Post-apocalypse story collection

Hi, kids–yeah, I bailed on y’all this weekend. Had a bunch of stuff to catch up on, including getting “Some Kind of River” tweaked up so I can get that Kindle’d up.

Got a great tip from author Nicola Griffith (and if you haven’t read her work, WHY NOT? WHAT ROCK HAVE YOU BEEN UNDER?).

I’m thinking you need to get yourself a copy of this story collection if you’re like me, and have a weird apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic streak in you. Check out Laura Miller’s review of Maureen McHugh’s After the Apocalypse.


source: LAMag (I’ve resized it here)

Miller says:

McHugh’s stories, however, are more interested in what the fall of civilization might actually feel like. The cataclysms in “After the Apocalypse” range from flu epidemics to dirty bombs to the exhaustion of fossil fuel reserves to water shortages to good old-fashioned economic depression.
[…]
This acute psychological realism applied to the apparatus of wish-fulfilling adventure stories makes for a heady combination. The stories in “After the Apocalypse” will catch many readers off-guard; they’re suspenseful, but they never quite go where you expect them to. The end of the world as we know it will never be the same again.

source: Salon.com, Laura Miller review

Doesn’t that just warm your little post-apocalyptic hearts this close to the holiday season? I thought so.

Happy reading!

This n’ That

Hey, kids! Happy Friday to all of y’all.

Just a couple of things. I have conversations with my characters now and again, and I post those. You can find the latest convo, with my character Chris Gutierrez (Albuquerque police detective) over at Women and Words. There are links to 2 other character convos I’ve had on that post, as well. If you’re interested, check it out.

HOT book tip, from author Nicola Griffith. The blurbs alone should make you want to check this out (if it’s your thing), but Nicola says it’s a rockin’ ride, so I freakin’ bought it. I’ll definitely let y’all know what I thought of it. And the book is: Queen of Kings, the debut novel by Maria Dahvana Headley. Cleopatra. Ancient Egypt. She makes a deal with dark magic for her dead lover Antony. And funky, chaotic, awesome, dark and twisted stuff ensues. Sort of urban paranormal historic fiction. Like Queen of the Damned meets The Mummy. Or something. How could you NOT want to read that?

source

And there you go. Happy reading!