This newsletter just keeps growing. There are now 1,950 of you subscribed. Needless to say, MaryAnn and I are delighted by your interest.

The events of September 11th still hang heavily in the air as I write this. I keep trying to go back to business as normal, but with mixed results. The world has changed and normality is coloured by the tragedy and worries of what's still to come.

The auctions that MaryAnn has been running to raise money for the Red Cross have been very successful to date. Not including personal contributions we've made, we've raised $755.00 to date. MaryAnn's just put up a couple more items and asked me to pass along this message to you:

Hi all, Here we go again! I'm excited about these items and you'll see why. Check 'em out: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1280506950 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewItem&item=1470327202 Thanks for your support. love, MaryAnn

These are for an original chapbook edition of Berlin that was published here in Ottawa by Fourth Avenue Press in 1989. The story is the second of my contributions to Terri Windling's Bordertown series. The chapbook was kindly donated by Scott Siebert.

The other is a multi-media fairy created by Sukie Q, a British artist. We have three of these living in our house with us and they're a real joy. It was especially nice of Sukie Q to donate the fairy since she doesn't offer these for sale.

Other people are raising money, too, as witness this note from Terri Windling:

"Beginning on September 23rd, Pat Wilshire is conducting a big auction of sf/fantasy art on eBay to raise money for the American Red Cross to help the victims of the Sept. 11th attacks. I've donated art, and so have many other artists in our field. The auction will probably run over a month or more, as art keeps coming in. Please pass this information on, so that people know that this is happening. Information on the auction is below. For updates, check out the web page: http://www.riverstyx.com/tsrart"

BOOK NEWS

The Onion Girl appears to have been slightly delayed, but I'm sure it'll be in North American stores soon, if it's not in them already. I don't have a release date for the British edition yet.

Tor recently reissued Into the Green through their Orb Books trade paperback line. I really like the new cover. (You can view it at: www.charlesdelint.com/coverart/green_orb.jpg) The only changes they made was to show more of John's beautiful painting and give it a white background, but I think it really works.

The Road to Lisdoonvarna is still available from Subterranean Press. Seven Wild Sisters has changed from a novella to a short novel and has been delayed until January 2002 to give Charles Vess the chance to finish the art. Other upcoming projects from Subterranean Press in 2002 include a hardcover limited edition of Wolf Moon and the first of a projected three volumes of early stories. The first book will be devoted to heroic fantasy and will include the hard-to-find novella "The Fair At Emain Macha."

And, as I think I've mentioned in some of the brief updates to the last newsletter, there are a couple more of my books available in e-book editions from peanutpress: Yarrow and Greenmantle. They tell me that they're working on getting Moonheart up soon.

My reading time still seems to be non-existent, but I would like to recommend a couple of books that I did get the chance to read: Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris isn't even vaguely fantastic (as were the books before it, Chocolat and Blackberry Wine) but it's a superb read. Joanne's rapidly turned into one of my favourite writers and I can't imagine your not enjoying her work as well.

The other book I want to mention is Andrew Vachss' newest addition to the Burke series, Pain Management. Andrew's books are dark and gritty, and not necessarily for everyone, but they've been favourites of mine ever the publication of Flood, back in 1985. This particular book will be of interest to those of you who can appreciate its hardboiled style because the crow girls (Maida and Zia), my own writing, and Terri's Bordertown series play a prominent role in terms of the plot. In a way, this makes a perfect circle, since Bordertown is behind how Andrew and I met. A runaway girl gave him a copy of one of the Bordertown books as a way of saying thanks for the help he'd given her and it was because of my story in it that he first contacted me. We've been friends ever since.

MUSIC

The fall always brings on a slew of great new releases, and so far this year hasn't been an exception.

Dylan's Love and Theft shows that he still has what it takes to make a great record.

In alt-country, Buddy & Julie Miller have finally released a CD together, the self-titled Buddy & Julie Miller. Although they're all over each other's CDs, this is the first time you get both of them harmonizing and playing together on every track, and it's a real joy.

Another treat is Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt with a stellar cast covering the great songwriter's material, everyone from Guy Clark and Lucinda Williams to Steve Earle and the wonderful Flatlanders. Which reminds me, if you like this, you'll probably also enjoy an evening at Nashville's famed Bluebird Café with Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, captured on the disc Together at the Bluebird Café. Just three great singers and songwriters with their guitars, stories and songs.

Then there's Dar Williams' Out There Live. I wish I'd seen the shows that these tracks are taken from as they sound brilliant. She does all my favorite songs, performed with assurance and heart.

The idiosyncratic Dan Bern ("Bernstein") just put out New American Language, a strong album that takes him even further from the inevitable Dylan comparisons of his first couple of CDs.

And lastly, for the Celtic music fans out there, John Williams has a new CD out on Green Linnet called Steam that'll have your toes tapping in no time.

Which brings us to the end of another newsletter. As my friend Dave Kidd would say, "Thanks for talking to me."

Stay strong and dream true.

MaryAnn and I were very happy with the results of the second round of charity auctions for the Red Cross. Sukie-Q's Dream faery Artling fetched $165 and Scott Siebert's copy of my book, Berlin, sold for $168.

Meanwhile, MaryAnn's been busy sorting through her many acquisitions for her own eBay business. She calls herself "Reclectica," which suits the eclectic nature of the treasures she sells. Our house is bursting at the seams with Reclectica's wares. It was readers of mine who encouraged MaryAnn to get into this. You know who you are. What have you done with my wife?

Curious types can take a peek at some of her current auctions by going to:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=reclectica&include=0&since=-1&sort=2&rows=25

That url should work for upcoming auctions as well, but if you'd like to be on her mailing list, drop her a line at: mah@reclectica.com

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Just a couple of other announcements this time around. I wanted to let you know that Forests of the Heart is now available from peanutpress. Here's the url:
http://www.peanutpress.com/book.cgi/0312702116/094105896-54969-14275

Also, they're definitely working on Moonheart and it should be the next title up. I'll let you know when it becomes available.

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Lastly, I've been trying to catch up on all the email in my inbox. Some of it's so old that I'm getting back messages that the sender is no longer at that address. I suppose what I'm trying to say here is, that if it seems that I'm ignoring you, I'm not. It's just that the volume is so large that it's really hard to deal with it and everything else in life. I will get back to you. But it might take awhile.

Sorry about the duplicate mailing of the last update. I could tell you a long story involving monkeys, water buffalo, huckleberry-flavoured jellybeans, and an Elvis impersonator hiding out in a cloister, but the truth is, I'm just an idjit.

That said, I actually have another bit of news. Turns out that The Onion Girl is also up at peanutpress.com. Here's the url:
http://www.peanutpress.com/book.cgi/0312703031/04354379-45599-9323

(Thanks to Alisa for pointing this out.)

And you know, this is probably as good a place as any to mention that much as MaryAnn and I enjoy reading books and stories on our handhelds, we're not trying to convince anyone to switch to this format. The thing that often gets lost in arguments of e-book versus regular books, is that e-books shouldn't be considered a replacement for regular books. I'm certainly not ready to give them up.

Instead, think of e-books as simply here to augment regular book formats. Just as sometimes it's easier to read a paperback than a hardcover, there are also times when an e-book is more convenient. For myself, this is particularly true when reading other people's manuscripts. And then there are the long lost backlist titles (such as R.A. MacAvoy's Tea with the Black Dragon) which are finally available again, if only as an e-book.

Whatever format you choose, I hope you enjoy your books.