Here we are at the 6-month mark with the Peschel Press newsletter. Before we get into the news, I wanted to thank y’all for signing up and state what you can expect here.
We expect to publish about four books a year from the press. We may tuck in a few more here and there, but that means there’ll be a couple months in between announcements.
Fortunately, I have a habit of pointing to stuff that I’ve read or experienced that I think is cool to share. So, if you’re interested only in what the Press has to offer, I’ll lead with that information. After that, I’ll spend the rest of the newsletter babbling on. So let’s get started!
PROJECTS IN NOVEMBER
“Sherlock Holmes Parodies and Pastiches II: 1905-1909” is still in the works. I’ve got eight more introductions to write and stories to edit, plus a short story in the works. Then it’ll go to my wife for editing and back to me for production. I want to get this book out before the end of the year. That’ll make four books published this year (The Times Report of the Trial of William Palmer, plus volumes 1-3 in the 223B Casebook Series.)
In addition, I’m also working on the edit of “Ride of My Life,” the comic novel involving the space shuttle, weird science, and bread delivery. I’m about 30 percent into rereading and revising the story. So far, I’m surprised at how good it is, considering it was a first draft written under the pressure of a deadline. I don’t know how it will be received, but it’s passing muster with me an that’s a start.
APPEARANCES
On Saturday (11/7) we’ll be at the Hershey Arts & Crafts Show at Hershey High School. It’ll be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This week, I’ll post a map of the show at the Planetpeschel website showing the location of our table.
COOL BOOKS
This month I reviewed a comic mystery by Parnell Hall. “A Fool for a Client” stars his investigator Stanley Hastings, who usually finds himself in over his head much of the time, but is helped by his acerbic but loving wife, Alice, and his willingness to look like a fool if it’ll help him solved the case. I’ve enjoyed Hall’s mysteries since the mid-90s, so if you’re looking for a light, funny mystery I recommend checking out his books. He also has a second series of “Puzzle Lady” mysteries that are equally amusing. My review.
I’m also in the middle of reading “The Beat Goes On”, a collection of Inspector Rebus short stories by Ian Rankin. These are billed as “the complete collection,” which saddens me because Rebus is a fascinating detective. While he’s a dark character in the novels, the short stories show us a less-angsty Rebus. The crimes are still crimes, but when they involve the theft of an X-rated statue, an incompetent blackmailer, and the dubious appearance of the Holy Ghost, it’s a pleasure to ride along.
LINKETY LINKS
I read a lot on the Internet. Occasionally, I find articles that dive deep into something I was interested in without even knowing it. Here’s what I found recently.
1. The Comedians, The Mob and the American Supperclub by Kliph Nesteroff
If you remember TV and nightclub entertainers like Jack Carter, Buddy Hackett, Rusty Warren, and Red Buttons, you need to visit Kliph Nesteroff’s site. He’s spent years collecting oral histories from them and people who knew them. He’s got a new book coming out this month, “The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy.”
Here’s the first paragraph:
“Las Vegas inevitably comes to mind when people think of America and the Mob. The era of patent-leather crooners, blinding neon, schmaltzy comedians and feather-laden showgirls is constantly romanticized – but Las Vegas was merely the apex of a trend. From the nineteen thirties until the end of the sixties every city in America had at least one glamorous supperclub, if not four or five, featuring the top headliners in every showbiz genre. Furthermore, it didn’t matter if these clubs were in Cleveland, Portland, Corpus Christi or Baton Rouge – if it was a nightclub – the owners were the Mob. For a good forty years the Mob controlled American show business.”
2. Land, Capital, Attention: This Time it Is the Same
An article that made me think differently about the passage of time and the changes that technological innovations bring.
Here’s the first paragraph:
“We have had all these innovations and have always found new things for people to work on.
This is the Lump of Labor fallacy all over again.
You are a Luddite!
What makes you think this time is different?
This is the rhetoric aimed at people like myself who argue that we need to fundamentally rethink how the economy and society work because digital technologies changing the world. I have taken to replying “you are correct, but you are looking at the wrong time frame.” What all of the above objections share is that they look at a relatively short part of human history. If you look at a larger arc then a different picture emerges.”
3. Wyatt Earp in Hollywood: The untold story of how Wyatt Earp got ripped off by outlaws in the last outlaw town.
A story from True West magazine that’s pretty much self-explanatory.
In a letter, written in December 1928, the 80-year-old frontiersman Wyatt Earp opined that perhaps “my health will be back to normal when this story business is all done with.”
He was wrong twice.
Less than a month later, Wyatt was dead, and his legend was on the cusp of exploding. Some outlaws were about to become very rich from his story, but Wyatt never made a dime on any of it. This is the story of how that happened.
Keep reading!