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"They had an epiphany. They saw the light..."

  • Mar. 3rd, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Tuojiangosaurus, Bowie2, cullom, Fran4, twilek2, tentacles, decemberists, "Dracorex", Trilobite, sirenia, santinofez, alabaster2, platypus2, chi (intimate distance), white2, Shai-Hulud, hogwarts, chi (in all her fears), mirror, bluenarethwhat?, Tyrannosaurus rex, leeloo, river1, eyecon, bear on ice, chi3, blindchi, Eocene, Tull2, cleav1, Jupiter, zorg1, chi4, vlad and mina, whitewitch3, invertebrate badge, mucha, Manah 1, Max, wand, Sweeny1, Fran2, Mars in space., Middle Triassic, me, tilda, mordor1, Bowie4, wookie, tonk!2, new chi, grey, Mars from Earth, wray, kermit!, Bowie5, mars, whitewitch5, twilek1, ganymede, slytherin, ravenclaw, Manah 2, imapact1, golden compass, europa, mandarin, hammy, white3, whitewitch6, number 9, chidown, mirror2, Early Permian, fry1, serafina, ammonite2, Fran7, nomi, Nar'eth4, chi6, multipass2, redeye, CatvonD vamp, sol, Fran5, Heavy Horses, dancy1, bluenareth, Nar'eth, Tull3, alabaster1, ragna, Paine1, simearth, riddick1, platypus3, meezer, chi2, Fran, earth, white, platypus, Bowie3, cleav2, kosher, kong, moons books, dr10-1, Tai'lah2, Nar'eye, do what?, whitewitch2, talks to wolves, Western Interior Seaway, sleeps with wolves, vangogh, Bowie1, Late PreCambrian Earth, river2, Triceratops, Amano, starbuck1, Fran3, Fran6, tonks!, Moosup Valley, blood, starbuck&6, HelloSquid, kong2, cleav3
Regarding my quote yesterday (from a March 2, 2005 entry) on the ease with which one may find my books via the internet, [info]ariander writes:

To add to that, if people are really bent on buying through their local bookseller, said bookseller has all sorts of access to ordering systems and will most likely order whatever people want if those people make the effort to ask for it rather than wandering the aisles, giving a shrug when it can't be found, and walking back out the door.

This is, of course, entirely true, and I was remiss in not mentioning it. Don't see what you want at your local bookstore? Just ask them to order it. Easy as pie (whatever that means).

The latest round of eBay auctions will be ending later this afternoon, including the only copy of the Japanese translation of the Beowulf novelization I am likely ever to offer on eBay. Ever. So, please, have a look and bid if you are so disposed and able. Thank you.

Yesterday, while I did not actually write, I did manage to prepare myself to write today. Sometime last week, a title came to me — "Pickman's Other Model" — and so yesterday I reread "Pickman's Model" for the thousandth time and did various other bits of research related to the story and 1927 Boston and a slew of artists (from Goya to Sidney Sime), and I think today I am ready to begin the piece (which will appear in Sirenia Digest #28). I'm pretty sure it will be set not in Boston, but on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, and that it will be a first person narrative written by "Eliot," the man who is being told the tale of Thurber's encounter with Richard Upton Pickman in Lovecraft's story.

Also, I have been invited to participate in ReaderCon 19 in Burlington, Massachusetts this July, and I am going to try to actually attend.

A good walk yesterday. The weather was fantastic. Tank-top weather. We walked through Freedom Park, and I took photos of things that were budding and blooming. I meant to include some of the photos in this entry, but forgot until this very moment. Maybe I'll get them in tomorrow. Oh, and I washed my hair, which is always a chore. And, Second Life aside, that was yesterday.

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[info]sovay wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 05:32 pm (UTC)
various other bits of research related to the story and 1927 Boston and a slew of artists (from Goya to Sidney Sime)

Nice . . .

Also, I have been invited to participate in ReaderCon 19 in Burlington, Massachusetts this July, and I am going to try to actually attend.

AWESOME!

I will look forward to seeing you there!
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[info]greygirlbeast wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 05:33 pm (UTC)

I will look forward to seeing you there!

Keep your fingers crossed.
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[info]sclerotic_rings wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 07:30 pm (UTC)
Oh, and along that line, are you and/or Spooky contemplating a visit to Convergence 14 in Tampa? I thought I'd ask, as I'll be out there assisting the Czarina with her jewelry booth.
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[info]greygirlbeast wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 08:11 pm (UTC)

Oh, and along that line, are you and/or Spooky contemplating a visit to Convergence 14 in Tampa?

Nope. I just can't seem to wrap my brain around the thought of a gathering of goths in Florida.
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[info]sclerotic_rings wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 09:37 pm (UTC)
Not a problem. If you think that's surreal, and I kinda like it in an Alan Moore Swamp Thing way, Dallas apparently has a good chance at hosting Convergence next year. If it happens, I'm suggesting that we have regular screenings of Near Dark for the whole weekend, because the sequence with the Oklahoma bungalow pretty much describes my mornings when heading to work. Forget Louis and Lestat: the only vampire in popular fiction that I'd have any respect for is Severin the bluecollar goth.
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[info]sclerotic_rings wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 07:28 pm (UTC)
I have to amend the local bookstore story slightly, because a lot of the reason why so many bookbuyers buy from online sources is because they can't depend upon their local incompetently run indie bookstore. Thanks to several such examples, I've started referring to them as "Frumpy Fiftysomething's Used Books and Quiet Desperation Emporium" franchises: the store is a poorly organized mess, with an overflowing litterbox in the back for the shop cat and a selection that consists solely of castoffs that locals dropped off for credit and the books that the staff wants hyped. Said staff consists of the female equivalent of the guys who start up really bad comic shops because "I know a lot about comics," and alternate between glaring at any customers who dare interrupt their reading of Snape/Draco Malfoy slashfic and chattering endlessly about how you must read all of Pocket Books's Star Trek line in chronological order to get the full appreciation for the saga. As much as I like bookstores, I finally gave up on special orders with the stores that remained in Dallas because I got tired of being lied to about how that order would be in "in a couple of weeks". (It's no surprise that the last of Dallas's indie bookstores shut down a year ago: between absolutely vile customer service and an attitude about ordering that regularly screamed "You'll take what we have and get special orders when we damn well feel like making them," the big "Buy Local!" signs on the front windows were just an added kick in the teeth.)

