In May 2017, Shimmer published a story called “Fallow.” Now, its author returns to that world, to show us things we never dreamed of. Badger Lindsay  Thomas sits down with author Ashley Blooms, to reveal all the bones.

The last time we spoke, you mentioned you were working on a novel based on “Fallow” that would allow you to include multiple perspectives and further explore the themes that story introduced. That novel became Every Bone a Prayer, coming out August 4. What made you realize you wanted to expand on the original story?

I think it was mainly a feeling that something was left undone after I finished “Fallow.” That there was more that needed to be said, especially from Misty’s point-of-view, about trauma, healing, and hope. 

“Fallow” is told from the perspective of William, a ten-year-old boy with a complicated home life. Now we hear from Misty, who begins as William’s friend and neighbor before their connection takes a turn. In your writing, how do you discover whose stories need to be told?

I often follow my first instinct when it comes to perspective—it’s whichever voice comes to me first, whichever character appears in the scene that pops into my head, whichever made-up person wants to talk to me that day. But sometimes I’m also led by my own fears or discomfort. In the case of “Fallow” there were ways that it was easier for me to write from William’s POV rather than Misty’s, since inhabiting the perspective of a victim of sexual abuse was often difficult, even exhausting. I think I needed to work through “Fallow” before I could get to Every Bone a Prayer. 

We’ve talked about the magic of geographical isolation and particularly of the Appalachian South, where the book is set. The transformative magic in “Fallow” is literally of the land; Every Bone a Prayer introduces a different sort of ability for Misty. What magical power would you choose for yourself?

When I was younger I would usually answer with invisibility but I find that far less appealing as an adult. I’d love to be able to teleport now. If I could blink to the woods behind my old house when I was stressed out or blink to my friend’s apartment on the other side of the country just so we could have lunch and look at memes together. To be able to connect and move so freely—I think it’s easy to see why I’d long for that now, especially. 

If you had a sculpture garden in your yard, what would the sculptures depict?

A porch swing. A pane of leaded glass. My mother’s hands. A heavy door. 

Have you ever caught a crawdad?

Many! There’s a creek that runs the whole length of the holler where I grew up and I spent a lot of time playing there as a kid. There was a hill behind it that grew up and even over the creek so there were shade trees and gnarled roots and brambles covering one side, which kept it cool in the summer. My sister and cousins and I would catch the crawdads and keep them in buckets for a while before releasing them back into the creek so we could catch them again later. There’s skill to the process—holding the crawdads in just the right place so you don’t get pinched, being careful enough as you move through the water so they don’t get startled and burrow into some unreachable place. And they were so alien from us with their shells and claws that somehow we never tired of watching them. They may not seem like the cuddliest creature, but there’s grace in them, and beauty. 

What’s one myth or stereotype about Appalachia you’d like to correct?

I think there are too many stereotypes about Appalachia that I would gleefully burn to ashes, so I’ll settle for just expanding the way that it’s seen. I want to write stories about Appalachia that feel magical and strange and unsettling and beautiful—stories that reflect the way that I grew up there. Stereotypes are just so dull in comparison to that. 

If we visited Kentucky, what would you recommend we see and do?

If I had to confine myself to one realistic trip then I’d have to send you to Red River Gorge, which is a system of canyons and woods along the Red River. You could rent a tree-house getaway off the grid, rock climb, go kayaking or canoeing, spend the day communing with the world and then go to Miguel’s for a pizza. 

Is there an interesting bit of research you turned up for the book but couldn’t use in the end?

It wasn’t precisely research, but I’ve always been fascinated and disturbed by the photographs of juvenile skulls with the adult teeth still inside the jaw, waiting to emerge. I really wanted to work that into the book during one of Misty’s transformations but couldn’t find a realistic way to make it happen. There’s always another book, I suppose.

What’s in your iPod/Spotify/8-track player right now?

Well, I have one writing specific playlist called “Write the Damn Book” that I listen to often. It has mostly orchestral music and film/video game soundtracks with a fair amount of Daughter mixed in. It usually sets the right melancholy, pensive mood for me to get to work. 

Tell us about something Great and Astounding you’ve read recently.

