kasey lansdale

June 3, 2020

OF MICE AND MINESTRONE by Joe R. Lansdale preview: “Sparring Partner” and “Leonard’s Banana Pudding”

Rick Klaw blog excerpt, hap and leonard, joe r lansdale, kasey lansdale, Leonard’s Banana Pudding, of mice and minestrone, preview, sparring partner 0

In celebration of the release of Joe R. Lansdale’s enthralling OF MICE AND MINESTRONE – HAP AND LEONARD: THE EARLY YEARS, Tachyon presents glimpses from the collection that “deals with abuse, friendship, violence, growing up, race, food, and justice, [and] is full of the wit that’s made Lansdale a star.” (Gabino Iglesias, author of Coyote Songs)

Sparring Partner

by
Joe R. Lansdale

We left there in Leonard’s pickup, which rattled as it went, made a sound like a rod was loose and there needed to be a about two hundred dollars’ worth of piston work. Leonard had a box of vanilla cookies setting between us, and now and again he’d dip his hand into the box and have one. He didn’t offer me any.

I said, “Man, that was kind of unnecessary. He was just an asshole, not Attila the Hun.”

“Way I see it I’m keeping him from growing up to be Attila. If not, motherfucker won’t be Attila in my neighborhood.”

I knew it was time to let the Lashawn discussion lay still.

“You say we got a job, but you haven’t told me shit, except for that knocking people down part, and by the way, you like that better than I do, so do I really want to get in on this?”

“Thought I told you what it was, you might turn me down.”

“I don’t know I like a job that’s a secret until you show it to me.”

“Do you like four hundred dollars?”

“A piece?”

“No, split, but hell, two hundred dollars apiece, that’s more than ass-wiping money.”

Back then it sure was. Some people worked two, sometimes three or four weeks to make that much. Things were cheaper then, but cheap is relative.

“How much work?”

“A few partial days.”

“Sounds too easy.”

“Sometimes things are easy.”

Continue on to page two for more OF MICE AND MINESTRONE content with a preview from GOOD EATS: THE RECIPES OF HAP AND LEONARD by Kasey Lansdale.

June 2, 2020

OF MICE AND MINESTRONE by Joe R. Lansdale preview: “The Watering Shed” and “Watering Shed Moonshine”

Rick Klaw blog excerpt, hap and leonard, Joe R. Lansdale, kasey lansdale, of mice and minestrone, preview, the watering shed, watering shed moonshine 0

In celebration of the release of Joe R. Lansdale’s enthralling OF MICE AND MINESTRONE – HAP AND LEONARD: THE EARLY YEARS, Tachyon presents glimpses from the book that is “a must-read.” (Bookgasm)

The Watering Shed

by
Joe R. Lansdale

When me and Leonard were young men, we decided to drive out to the Watering Shed to drink. We were underage, but we heard Shank figured if you could drive and had money, you could drink. I didn’t even drink, but the Watering Shed was a kind of rite of passage, and we wanted to go there just to prove our balls had dropped. It would be our first visit.

Leonard, being black, wasn’t exactly welcome. Though on the books East Texas was integrated, a lot of white folks were having a problem embracing it.

I think Leonard half-hoped he’d be denied, and that he could cause some trouble over it. Leonard has always been kind of angry, and he may have been even more angry then.

There was also this: he was queer as a six-toed cat and proud of it, and was as tough as a nickel steak and so masculine he made the macho tough guys look like they wore lace panties and shaved their balls.

The Watering Shed was well out in the woods, down by the river, and there were stories about how people went out there and didn’t come back, were later found in the river. Shank was known to settle some matters with a baseball bat or a cutoff shotgun he kept behind the bar. As for the clientele, well, let’s just say they weren’t sophisticated.

Frankly, I don’t know how it happened, but since Leonard and I met, we had become friends, and had bonded because of certain incidents, and truth was, we were moving beyond mere friendship and were becoming like brothers. Him being black and me being white broke some unwritten rules, and me hanging with him and him being queer, that just made it all the worse as far as many Southern folk were concerned.

When we got to the Watering Shed, there were a few cars parked out front, and the night was settling down on the world, and there was a glint of silver moonlight on the tin roof. We went in, Leonard bold as a cold, bare titty at a strip show, and me a little nervous, like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

When we entered, you could have heard a microbe drop.

