subway tunnels and sewers, tapping the veins of the lost, while above ground a Vampyre civil war threatens to drag the Clans into the sunlight once and for all. What’s it gonna take to dig him up? Just the search for a missing girl who’s carrying a baby that just might be the destiny of Vampyre-kind. Not that Joe cares all that much about destiny and such. What he cares about is that his ex-girl Evie wants him to take the gig. What’s the risk? Another turn playing pigeon in a shooting gallery. What’s the reward? Maybe one shot of his own. What’s he aiming for? Nothing much. Just all the evil at the heart of his world.

The Quiet War by Paul McAuley

Promo copy:

Twenty-third century Earth, ravaged by climate change, looks backwards to the holy ideal of a pre-industrial Eden. Political power has been grabbed by a few powerful families and their green saints. Millions of people are imprisoned in teeming cities; millions more labour on Pharaonic projects to rebuild ruined ecosystems. On the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, the Outers, descendants of refugees from Earth’s repressive regimes, have constructed a wild variety of self-sufficient cities and settlements: scientific utopias crammed with exuberant creations of the genetic arts; the last outposts of every kind of democratic tradition. The fragile detente between the Outer cities and the dynasties of Earth is threatened by the ambitions of the rising generation of Outers, who want to break free of their cosy, inward-looking pocket paradises, colonise the rest of the Solar System, and drive human evolution in a hundred new directions. On Earth, many demand pre-emptive action against the Outers before it’s too late; others want to exploit the talents of their scientists and gene wizards.Amid campaigns for peace and reconciliation, political machinations, crude displays of military might, and espionage by cunningly wrought agents, the two branches of humanity edge towards war.

Pixu: The Mark of Evil by Gabriel Ba, Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, and Fabio Moon

Promo copy:

This gripping tale of urban horror follows the lives of five lonely tenants — strangers — whose lives become intertwined when they discover a dark mark scrawled on the walls of their building. The horror sprouts quite innocently from a small seed and finds life as something otherworldly, damaged, full of love, hate, fear, and power. As the walls come alive, everyone is slowly driven mad — defenseless against the evil in the building, stripped of free will, leaving only confusion, chaos, and eventual death.

Originally self-published as a two-volume book, this groundbreaking work receives a deluxe presentation in a hardcover edition with a sketchbook section.

* The 2008 Eisner Award-winning team for Best Anthology — Gabriel Bá (The Umbrella Academy), Becky Cloonan (American Virgin), Vasilis Lolos (The Last Call), and Fábio Moon (Sugarshock) — return with their latest collaboration, Pixu: The Mark of Evil.

More in Part II.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

The Saga of Solomon Kane Written by Writer: Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, Don Glut, et al Art by David Wenzel, Howard Chaykin, Steve Carr, Neal Adams, Al Williamson, Bill Wray, et al

Promo copy:

From his pulp-fiction origins in Weird Tales to his latest Dark Horse incarnation, Robert E. Howard’s sixteenth-century Puritan adventurer has captured the imaginations of readers for decades. Now all of the Savage Sword of Conan short stories from the 1970s are collected for the first time: equal parts comics adaptations of Howard’s formative tales and inspired new chapters from venerable scribes Roy Thomas (Conan the Barbarian) and Don Glut (Kull the Destroyer)! Follow along Kane’s restless travels with pistol and rapier as he is compelled to be a weapon of God, ridding the world of evil wherever it may be found — from the jungles of Africa to the high seas, and whether cannibal, demon, vampire, or pirate!

* A fantastic companion volume to Dark Horse’s best-selling Savage Sword of Conan omnibus series!

* Contains short stories from various Savage Sword of Conan and Conan Saga issues, and from Kull and the Barbarians #2 and #3, Marvel Preview #19, Monsters Unleashed, and Dracula Lives.

Sasha by Joel Shepherd

Promo copy:

Spurning her royal heritage to be raised by the great warrior, Kessligh, her exquisite swordplay astonishes all who witness it. But Sasha is still young, untested in battle and often led by her rash temper. In the complex world of Lenayin loyalties, her defiant wilfulness is attracting the wrong kind of attention.

Lenayin is a land almost divided by its two faiths: the Verenthane of the ruling classes and the pagan Goeren-yai, amongst whom Sasha now lives. The Goeren-yai worship swordplay and honour and begin to see Sasha as the great spirit—the Synnich—who will unite them. But Sasha is still searching for what she believes and must choose her side carefully.