A friend recommended Courtney Milan’s Brothers Sinister series to me recently and I tore through them. I just loved that the characters had these fears that kept them from connecting or even daring to admit what they wanted to themselves. Fears that have to be overcome not just by sheer force of will but with the support and love of others. And I’ve enjoyed the comfort of a Happily Ever After, especially in the midst of so much turmoil and uncertainty in the real world. 

What’s next for you?

I’m currently working on my second novel for Sourcebooks so that’s getting most of my attention and care for the moment. After that, I’m really excited to get back to a middle grade book that I started a while back with a very spooky Halloween vibe. 

Thank you, both! Readers, go grab a copy of Every Bone a Prayer. We already have. ♥

Hey, guess what!

(Badger butt!)

No, but for real.

You know what those wise men of olde say: “Never release thine book in the midst of thee globale pandemic!” Did we listen? We did not–but well, February held some surprises, didn’t it?

But now! Now! Shimmer: The Best Of can be yours! It’s available in ebook and paperback, and contains 43 stories that cover 13 years of shimmery fiction. With an introduction from Mary Robinette Kowal, who was there from the start! With cover art from Sandro Castelli!

Contents:

Introduction by Mary Robinette Kowal
Flying and Falling, by Kuzhali Manickavel
Little Match Girl, by Angela Slatter
Skeletonbaby Magic, by Kathy Watts
King of Sand and Stormy Seas by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Crow’s Caw, by Amal El-Mohtar
Juana and the Dancing Bear, by n.a. bourke
Birds and Burin, by Daniel A. Rabuzzi
The Shape of Her Sorrow, by Joy Marchand
Seek Him I’th’Other Place Yourself, by Josh Storey
Five Letters from New Laverne, by Monica Byrne
Gutted, by Lisa Hannett
Some Letters for Ove Lindström, by Karin Tidbeck
Gödel Apparition Fugue, by Craig DeLancey
Food My Father Feeds Me, Love My Husband Shows Me, by A. A. Balaskovits
Ordinary Souls, by K.M. Szpara
In Light of Recent Events I Have Reconsidered The Wisdom of Your Space Elevator, by Helena Bell
Like Feather, Like Bone, by Kristi DeMeester
We Were Never Alone In Space, by Carmen Maria Machado
The Earth and Everything Under, by K.M. Ferebee
A Whisper in the Weld, by Alix E. Harrow
The Half Dark Promise, by Malon Edwards
Dharmas, by Vajra Chandrasekera
Come My Love and I’ll Tell You a Tale, by Sunny Moraine
Serein, by Cat Hellisen
The Law of the Conservation of Hair, by Rachael K. Jones
Palingenesis, by Megan Arkenberg
Red Mask, by Jessica May Lin
All the Colors You Thought Were Kings, by Arkady Martine
Painted Grassy Mire, by Nicasio Andres Reed
Only Their Shining Beauty Was Left, by Fran Wilde
Itself at the Heart of Things, by Andrea Corbin
The Creeping Influences, by Sonya Taaffe
Hare’s Breath, by Maria Haskins
The Weight of Sentience, by Naru Dames Sundar
Black Fanged Thing, by Sam Rebelein
The Triumphant Ward of the Railroad and the Sea by Sara Saab
Faint Voices, Increasingly Desperate, by Anya Johanna DeNiro
Rapture, by Meg Elison
Lake Mouth, by Casey Hannan
From the Void, by Sarah Gailey
The Time Traveler’s Husband, by A. C. Wise
Rust and Bone, by Mary Robinette Kowal
Ghosts of Bari, by Wren Wallis

 

The third book in Molly Tanzer’s Diabolist’s Library series landed this week! Molly was great enough to take the time to chat with us about the book, and writing, and secluded castles, because who doesn’t love a secluded castle? Grab your candle, your spell book, and get ready to fight some Nazis!

Creatures of Charm and Hunger is the third installment of The Diabolist’s Library, and takes us into the World War II era, where Bad People are doing Bad Things to further their Bad Causes. How did this book come to be?

I wanted to write a book about a teen witch fighting Nazis, so I did! Sort of. The Diabolist’s Library trilogy deals with demons and demon-summoners, which isn’t quite witchcraft. It’s more akin to a weird science. And of my two co-tagonists, Jane Blackwood and Miriam Cantor, Miriam (a German-Jewish refugee) ended up fighting the Nazis, and Jane ended up being a lot witchier.

