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Hello everyone,
Hope this finds you in great spirits. This isn't really a full newsletter so much as a brief update.
Details are scarce about my the book tour for Spirits In The Wires late this summer, but I'll get back to you when Tor gives me a schedule.
I do know that I'll be at the ALA Pre-Conference, on a panel called "What's Up with Popular Reading?" in Toronto, Friday June 20. I believe I'm also taking part in something on Saturday, but don't have any details on that yet. More info about the conference itself can be found at:
http://www.ala.org/
It's a bit late to spread the word, but for those of you who aren't too far away, my Annual Book & Yard Sale will be held this Saturday (or Sunday if it rains). There'll be over 1,000 books by various authors (most fantasy &
SF) plus lots of CDs, some vinyl LPs (remember those?) and tons of collectibles, antiques and clothing from Reclectica (aka MaryAnn). It's always a wild time and this year should be no exception. There's a map on my Web site if you need directions:
http://www.charlesdelint.com
Please note that these aren't books written me, but are books culled from my personal collection—something I do every year. And you can only get them by showing up in person on June 7th; in other words, no mail orders.
MaryAnn and I had a great time in Arizona and Utah, seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time and also Zion National Park. I'd highly recommend both destinations. We also enjoyed meeting several readers in Phoenix, which was relaxed enough for some chats and music. A real bonus was that Terri Windling drove up from Tucson to stay overnight with us. We also had a chance to renew acquaintance with author Wendy Wheeler from Austin (who generously housed us when we visited that fine city a while back). Wendy has written short fiction that appeared in Terri's Year's Best anthology, so it was cool that they got to meet one another for the first time.
A couple of readers at the con mentioned that they really like the music recommendations that appear in these newsletters, so here are a few quick ones:
New finds (for me, at least) start with Americana artist Tim Easton who everybody else probably already knows because he's got at least three CDs under his belt. You can sample his music at:
http://www.timeaston.com/
Another new Americana artist for me is Peter Bruntnell, who apparently lives just outside of London, UK, but you'd never know it from the gritty, wide open spaces feel to his music. You can find out more about him at:
http://www.peterbruntnell.co.uk/
I've also been enjoying Kristin Sweetland's Root, Heart & Crown, which is folky with smart lyrics and great guests such as Stephen Fearing (whose band Blackie & the Rodeo Kinds has a new CD this year). I think this one might particularly appeal to those of you into Ren Faire/Burning Man adventures. More about her at:
http://www.kristinsweetland.com
There's lots more great stuff that's been on the player, everything from new releases by Ojos de Brujo, Richard Thompson, Lisa Germano, to old favs like Joe Strummer, Lúnasa, and Calexico. I've also been digging into Bob Schneider's back catalogue—the CDs he made with groups like the Scabs and the Ugly Americans. There's some fairly rude material in there, but a lot that's really fun, like a studio version of the great Tex Mex rave-up, "Tarantula."
Thanks to all of you who have been me sending CDs and recommendations. There's so much good music out there, isn't there?
MaryAnn (aka Reclectica) has resumed her auctions and, for the collectors among you, there are several advance proofs of my books among her wares. She also has jewellery, a couple of Pre-Raphaelite pictures and clothing listed. Reclectica's auctions can be viewed at:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=reclectica&include=0&since=-1&sort=2&rows=25
Speaking of Terri Windling, as I was a few paragraphs ago, I want to give you advance notice about an upcoming fundraising auction to support Endicott Studio.com, her excellent Web site devoted to the mythic arts:
http://www.endicott-studio.com/
On June 15th, MaryAnn will launch an eBay auction for one of Terri's original oil paintings. On that date, you'll be able to view the auction by going to the link to MaryAnn's auctions.
Terri provided these details about the painting and the project which you can find at the end of this newsletter.
And that's about it, except to mention that the June issue of Locus has an interview with me, and to pass along the sad news that I'm totally overwhelmed by email these days. I love hearing from you, and do read the letters I get, but I can't really respond to them anymore. It's come to a choice between answering email and writing books, and the characters sitting in my head tell me I need to write the books or their stories won't ever get told.
Stay strong and live full lives.
Charles
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The Angel of Childhood" by Terri Windling
Medium: Oil paint on paper
Size: 19 inches (h) x 15 inches (w), unmatted
About the painting:
"This painting is part of a series I've been working on for several years now, depicting various angels or guardian spirits (such as The Angel of Stories, The Angel of Language, The Angel of Creativity, etc.). Other paintings in the series are owned by friends; this is the only one I've put up for sale at this point. I see this angel as a guardian of children and of childhood memories—a protective spirit to smooth rough passages, soothe sorrows, and chase away bad dreams."
Funds raised by this auction will support the cost of running the Endicott Studio Journal of Mythic Arts (www.endicott-studio.com/jMA.html), an on-line journal devoted to contemporary fiction and art rooted in myth and folklore. Through fund-raising such as this, it is our aim to continue offering access to the site free of charge (and without commercial
advertising) to all interested readers.
A longer explanation:
The Endicott Studio is an arts organization I founded in 1987 to support Mythic Arts: contemporary literature, visual art, and performance art rooted in fairy tales, folklore, and myth. The Endicott Studio web site
(www.endicott-studio.com) was created in 1997 to celebrate and explore the field of mythic arts, featuring art, poetry, articles on myth, book recommendations etc. by contemporary writers and artists including Charles de Lint, Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, Midori Snyder, Jane Yolen, Neil Gaiman, Charles Vess, Thomas Canty, Brian & Wendy Froud, Alan Lee, and many others.
In the five years since its inception, the Endicott Studio web site has become a much-loved resource for artists, educators, students, and readers interested in myth and mythic arts. The site has grown extensive, yet we've continued to run on an entirely volunteer basis. (All money raised through book sales on the site go to children's charities.) In the autumn of 2002, a new web-master joined the Endicott team, Anita Roy Dobbs. Anita and I are currently engaged in a massive overhaul of the site's html code and overall design—which includes devoting a large portion of the site to a bi-monthly, on-line magazine titled The Endicott Studio Journal of Mythic Arts.
While there are excellent print journals that focus specifically on mythology and fairy tales (such as Parabola and Marvels and Tales), I've long wished for a magazine combining articles on myth (for the general reader rather than the specialist) with a look at how myth and folklore are used by contemporary writers and artists. Since there's no magazine out there precisely of this kind, we're building one ourselves on the Endicott Studio web site—but this is a time-intensive endeavor. For starters, we need to be able to hire Anita's time, rather than wait for her spare moments between other jobs, in order to get the journal posted punctually every two months. (Anita is a hard-working single mother, and there's a limit to the amount of unpaid time she can devote to the web site, no matter how deeply she supports it.) We'd also like to be able to expand our fiction offerings, including purchasing the rights to post original stories. We want to continue to offer our readers free access to the Endicott Studio web site, and to avoid annoying commercial ads, so we're looking at other ways (such as grants) to raise funding for the Mythic Arts Journal. This auction, which MaryAnn Harris kindly volunteered to run, is our first fund-raising endeavor. Money raised through this auction will immediately be applied to the cost of finishing the site overhaul and re-design, and getting us on a firm schedule. Please help us keep the Endicott Studio web site going, and growing!
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![[logo: Charles de Lint]](images/cdl_logo01.gif){kind=logo}
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