There was tobacco smoke in the air, and it was a little warm, and it smelled funny, an accumulation of sweat and alcohol. It wasn’t packed inside, just a few folks here and there. Near the door was a round table, and there were four men at the table playing cards and drinking beer.

At the bar were two others, and in the back, at two different tables, a couple of men sat sipping beer. Joe Shank, who I knew from around town, was behind the bar. There wasn’t a woman in the place.

It wasn’t me they were looking at, of course, it was Leonard, black as an eggplant, cocky as a rooster. He sauntered over to the bar like Wild Bill Hickok, leaned on it, said, “Bartender, how about a beer?”

“How about some money?” Shank said.

Continue on to page two for more OF MICE AND MINESTRONE content with a preview from GOOD EATS: THE RECIPES OF HAP AND LEONARD by Kasey Lansdale.

May 30, 2020

A week’s worth of previews from OF MICE AND MINESTRONE by Joe R. Lansdale

Rick Klaw blog hap and leonard, Joe R. Lansdale, kasey lansdale, Kill Ya Dead Jalapeño Cornbread, mama's pecan bread, of mice and minestrone, preview, the kitchen 0

In celebration of the release of Joe R. Lansdale’s enthralling OF MICE AND MINESTRONE – HAP AND LEONARD: THE EARLY YEARS, Tachyon presents glimpses from a collection that “proves once again why Joe Lansdale is one of our very best.” (Ace Atkins, New York Times Bestselling author of The Shameless)

This week’s previews included:

The Kitchen
Kill Ya Dead Jalapeño Cornbread (recipe by Kasey Lansdale)
Mama’s Pecan Bread (recipe by Kasey Lansdale)
Of Mice and Minestrone

May 28, 2020

OF MICE AND MINESTRONE by Joe R. Lansdale preview: “Of Mice and Minestrone” and “Kill Ya Dead Jalapeño Cornbread”

Rick Klaw blog excerpt, hap and leonard, joe r lansdale, kasey lansdale, Kill Ya Dead Jalapeño Cornbread, of mice and minestrone, preview 0

In celebration of the release of Joe R. Lansdale’s enthralling OF MICE AND MINESTRONE – HAP AND LEONARD: THE EARLY YEARS, Tachyon presents glimpses from the collection that “is classic Lansdale at his legendary best.” (NY Journal of Books)

Of Mice and Minestrone

by
Joe R. Lansdale

“You went to Lubbock. Why did you come back?”

She stopped, looked at me. “Oh, kid. You don’t know nothing. He come and got me. He come and got me that very week. He knew where I went. Where else was there for me to go?”

“You didn’t have to go back with him.”

“Yeah. I did. It’s in the Bible. I’m to obey.”

“Oh, hell, Minnie. That isn’t true, even if it is in the Bible. Some Old Testament bullshit.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

I didn’t normally talk like that around women and adults then, but in that moment, I sure did. I couldn’t hold it in.

“Look what you’ve come back to. Why?”

“Didn’t have no other place to go, and he come and got me and put me in the car, and I’ve accepted that. I smart-mouthed him and he gave me this just this morning. I’ve learned my lesson. His word is law, and that’s how it is. That’s my life.”

“That’s no life. You don’t deserve this.”

She lifted a hand in the direction of her face.

“I had it coming.”

“No you didn’t.”

“You go on and leave me alone now. Nothing you can do for me. Nothing anyone can do for me. You go on. Don’t bother me again.”

I stood on my spot and watched her limp off down the sidewalk with the attitude of an outcast leper, limp on across the park where there were seesaws and swings and tall oaks and pecan trees, and the shadows of the trees lay over her like a shroud.

Continue on to page two for more OF MICE AND MINESTRONE content with a preview from GOOD EATS: THE RECIPES OF HAP AND LEONARD by Kasey Lansdale.

May 27, 2020

OF MICE AND MINESTRONE by Joe R. Lansdale preview: “The Kitchen” and “Mama’s Pecan Bread”

Rick Klaw blog exerpt, joe r lansdale, kasey lansdale, of mice and minestrone, preview, the kitchen 0

In celebration of the release of Joe R. Lansdale’s enthralling OF MICE AND MINESTRONE – HAP AND LEONARD: THE EARLY YEARS, Tachyon presents glimpses from the collection that is “full of humor, gritty drama, and insightful observations.” (Publishers Weekly)

The Kitchen

by
Joe R. Lansdale

I must have been six or seven at the time, and it was an event that went on for years, this gathering of relatives. Neither do I remember the occasion, or if there was one. Meaning it had nothing to do with Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any holiday. I believe it was just a visit to Grandma’s house. She lived about an hour from us, in a big old house on about thirty acres. She was quite old then, but still very mobile. She was the only living grandparent I had. The others had died long ago.