The Diabolist books are something of a mash up; the first plays with the themes of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the second muddles some Great Gatsby flavor into its brews. Did these works inspire your own, or did you chose the locations/times first and go from there?

The first one was definitely “inspired by.” I was reading Dorian Gray and the idea for it hit me like a sack of buckshot. With the second and third, I definitely thought about where I might like to set a sequel, since I knew I wouldn’t be continuing with the same characters or story!

If you were invited to, or in possession of, a secluded castle—and perhaps you are, who knows!—what kind of dark magics would you conduct there?

It depends on my mood, but likely I’d end up asking for some gardening help!

A lot of your work unpacks and updates typically Lovecraftian themes. If you could invite one eldritch horror to tea, which would it be? (Is it Toad?)

My cat, Toad, would probably just invite himself! I think if I was going to invite anyone over, it’d probably be Nyarlathotep. I think we’d have the most to talk about.

One wonderful thing about these Diabolist novels is your portrayal of women. As friends, as lovers, as people of ability and worth. We don’t see nearly enough of that. Is there a film or a book showing women this way that you consider a favorite or that has inspired you?

I’m reading Gideon the Ninth right now and it definitely has a lot of great lady relationships. In terms of a text that “inspired” me featuring such, I’ll say The Draughtsman’s Contract for sure. Content Warning: Everything with that one though.

You have worked as both a writer and an editor. Do you prefer one over the other? Do you find that the disciplines talk to one another, or are they isolated?

I really don’t love editing! It’s too stressful to reject people. I’m happy sticking to the writerly side.

I smile when I see your debut novel, Vermilion, on my shelf. The weather had looked as fine as cream gravy! Any chance you’ll return to that universe?

I don’t know. I so appreciate the love people have for Lou and for Vermilion, but it feels like going backwards! And I have a lot of new things I want to do.

If there’s one thing you want readers to know about (or take from) Creatures of Charm and Hunger, what would it be?

Be the teen witch killing Nazis you want to be in the world!

Tell us about one great thing you’ve read lately, be it a book or a blog or a fortune folded into a cookie.

George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia! Wow, could he write.

Of late, it seems like more and more people are baking. What’s your favorite bread to bake?

That’s a hard one! Maybe challah, or anything I can braid or mess with. Or maybe this Tuscan coffee cake!

What’s next for you?

I’m currently working on a novelette, a novella, and a novel. And by working on them, I mean doomsurfing and watching movies for “research” and not getting much done. One day!

Molly, thanks so much for coming by. We loved the first two books and are stoked to read the third! Readers, you can support Molly and a favorite Colorado indie bookstore, The Tattered Cover, by ordering it there–or anywhere, really. You can find Molly on Patreon, the regular old web,  Instagram, and Twitter!

 

We had planned to release Shimmer: The Best Of in February–a valentine, to you, from us. But it hasn’t worked out that way. Instead, I had a family emergency in February and into March. And March– Well, you know how March has gone, the world over.

The book is done. It’s ready to go. But since we’re publishing with KDP, things have grown complicated. Amazon is delaying shipments of books and other “non-essential” items during the current pandemic. That means that while we could release the book right now, it wouldn’t reach anyone for a month or more. That doesn’t feel like a proper book release at all.

We’ve made the decision to delay the release until this summer, when hopefully shipping times will be back to what they once were. We’re going to stay flexible on specific dates and keep you updated.

We know this is disappointing news–it’s hard on this end, too. We made you a beautiful book, and cannot wait to share it with you.

But for right now, we must. 

My dearest,

The war keeps us busy, but we have found time to write, to tell you of our latest adventure–with the sincere hope that this letter is not censored beyond all recognition by the time it reaches you. Maybe they no longer engage in such folly, or perhaps this missive shall pass through the hands of a kind soul, and the truth will be allowed to flourish in this grim time. Just a seed. A seed which you now hold.

Soon, there shall be another seed. Or wait–a sprout? Is that what happens? Look, let us be honest in this trying time: we are a badger, we are not a gardener, for all that we love digging our claws into the moist dirt. We are not a poet, though we struggle mightily to be such, because to dream the impossible dream, etc. &., yadda yadda.

