Peadar Ó Guilín's Blog, page 22

Farewell to The Loft

This is on Facebook today:

Sad to announce that The Loft Bookshop will be closing its doors in mid May. It's been quite a year. Thanks to each and every one of you for all of your support and encouragement. As of today we'll be running a 50% OFF clearance sale until doors close. Come say hi.

Yes, it is very sad indeed. I love eBooks,
I love the ability to download something new and wonderful late at night, or when I'm off travelling. I carry an entire library in my pocket. I find the paragraphs I've underlined in seconds; I can search an entire book for important keywords. My aging eyes rejoice at fonts that are willing to meet them halfway. My groaning bookshelves have sent me letters of gratitude. All of this is quite wonderful, but while I much prefer electronic text, I just don't have the same success rate for discovering great books online as I get when wandering around a bookshop.

There's nothing like hopping from Romance to Politics to Cookery, scanning the covers, snorting at blurbs...

You see, the thing is, for me personally, I don't know what I want to read until I find it. The internet seems to be set up to help you buy what you're looking for if you already know what it is. Want something similar to Harry Potter? We have a list for you. Urgently need the latest Ian McDonald -- and who doesn't! -- we'll mail you as soon as it's up for pre-order...

All very nice. But when I don't know what I want, I find myself scanning endless lists in the Amazon kindle store. 27,000 fantasy books, 25,000 SF books, almost all of which are vomit to me*. Page, after page, after page of crap. And maybe I don't even want SF. I don't know what I want.

In a bookshop, my stone-age eyes are trained not to see the stuff I don't like and to pick out beautiful surprises like Barbara Ehrenreich's Blood Rites.

There are few experiences more relaxing and rewarding than drifting around well-stocked shelves or chatting with staff as knowledgeable and friendly as those in The Gutter Bookshop in Dublin. And yet, here I am, killing them with kindles. I make myself sick and I'll really miss civilization when it's gone.

Honorable Mention

Lucky me. My only horror story of last year, The Drowner, got itself an honorable mention from super-ed Ellen Datlow in her Best Horror of the Year Volume 4. It's always a great privilege to be included in her list.

If you haven't read The Drowner in Albedo 1, you can listen to it as one of three stories podcast by the magnificent Pseudopod here.

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*It's all a matter of very personal taste. Such is life.

I was very lucky to be a guest at the Dublin BookCrossing Convention 2012 in the Camden Court Hotel on Saturday.

I myself am not a BCer and before the weekend, only counted one of the species among my friends. How lovely then, to give a talk on WorldBuilding in SFF at 10am to a large, cheerful audience. Not only were they more appreciative of the material than I might have expected from a non-SF crowd, but their openness became very apparent whenever I chatted with them. For example, I had an approximation of the following conversation twice in a row with two different people:

Me: It's very SF, you mightn't like it.
Random BCer: Oh, I'm a BookCrosser. I'll try anything.

If you are as curious as they are, you can find out more about BookCrossing here.

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I've missed a lot of posts due to having so wonderful a time that I forgot you all. But now I'm back and have nobody to play with.

Since I last saw you, I have been to EasterCon.
I have interviewed a soon-to-be-famous actor.
I have sold raffle tickets.
I avoided death-by-sword.
I listened live as the Hugo Nominations were announced.
I remet old friends and formed life-long bonds with people, who think themselves free of me. Fools!
I went bowling with a mythical beast.

I have only now returned. Renewed. Refreshed. Reinvigorated. Remortgaged.

On Saturday, I enter the fray again as a guest at the 2012 BookCrossing Convention.

Can't wait!

Last year, I had the great pleasure of publishing a story in the wonderful Dragon Moon Anthology: When The Hero Comes Home. I am delighted to announce that fate hath smiled once more 'pon my rosy cheeks. When The Villain Comes Home will be published (officially) on August 1st 2012 and its TOC has some very big names on it. 

There are people there whose books I have enjoyed alongside writers I've come to know and respect through the internet or from Cons.

See for yourselves!