My grandmother had been born in the 1880s and had come to Texas as a child in a covered wagon from Oklahoma Territory. She had seen Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and she had seen men land on the moon. She lived to be nearly a hundred years old, until a bout of pneumonia killed her chance at achieving a centennial.

On this day it was cold. Not common in East Texas, but we have a couple, sometimes three months or so, when it’s that way. It wasn’t icy or wet, just cold.

The smell of chicken frying in lard after being dipped and rolled in flour and eggs and dropped into the hot grease was the smell that woke me up. I don’t remember what day of the week it was, but my father wasn’t there, so it was most likely a workday. That could be any day from Monday to Saturday, and sometimes on Sunday, thoughmy mother and other religious folks didn’t like the idea of
working on the day of the Sabbath.

“Let God come get me,” my dad used to say, and I could envision him whipping God’s ass. My dad inspired a lot of confidence.

When I got up, my mother fixed me breakfast. I remember I had what she called cornmeal mush. It was essentially grits with butter and a tablespoon of sugar and a dash of milk. It was my favorite breakfast food at that age. Now and again I added a sliced banana.

While I ate, my mother dipped the fried chicken out of the deep skillet with tongs, and put it on a plate covered with paper towels, and then she covered the chicken in paper towels.

After my breakfast, I got to mix the cornbread batter with a wooden spoon so big and long I had to rest it on my shoulder. When that was done, she made cornbread in the oven, and then we packed everything in boxes and brown paper sacks to be loaded in the car. I don’t know what kind of car it was, but it was green. She let me carry some mixing bowls and a sack that had some cooking utensils and a box of Lipton Tea, which most East Texans back then viewed as the nectar of the gods.

I still do.

Continue on to page two for more OF MICE AND MINESTRONE content with a preview from GOOD EATS: THE RECIPES OF HAP AND LEONARD by Kasey Lansdale.

October 17, 2019

Take a gander at Joe R. Lansdale’s new Hap and Leonard book OF MICE AND MINESTRONE

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized hap and leonard, Joe R. Lansdale, john coulthart, kasey lansdale, kathleen kent, of mice and minestrone

A brand-new Hap and Leonard series collection chock full of Joe R. Lansdale’s inimitable blend of humor, mayhem, and insight, OF MICE AND MINESTRONE delivers never-before-seen stories, a selection of the boys’ favorite recipes from Kasey Lansdale, and an introduction from New York Times bestselling crime author Kathleen Kent.

Hap Collins looks just like a good ol’ boy. But from his misspent
youth on, his best compatriot is Leonard Pine, who is black, gay, and
the ultimate outsider. Inseparable friends, Hap and Leonard climb into
the boxing ring, visit each other’s families, get in bar fights, and
just go fishing—all the while confronting racists, righting wrongs, and
eating a whole lot of delicious food.

So pull up a seat and sit a spell, and let master storyteller Joe R.
Lansdale regale you with a new passel of tales about the unlikeliest duo
East Texas has to offer.

Joe has decided to shelve the boys for a bit so this is the last Hap and Leonard for the foreseeable future. Or at least until Hap starts whispering to Joe again.

Available at all finer outlets in March 2020!

For more info on OF MICE AND MINSTRONE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Coulthart

March 5, 2019

Tachyon tidbits featuring Nick Mamatas, Kelley Armstrong, Joe R. Lansdale, and Michael Blumlein

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized bloody disgusting, brad miska, christopher brown, creepshow, elizabeth story, Ellen Datlow, interview, Joe R. Lansdale, kasey lansdale, keith lansdale, kelley armstrong, malvern books, michael blumlein, Nick Mamatas, nightmare, reading, the companion, the glottal stop, the people's republic of everything, the roberts, we are all monsters here

The latest reviews and mentions of Tachyon titles and authors from around the web.

Nick Mamatas, Kelley Armstrong (photo: Kathryn Hollinrake), Joe R. Lansdale (Ulf Andersen/Getty Images), and Michael Blumlein

NIGHTMARE (FEB. 2019 (ISSUE 77) offers a reprint of Nick Mamatas’ “The Glottal Stop,” which first appeared in THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF EVERYTHING.

