Books

It's turning out to be a very bookish year. I've been voraciously reading books (science, science-fiction, financial crisis), watching my friends (and clients) write them and turning my own ideas around in my mind. Then, I got a surprise blast from the past book acknowledgment.

If you're a consistent Heathervescent blog reader, you know I worked with Jonathan Shaw on his first novel - Narcisa: Our Lady of Ashes earlier this year. I helped set up his site and blog in preparation and to support the launch of Narcisa. Jonathan has taken to blogging and you can continue Narcisa's adventure on his blog, Scabvendor. He recently launched his site in Portuguese! Bem Legal! I consider that a bloggy success.

Narcisa is a wild ride and I read the galley copy over 3 days shooting and burning up cars in a remote desert. It was a fitting setting to travel to Narcisa's Rio. I highly suggest this book. You will visit places you have never visited before, but they might seem familiar.

Second, my pal and conspirator, Dame Darcy just launched her current book, Gasoline: A Graphic Novel, a post-apocalyptic witch tale. It's bound like a book of faerie tales with rich Arthur Rackam-esque illustrations along a typewritten story. I just sat down to read it this evening and I've already inhaled half of the story. A family searching for Gasoline for their car.

I'm familiar with the story, seeing her illustrations, visiting the magical compound in the Malibu hills, meeting the actual characters, one of her dolls resting jauntily against my multi-armed Ganesha as I write this. We've been working for over a year now on an online doll game based on her characters. Our business relationship turned into friendship.

I finally saw the book on Sunday at the Royal T Maid Cafe full of cute Gothic Lolita dressed to the cos-play max girls. It's a gorgeous book, definitely not child's play although it might look like it. It's definitely going to be one of my favored books in my collection.

Then earlier this year, out of the blue, I got an email from my x-husband asking for my current mailing address. He told me he was publishing a book, most of which he wrote when we were together, and wanted to send me a copy. I didn't know if I wanted to see this book; although I was happy for his success.

A month or two later I found his package in my PO box. His handwriting unchanged, recognizing the giraffe stamp, I didn't know if I would open it. Would I be disappointed if he acknowledged me? What if he didn't? Short answer, he did. That felt nice. That felt like an appropriate gesture.

The book, The Mentalist's Handbook: An Explorer's Guide to Astral, Spirit, and Psychic Worlds, is beautiful. This is unsurprising. Jeff's black and white drawings are gorgeous as ever. I have not read the book. I read much of the content over the shoulder as it was being written, and later pre-pamphlet production. The content, I am sure, is good, if that's the type of book you are looking for.

But it reminds me of one of the major problems I had with our relationship. Clint would spend lots of time reading and researching the methodologies he wrote about. But he never (as long as I knew him) practiced them. He would get letters from people who practiced the techniques he wrote about. This was a sharp contrast to what I was actively practicing at the time. Similar techniques to what he wrote about. It irked me and felt false to write about something he had never directly experienced.

We exchanged a dialog about this after I got the book, because after all these years, I wanted to know, did he begin to believe? I can't answer that question. And it's not up to me, nor of any consequence to me. Still, the book is beautiful and I am glad it was created.