When the Udalyn people—the symbol of Goeren-yai pride and courage—are attacked, Sasha will face her moment of testing. How will she act? Is she ready to lead? Can she be the saviour they need her to be?

The Prodigal Mage (Fisherman’s Children Book One) by Karen Miller

Promo copy:

Many years have passed since the last great Mage War. It has been a time of great change. But not all changes are for the best, and Asher’s world is in peril once more.

The weather magic that holds Lur safe is failing, and the earth feels broken to those with the power to see. Among Lur’s sorcerers, only Asher has the skill to mend the antique weather map that governs the seasons, keeping the land from being crushed by natural forces. Yet, when Asher risks his life to meddle with these dangerous magics, the crisis is merely delayed, not averted.

Asher’s son Rafel has inherited the father’s talents, but has been forbidden to use them. Many died in the last Mage War and these abilities aren’t to be loosed lightly into the world. But when Asher’s last desperate attempt to repair the damage leaves him on his deathbed, Rafel’s powers may not be denied. For his countrymen are facing famine, devastation, and a rift in the very fabric of their land.

Stalking the Dragon by Mike Resnick

Promo copy:

It’s Valentine’s Day and private detective John Justin Mallory is planning on closing up the office early and taking his partner, Col. Winnifred Carruthers, out to dinner, since he’s sure no one else will do so. But before he can turn off the lights and lock the door, a panic-stricken Buffalo Bill Brody visits them. It seems that the Eastminster pet show is being held the next day, and his dragon, Fluffy, the heavy favorite, has been kidnapped.

Mallory’s nocturnal hunt for the miniature dragon takes him to some of the stranger sections of this Manhattan—Greenwitch Village (which is right around the corner from Greenwich Village and is populated by witches and covens); a wax museum where figures of Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre come alive; Gracie Mansion (which is haunted by the ghosts of former mayors); and the Bureau of Missing Creatures, a movie set where they’re filming a PBS documentary on zombies and various other denizens of the Manhattan night. As Mallory follows the leads and hunts for clues, he comes up against one dead end after another.

Along the way he meets a few old friends and enemies, and a host of strange new inhabitants of this otherworldly Manhattan. Aided by a strange goblin named Jeeves, Mallory has only one night to find a tiny dragon that’s hidden somewhere in a city of seven million.

More in Part I.

My review of Dames, Dolls & Gun Molls: The Art of Robert A. Maguire appears in the online version of the San Antonio Current.

Check out the entire review at the San Antonio Current.

[  Mood: Amused ]
While reading Graham Joyce’s forthcoming novel How to Make Friends with Demons, I discovered this enlightening passage I wanted to share.

Here’s what Night Shade Books had to say about their publication.

Expect a review of How to Make Friends With Demons in the near future.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

The Best of Michael Moorcock

Promo copy:

From the legendary author of the Elric sagas, a Science Fiction Grand Master, a platinum album-receiving rock star, and the controversial editor of the New Wave’s New Worlds, this definitive collection captures the incomparable short fiction of one of science fiction and literature’s most important contemporary writers.

These exceptional stories range effortlessly from the genre tales that continue to define fantasy to the author’s critically-acclaimed mainstream works. Classic offerings include the Nebula award-winning novella "Behold the Man," which introduces a time traveler and unlikely messiah that H.G. Wells never imagined, "The Visible Men," a recent tale of the ambiguous and androgynous secret agent Jerry Cornelius, the trilogy "My Experiences in the Third World War," where a Russian agent in an alternate Cambodia is powerless to prevent an inevitable march toward nuclear disaster, and "A Portrait in Ivory," a Melibone story of troubled anti-hero Elric and his soul-stealing sword, Stormbringer.

Newer work handpicked by the expert editing team includes one previously unpublished story and three uncollected stories. With all of his finest stories finally collected in one volume, this book is a long-overdue tribute to an extraordinarily gifted, versatile and much-beloved author.