That said, I have no problems supporting local indie bookstores...if I could find ones run by people who didn't need gallons of elephant tranquilizers to function in public. Considering the number of indie stores that are now requesting "sponsorships" from well-heeled publishing supporters in order to stay in business, I'm waiting for the day we see a proliferation of government subsidized bookstores...the moment the government realizes that the dolts who want to run bookstores are incurable and otherwise unemployable and keeping the bookstores afloat is cheaper than a lifetime of disability checks and expensive medication.
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[info]stsisyphus wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 07:33 pm (UTC)
Being in Dallas myself, and a vicious lil' bastard, I'm curious about the stores in specific of which you speak.
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[info]sclerotic_rings wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 07:46 pm (UTC)
What: besides Paperbacks Plus on Oram, or the late Shakespeare Books on Greenville or Shakespeare Beethoven & Company at the Galleria? Or the unmissed Taylors Books stores, which didn't understand why a chain couldn't pull the "Buy Local" routine without making its customers laugh themselves sick?

To be fair, the original Frumpy Fiftysomething's is long gone: it used to be in the Lakewood Plaza across from the old Minyards about three years ago. A pathetic selection, no publicity, and a mousy owner who glared at me and every other potential customer who came in the front door, and the only time she stopped snarling was to chirp "Buy local!" when my wife and I left. Three months later, the storefront had already been replaced by a new business, and I'll bet money that she's blaming the bookstore's failure on the American public's inability to appreciate literature.
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[info]greygirlbeast wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 08:14 pm (UTC)

"Frumpy Fiftysomething's Used Books and Quiet Desperation Emporium"

Nice. I was speaking not so much of the "Mom and Pop" indie stores taking orders, as the big-box chainstores, which seem fairly good about it.
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[info]cause_catyljan wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 08:36 pm (UTC)
Don't see what you want at your local bookstore? Just ask them to order it.

Includes books from countries far and wide, at no extra cost...
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[info]stardustgirl wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 10:35 pm (UTC)
Really? If you've found one, let me know. I've tried to get some foreign editions of books via US stores without success. I've had to resort to finding an online bookseller in the country I'm looking at, and hope they take plastic and ship overseas. It's a bit of an adventure.
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[info]cause_catyljan wrote:
Mar. 4th, 2008 09:02 pm (UTC)
I must point out that I was speaking as a bookseller. In England.

We have a pretty decent set-up with our US supplier, and we've had little trouble getting them in from other countries.
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[info]stardustgirl wrote:
Mar. 6th, 2008 12:27 am (UTC)
Ah! Any connections in China or Spain? I've hit roadblocks with those two at the moment.

ISBN 978-84-674-5030-9 (Spain)

ISBN 986-7399-25-0 (China)
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[info]cause_catyljan wrote:
Mar. 6th, 2008 09:46 am (UTC)
The Spanish edition will be the more likely find, but I'll take a look...
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[info]stardustgirl wrote:
Mar. 6th, 2008 11:06 pm (UTC)
If you can get it, I'll be a customer :-) Just drop me an email or comment in my LJ to let me know.
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[info]cause_catyljan wrote:
Mar. 9th, 2008 10:23 pm (UTC)
Its bad news I'm afraid. Neither edition was in our affiliates catalogue.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.
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[info]stardustgirl wrote:
Mar. 9th, 2008 11:50 pm (UTC)
Bummer! But thanks for looking :-)
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[info]deekskusting wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 09:25 pm (UTC)
Pickman's Model
Heh heh. The well is still in the basement of Ruby's Pub in New Babbage, though I had removed some of the other accompanying accoutrements a while back. Strangely enough, I'd already begun planning the return of Pickman's elusive presence by giving him one of the second floor back rooms at Ruby's. And now I find your entry here. How crazy is that? The other back room will go to some dollymop who never seems to be around.
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[info]greygirlbeast wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 09:48 pm (UTC)
Re: Pickman's Model

How crazy is that?

Maybe we should talk, once I am done with those accused cuckoos.
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[info]deekskusting wrote:
Mar. 4th, 2008 04:06 am (UTC)
Re: Pickman's Model
Three of them now, eh? No good can come of it. But once they are put of Elenore's hair....
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[info]robyn_ma wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 10:32 pm (UTC)
'Oh, and I washed my hair, which is always a chore.'

Try having hair down past your ass.* I spend entirely too much time conditioning and detangling. Time that could perhaps be better spent persuading strangers on the street to have a look at your recent eBay auctions.

*I refer, of course, to scalp hair, not ass hair.

Edited at 2008-03-03 10:33 pm (UTC)
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[info]stardustgirl wrote:
Mar. 3rd, 2008 10:37 pm (UTC)
Easy as pie (whatever that means).

I've wondered about that too. I bake, and pie isn't the easiest thing, in fact sometimes it can be downright uncooperative.
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[info]readingthedark wrote:
Mar. 4th, 2008 12:42 am (UTC)
OOoohh! ReaderCon.
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