Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Fingers crossed that he has. My author's copies of the book are yet to arrive. Hope the book doesn't disappoint.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

I have started my real-time review of this book here:
http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/all...in_s_crisp.htm

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

[JK coughs apologetically.]

Point of order, Mr Speaker. Wouldn't a real-time review involve a webcam?

By the way, I visited the review then instantly had to close the browser. It contained massive spoilers.

I'd rather read the book, form my own conclusions, then compare them to yours. At the very least, I'd prefer to read an advance review which did not reveal the ending and little of the plot.

I also question the value of a 'real-time' review (from a purely academic perspective). It's rather like reviewing a couple of chapters of a novel at a time. As many collections have themes or collective concepts, wouldn't it be better to read all of the stories first, then review them individually, after considering the whole reflectively?

I can think of many collections - including Arthur Machen's 'The Three Imposters', E & H Heron's 'Flaxman Low' stories, Algernon Blackwood's 'John Silence' tales and the exploits of William Hope Hodgson's 'Carnacki The Ghost Finder' - where the individual pieces form part of an ongoing dynamic narrative.

This isn't a criticism of your reviewing talents, Des, but I think real-time reviews are heavily flawed. They also require our continual attention rather than just the one sitting. Life is short and many of us are very busy people. Whilst I may have the time to read a review, I don't have the time (nor, to be honest, the patience) to read one by installments.

You've said previously that you propose to review my forthcoming Ex Occ book. Why not experiment a little? Why not read the stories, jotting down notes as you go along, and then compose one single longer length review, just to see how it compares to your staggered real-time endeavours?

JK

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Chris, I take those criticisms on board. But I do try to avoid spoilers. And my reviews can be read in one sitting after I've finished them (and after you've finished the book). They give an on-going perception that a retrospective review doesn't give .... possibly. Real-time reviewing is an experiment and I do value your input. I do them on books I sense I am going to enjoy and that I buy with hard-earned cash. I don't think anyone can stop me doing them. :)
Seriously, I am the only person doing them - and I find it very pleasurable as a hobby. They'd be just as pleasurable if nobody read them.
des

EDIT: I've now added a 'caveat' in the intro to the review.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

I've only read the first three stories so far (and haven't read Nemonymous' reviews yet) but I'd just like to say I found them hugely enjoyable. As a fan of Blackwood and Machen I was particularly looking forward to Ynys-y-Plag and it certainly didn't disappoint. It's a rare pleasure to read a lengthy work of weird fiction that takes the time and care to build up such a vivid mood of insidious strangeness. Like the best of Lovecraft it's a story that one doesn't just read but sinks into...

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

My copies have just arrived! Glad to hear you're enjoying it. Thanks.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Congratulations! You must be thrilled it have the book finally in tangible form. And you must be very pleased about the job the publisher has done on it - genuinely one of the most aesthetic books it has been my privilege to handle.
des

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Yes. Lovely paper. Elegant typeface. Beautiful aroma. I could not ask for more.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

A pop-up ghost with glinting electric eyes?

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Sorry, I yesterday mistyped the title of the last story in my AGAB review - but now corrected.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Well, I didn't like to mention it. I suppose it's too late now.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I noticed the error, but thought you'd correct it soon enough.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Mine just arrived today!

I sure hope it lives up to the hype. Haha. Just kidding, Quentin. I have no doubt it will be excellent, as all of your other works have been.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Great! Glad to hear that copies are arriving safely hither and thither. Please brew a cup of your favourite beverage and enjoy.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Well I've just finished the book and felt I should post some words of praise but I'm not really articulate enough to do it justice. It's a masterpiece. Morbid Tales and Rule Dementia! were excellent but in terms of range, emotional intensity and evocative power this collection is even better.
It would be interesting to know if Thomas Ligotti has read it. I think he would like it a lot.
(Um, any word about the chapbook? Me want more!)

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Thank you. My general feeling was that this is a better collection than the others, so it's good to receive corroboration.

I don't think Ligotti has read a copy yet. It's possible that he will - I'm not sure.

