#rusty puppy

[lifeofthebusdevguy]

Someone told me, Rusty looks like a ditto tried to transform into a corgi. Now that I see it, I can’t unsee it x.X

[lifeofthebusdevguy]

Sometimes Rusty likes to look out the window and ponder his existence and place in the world. Such a philosophical doggo

[denofgeek]

Den of Geek's Best Fiction Books of 2017

Here are 15 fiction books that mattered to Den of Geek writers in 2017...

As we leave the culturally-chaotic 2017 behind, Den of Geek writers are taking a moment to reflect on which books meant the most to us in the past year.

As with all "best of" lists, the criteria is somewhat subjective, while also representing a certain objective quality. In other words: these stories are well-told, but they also meant something special to our writers in 2017.

Hopefully, you will find at least one book amongst their number that either has or will mean something to you, too.

Here are our 15 selections for "Best Books of 2017"...

[fyccb]

[tachyonpub]

Visit with HAP AND LEONARD creator Joe R. Lansdale, his ownself

Joe R. Lansdale will be hitting the trail this month. Be sure to stop by and say howdy to the affable Joe.

Photo: Karen Lansdale

Tuesday, February 21, 7:30PM at Wild Detectives in Dallas, TX

with Kathleen Kent

Wednesday, February 22, 6:30PM at Murder By the Book in Houston, TX

with Kathleen Kent

Thursday, February 23, 7PM at BookPeople in Austin, TX

with Kathleen Kent

Monday, February 27, 7PM at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, AZ

with Kathleen Kent

Tuesday, February 28, 7PM at Eagle Eye Books in Decatur, GA

Wednesday, March 1, 7PM at Powell's Books - Cedar Hills Crossing in Beaverton, OR

Thursday, March 2, noon at Seattle Mystery Bookshop in Seattle, WA

Thursday, March 2, 7PM at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, WA

Friday, March 3, 7:30PM at The Historic Balboa Theater in San Francisco, CA

Screening of the legendary BUBBA HO-TEP followed by Q&A and signing

Saturday, March 4, 3PM at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, CA

Saturday, March 4, 7PM at Copperfield's Books in Petaluma, CA

Sunday, March 5, 2PM  at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA

with HAP AND LEONARD cast members Ron Rogge (Hap's Dad), Trace Masters (Little Hap), Pollyanna McIntosh (Angel - Only signing Hap & Leonard Season 1), Jeff  Pope (Chub), Neil Sandliands (tentative), Lowell Northrop, Jeremy Platt & musician Kasey Lansdale

Monday, March 6, 7PM at Book Carnival in Orange, CA

Tuesday, March 7, 7PM at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, CA 

Monday, March 13, 7PM at Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, NM

Screening of first episode of HAP AND LEONARD: MUCHO MOJO followed by Q&A and signing

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

[mulhollandbooks]

Love Hap and Leonard? Enter for a chance to win an advance copy of Rusty Puppy by Joe Lansdale.

[mulhollanduncovered]

Hap and Leonard ride again, and again

Author Joe R Lansdale gives us a run-down on what makes his characters Hap and Leonard so unique:

Quite by accident I discovered Hap Collins, and quite on purpose a lot of him is me. He has ceased to age for the moment, and I have not, but our DNA, except for Hap’s fortunate ability to stay middle-aged for as long as he likes, remains quite similar. Leonard, considerably less like me, also remains younger than me, and continually ornery.  

         SAVAGE SEASON, the first Hap and Leonard novel was meant to be a stand-alone, but Hap came back to me later with more adventures. I didn‘t fight it. They have been at it over 25 years now and are still going strong.  

         I used a lot of my background for Hap. He’s white, heterosexual and has a lot of liberal leanings. I don’t have a gay, black, conservative friend exactly like Leonard, but I have many friends, white and black, similar to him, though at the time of creation a gay, black Republican was as rare as hens with dentures. These days they are still rare, but nowhere like they once were. Times change.  

         Since I first began the series, thankfully, gay rights have been vastly expanded, and there’s a generally less hostile response to the idea of gays in the mainstream, and though racism has not disappeared, it does seem to be on the run, which was not the case when Hap and Leonard first appeared.

         That doesn’t mean things are rosy, and therefore the books continue to deal with cultural and political situations without them becoming the all purpose reasons for the stories.

         What I can say about these guys is they have gone through a number of changes. Characters in the series have come and gone, some violently. Hap and Leonard have worked their way up from poverty to lower middle-class positions. They have done the jobs I did as I made my way in the world. Field work, aluminum chair factories, etc., and now they work somewhat regularly as private investigators, which is not totally surprising, as their stories always had a certain kinship with the private eye tale.

         I love these guys. I do enjoy taking a break and writing other novels, some that might be considered more serious, but on the whole, I have said as much culturally, socially, and politically in their entertainments as I might have said in more serious tomes.

         But the real reason I write about Hap and Leonard is because they are as real to me as some people I know, and a lot more interesting than a number of them.

         Thank goodness for those guys. They have been good to me.

         I never know when Hap and Leonard will show up with new adventures, but when they do, I’m always here to listen and record them for the reader.  

Savage Season and Mucho Mojo are out on the 20th October in both paperback and ebook.