Contents

Introduction by John Davey
A Portrait in Ivory
The Visible Men
A Dead Singer
Lunching with the Antichrist
The Opium General
Behold the Man
A Winter Admiral
London Bone
Colour
My Experiences in the Third World War:
*Going to Canada
*Leaving Pasadena
*Crossing into Cambodia
Doves in the Circle
The Deep Fix
The Birds of the Moon
The Cairene Purse
A Slow Saturday Night at the Surrealist Sporting Club
Afterword by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

The Best of Michael Moorcock is REQUIRED reading for all Revolutionaries!

Desolation Road by Ian McDonald

Promo copy:

Nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award!

It all began 30 years ago on Mars, with a greenperson. But by the time it all finished, the town of Desolation Road had experienced every conceivable abnormality from Adam Black’s Wonderful Travelling Chataqua and Educational Stravaganza (complete with its very own captive angel) to the Astounding Tatterdemalion Air Bazaar. It’s inhabitants ranged from Dr. Alimantando, the town’s founder and resident genius, to the Babooshka, a barren grandmother who just wants her own child grown in a fruit jar; from Rajendra Das, mechanical hobo who has a mystical way with machines to the Gallacelli brothers, identical triplets who fell in love with and married the same woman.

RASL No. 5 by Jeff Smith

Promo copy:

Time is running out for Rasl, the world’s first inter-dimensional art thief. He must surrender his secrets or spend eternity chasing the lizard-faced killer through parallel worlds trying to save the people he loves. Hunted and confused, Rasl keeps his date with the parallel universe’s version of his ex-lover Maya. And what an evening it is!

Earlier this year, I wrote this in Nexus Graphica about the first RASL collection:

The Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Rubens

Promo copy:

Meet Cole: hapless space rogue, part-time smuggler, on a path to being full-time dead. His sidekick just stole his girlfriend. The galaxy’s most hideous and feared bounty hunter wants to lay eggs in his brain. And the luxury space yacht Cole just hijacked turns out of be filled with interstellar do-gooders, one especially loathsome stowaway, and a cargo of freeze-dried orphans.

Reluctantly compelled to deliver these defenseless, fluidless children to safety, Cole gathers a misfit crew for a desperate journey to the far reaches of the galaxy. Their destination: the mysterious world of Yrnameer, the very last of the your-name-heres—planets without corporate sponsors. But little does Cole know that this legendary utopia is home to a murderous band of outlaws bent on destroying the planet’s tiny, peaceful community.

Follow Cole’s adventures through a delightfully absurd science-fiction universe, where the artificial intelligence is stupid, dust motes carry branding messages, and middle-management zombies have overrun a corporate training satellite. In the spirit of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, The Sheriff of Yrnameer is sci-fi comedy at its best—mordant, raucously funny, and a thrilling page-turner.

Nightchild (Chronicles of the Raven) by James Barclay

Promo copy:

It all began with a tidal wave…A new power is coming that will sweep aside the four colleges of magic-a power manifested in four-year-old Lyanna. If, unknowing, she unleashes her full force, she will destroy the land of Balaia. With freak storms already battering the continent, it’s clear she is already wreaking havoc on the mana flows holding the fabric of the world together. Must she be stopped? Should she be helped? Once again, five years after they saved Balaia by sealing the rip in the dragon dimension, the Raven must gather to face an agonizing, heartbreaking mission. Can they kill a child? Can they afford not to? Their dilemma will pit friend against friend, father against mother, Raven against Raven.

I imagine when preparing for a trip, most people concern themselves primarily with clothing, money… that sort of thing. Not me, the foremost thing on my mind is what reading material should I bring.

Sure, I bring the essentials.. change of underwear, clean clothes, toothbrush, etc but I spend a lot of time figuring out the perfect selection of titles for the trip. I live in fear that I will run out of things to read.

During the nineties when I was traveling a lot to promote Mojo Press, I developed a method for determining the optimal selections, which I still use. Several factors include the reason for the trip, where I’m going, and how long I’ll be gone all figure in.

If I am going to a science fiction or comic book convention, I never read any sort of fantastical works. By the time my day at a con is finished, the last thing I want is yet more fantastic. No science fiction, no fantasy, no horror, and no comics. For those occasions, I crave westerns, crime and/or some contemporary fiction.

When attending a non-genre book show, science fiction and westerns are the best. Preferably nothing that has to do with contemporary issues.

Vacations have their own set of rules as well. Generally, location plays into it. When we go to West Texas to visit my mother-in-law, westerns are completely out. I’ll get enough of that reality on the drive up and the time we spend in Amarillo. Something urban and gritty–ideally a Hard Case Crime-style story or perhaps the East Coast stylings of Philip Roth– fills the bill.

