Tag Archives: Egaeus Press

The Hawler: the Sky’s Limit

MY GESTALT REAL-TIME REVIEWS OF SUCH AN AUTHOR NOW CRYSTALLISED IN PRINT:

Details of these books can be found HERE, including the books with my reviews of Black Static and Interzone.

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The authors covered by these books, alphabetic by forename:
Adam Golaski, Adam Nevill, Adam S. Cantwell, Alasdair Gray, Albert Power, Alcebiades Diniz Miguel, Alexander Zelenyj, Algernon Blackwood, Alison Moore, Allen Ashley, Allyson Bird, Andrew Condous, Andrew Hook, Andy Darlington, Anjali Sachdeva, Ann VanderMeer, Anne Cluysenaar, Arthur Machen, Avalon Brantley, Black Static, Brendan Connell, Brian Aldiss, Brian Evenson, Brian Howell, C.M. Muller, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Carly Holmes, Carole Johnstone, Cate Gardner, Charles Schneider, Charles Wilkinson, Christopher Priest, Clarice Lispector, Clark Ashton Smith, Colin Insole, Conrad Williams, D.F. Lewis, D.P. Watt, Damian Murphy, Damien Angelica Walters, David Mathew, Doris Lessing, Douglas Thompson, Edgar Allan Poe, Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Bowen, Ellen Datlow, Eric Schaller, Finnegans Wake, Fiona Pitt-Kethley, Flannery O’Connor, Frances Hardinge, Frances Oliver, François Mauriac, Gary Couzens, Gary Fry, Gary McMahon, Gemma Files, George Berguño, Georgina Bruce, Glen Hirshberg, Gwendolyn Kiste, H.A. Manhood, H.P. Lovecraft, Harold Billings, Haruki Murakami, Helen Grant, Helen Marshall, Henry James, Howard Watts, Ian Parkinson, Interzone, Jason A. Wyckoff, J.J. Haas, J.S. Breukelaar, J.W. Böhm, James Everington, Jean Ray, Jeffrey Ford, Jeffrey Thomas, Jeff VanderMeer, Jeremy Reed, Joan Lindsay, Joe Pulver, Joel Lane, John Langan, John Cowper Powys, John Gale, John Howard, John Travis, Johnny Mains, Jonathan Coe, Jonathan Wood, Jon Padgett, Julie Travis, Justin Isis, Karen Heuler, Karim Ghahwagi, Kazuo Ishiguro, Kerry Hadley-Pryce, Kristi DeMeester, Kristine Ong Muslim, Kurt Fawver, L.A. Lewis, Laird Barron, Laura Mauro, Lee Rourke, Leena Krohn, Lesley Kara, Livia Llewellyn, Lord Dunsany, Louis Marvick, Malcolm Devlin, Malcolm Lowry, Marcel Schwob, Marion Arnott, Mark Samuels, Mark Valentine, Mary Rickert, Matt Leyshon, Matthew M. Bartlett, May Sinclair, Melanie Tem, Michael Cisco, Michael Griffin, Michael Wehunt, Michael Wyndham Thomas, Michel Faber, Mike O’Driscoll, Nadia Bulkin, Nathan Ballingrud, Neil Williamson, Nicholas Royle, Nicole Cushing, Nina Allan, Paul Auster, Paul Meloy, Peter Bell, Philip Fracassi, Phyllis Paul, Priya Sharma, Quentin S Crisp, R.A. Lafferty, R.B. Russell, Rachel Cusk, Ralph Robert Moore, Rameau’s Nephew, Ramsey Campbell, Ray Cluley, Rebecca Lloyd, Reggie Oliver, Rhys Hughes, Richard Gavin, Robert Aickman, Robert W. Chambers, Ron Weighell, Rosalie Parker, Rosanne Rabinowitz, S.P. Miskowski, Salman Rushdie, Samuel Beckett, Samuel Fisher, Sarah Perry, Scott Nicolay, Silvina Ocampo, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Simon Strantzas, Sofia Samatar, Stephan Friedman, Stephen Bacon, Stephen J. Clark, Stephen King, Stephen Volk, Steve Duffy, Steve Rasnic Tem, T.E.D. Klein, T.E. Grau, Ted Chiang, Thomas Ligotti, Thomas Phillips, Thomas Strømsholt, Tim Nickels, Tristam Shandy, Truman Capote, Ursula Pflug, V.H. Leslie, Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov, W.N.P Barbellion, William H. Gass, Wyl Menmuir, Xan Brooks.

