The last time I sent out a Fantastic Books newsletter was April 20, so it’s been a while. I was reminded of that gap last weekend at Philcon, when someone asked me why there hadn’t been a newsletter recently, and I realized that we’ve published several awesome books you ought to know about. Of course, I’m continually focused on the books that we will be publishing in the future, so I sometimes forget to talk about those that are now available.

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And, since I’ve timed this so fortuitously—today was Thanksgiving here in the US, and the coming days bring us Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday—I’m also including a limited-time coupon code: buy any ebook directly from the FantasticBooks.biz web site, and use the coupon code CM25 for a 15% discount. The coupon code expires Tuesday, December 2, 2025, so don’t delay.

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We published Ron Kaiser’s first novel, Mystralhaven, in July. It’s a sweeping epic with a desperate struggle against mystical forces. The coming of Baz, the Mossbringer, has been foretold: she has powers far beyond those of even the most gifted around her. Had Baz’s mother lived, she certainly would have been able to guide Baz through her dawning awareness of her abilities. But even if she learns how to control and use those powers, it may not be enough to save the monks who want to use her, the Borderforges who want to enslave her, or the people who fear her. Can she trust Rendwyll—who is more sand than person—to guide her into her new awareness? With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, can she afford not to?

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Philcon was a good time. I saw a lot of people I only see at conventions, I met some interesting new people, I served on three interesting panels (all about publishing business topics), and for the first time, I was asked to emcee the masquerade. The extent of my costuming prowess is to wear a suit jacket at conventions, mostly because they have sufficient pockets, but I claim it’s my costume, “dressing as a responsible adult.” Well, the costumes at the masquerade—both the entrants and the judges—were remarkable works of art and performance. I just stood off to the side of the stage, making announcements, reading scripts, and occasionally filling in the time with bad jokes. But I love being on stage so much that this was yet another opportunity, and I leapt at it.

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I’d also been on stage the week before, and two weeks before that, at Mensa conventions, talking about punctuation and my new book, Punctilious Punctuation. The book came about because of an article I wrote. I had an argument with the editor of the magazine in which the article appeared: he removed a comma from a sentence that I felt (and still feel) needed it. In response, I wrote a book, because that’s what a rational person would do, right? Punctilious Punctuation looks at each of the punctuation marks (and the quasi-punctuational marks on the keyboard) individually, delving into their history, usage, misusage, and some comedic disambiguation. The book also includes interesting stories about punctuation marks in real life (like the comma that cost a Maine dairy $5 million, and the punctuation marks that led to the Russian Revolution, and more).

 

On behalf of, and to help support, the Pocono Liars’ Club (a writers’ association in northeastern Pennsylvania), we published the anthology The Lies We Tell Others. The anthology is a mixed-genre bag, including science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, literary fiction, and more. The week after it was published was the group’s annual workshop, where I was a last-minute fill-in for another presenter who had to undergo emergency surgery. I led a workshop teaching writers how to present their writing to a live audience (see above for my comments about being on stage). It was well received, as was the book.

 

Just in time for Halloween, we published Carren Strock’s Left Behind: The Cahill Ghost. In the book, a young girl at the turn of the last century discovers that she’s dead, but that she’s been left behind by her family. Left behind, that is, to discover what happened to them, and to bring justice to the living. Before she can do anything, she has to learn how to be a ghost, and what she can really do. It’s a moving, eerie, historic tale that will keep you engrossed until the very end.

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Finally, at Philcon, we debuted Daniel M. Kimmel’s newest novel, A Talent to Amuse. The book tells the story of writer Sherman Biberman, a good but forgettable author, who is searching for the inspiration to write the great American novel. He meets his soon-to-be-former Muse, who introduces him to the out-of-work and also-seeking-inspiration Muse Vinteokaseta, the erstwhile Muse of Blockbuster Video stores. This engrossing romantasy also crosses genre lines as Sherman and Vinteokaseta get to know each other, try to figure out their futures, and incidentally quest for the best baklava.

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Philcon was my tenth science fiction convention of the year (along with nearly as many Mensa conventions), so it’s been a busy year. But it was my last scheduled convention until Boskone, which will be in Boston in February. That’s nearly three months without a scheduled convention; I won’t know what to do with myself. I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful, and your year-end is equally tasty.

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Thanks for reading! Remember, the coupon code CM25 expires Tuesday. And feel free to share this newsletter far and wide.

 

Ian Randal Strock
Publisher