Tentative Tentacular Release Dates

[ecosophia]

I'm very pleased to report that Founders House Publishing now has a tentative release calendar for the rest of my epic fantasy with tentacles, The Weird of Hali. Here's when to expect the next squamous, rugose volume: 

The Weird of Hali: Dreamlands - April 2019
 

The Weird of Hali: Providence - June 2019
 

The Weird of Hali: Red Hook - August 2019
 

The Weird of Hali: Arkham - October 2019

They're all written at this point, and the only remaining revisions needed are extremely minor, so any of my readers who've been spending years now waiting for George R.R. Martin or Patrick Rothfuss to get off their duffs and finish the last volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire and The Kingkiller Chronicle respectively need not worry about having a repeat of that experience!

I'll post more details, including advance ordering data, as those come in. Meanwhile, we can all listen for those low eerie noises out there in the night, as of strange shapes moving closer...

Comments

[hwistle]

Can't wait! Just finished Chorazin (and, accidentally, a glass of a beautiful 11% Imperial Stout which I'm sure Justin would have approved of...) and I'm already having withdrawal symptons... I'll just have to fill the time with some of Mr Lovecraft's writing until the REAL stuff is available ;-)

Manuel

[ecosophia]

Now that sounds like a beer that Owen, Justin, and I would all appreciate. Glad you liked the books! If you read the Lovecraft stories about dreams -- principally The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, "The Silver Key," and "The Dreams in the Witch-House" -- you'll catch more of the easter eggs in the fourth volume. ;-)

[grandswamperman]

The last one will be out just in time for my birthday! Just finished book three and I'm excited to read the rest of them.

[ecosophia]

Great Cthulhu is coming to your birthday party, then. ;-)

[marcu]

Dear Mr. Greer,

This is excellent news, thank you!

[ecosophia]

You're most welcome and thank you.

[kayr]

I look forward to reading the forth coming books. I have certainly enjoyed the first three. It occurred to me as I was reading the most recent release, largely because it made me hungry, and because I was getting a bit confused with all the Old Ones names, areas of influence and the various churches and orders, that an appendix was in order that included some of the recipes for the glorious food you write so deliciously about and more details about the Old Ones and their followers. I would happily buy a copy.

[ecosophia]

Hmm! I'll have to find some recipes; I'm not a particularly creative cook, though I like to eat. Still, it's by no means impossible, and I may hold a contest at some point for recipes for The Weird of Hali Cookbook or some such thing. (I can certainly give a recipe for the foodlike substance Owen made early on in Innsmouth, because I ate that way in college, but I seriously doubt anyone else will want to make the experiment!)

I'll need particular help around Book 5, since a major character in that book spent much time in provincial France -- specifically, the departement Haute-Isoile, once known as the old province of Averoigne, neither of which you'll find on ordinary maps -- and she and a certain, er, associate of hers cook a mean pot-a-feu.

But I'll certainly consider it!

[deborah_bender]

Are you familiar with Lobscouse and Spotted Dog, by Anne Chotzinoff Grossman and Lisa Grossman Thomas, with a foreword by Patrick O'Brian? These two women set about finding or creating a recipe for every dish mentioned in every book of the Aubrey/Maturin series of historical novels by Mr. O'Brian. The novels are set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. (A so-so movie was made out of two of the novels; the books are better.)

The authors are expert cooks, did lot of culinary historical research, and used ingredients and cooking methods as close as possible to those used in the early eighteenth century. All the recipes are tested. They include directions when the method is unfamiliar, such as how to make a freestanding crust to hold the ingredients of a tall meat pie. Many of the recipes are preceded by apropos quotations from the novel in which the dish appears.

The cookbook also includes words and music for a few songs of the period. It is very well organized.

[ecosophia]

No, not at all, though I'm somewhat familiar with the books (a friend of mine is a great fan of them). Still, it's interesting to hear that someone else has done something similar.

[walt_f]

Although its intent is rather different from what you're discussing here, this seems to be a good place to give a shout out to The Necronomnomnom, a cookbook of Eldritch horror. I recently received my copy after backing it on Kickstarter. It should be available online and via specialty retailers soon. I'll bring mine to the Midsummer Potluck, perhaps with a sample preparation or two.

Not to be confused with the very similarly titled The NecroNomNomNomicon: Cookbook of the Dead by Felix Galvan, which is apparently not a cookbook at all, but a novel that juxtaposes the supernatural with the far eerier (to me at least) world of cooking contest shows.

[ecosophia]

Okay, The Necronomnomnom just about got tea over the keyboard. Thank you.

[kayr]

I have eaten cheap ramie, but Owen's didn't sound that good. I am not a great cook either, but I am a pretty good eater. Thanks for the consideration.

[ecosophia]

Trust me, Owen's wasn't very good. I've made it, and its sole virtues are that it's filling and cheap.

[deansmith]

Glad to hear Averoigne will be a part of the Haliverse... those CAS stories are some of my favorites of the mythos.

[ecosophia]

Oh, it's already in. The references to French localities in Kingsport were all to towns in Averoigne; Jenny's family, the Chaudronniers, comes from Averoigne, and you might recall a certain Luc le Chaudronnier from "The Beast of Averoigne" -- yes, that's one of her ancestors. Emmeline Grenier, from the Universite de Vyones in the old, gargoyle-ridden cathedral town of that name in the departement Haude-Isoile, will be a major character in A Wind from Hyperborea, which will of course a CAS carnival -- with glacial melting, the peak of Mount Voormithadreth and several other significant Hyperborean sites have emerged from under the ice, and, ahem, certain other things have likewise emerged... ;-)

[deansmith]

That's right, I do recall that from Kingsport! I was going to reread it before Chorazin because, but I couldn't wait and started Chorazin a couple days ago when I got it. I thought one of the Hali books was goin to be subtitled Hyperborea, so is that a stand alone now? Will it take place during the Hali timeline, or after?

[ecosophia]

What happened to Hyperborea was that the story outgrew the frame; I'd meant it to be the sixth volume of WoH, but I'd set myself fairly strict limits of word count and focus and the story just wouldn't fit. I wrote two complete drafts -- more precisely, two complete and rather different novels -- before giving up and replacing it with Red Hook, which is based on Lovecraft's New York City stories and rather gleefully stands them on their heads.

The story I'd set out for Hyperborea is too good to abandon, though, so it's becoming a standalone novel set in the Haliverse, like The Shoggoth Concerto; I don't have the exact timing settled yet but I think it takes place around five years after Chorazin.

[(Anonymous)]

Fantastic. Finished book 3 last week and was the best so far.
Looking forward to April
Cheers averagejoe

[ecosophia]

Thank you!

[(Anonymous)]

What works out better for you and your publishers, buying the book or the ebook version? And what, in your view, would be better for the reader?

[ecosophia]

I do about equally well either way. As for what's better for the reader, why, it depends on the reader, of course; I love printed books, but I know people who love their e-book readers, and I see no reason not to let them follow their 'druthers the way I follow mine.

tl:dr: as long as you buy the book, I'm happy -- I could care less what format you like to have it in.