Chasing Paper

An Announcement

from the Publisher

Brad Linaweaver

Photo of Brad Linaweaver (right) by Caran Wilbanks

Some readers of Mondo Cult are aware that I was a prolific writer of science fiction, fantasy and horror in olden times. Did my fair share of commercial non-fiction, as well. There were rewards, awards, and even big sales on the Doom novels which I co-authored with Dafydd ab Hugh.

Unlike many contemporaries I've not kept up with a changing world, and didn't make the bulk of Linaweaver scribblings available on Kindle. In the case of media tie-ins and other work for hire it's not really my choice. However, that leaves everything else. I've been content for those interested in my contributions to the vanished mid-list to track down anthologies and magazines and novels in cyberspace—and then order the paper artifacts for their collections.

Seems reasonable. I'm a collector of paper myself. Except ... except . . .

...except there are the pounding drums of impending mortality.

Having recently become a Senior Citizen, I surrender. As it stands, a few of my efforts are on Kindle already.

For example, the novella version of "Moon of Ice" is part of The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century, thanks to Harry Turtledove and Martin H. Greenberg. It was a successful paper book from a major publisher that is now available on Kindle. One day the novel version of Moon of Ice should also be available on Kindle, although I've never entirely given up on one last legacy paper publication before surrender.

Anarquía, which I co-authored with J. Kent Hastings, is also available on Kindle. It had a good run of expensive hardback and trade paper (thanks to Sense of Wonder Press) before joining all the other books in what might be called the Afterlife or spirit world.

I've decided that two of my books need to achieve transcendence to that higher realm. The Land Beyond Summer is a novel, available via Lightning Source from Pulpless. Clownface is a really large short story collection (forty stories) available via Lightning Source from Pulpless.

What A Terrific Halloween Gift for Horror Fans of all ages!

After taking so long to "go Kindle," I don't want Kindle editions competing with paper editions, at least not at the start. After all these years chasing paper, I'm willing to give Kindle the best possible chance. Naturally, I don't mind if out of print paper editions haunt the collectors market forever. That is a different thing.

The publisher of the Pulpless editions is my old friend, J. Neil Schulman. He is having financial difficulties at the moment. With that in mind, I want the proceeds of all paper sales of these two books to go to him. The paper editions will remain available until February 23, 2018 after which time the books will be taken down from Pulpless.

The reason for the date is that it is an anniversary of when Neil and I lost one of our dearest friends, Samuel Edward Konkin III, who typeset and designed the books for Neil's publishing venture. SEK3 left us in 2004. His influence on Neil cannot be overstated, as anyone knows who is familiar with the novel or film version of Alongside Night. As for myself, Konkin inviting me to write for New Libertarian, New Isolationist, and The Agorist Quarterly was life changing. He also let me wear an editorial hat upon occasion, which was invaluable experience for when I co-edited (with Ed Kramer) Free Space for Tor Books.

But time has marched on.

Relentlessly.

Jessie Lilley is more responsible than anyone else that I just don't retire from the "printed word" part of my life. That's been the driving force of my existence. The loss of Richard Hatch earlier this year hit me so hard that I thought of walking away from everything. I'm over that now, and working on a final tribute to him: "Richard Hatch: A Man for all Reasons."

Meanwhile, there are Kindles in my future!!!

So here's the deal. Please buy some of these books. I'd appreciate it. In March of 2018, the Kindle edition of The Land Beyond Summer will blossom like a sickly flower in a desolate field of lost hopes. The best thing about the new edition will be an introduction by Jessie. Readers of Mondo Cult will have a sneak peek of that introduction right here and now.

"Free, free!" as the Genie cries out in The Thief of Bagdad.

A lovely surprise under the Christmas Tree, for the ho-ho-horror fans.

As for Clownface, there will be no Kindle of that for a good reason. Despite weighing in at 576 pages, not all my short stories are in there. I prefer short stories to novels, and have spent a lifetime proving it. In future, I will bring out all my short stories in a series of shorter Kindle books. Clownface is mainly reprints from anthologies and magazines, with some original pieces, including the title story of the collection. Shorter Kindle editions will allow the stories to be grouped together with more attention to genre and theme.

Don't know when those books will be ready. I also intend to publish Kindle editions of my correspondence with Ray Bradbury and William F. Buckley, Jr.! The deadline on those is a firm date of before I die.

Nor will I neglect the ocean of words I've produced in and about the joys of Hollyweird. I owe that to Mondo Cult. Again, the deadline for those kindles is while I'm still alive. Such is the plan.

Maybe a paper edition will surface now and again. Somehow, it's not the same without the threat of paper cuts.

It all begins with a Kindle edition of The Land Beyond Summer by the ides of March. That's the day I intend to go to the Senate, and deliver a speech on longevity.

The moniker for all the kindle editions will be Mondo Brad Books. This is not about ego; at least not this time. By including my name, it should be obvious that I won't be bringing out books by other people in this venue. (Obvious!) Happy to participate in other peoples' projects, of course, but there should be no confusion about the purpose of these Kindles.

Mondo is in the title because Jessie is helping with the project. Mondo Cult never dies. It's Caltiki, The Immortal Monster. Wait until you hear about the Mondo Cult YouTube Channel—but that's a subject for another time.