With regards to the chapbook, I think Dan's pretty busy at the moment with Cinnabar's Gnosis, so I haven't received any updates on that front. I haven't forgotten about this, either, though. I'll enquire again soon and see if there are more details to divulge. I'd like this to come out sooner rather than later, of course, but I'm not sure how the schedule is right now.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

It was my pleasure to meet Quentin a few nights ago and to get him to sign my copy of Cinnabar's Gnosis. Here's two photos of Quentin from the occasion:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2719/...d8fbdcc8e6.jpg

Quentin's on the extreme right, of course... From right to left, the other people are Hannah Lawson, Thomas Newton, Me and Sarita Sikka. The theme of this photo was hats but some had to be improvised. That's always the way with hats, isn't it?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2755/...24980d1d8e.jpg

This is a photo of Quentin with the steampunk druid, Gwillym Games.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Yes, as we know, I've always been on the extreme right.

Thanks for posting these. They've come out well.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Tuck your shirt in, Quentin!

My copy of All God's Angels, Beware! arrived yesterday. Beautiful book.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Glad to hear another one has arrived.

I thought the rule was not to tuck. I thought these days that was the equivalent of... tucking your trousers into your socks, or something.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

On the plus side you probably weren't the one who drew the short straw when it came to that headgear rush.

Ironicaly I had a long and incredibly tedious discussion about that this afternoon ( don't ask). The general consensus was only to "tuck" shirts if there being worn with formal style jackets.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Ironically, I was wearing a relatively formal jacket under my overcoat.

Does a kind of hound's tooth tweed count?

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

My latest blog entry is mostly about Quentin. It re-uses a photo I've already posted here, but that couldn't be helped.

******Latest Blog Entry******

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

I agree with Rhys when he wrote to me in the early nineties: "To talk about your own writing is like putting footprints into a perfect surface of crisp new snow."

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

I've just started reading All God's Angels, Beware! (tells you a bit how far behind I am in my reading schedule...), and I just had to write something after finishing Ynis-y-Plag :

...Wow!

I may had something later, when my blood have come back to a normal temperature, if ever.

By the way, what have become of the intended chapbook of 'leftover' stories?

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

"Ynys-y-Plag" is one of my favorite weird/horror novellas of all time, the kind of story I look forward to rereading immediately after first finishing it. There's just so much there, from surface terror to visionary unease to philosophical despair to the subtle sociological element of the secret of the bwg.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Agreed.
This is a tiny bit of what I wrote in 2009 about this novella in my RTR of the whole book:
"This is an amazing novella, there can be no mistake - one that is remarkable and original and beautifully, mellifluously languaged, containing much of what I have already hinted at above and much much more. It is glib to say something is life-changing. But this must surely edge towards such a claim, at least."

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

I felt I shouldn't leave this unanswered. Some people may remember that I parted company with Ex Occidente. It was not an easy decision, but I exercised my judgement as best as I could. Unfortunately, for this reason, there will not be any chapbook. I apologise to all those let down by this. I'm afraid that if I were to go into the reasons behind the parting of ways it would revive a controversy that - in the middle of a riot-torn London - I currently have no appetite for, especially considering the abuse I received at the time for the decision I made. Sorry if all this sounds rather solemn, but I did want to give an answer.

Thank you for your kind comments concerning 'Ynys-y-Plag'.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Quentin, thanks for your answer. I really shouldn't have asked because I seem to remember now all about the problems between you and ExO... Nonetheless, I hope those stories will show up one day, because we need - the World needs! - more Quentin S. Crisp stories.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Hear hear!

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

A short speech:

Thank you for the support and encouragement.

I think what I really need in order to put out more material is to stop reading de-motivational Buddhist texts and stock up on Red Bull.

The truth is, I have a great deal of unpublished material, most of which is better than my published stuff, but which is in particular need of revision.

Susuki, my sequel to Shrike, was written back in about 2008, but has only had minor revision, and needs more. As well as being a sequel, it is meant to be almost a stylistic/philosophical antithesis to Shrike, with lots of over-the-top stuff happening in it.

Domesday Afternoon, Volume I: Summerhill, was written... many years ago and is the longest thing I have finished in first draft, and in many ways the thing closest to my personal vision. It desperately needs revision. I think about three people have read it.