For the bi-annual sojourns to Tulsa, almost anything goes. Tulsa gives off a different vibe with its odd combination of middle America, the South, and the West. Thankfully, I am always promised a trip to Gardner’s, so no matter what I bring, I can always get more.

Brandy and I took a trip to New York City last year. That was all about the westerns. Something to get me away from the city and slow the mind down at night.

Several rules apply to any trip.

*Always bring at least two books. Not only might you finish the first before you get home, but what happens if you don’t like your initial selection? Then you’re stuck having to pick up something on the fly. This leads to overspending and often bad choices.

*Mass markets are preferable to trades or hardcovers. You can pack more choices and they weigh less.

*Never read horror while traveling. Last thing you need is something that makes you uptight and/or paranoid. And if the horror doesn’t achieve that, why are you are reading it anyway?

*No comics. They are clunky to carry and are read far too quickly.

*Stay away for anything that requires your complete attention. You won’t have it to give. Reading on trips is meant for relaxation. Leave the Umberto Eco at home.

Sometimes, it works out perfectly such as with my recent trip to Pittsburgh. Since it was quick (left Austin at 4 PM on Wed and returned on Thurs at 10 PM) and the focus was on robot toys, I decided on a western (Hanging Judge by Elmer Kelton) and a crime novel (Grifter’s Game by Lawrence Block). I devoured most of the Kelton on the trip up and finished it in the hotel room that night. I read the Block during the return trip. Neither are heavy thinkers but generally well-written, entertaining reads.

I actually buy used books to keep around my house for future journeys. Lots of mass market paperbacks awaiting my next trip!

A week or so back, I wrote about my forthcoming trip to Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University for the unveiling of the Bossa Nova Robotics line. My first piece about the event also happens to be my first contribution as a guest blogger for Wired‘s Geek Dad.

Read more about these amazing robots at Geek Dad.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Written by Neil Gaiman Art by Andy Kubert

Promo copy:

Best-selling author Neil Gaiman (The Sandman) joins a murderer’s row of talented artists in lending his unique touch to the Batman mythos for this Deluxe Edition hardcover! Spotlighting the story "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" from Batman #685 and Detective Comics #852, Gaiman joins artist Andy Kubert and inker Scott Williams for a story that shines a new light on the Batman mythos. Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? also collects Gaiman stories from Secret Origins #36, Secret Origins Special #1, and Batman Black And White #2. This collection is not to be missed!

Bart Got a Room

Promo copy:

Nerdy high school senior Danny has spent six hundred bucks on the hotel room, the limo and the tux for his prom. He’s only missing one thing – the girl. Hampered by well intentioned but clueless advice from his newly divorced parents and unsympathetic mocking from his best friends, Danny battles peer pressure, teen angst and his own raging hormones as he desperately searches for a prom date. Danny’s luckless quest turns to panic when he learns that even Bart – the school’s biggest dweeb – has secured not only a date but also a hotel room for the night.

Madame Xanadu: Disenchanted Written by Matt Wagner Art by Amy Reeder Hadley

Promo copy:

Legendary creator Matt Wagner (MAGE, GRENDEL, SUPERMAN/BATMAN/WONDER WOMAN: TRINITY) and rising star artist Amy Reeder Hadley, present Vertigo’s newest ongoing fantasy epic MADAM XANADU.

Centuries long and around the far reaches of the globe, her tale winds before the ageless fortuneteller, whose powers of sight can change the course of human events.

As the mysterious past of Madam Xanadu is slowly unraveled, Wagner takes us on a journey throughout her history, from a medieval kingdom beset by foul sorcery to the court of Kublai Khan. Eventually Madam Xanadu returns to Europe as mystic advisor to Marie Antoinette, and as political tensions begin to boil, the Phantom Stranger makes his return. This time he seeks to kick-start the revolution and ensures that Paris’s streets run red – a blood sacrifice that will keep certain demonic forces at bay.

Readers will also be happy to discover that the fan-favorite character Death from THE SANDMAN makes a special appearances Madam Xanadu wagers her immortality in a game of chance against.

One of the most underutilized characters in the DCU, it’s nice to see this intriguing character getting her own magazine.