May 132015
 

Lou Merriweather is a psychopomp in 1860s San Francisco: She’s androgyne, (allegedly) unattractive, mixed-race Chinese and English, and she unhaunts houses for a living. The first scene shows us her personality: a bit of a rogue, and a woman who isn’t afraid to be mistaken for a man.

She has to leave San Francisco, however, to chase down the disappearing Chinese immigrants, gone seeking work. On the way she’ll befriend bears and make enemies – it’s a rip-snorter of a book that blends action and adventure with a minimum of bodice-ripping. It manages to be progressive

and entertaining all at once.

Apr 042013
 

A Pretty Mouth

A Pretty Mouth is a stylistic tour-de-force through Lovecraftish horror (without all that annoying rascism and sexism) and Georgian, Edwardian, and Victorian styles. It’s also really damn good. The collection begins with a Wodehouse mash-up that would have Sir Pelham spitting tentacles from his grave. Jeeves goes… I can’t even explain it. The entire collection is layered with the metaphysical, each new story bringing a different, excellent stylistic variation, stepping a bit further back into Calipash history, explaining bits of the prior story. Even the author’s notes leave doubt as to what’s real and what’s not. Go buy this book.

 

Get it here (UK) or here (US)