Not another seed–a book. Yes, that is the thing we mean to say. You perhaps have heard of it–Shimmer: The Best Of. It holds a lot of poems disguised as stories. It contains lessons and loves and hearts and also kisses–it is a kissing book, so please tell the youths not to come near it at all, though some day they might not mind so much.

IN ANY CASE, a book. A book shall soon arrive, dearest. And we would like to gift you with this book, we would. Should the war cease and allow us to send a package, wrapped in brown paper so as not to attract predators (bookworms, you know), we would like to do this thing. But you must do one thing for us. Yes. Just one–it’s a small thing, a trifle, really.

It’s February, you see, and while we crave spring in the way we also crave the sweet cow jerky we’re making in the northmost field, February is cold and frozen in most places, and there is but one thing that would thaw our hearts. A Valentine from you. Whatever shape it shall take–an poem, an drabble, a sketch of our most beloved and bewhiskered face–however you might interpret Valentine, we want it.

You do not have to dare the mail system, no. This missive of ours is clever. You can simply reply beneath it! Technology! They say it will change the world. (We think you will change the world, but that’s for another letter.)

So, leave us a note below, and rest assured that we shall receive it through all the improper channels. We shall chew upon your Valentine, and whichever one we find most tasty, we shall reward with The Book. (It’s coming, see. SOON and SOONER NOW.) As we understand it, this communication portal shall close within one week (February 21, they say), because of planetary orbits, and circles, and well, the blasted war that keeps us from you. (The sky is very purple sometimes, dearest. Not unlike the bruise you left upon our heart.)

A Valentine, please and thank you. Just below. Yes, there. Right there. We shall holler from the rooftops of this city when we find the right one. Perhaps it is in your pocket even now.

Home soon and sooner now,

A Badger

It’s the time of year when badgers and people make lists!  Shopping lists, Naughty or Nice Lists and lists of books we loved.  The Border Keeper by Kerstin Hall was one of our favorite reads this year. It’s a story of journeys and secrets wrapped in gorgeous prose. Kerstin was kind enough to let us interview her earlier this month. If you haven’t devoured it already, add The Border Keeper to your holiday TBR list. –Suzan Palumbo

Your debut novella The Border Keeper was published by Tor earlier this year.  What has the experience been like for you?

Hectic! It’s been challenging and exciting and occasionally bewildering. You work on your writing for years without significant external pressure, publication is a nice-but-out-of-reach daydream, and then suddenly it isn’t. I somehow didn’t expect everything to become ‘real’ quite so quickly.

What was the original spark that put you on the path to writing The Border Keeper?

Travelling through the north-west of South Africa and southern Namibia — my mother grew up in Namibia, and I’ve spend a lot of hours driving those roads. The old train tracks running through the Ahri desert were specifically inspired by the railway line between Aus and Lüderitz, and the ghost town of Kolmanskop is echoed in the abandoned house where Vasethe breaks his leg.

The novella pays homage to the Greek myth of Orpheus while giving us an original take on the journey to the underworld story.  Have you always enjoyed mythology?  What myths in particular have been your favourites?

The Border Keeper was an attempt at worldbuilding outside of the European mode. When I started out, I definitely wasn’t writing with Orpheus in mind — I was actively trying to avoid the Greeks!

Therefore I completely undermined myself when I accidentally named my heroine after a Greek goddess. It should be pretty clear to anyone reading my work that I’m a proponent of throwing random syllables together to generate names. Googling my made-up nomenclature would have been a smart move, but by the time I realized the Eris was the Goddess of Strife, I was far too attached to her name. Besides it seemed appropriate, a bit like it was destined to be.

I’m definitely not an expert in mythology, but I have always liked hearing folk stories from around the world — bonus points if they are super creepy, feature take-no-shit women, or have a nice romance.

 In many ways, the unravelling of secrets fuels the forward momentum of the book. Both The Border Keeper and Vasethe, the other major character, have parts of their pasts they’d like to leave hidden.  As a writer, do you like to know your characters thoroughly or do you let them keep secrets from you?    

I’d like to believe that I’m the boss. I knew Eris and Vasethe’s Big Backstory Secrets from the start, which was necessary because those details shaped the narrative and their relationship in profound ways.

That being said, a lot of the less critical elements were invented as I went along. I remember that Eris’ friendship with Lfae wasn’t planned; that very much developed as I wrote it. And rewrote it. Making things up as you go has significant downsides.

