Ross E. Lockhart's Blog, page 97

Today was a momentous day at Night Shade Books. One of our new authors, Bradley P. Beaulieu, whose debut novel, The Winds of Khalakovo, will be out in April (and trust me, you're going to be hearing a lot about this book), sent us beer.

And not just any beer, but the good stuff. A mix of Pliny the Elder and Damnation Golden Ale from Santa Rosa's Russian River Brewing Company (and delivered by San Francisco's City Beer). Brad is a helluva guy (with really good taste in beer).

Needless to say, a ...

This is a test of the emergent broadcast system. If you feel your broadcast has emerged incorrectly, run.

I'm testing something called dlvr.it right now. Let's see if it works.

Over at NSB, we've just gone live with the preliminary cover for World Fantasy and Hugo award nominee Catherynne M. Valente's forthcoming novel, The Habitation of the Blessed: A Dirge for Prester John Volume One. It's a great book, full of monsters and miracles, and for the record, I think cover artist Rebecca Guay and cover designer Cody Tilson have done an awesome job envisioning Cat's lush, exotic re-imagining of the myths of Prester John (without giving too much away--I'm lobbying for a b...

A touch of the old Arrogance, four cloves of garlic, a smidgen of olive oil, and a couple of nice, big...









...zucchini!









Zucchini!









ZUCCHINI!

It's August 15, which means that once again it's time for one of my favorite parades to tromp through the neighborhood as St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church celebrates the . While small, this parade has it all: a police escort, dozens of dancing horses in full regalia, fluttering flags, a black-clad brass band, feathered dancers brandishing sage-filled censers, children dressed as angels, a gilded icon of the Virgin Mary, and throngs of lily-carrying worshippers chanting th...

Family faces, in no particular chronological order:


Brie's hiding place.


Jon strikes a pose.



Brie on the swing.


Jay and Farb talk tech over breakfast.


Jill grins (feeling a little cross).


Farb and the portrait gallery.


Cynthia and her amazing duck-shaped balloon.


Dodi.


Jimmy.


Yuko.


Brie's out, Jay's in.


Christina.


Dodi holds court, prepares to give a speech.


Farb, surprised while feeding.


Brie considers another swim.


Jack and marshmallow. "Is it done yet?"


Jack and Jennifer. Jennifer doles out more marshmallo...

Maddie: "Ross and Jennifer just got back from Michigan, where they had all kinds of fun at Great-Grandma Dodi's great big birthday party. They got to hang out at an apple farm and a big lake. I didn't get to go. Nope. Instead, I went to summer camp. Phooey! Just look at all the fun I missed:


Butterflies...


...and beverages...


...and birthday cake!



A duck!


Another duck!


Jon's iPhone 4...


...and video Ross.


A little plane.


A broken dock.


A sandcastle fit for a queen.


A morning cup 'o Joe.


Brie on a swing.


B...

Out for a walk, Maddie pauses at the corner to watch as a road crew lowers one of their fellows, outfitted in protective gear, into the sewer. She marvels as they monitor his progress on a video screen. "What are they looking for?" she asks.

I shrug. "Alligators," I offer. "Maybe crocodiles."

"Really?" asks Maddie, tucking her tail between her legs. "That's unnerving."

I give her a wink. "Might not be alligators. Could be jellyfish. Or giant squid."

"Squid, eh?" says Maddie, wrinkling her nose...

This was a good afternoon to sit and read, so I indulged in a little non-work-related reading, picking at a my perennial pair of voluminous tomes: Wise and Fraser's Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural and Michael Shea's The Autopsy and Other Tales. These are heavy books, 2 lbs, 1.8 oz for Wise and Fraser and 3lbs, 13.3 oz for Shea; a thousand brittle, crackling pages in Wise and Fraser compared to Shea's six hundred heavy stock pages sandwiched between thick, textured, leather-covered ...