It’s been nearly two years since we saw the mercury rise past 100°F (37.8°C), but we’re making up for lost time. Triple digits day in and day out, with heat indices in the 108-109° range. Fortunately, I’m not outdoors very much, so I barely notice. The heat radiating from the (black) seat in my car actually feels kind of nice when I drive home at the end of the workday.
Cemetery Dance announced a couple of relevant things recently. First, the signed/limited edition of The Dark Tower Companion is almost done at the printer and should be shipping by the end of the month. Their eye-catching notices start off by saying, “Stephen King Says This Book Will Delight Dark Tower Fans!” Well, who can argue with that? This massive book is still available from CD for the bargain price of $60, and it has material (mostly pertaining to the Marvel graphic novels) not found in the NAL trade edition, which is also still available, by the way. The timing is decent given this week’s announcement that the Dark Tower movie will be in theaters in January 2017.
Then came the official announcement of the CD Select series, which consists of eBooks containing about four stories from a single author. Here’s the promo copy:
This new series invites some of our favorite authors to spotlight a sampling of their own short fiction: award-winners, stories they consider their best or that had the most impact on their career—or neglected favorites they feel deserve a second look.
Long-time fans will enjoy revisiting some classic tales. New readers will find this series a handy introduction to each author’s best work.
Each Cemetery Dance Select mini-collection includes an exclusive Afterword where the author explains the reasoning behind each selection, and provides insights into the writing of each story.
Check out their webpage for a list of the authors from the “first wave,” which includes me. The eBooks are available from all of the usual online vendors.
I finally bit the bullet and deleted Under the Dome from the DVR. I almost did it at the end of Season 2, but I decided to give the show another chance to redeem itself. The two-hour premiere was a train wreck. Still, I watched one more episode because it promised to “answer all the questions.” I wasn’t impressed.
I am still digging Mr. Robot, though. “Was that what you wanted to hear?” Eliot says to his therapist after admitting to creeping her, and just about everyone else in his life. She was stunned, to put it mildly. And then there was that bit on the roof. I kept waiting for her to get up, gasping, but no.