If you were the ruler of your own demon realm in Mkalis what would it be like?  What would be its number one law?

Warm, because I’m not great with cold weather. I imagine it would look a lot like the Cedarberg: mountainous, dry, quiet, maybe containing leopards.

As for the rules? I’d like to think I wouldn’t immediately turn into a tyrant, but who knows. Probably “thou shalt not pirate my books” or “thou shalt not point out my plot holes in a public forum.”

 One must not eat in Mkalis.  I personally would break that rule for cheesecake.  What food would you break it for?

Oh, I’d be so screwed. Food is great. Basically any soup? Doomed. Malva pudding? Dead. Cashew chicken stirfry? Yep, deceased.

You have a background in journalism.  How has this come into play in your fiction writing?

It encouraged me to avoid ambiguity on a prose level; I’m generally quite specific in my descriptions and details.

What books or stories have you loved this year?

Novels: Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett and The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie. I got to read an advance copy of The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood, which was great!

Short Stories: “Blood, Bone, Seed, Spark” by Aimee Ogden.

 What’s next for you?

There’s quite a lot in the works, most of which is either secret or in the very early stages. I am contracted to deliver two novels to Tor.com Publishing, the first of which I handed in a week ago. Star Eater is about ruthless cannibal women protecting their home from deathless monsters. It’s due for release in early 2021.

Thanks for chatting Kerstin!  We’re looking forward to reading Star Eater.  In the meantime, we hope readers will pick up a copy of the The Border Keeper.  Treat yourself!

In the wake of losing two Hugo Awards and one World Fantasy Award, we’re delighted to tell you that we have made the book we’ve been dreaming about for ten years.

Coming in 2020:
THE BEST OF SHIMMER

Beth and I pored over old issues of Shimmer, dreaming of which stories to share. This was an immediately impossible task, because Shimmer published some remarkable stories. By no minor miracle, we whittled the list down to collect a selection of stories that covers Shimmer from its first year to its last.

Early 2020! Shimmer! The Best Of!

 

The Best of Shimmer contains:

Flying and Falling, by Kuzhali Manickavel
Little Match Girl, by Angela Slatter
Skeletonbaby Magic, by Kathy Watts
King of Sand and Stormy Seas by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Crow’s Caw, by Amal El-Mohtar
Juana and the Dancing Bear, by n.a. bourke
Birds and Burin, by Daniel A. Rabuzzi
The Shape of Her Sorrow, by Joy Marchand
Seek Him I’th’Other Place Yourself, by Josh Storey
Five Letters from New Laverne, by Monica Byrne
Gutted, by Lisa Hannett
Some Letters for Ove Lindström, by Karin Tidbeck
Gödel Apparition Fugue, by Craig DeLancey
Food My Father Feeds Me, Love My Husband Shows Me, by A. A. Balaskovits
Ordinary Souls, by K.M. Szpara
In Light of Recent Events I Have Reconsidered The Wisdom of Your Space Elevator, by Helena Bell
Like Feather, Like Bone, by Kristi DeMeester
We Were Never Alone In Space, by Carmen Maria Machado
The Earth and Everything Under, by K.M. Ferebee
A Whisper in the Weld, by Alix E. Harrow
The Half Dark Promise, by Malon Edwards
Dharmas, by Vajra Chandrasekera
Come My Love and I’ll Tell You a Tale, by Sunny Moraine
Serein, by Cat Hellisen
The Law of the Conservation of Hair, by Rachael K. Jones
Palingenesis, by Megan Arkenberg
Red Mask, by Jessica May Lin
All the Colors You Thought Were Kings, by Arkady Martine
Painted Grassy Mire, by Nicasio Andres Reed
Only Their Shining Beauty Was Left, by Fran Wilde
Itself at the Heart of Things, by Andrea Corbin
The Creeping Influences, by Sonya Taaffe
Hare’s Breath, by Maria Haskins
The Weight of Sentience, by Naru Dames Sundar
Black Fanged Thing, by Sam Rebelein
The Triumphant Ward of the Railroad and the Sea by Sara Saab
Faint Voices, Increasingly Desperate, by Anya Johanna DeNiro
Rapture, by Meg Elison
Lake Mouth, by Casey Hannan
From the Void, by Sarah Gailey
The Time Traveler’s Husband, by A. C. Wise
Rust and Bone, by Mary Robinette Kowal
Ghosts of Bari, by Wren Wallis

Stay tuned for more! ♥

 

We have been blessed with a terrific number of books from Shimmer authors this year, and it’s been hard to keep up. This fall, we’ve been catching up with our authors, and here’s another one, Fran Wilde, whose Riverland is an important read for many reasons. If you haven’t already dived into it, add it to your fall stack. You won’t be disappointed!

