John Coulthart has a short but good post about the fortieth anniversary of Stonewall. It includes a link to this page and the map reproduced above, which puts things in perspective. I knew it was institutionalized in places but seeing “life in prison” and “death penalty” so starkly portrayed, along with large gray areas of the United States. Oy. It’s continually mystified me why equal rights for all is such an issue for some people. It seems like a deep-seated insanity. Invariably, too, on shows like Spurlock’s 30 Days, when the intolerant spend time among the supposed ‘orribly immoral, it’s impossible to completely maintain their views faced with the truth of the individual.

Update: Great piece by Rick Bowes on the Mumpsimus.

My thumbnail review of The Angel’s Game by Zafon is up at the B&N Review (lower left). To say I disagree with the NYT’s dissection of the book would be an understatement.

Ultimately, though, the appeal of The Angel’s Game lies in its careful portrait of Martin and its exploration of what it really means to love someone. Readers who appreciate books, romance, and intrigue will find this novel a subtle, unforgettable, and satisfying page-turner.

From her livejournal at Talking to the Moon, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, a published writer and student at Clarion West this year, is posting about her experiences at the workshop. I’m not a big fan of students blogging while attending a workshop–it can be distracting to the person posting or fellow students, or worse. But in this particular case, Rochita being the kind of person she is and the kind of writer, the results are insightful, thoughtful, and well worth your time.

So you still have capybara questions?! STILL?!

Well, now Caplin Rous has answered your questions in his own FACute over at his site, along with tons of photos!

Just a couple of highlights:

- Our skin is very, very tough so, tragically, we makes good leather.
- I do not like fruit pieces in my yogurt. I have to eat around them.
- When I’m excited, I popcorn like a guinea pig.
- My tongue is so short it doesn’t come out of my mouth so I have to rub my nose on the wall and then lick the excess yogurt off the wall. I will also use a chair for that purpose.

Some relaxing cat texture for your Friday. Thank you, and good night. I must gets off the intratubes.

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(Taken from Giant Hamster. A photo of Melanie Typaldos and her capybara Caplin Rous. Who knew capybaras were so popular? The interview with Melanie just downstream not only is one of the most-visited posts in the history of Ecstatic Days but has possibly elicited the most diverse response, from ex-American Idol contestants to members of Geiger Counter societies.)

Who knew it would be capybaras, not Shared Worlds or linkage to a China Mieville guest-blogging week, that truly defined this blog in June. Heh. Somehow, it’s appropriate. Caplin Rous is wonderful.

Anyway, below find stuff related to my book tour schedule in the fall, and recent links related to our books. (Check out the book tour schedule in case you still want me to come to your favorite bookstore or other venue–things are shaping up fast. Part of my trip will be by car, so there’s the possibility of excursions and diversions.)

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Update: Caplin Rous’ FACute, answering many questions.

My first encounter with a capybara was sad and strange: I saw one in a cramped cage at a county fair as a teenager. In amongst the rides, the shooting galleries, and the weird food, just this tiny cage and this incredibly peculiar creature that I’d never seen before, or even imagined existed. It had unbelievably beautiful eyes. Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated with capybaras because they seem so fantastical and they also have this gruffly wise look to them. (I only wish I had found some way to rescue that first one from what couldn’t have been a great life.)

Recently, I had a dream about capybaras, and, astoundingly, a capybara named Caplin Rous, responded in the comments! This led to further investigations, and the discovery that Caplin Rous lives in Texas, and that Melanie Typaldos dons the Caplin Rous (Rodents of Unusual Size, if you remember your Princess Bride) persona for her website devoted to her capybara. Not only that, Typaldos has just released a kid’s book called Celeste and the Giant Hamster, which does include appearances by a capybara. (The book is well-written, clever and interesting–definitely worth buying.)

It seemed only natural, given the topics that crop up on Ecstatic Days, to interview Melanie Typaldos about Caplin Rous, as wonderful a capybara as I’ve ever seen. The answers about capybaras may surprise you, including what sounds they make! It’s just a great interview.

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“First and Short” is a new Ecstatic Days feature that reviews first books that happen to be novellas. Since books fitting this definition are usually published by indie presses, this feature serves the dual purpose of highlighting new authors and unique publishers. It in effect replaces the “Conversations with the Bookless” interviews that have now migrated to BookSpotCentral. Please send materials for consideration to POB 4248, Tallahassee, FL 32315 USA, marked “for First and Short”. Thanks–and please feel to spread this link to those who might be interested.

HORN by Peter M. Ball
Twelfth Planet Press / Paperback • 96pp • RRP AUS$10
ISBN 978-0-9804841-4-4

Recombinations of the mystery genre with fantasy have been getting stranger and stranger. In a way–inadvertently–the innocuous Harry Potter series started this trend, with the first three books fusing wizards with tea cosy plots, complete with lengthy explanations in the study to end it all. We’ve also seen the often cerebral and perhaps a spot too organized mix of fantasy and police procedural. But lately also a more dangerous and rowdy sort of hybrid has been making an appearance: fantasy mixed with hardboiled noir (undiluted by the romance of “urban fantasy”).

Peter M. Ball’s debut, Horn, takes elements of faery and places them within a hardboiled context, and by doing so renders the fantastical as sordid, tactile, and often gruesome. The story is relatively straightforward but contains rather delicious details: Miriam Aster is an ex-detective turned PI who still gets called in some cases, usually to the morgue, due to her past as both the lover of the exiled Queen of the Fairies and having once been brought back from the dead. In Horn, she’s brought in on a death related to a rampant unicorn.

At times, the effect of this fusion reminded me of Michael Swanwick’s The Iron Dragon’s Daughter, because Horn de-romanticizes and de-mystifies its fantasy element. In a sense, it makes faery mundane, but in interesting ways. A casual throw-away line like “Somewhere in the bowels of the building, he was feeding the corpse of Sally Crown into the morgue incinerator and hundreds of newborn fairies were dying” lends a kind of rough legitimacy to the milieu that’s lacking in more whimsical treatments.

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(If you’re unfamiliar with Moomin, check out the official site and the wiki)

Drawn & Quarterly has just released the fourth reprint volume of the Moomin cartoon series by the amazing Tove Jansson–and it starts out with a classic step-by-step introduction to the Steampunk Maker process. Note that Moomin papa is even wearing a Steampunk-appropriate hat. Truly, Jansson was ahead of her time…

#1 – Assemble your parts from the guts of other, broken machines.

#2 – Allow yourself a discovery phase based on what you’ve assembled.

#3 – Understand that a vital element of chance will enter your process.

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In the ongoing seek-and-acquire that is the book tour for Finch/Booklife in the fall, it’s now looking both more manageable and more specific. Because of Booklife, some events may be workshops or presentations. I’m flexible.

West Coast

Oct. 28-Nov. 2 – World Fantasy con events (including a book release party after the opening ceremonies that Thursday).

Nov. 4-15 (Seattle down to San Fran/possibly LA) – Since most or all of this will be by car, and include Portland among others, I’m open to suggestions of lit. festivals, writer groups, bookstores, etc. Chances are I’ll wind up in San Fran doing a reading the weekend of Nov. 14th.

Northeast

Nov. 16-27 (some combo of Toronto, NYC, Boston, Dartmouth NH, including a break for Thanksgiving) - We’re still working out the details of city order, venue, etc. Again, suggestions always welcome as we hash this out.

Mid Atlantic

Nov. 28-? (Philly, DC, Carolinas) – The least defined part of the tour thus far, but with one gig each more or less certain in Philadelphia and Washington D.C., and lots of strong possibilities in the Carolinas.

Should be fun.