Valefor Morado...

So, the fabulous Ozark Storm has sent me my first ever piece of fan-art--obviously, it's Valefor in all his glory. The artist has perfectly captured Valefor's sly smile, ragged hem and poetically disheveled hair. And Purpleness. Very much with the Purpleness. I think it's a fine portrait, and I think its subject would think so too--he might complain it was a bit small (twenty feet by twenty feet might be too small) but that's all he could complain about. He looks pretty good for a banished denizen.

You should also check out Ozark's weirdly wild Mind Flayed comic strip. To illustrate the coolness of this comic, I need say only one word: tentacles.

Thank you, Ozark!

Check Up on FLORA REDUX!

More than half-way done--deleted lots of boooring stuff, added cool new stuff, and did I mention doughnuts? I didn't before, but I am sure do now!

ETA: the end of this month. In fact, in two days I am going into a week's seclusion in a place where the Internet don't shine, and there are no distractions. It worked for Thoreau, I'm hoping it will work for me.

Once the summer is done, I promise The CPG will be back to its nefarious informative ways.

Cheerie-bye again!

A Starter Course with Teeth...

Or a variation of the inedible pursued by the unspeakable. It only needs dressing to add the requisite slime.

An Eclipse in YA Chickie-Lit

I would like to say: gag.

What Would Nini Mo Do? No gagging for her--she'd kick Edward in the head (the guy has been in high school since 1918--sheesh), send Jacob to the Pound, and give Bella a copy of Delta of Venus.

Ayah, I know you aren't supposed to down books you haven't read. But I have the feeling that this review pretty much says it all, and it really crushes me that in 2007 this kind of pernicious crud can capture so many girlish imaginations.

Sigh.

2006 World Fantasy Award Nominations

Interrupting blog-silence to share the astounding news that my novella"The Lineaments of Gratified Desire" has been nominated for a World Fantasy Award!

To which I say: Woo!

Once again I find myself in extremely stellar company: Jeff Ford, Mary Rickert, Norman Partridge & Kim Newman.

I know it's an old saw: it's an honour to just be nominated. But hey, you know, it's true. I haven't done much short fiction and have found the medium to be quite a chore. I remember when I was sure that this blasted story would never ever ever be finished. Then once it was finished I was sure it would never sell. Then once it was sold (Yay to Gordon Van Gelder) I thought it would just be a fly-by-month. Instead, it has been included in various Year's Best Anthologies, and now this.

So ayah, it it is honour just to be nominated.

Oh and also, nominated for Best Novel: Ellen Kushner's The Privilege of the Sword, an absolutely divine swash-buckler that absolutely deserves to win, and had better or I'm sure Tremontaine will have something to say. Something very cutting.

If you haven't read The Privilege of the Sword, I suggest you do so now. It's a divine book, engaging, entertaining and clever. Let's face it, the swashbuckler genre is pretty paltry these days. In fact, the only other writer I can think of working in that field is Arturo Perez-Reverte, and while his Captain Alatriste novels are good, they are not nearly so urbane or witty, and they don't have Duke Tremontaine, who is truly one of the Great Ones.

(A dinner party with Tremontaine, Lymond and Hardhards--now that would be either a joy or a bloodbath!)

I dare not offer Madama Kushner a vulgar woo. Instead, I give her a more decorous but no less heart-felt huzza!

Oyez...

Between the dog days of August and rewrites, etc., The Califa Police Gazette is going to go on holiday, I think, for the next few weeks. I may post sporadically, or maybe not all. Subscribe to the feed if you don't want to miss anything; otherwise, I promise I shall be back fresh-faced and sunny at the end of the month, with a finished book on hand, and a song in my heart.

Do something fun yerself, why don't ya?

Tootle-loo for now...

Ah, Sweetness.

Heh, heh.