The new Story Time (see link on the right) is “How Konti Scrounged the World,” which first appeared in Realms of Fantasy back in February, 2000, and reprinted in THE OGRE’S WIFE in 2002. I’m including the story note I wrote for the ebook edition of the collection, with the understanding that the note was written long after the fact, and might have no more to do with the story than something anyone else might say about it. Continue reading
Category Archives: Folklore
All the Gates of Hell – Incarnate Edition
To our left is a picture of the printed proof copy of All the Gates of Hell that arrived on my doorstep day before yesterday. The picture isn’t that great (cameraphone), but the book itself turned out pretty good, in my own opinion. So for anyone not yet ready to embrace the ebook revolution, there is now an actual, real book that you can hold in your hands and, you know, read. You can order from Amazon at the link above or directly from your favorite bookseller.
ISBN-10: 1492993263
ISBN-13: 978-1492993261
300 pages, $11.99
“Legal Assistant Jin Lee Hannigan thought she had problems enough as a single woman in rundown Medias, Mississippi. That was before Jin meets a homeless man on Pepper Street who just happens to be the King of Hell, and learns that she’s really the mortal incarnation of Guan Shi Yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, charged with the rescue of unfortunates trapped in the various — and nasty — hells scattered around the cosmos. That doesn’t even turn out to be her biggest problem. It seems that the Goddess of Mercy is on the run and in hiding, which is why she incarnated as a human in the first place. Hiding from what?
Love.
But why would anyone fear love? Jin already knows that love is powerful, but what she has to learn, and fast, is that the wrong kind of love is also potentially the most destructive force in all the universe and–even more important–how to stop it.”
Off to See the Lama
I’ve been scarce this week because First Reader and I took a trip to Atlanta to hear the Dalai Lama give a talk at Emory University. He was there because there is a co-operative initiative between his monastery and the school in, of all things, the science department. Tibetan monks are being trained as science teachers at the university so they can go back to the monastery and teach classes in modern science within the Tibetan curriculum (said monastic program takes a mere twenty years to complete. And I thought Grad Students had it rough).
I don’t have a lot to say about the talk. You sort of had to be there. But I will note two things. 1) The Dalai Lama is an incredibly smart guy. You only had to hear him question one of the scientists present on a fine point of experimental methodology to pick up on that. 2) It was nice to hear someone who ought to know holding the opinion that a) religion isn’t enough for a full understanding of the universe and b) science and spirituality are not and should not be in conflict. Which has always been my own opinion on the subject.
Beneath Ceaseless Skies #131, Fifth Anniversary
Partly for selfish reasons, but also because sometimes people get annoyed when they aren’t told these things, I’m proud to announce that my own “Cherry Blossoms on the River of Souls” is the lead story in Issue #131, the Fifth Anniversary Double Issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies. The remainder of the issue’s contents, featuring stories by Adam Callaway, Alberto Yáñez, Rebecca Gomez Farrell, and Naim Kabir, plus a special audio fiction broadcast, will go live on October 10th.
“Cherry Blossoms on the River of Souls” you can read now. If you want.
Road Trip
I’m not sure what possessed me, seriously. We occasionally take road trips, and maybe I wanted to test my limits. When I was younger I could drive 8-10 hours (with a few breaks) at a stretch, and a recent road trip to Chattanooga surprised me by revealing how easily drivable it was. So when I was asked to visit a remote site for a week to aid in a printer migration (vast herds of HPs and Epsons making their way across the tundra? Yeah, went there) rather than flying like a sensible person, I decided to drive. 983 miles. Probably not a good idea. Took two days, and 6-8 hours on the road is probably my limit these days. So I drove from MS to Lake Eerie in 2 days. Done it once. Probably don’t need to do it again. Continue reading
Richard Parks 