The Hideous Child was finished in first draft this January, and has made it to second and third draft. It needs at least one more draft. This is the one least in need of revision and for that reason most likely to get published, but it is by no means (in my opinion) the best.

The Lovers, a thematic but not literal prequel to Shrike. Not yet finished. A strange piece that a lot of work has gone into.

There are also various unfinished pieces scattered about in boxes here and there.

And I have plans for another couple of collections and a number of other novels. Not to mention translations of this and that.

The question is, will any of this ever see the light of day?

I hope that at least some of it will. I am actually hoping that my forties (which commence from next year) will be my most productive decade, and that I will finally put out some work I can actually be proud of.

What I most want to see the light of day:

The Magical Universe (a planned collection of futuristic semi-utopian tales, most of which are still unwritten, though one or two are written)
Argentopia (this will be a kind of epic fantasia based on a technicolour necrophile romance, as yet unwritten)
Susuki (with Domesday Afternoon, probably the best things I've written)
Domesday Afternoon (including the two volumes I have not yet written)

But there are other things that are more likely to see the light of day before these.

However, just let me finish those four things to my satisfaction, and release them to the world, and I think I can happily retire to Bhutan, or be eaten by soldier ants, or something.

Not that I necessarily want that to happen, because I do have other ideas for stories as well, which I won't even mention here.

What prevents the above from seeing the light of day?

Time, energy, motivation - lack thereof. That's all, really.

The future is uncertain. I shall try my best.

In the event that none of the above is ever finished, revised and published, I hope that what already exists is not too feeble to be of some interest or value.

Thank you.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

I think Shrike is one of your finest pieces and I would love to read more in a similar vein.

Tesco has eight cans of Red Bull for £6 at the moment ...

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Quentin,
Do you have particular publishing schemes for these titles - such as wanting to publish the prequel and sequel to Shrike (a beautifully produced book!) through PS publishing - or are you satisfied with self-releasing them through Chômu Press?
As far as I'm concerned, the sooner your finished and polished work is published the better. Your poetic prose is needed.

Re: All God's Angels, Beware!
 

Shrike was... actually hard to say what the influences were in a way, apart from the names dropped in the text. Susuki is definitely Mishima-influenced, however, more than anything else I've written. Other influences on it would be Ueda Akinari, Izumi Kyoka, and, again, other names dropped in the text (I'm very transparent). I think it's better than Shrike. I'm really beginning to feel bad about letting it gather dust for so long. My local is Sainsbury's. I'll check and see if the Red Bull hasn't been looted.

This is a question I can get my teeth into. However, I'll try not to make too much of a meal of it.

I don't have definite publishing schemes for any other work as yet. That is, nothing at all has been scheduled for the future, except that I know Tartarus are set to re-release Morbid Tales. I have one or two irons in the fire, but at the moment too tentative for me to say anything. I probably shouldn't speculate as to who can or should publish what, as I might tread on toes, but there are, anyway, enough options that I don't think I need to despair on that front.

In terms of my personal and actual plans, I'm trying to psych myself up to revise The Hideous Child for publication, as this seems to be an achievable goal (fingers crossed) that will hopefully prepare a path and build momentum for me to revise and publish the next thing (perhaps Susuki).

I did present my obstacles as simple - lack of time, energy, motivation - and in a way they are, but behind them there are complex factors that tend to develop into a vicious circle hard to break. I think a comprehensive description of those factors would really tax the patience. It's very tempting for me - for instance - to apportion blame here or there for the chronic unpopularity of my work, but laying blame doesn't get any books written (well, apart from those books that are thinly or thickly disguised catalogues of blame), so it has to be back to the Red Bull.

Another complicating factor is simply the way that I work. I tend to panic if I'm not writing something new, as I feel that I will therefore lose creative momentum, and this creates a tendency to put revision (which is very much needed) on a back-burner. And since I can't bear to release insufficiently revised work, it often lies there for years and years, finished, but not ready to submit.

So, I suppose I simply have to prioritise and be methodical. I will say that the comments here spurred me last night to make a start on another (hopefully the last) round of revision for The Hideous Child. So, many thanks for that. I just hope I can keep up it up.