Dating cis was rough, no doubt. For any woman, but especially for Beatriz Almonte, a living meme who had several years ago made a mistake and gained the attention of a secret bulletin board full of trolls for whom harassing her was a vocation not dissimilar from the priesthood. She had no more free background checks left on Spinstr, but was bored and horny enough to do without just this once and press *sm00ch* on some guy’s face. Another mistake.

That same issue of NIGHTMARE delivers an excerpt from “We Are All Monsters Here” by Kelley Armstrong.

So disappointing. After decades of movies and TV shows and books filled with creatures by turns terrifying and tempting, it was a guarantee that the real thing could never live up to the hype. We knew that. Yet we were still disappointed.

When the first stories hit the news—always from some distant place we’d never visited or planned to visit—the jokes followed. Late-night comedy routines, YouTube videos, Internet memes … people had a blast mocking the reality of vampires. The most popular costume that Halloween? Showing up dressed as yourself and saying, “Look, I’m a vampire.” Ha-ha.

Brad Miska for BLOODY DISGUSTING reports on the inclusion of “The Companion” by Joe R., Kasey, and Keith Lansdale in the forthcoming ShudderTV show Creepshow.

Production Weekly reports that Matt Venne (Stephen King’s “Bag of Bones”, Acts of vengeance, “Fear Itself”: Pelts) will write the “Creepshow” episode “The Companion”, which is based on the 1995 short story by Joe R. Lansdale, Kasey Jo Lansdale, and Keith Lansdale.

“13-year-old Harold decides to explore the long-abandoned farm of the late Raymond Brenner, and finds that he’s got a new Companion: a murderous, indestructible scarecrow.”

At his recent event at Malvern Books, Michael Blumlein read from THE ROBERTS.

And then was interviewed by Christopher Brown.

For more info on THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF EVERYTHING, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on THE ROBERTS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

May 23, 2018

HAP AND LEONARD tackles societal problems in an unapologetic yet humorous manner

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized 1428 elm, black girl nerds, blood and lemonade, bubba ho-tep, dana roberts, elizabeth story, hap and leonard, high fever books, John Picacio, jonita davis, kasey lansdale, michael patrick hicks, petition, review, sundanceTV', susan leighton, terror is our business, the best of joe r lansdale, the big book of hap and leonard

The cancellation of the popular and acclaimed SundanceTV series Hap and Leonard has not sat well with fans.

Jonita Davis for BLACK GIRL NERDS argues that the show was cancelled because tv execs were not comfortable with the show’s uncomfortable content.

There hasn’t been a show in a long tine that embodied so many important tropes depicted in such natural forms. Thee now-cancelled AMC SundanceTV show “Hap and Leonard” took on several problem areas in modern society with an unapologetic yet humorous manner. From the toxic white feminine complacency to the conservative black gay man and the black woman driven to her death by racism and misogyny, the show never shed away from a subject.

<snip>

There won’t be another show like “Hap and Leonard”, In fact, the next shows lined up bu SundanceTV center whiteness once again with three white women in the lead and no POC to be found so far. Fortunately, we will have Lansdale’s extensive collection of books about our characters on display and ready to read.

The whole fiasco shows us that, until the tv execs get comfortable airing uncomfortable content, we will never be able to keep a great show like “Hap and Leonard”.

Fans have started the petition: Netflix or Amazon should pick up future seasons of Hap and Leonard!

The Sundance Channel cancelled a much-beloved show with many loyal viewers (that they did little to promote) and after 3 great seasons, there’s are many more Hap and Leonard books ready to be adapted.

One of the prime streaming channels like Netflix or Amazon should and allow the current fans and future fans to find this wonderful series!

For 1428 ELM, Susan Leighton shares a lengthy 2 part interview with Joe R. Lansdale.

From Part 1:

1428 Elm: Let’s talk Bubba Ho-Tep. Knowing that Elvis spent time in Gladewater, were you a fan? What was the genesis for the short story that became one of the most beloved cult classics of all time?

JL: First of all, the genesis for it would be that I grew up with Elvis. Of course, my brother had that loose connection with him. It was almost like he was a distant cousin in a strange way.

In many ways because of him, I discovered all of these different types of music. Without Elvis, a lot of white kids would never have known about black music, country music and folk music because they were all connected to what he did.

That meant a lot to me. So, when I was asked to write an Elvis story, I had this title in my head. Bubba Ho-Tep which I thought would be a funny thing for a mummy story.