Camille Alexa – Pinktastic and the End of the WorldErik Scott de Bie – Hunger of the Blood ReaverChaz Brenchley – VillainelleEugie Foster – Oranges, Lemons, and Thou Beside MeDavid Sakmyster – Prometheus FoundMarie Bilodeau – Happily Ever AfterRichard Lee Byers – Little ThingsK.D. McEntire – HeelsPeadar Ó Guilín – The Sunshine BaronJim C. Hines – Daddy’s Little GirlAri Marmell - Than to Serve in HeavenKarin Lowachee – The BleachJay Lake – The Woman Who Shattered the MoonJulie Czerneda – CharityJ.M. Frey – Maddening ScienceClint Talbert – BirthrightRachel Swirsky – Broken CloudsTony Pi – The Miscible ImpLeah Petersen – ManmadeJ.P. Moore – Lord of the Southern SkyRyan McFadden – Back in the DayTodd McCaffrey – Robin RedbreastErik Buchanan – Cycle of RevengeGregory A. Wilson – The Presuil’s CallRosemary Jones – The Man With Looking-Glass EyesGabrielle Harbowy – StarkeepEd Greenwood – A Lot of Sly Work AheadMercedes Lackey / Larry Dixon – Heir ApparentChris A. Jackson – Home Again, Home AgainSteve Bornstein – The Best Laid Plans…and another fantastic cover by Scott Purdy.

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Just a quick update to everything that matters in the universe:

1) Today I received a copy of the paperback edition of The Deserter. I think it looks even better than the trade paperback! I also took possession of two copies of the U.S. Hardback. All is excellent.

2) I'm reading the gigantic The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. So far -- 100 pages -- it's excellent, but what's intriguing me are the ways in which she throws away scenes I would consider crucial. For example, at one point, we have an extremely important murder taking place. We see things from the point of view of the victim for a while, but long before the fatal blow is struck, we hop into somebody else's POV and miss out on the potential horror of the situation as a young boy realizes that this is *really* it. He is about to be killed. And even when the blow is struck, the sentence reads something like: "the [killer] swung at the boy." In other words, there is an ambiguity -- did he even connect? -- that robs the scene of its power to shock or surprise.

Of course, I don't have a zillionth of this woman's skill overall, so I'm going to shut up now and enjoy the rest of the read.

3) EasterCon is next week. I'll be there, will you?

4) Power is Power.

5) I saw yet another excellent French movie recently. A Prophet. 

6) More soon, I expect.

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Just a note to say that a brief introduction I wrote to my trilogy is up right now on Suvudu. Many thanks to rflong for reminding me that today was the day!

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Recent Reads

I have just completed Empire of the Summer Moon, a history of the Comanche Indians. Basically,  the Comanches dominated a huge area of the central US until eventually technology and sheer weight of numbers/resources finally crushed them. My main take-away from this was how rarely both sides ever learned from their many mistakes.  

It destroyed all hope I had in humanity.




I am currently reading The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers. A mysterious disease kills all pregnant women. More soon.

I have also bought a copy (finally!) of Sharon Penman's The Sunne in Splendour. I should get stronger just from lifting this door-stopper up and down.

Even more. Even sooner.

The title says it all. There's an interview with me up at podcasts.ie. Most of you are sick of me by now, but it's a wonderful website that specializes in Irish writers. Have a browse, why don't you? You might see something you like.

While you're at it, why not check out the site for the 2012 BookCrossing Convention? I'll be one of several guests there and I'm really looking forward to it. The Con runs from 13th to the 15th of April in the Camden Court Hotel, Dublin, Ireland.

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Got another stinking relapse of my neverending flu!

On a more positive note, I have a guest blog post up on Black Gate regarding Irish history and fantasy. It's more than a little superficial...

More news soon. Perhaps.

In Ireland, people from Kerry are supposed to be a little bit weird*. Even St. Patrick didn't bother trying to convert them. His best effort was to walk up to the Cork/Kerry border and say: "I bless everything to the west of me."

Yeah, we all get off days and thanks to the National Saint, we all get a day off. At least here we do :-)

Enjoy your Saturday everybody!






*They're not really

Thanks very much to hatgirl who suggested I try for a spot on John Scalzi's brilliant The Big Idea. 

Yup, that's me up there this week to celebrate the US launch of The Deserter. John O'Neill, beloved founder of Black Gate was also kind enough to give me a tasty write up on the Black Gate web site. Hurray!

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