The Flowering of Books

THE SEVEN DAYS OF HAPPINESS

They do say that you are only eligible for a few days of happiness as scattered throughout one’s life. A day of happiness, however, does have a high bar and a day of happiness means that you are happy all day, without any hint of sadness or frustration, no moments of doubt — and, so, you can see this is a very difficult day to accomplish whatever your nature. Or whatever your destiny. Or whatever your determination to be happy. In fact, I have found that an utter determination to be happy can be counter-productive, too deliberate, too self-conscious, and it becomes only too easy to fail, to falter at the last moment.

Happiness is usually an automatic emotion, something that simply happens, something that cannot be forced. Which brings me to considering the concept of trying to do things that you assume will make you happy, like being outgoing, like attending social gatherings, striving for goals, working hard as well as playing hard, doing good to others so as to make THEM happy, sponsoring charities, and so forth. And, oh yes, avoiding illness and various other tribulations. Optimising the possibility of good luck. Spurning bad luck. And so you can see, the more I go on about this, the more you will see how precarious this whole business might be, when you have to deal with things out of your control. Happiness is not within your own grasp. It depends on others, it depends on luck or fate, and some people believe it depends on something like God. So, let’s add religion to the balance, the act of prayer and faith. All to be factored into the complex search for happiness.

Well, I don’t know about you, but, during my life, I have sat down and thought deeply about this search, its complex ingredients and how best to ensure that you have as many days of pure happiness as possible. Not a straightforward task, I agree, and I have often scratched my head as I tried to work out formulae for all aspects of free will and fate. Yes, free will and fate, the two ingredients that cover a multitude of sins and virtues. Let us suppose there are certain qualities of happiness that actually depend on building on previous happiness until you can harness a trend of ongoing happiness that accumulates from sheer onward impetus and the sooner one can understand that, the sooner you will be able fulfil your goal of optimum happiness.

So, let’s get down to brass tacks. Starting with a sort of experimentation, what I call brainstorming, playing around with numbers and possibilities, permutations of hope and expectation. My favourite experiment is working out how many days of human happiness need to be consecutive to each other to ensure that the following days will be ones of pure happiness, too. My conclusion has come to fruition today, after several years of trial and error and that conclusion is that you need at least seven days of happiness to be consecutive before the trend of happy days becomes unstoppable, ensuring that the whole of the rest of your life is to be full of days of pure happiness, and the longer the period continues, the longer the period lasts. And yes, let me tell you, even death is postponed.

There, let me draw breath for a moment. I have reached the point in my argument that needs careful thought. One needs to come to a halt sometimes and think deeply about exactly what has just been said, what has just been thought, exactly what has just been concluded. Can there still be a moment when all hope dissipates, when the current day comes to an end without another day to follow it. Seven days of happiness, can they begin again where they first started, and become an endless circle of time, an endless circle of happiness? I’ll tell you next week.

The Book of Flowering

EGAEUS PRESS MMXIX

Edited by Mark Beech

My previous reviews of this publisher HERE

Works by Mark Valentine, Tiffani Angus, Sheryl Humphrey, Timothy J. Jarvis, Ron Weighell, John Gale, Reggie Oliver, D.P. Watt, Colin Insole, Alison Littlewood, Damian Murphy, Rebecca Kuder, Mat Joiner, N.A. Jackson, V.H. Leslie, Jonathan Wood, Charles Schneider, Thomas Strømsholt.

When I read this book, my thoughts will appear in the comment stream below…

Book of the Sea

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EDITED BY MARK BEECH

EGAEUS PRESS MMXVIII

My previous reviews of this publisher HERE

“Being a collection of weird new writings” by David Yates, Rosalie Parker, Tom Johnstone, Stephen J. Clark, Karim Ghahwagi, Colin Fisher, Jane Jakeman, Michael R. Colangelo, Colin Insole, Jonathan Eeds, Albert Power, Martin Jones, S.A. Rennie, Charles Schneider, Jonathan Wood, Tim Foley, Joseph Dawson, D.F. Lewis, George Berguño, Richard Sheppard, Steven Pirie.

When I read this book, my thoughts will appear in the comment stream below…

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