Most readers will simply order or a single copy for themselves, or their friends (a wonderful Halloween gift!). Now Neil will add some details about the advantages of ordering cases of these soon to be classic editions. (Distributors will need them for all those Christmas gifts readers will be clamoring for.)

Case Orders

The Land Beyond Summer

Cover Price $19.95 | Discount is 65%

Wholesale unit cost to resellers is $7.00

Case is 38 copies = $266.00 plus shipping

Clownface

Cover Price $32.50 | Discount is 65%

Wholesale unit cost to resellers is $11.43

Case is 14 copies = $160.00 plus shipping

All orders must include shipping destination before shipping options can be calculated. All orders must be made by February 23, 2018. Payment in full for order by PayPal must be received before order is accepted. (PayPal address for order will be given by email to reseller at time of order.)

The Land Beyond Summer

Foreword

by Jessie Lilley

“Some people turn sad awfully young.”

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

The word summer conjures up memories, for all of us I’m sure. For me, it’s cool, bright mornings, the smell of fresh cut hay and the woods nearby—birdsong and sunshine, and having not a care in the world. But then, I was raised in a family that made me feel safe. My parents married late and had a couple of kids later than most men and women of their generation. They seemed more settled than the parents of my friends. More confident and comfortable with each other, leaving me secure in the knowledge that they “had this” and my only job was to grow up.

I’m sure that in this early part of the 21st Century, anyone reading this knows that such is not always the case. Countless factors come into play to make a marriage either a true partnership, a spectacular train wreck or something somewhere in the middle. Who generally suffers more than the married couple? The children. Of course. Is it their fault? Are their parents always fighting because of them? Could they have done something better? Why is this happening? With whom will I live if they divorce? The list of questions and worries is endless.

Children are neither stupid nor are they ignorant. They are wise beyond their years, with a built-in survival instinct that is basic to any creature. It may take a short while for that instinct to kick in, but when it does, children can be amazingly inventive and more astute than many adults of my acquaintance. Brad Linaweaver is aware of this. He has the happy knack of knowing how to speak with youngsters. He doesn’t treat them like items, or small versions of humans who should be seen and not heard—he speaks to them as he would to any grown up, and the results are most gratifying to both parties. So, when Linaweaver presents children in his writings, they are believable human beings—people one takes an interest in, cares about, worries after. Our heroes, Fay and Clive Gurney, are no exception.

The countless factors mentioned above, in this case include a nasty old grandfather whose hands clutch the familial purse strings, a weak, spoiled mother and a harried and beaten-down father who can’t live up to his wife’s vision. And one other thing, Granddad is not only a skin flint, he is also a wizard; a fairly nasty one, at that.

When we enter their lives, Grandfather Donald has been a year in his grave. One would think this would make life easier in the Gurney household, but in fact, they are far worse. Our family, and their pets Wolf and Kitnip, are besieged by weird happenings at home. What with driveways that are unsatisfied with their color to animated, singing wall paper, the frustrated couple is becoming unhinged, leaving their offspring—and pets—to fend for themselves against whatever the hell is happening to the household. And it does seem that things will get worse, before they get better.

Linaweaver helps them find their way through this adult-driven morass by having them transported. Not to Australia, though the land to which they go is as alien to them as that smallest of continents was to the criminals (and not) that first landed on its shores. A frighteningly wondrous place, inhabited by the odd and monstrous as well as by witches, wizards and all manner of bipedal type. Their own little Oz, complete with a wizard in the form of—Grandfather Donald.

But, where Baum’s land had cities and forests much like we have here on earth, Linaweaver has created a world of seasons. As on our own terra firma, the seasons are delineated by colors. Spring is translucent green, summer softly golden, fall a riot of reds, and winter—white. But our seasons pass time. In the Land Beyond Summer, the seasons are territories in stark primary colors of green, yellow, red and white. Each territory controlled by good or evil, and their lines are clearly drawn.

The denizens of the Seasons range from the gangly and grotesque to the sublime. My favorites are the see-through hive-dwellers who put me in mind of the Encyclopedia Britannica that I used to peruse as a child. It had the coolest see-through pages of the human body… and the animated jack o’ lantern things that try so hard to be menacing—and seldom are. But oh, when they are!

Now comes the most important part for Fay and Clive (and the animals)—who is good and who is evil? How is a child to know, really? They have only their few years’ experience in their own world, and while things may seem obvious—well, they aren’t at all now, are they. Making things worse is that, upon their arrival, they are almost immediately separated. Happily, their pets have sharp noses and that aforementioned natural sense of self preservation—so Kitnip and Wolf help out quite a bit. As the children navigate this new world, they learn to trust not only their four-legged companions, but themselves as well.

They also find that what they always thought—is actually so, and their parents were the ones who lost their way. This lesson is learned after several trials, frights and a great deal of introspection. Linaweaver covers a great deal of trauma and heartache during this emotional journey, and if you are familiar with his work, you will be stunned to realize that he does it in about 200 pages. Simple and to the point, with a depth of knowledge and compassion rarely found in stories about young people.

We adults are now so far removed from the world of adolescence that it’s rather an Oz unto itself. Brad Linaweaver has not lost sight of it though, and this writing evokes a feeling of Dandelion Wine by Bradbury. An unreality that is so solid you can touch it.

So, as the ad says, reach out and touch… The Season of Summer is life before the marriage fell apart. Beyond that…