Riverland, your first middle grade novel, came out in April of this year, and here we are somehow deep into fall. It’s like we’ve fallen into a portal and are now Elsewhere. What inspired Riverland?

I feel that way a lot!

Riverland has a number of layered, intersecting inspirations. Family, sisters, ecology, the Chesapeake Bay, the amazingness of glass. At the heart of things, I wanted to tell a different kind of story than the one we are used to seeing about growing up in a violent house. I wanted to give the two girls — and it was important that they were girls, because we’re much more comfortable with seeing male characters in danger, but the reality is things happen to all kinds of people — the opportunity to have their own adventure, to rescue themselves, and to have agency in a world that wants to take it away from them. 

Your work often layers the ordinary everyday with the fantastic. Where did your love of fantasy begin? Can it be pinpointed?

The Annotated Alice. I read it by accident before I read Alice in Wonderland — and I think footnotes are kind of my first fantasy world, where adults argued with each other in civil, numbered ways.  And The Phantom Tollbooth. And Winnie the Pooh. Also The Neverending Story, and the Muppets.

Your work also extolls the unseen and the overlooked (take for instance the Hugo-nominated “Clearly Lettered In a Mostly Steady Hand,” Uncanny Magazine). What aspects of Riverland have perhaps been overlooked since its release? What haven’t we seen?

I think the heart of the story, which is an exploration of different kinds of anger — especially as children feel it and as they are taught to express it (or to not express it) — is something I’d like to see. We aren’t comfortable, many of us, with feeling angry. We feel like it weakens us. And some kinds of anger does just that. But not all of it. At the same time, others use anger as a weapon. Maybe if, as children, we talked about all the different kinds of anger — and how to express it — those weapons would be blunted, and we’d feel stronger. 

If you had a portal beneath your bed, as Mike and Eleanor do, what/where/when do you think it would open onto?

There would definitely be a beach or an ocean. Maybe a ship.

What portals have you discovered with your daughter?

Books — so many new books, that she discovered on her own, or with friends, and introduced me to. All books are portals.

Our great and fabulous genre is filled with portal fantasies, which are on some level, about survival. Are there certain portal stories, or survival stories, that have captured your attention and have never let it go? 

The Phantom Tollbooth, for sure. But also, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. And Howl’s Moving Castle. 

Have you ever played the game Portal? We tried, but we fear badgers were not made for portal-hopping…

I have. There’s supposedly cake, somewhere, but I’ve never found it.

The cake is a LIE! Do you think perhaps there’s a portal under Loch Ness, and that’s why we’ve never really seen Nessie?

I think that would present drainage issues.

At the heart of Riverland is the story of the sisters and the abusive household in which they live. Riverland the place becomes an escape from their every day, but contains its own horrors and challenges. The story of deciding to save a world is never an easy one; how do we decide to keep saving our world?

We just do. We are our world. We need to keep saving ourselves.

Which Hogwarts house did you get sorted into?

I’m out in the barn with the Hippogryphs. (Kidding. I’m a HuffleClaw /  RavenDor)

Tell us about something GREAT and EXTRAORDINARY that you’ve read recently.

Karen Russell’s Orange World and Other Stories.  Tillie Walden’s On a Sunbeam.  

What’s next for you?

I’m working on two new books (including a new middle grade novel and one set in the Gemworld), as well as more Ninth Step Station and a new Serial Box project. I’m also the Director of the Genre Writing MFA at Western Colorado University, and that’s really pretty cool. Plus, His Hideous Heart, Edgar Allan Poe retellings by thirteen YA authors, just came out, so I’ve gotten to dress in black and stompy boots (not really a stretch) and go around talking about how great it is.

Thanks for coming by, Fran! Readers, we hope you’ll grab a copy of Riverland, and perhaps His Hideous Heart while you’re at it.