Photo by Ulf Andersen/Getty Images

Part 2:

428 Elm: Sorry to hear about the cancellation of this terrific show. What are your takeaways from your time with Sundance and being one of the producers?

JL: James Purefoy and I were talking via email and neither one of us are sad. We had three great seasons. If we would have been able to continue we would have been more enthusiastic to do so. We’re both very content.

Fans were even disappointed and angry. I don’t think there is anything to be angry about. My takeaway is that Sundance treated me very well.

We were hoping it would move somewhere else but it didn’t. It was a wonderful experience. I met some great people.

I am working on the Bottoms which my friend Bill Paxton was supposed to direct. He was such a great guy with such a great vision of the film and his direction would have been awesome.

We have other plans, I’m not going to say what because that’s confidential. I am excited about it. I will be a producer on it. Although I am not the absolute producer on it, I hope to be more involved with it.

I am trying to be a more active producer on other projects of mine or a more absolute producer. So, we’ll see what happens.

Michael Patrick Hicks at HIGH FEVER BOOKS praises the forthcoming collection Terror Is Our Business: Dana Roberts’ Casebook of Horrors
by Joe R Lansdale and Kasey Lansdale.

Terror is Our Business collects the Dana Roberts stories, previously published elsewhere, into a single volume, along with a new story, “The Case of the Ragman’s Anguish,” that is exclusive to this story. The book is split pretty evenly, with the first half devoted to stories written solely by Joe R. Lansdale, with the back-half featuring stories co-written by Joe and his daughter, Kasey Lansdale.

<snip>

Following Kasey’s introduction to this collection, we are introduced to a woman named Jana, initially in a stand-alone story focused solely on her encounter with the paranormal, before joining Dana’s investigations for the final two casebooks. Jana is a bit more my style – she’s fun, witty, has a bit of mouth on her, says things without thinking, and is pretty much always in way over her head. Dana, on the other hand, is very reserved and proper, an upper-class sort of personality. Jana is her Watson to Dana’s Holmes, and becomes our window into the world of the supernormal for the collection’s back-half. Once Kasey and Jana hit the pages, the stories become livelier and Dana finally has a counterpoint, a polar opposite, to act against. The burgeoning friendship between these personalities present an entertaining foil. The last two stories present supernormal threats that are also unabashedly Lovecraftian, which hit a particular sweet spot for me. While Jana presents an airier narrative voice than the stuffier gentleman author transcribing a moneyed ghost hunter’s adventures, the introduction of cosmic threats really tickled me, even if the stories still follow the by-now well-established Dana Roberts’ Casebook story formula.

All in all, Terror is Our Business: Dana Roberts’ Casebook of Horrors is a largely delightful introduction to this investigator, but it took a while for me to connect with the work as a whole. It’s not really until the last couple stories that everything began to click for me, and it’s clear that Kasey Lansdale’s influence was key to the development of Dana Roberts and helped give the series a fresher perspective. I do hope to see more of Dana and Jana, as well as Joe and Kasey as collaborators, in the future though.

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

For more info on THE BIG BOOK OF HAP AND LEONARD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info about THE BEST OF JOE R. LANSDALE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio

January 17, 2014

A frenzy erupts around COLD IN JULY

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized cold in july, crime, jim mickle, Joe R. Lansdale, kasey lansdale, movie, movie tie-in, mystery, sundance, wyatt russell

Excitement around the Sundance premiere of Cold In July, director Jim Mickle’s film adaptation of the Joe R. Lansdale novel, is mounting.

“may spark a frenzy” (Hollywood Reporter)
“should sell big” (Indie Wire)
“not to miss” (Female First)
one “of the most buzzed-about films” (Crushable)
one of the “Fest films with highest wanna-see from buyers” (Deadline)

Paper included Wyatt Russell, who plays a short but vital role in Cold In July, among their “10 Sundance Faces Destined For Greatness.”

The Boropulse profiles Kasey Lansdale and her musical contributions to the movie.

TV Guide interviews Jim Mickle about Cold In July.

(Michael C. Hall in a scene from Cold in July)

This July in commemoration of the movie’s general release, Tachyon delivers the official movie tie-in edition of the original novel, complete with an introduction by director Jim Mickle and an afterword by Joe R. Lansdale, his ownself.

For more info on the book Cold In July, visit the Tachyon page.

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