Okay, I give up. What’s that header supposed to mean?
It means I couldn’t think of a title. The one thing I have to do today is get this newsletter out, and the first step toward that end is to come up with a header, and I couldn’t do it.
Um…
So I thought, as I often do, of my late friend Donald Westlake. In 1981 he published a novel set in Uganda, in which a team of criminals steal an entire train full of coffee. He called it Kahawa, and when people asked him what it meant—
Which I suspect was rather often.
I wouldn’t be surprised. When they asked, he told them it was a Swahili word that means “We couldn’t think of a title.”
But it actually means…
Coffee, obviously. It was one of his stronger novels, but it didn’t sell terribly well. I don’t think the title helped. It may not help this newsletter either, but at least I’m writing the damn thing.
And you figure that’s good, huh?
Well, I’ve got stuff to report. For the past week I’ve been composing blog posts, each featuring a 1000-word 
preview of one of the stories in At Home in the Dark,along with author photos and book covers. So far I’ve provided samples of stories by Elaine Kagan, Wallace Stroby, Ed Park, Laura Benedict, Joe Lansdale, Noreen Ayres, and Joe Hill.
Is that Joe Hill on the bike?
It is. I think I told you Netflix is developing “Faun,” the novelette he wrote for At Home in the Dark, and the excerpt I posted is getting a lot of attention. The blog posts go out by email to blog subscribers, and I’ve spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. But I don’t want to leave out all of y’all who just get the newsletter, so, well, here you go.
You’re just trying to get us to buy the book.
If so, I have to say it’s working. Preorders have been brisk. Now there’s no urgency in preordering an ebook, as one of the nice things about them is the publisher never runs out of stock. But what an ebook preorder can do is lock in the price—which in this case may well go up a buck or two after publication.
As for the Subterranean Press signed-and-numbered limited, it’s the only hardcover edition the book will ever have, and the bad news is that it’s been fully subscribed. Subterranean’s out of stock, and won’t be reprinting.
So what’s the good news?
Even though the publisher’s shelves are bare, Amazon seems to have enough copies coming their way so that they’re not only continuing to accept preorders but have dropped their price from $50 to $42.03.
$42.03? How’d they set that price?
I have absolutely no idea. According to their product page, you can click on a coupon that’ll cut the price an additional $2.58, and I don’t have a clue where that number came from, either. Or how many copies they’ve got, or how long they’ll be offering them at that price.
Speaking of signed-and-numbered limited editions, I see Subterranean’s been shipping A Time to Scatter Stones to the people who managed to preorder it.
Yes, there was a delay at the printers. I’ve been hearing from people who have finally received their copies, and they all seem happy—with the beautifully produced book, and with Matthew Scudder and his latest adventure.
The book’s been getting good reviews, and moving at a good clip. The out-of-print hardcover trade edition is still available at a good price from Amazon, as is the paperback. The ebook if on offer at Thalia Apple Kobo Nook…and, duh, Amazon.
I’m sure you’re happy Matt’s getting such a warm reception at such an advanced age.
I am—and I’m similarly pleased with the reception a much younger Matt’s been getting. Some months ago he made his graphic novel debut, brilliantly adapted by John K. Snyder III, and people are still saying nice things about the book. In the current edition of Mystery Scene Magazine, nine critics picked their favorite reads of 2018. Two of them, Kevin Burton Smith and Hank Wagner, bothshortlisted the Eight Million Ways to Die graphic novel. Click hereto see what they had to say.
And that about does it for this installment, and—
Last time you wrapped things up with a batch of links. Different books of yours you felt weren’t getting as much love as they deserved.
You liked that? I could probably come up with a few more. Here you go:
Random Walk The Liar’s Companion A Week as Andrea Benstock Catch and Release Ariel
And that’s going to have to be enough. Be well, stay out of drafts, and enjoy the spring—if it ever gets here. Meanwhile, read something!
