trailer

June 15, 2022

Excitement abounds for Sam J. Miller’s debut collection BOYS, BEASTS & MEN with interviews, reviews, a book trailer & more

Rick Klaw blog Ancillary Review of Books, andrew liptak, arley song, BC Clark, boys beasts & men, buzzfeed, clarkesworld, delphic reviews, disciples of boltax, gary k wolfe, interview, just geeking by, Locus, margaret kingsbury, Melody Bowles, Neil Czeszejko, review, sam j miller, the british fantasy society, trailer, transfer orbit

The release of Sam J. Miller’s debut collection BOYS, BEASTS & MEN launched with a flurry of activity, all positive. Though the book is already sold out at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop (more copies on their way), copies should be available from your local bookstore and as always directly from Tachyon.

Cover of BOYS, BEASTS, & MEN, a collection by Sam J. Miller. — Cover by Jennifer O’Toole
Design by Elizabeth Story

**Andrew Liptak, in his Transfer Orbit newsletter, not only reviewed the book and interviewed Miller but also offered the first look at the book trailer!**

It’s a superb roundup of a prolific author’s short stories: tales that deal with complicated, messy lives of people trying to make their way through life, faced with uncertain and dangerous worlds.
Transfer Orbit

Collections are always interesting to read from short fiction authors, because of the curation involved. What was the determination that you made for each story to be placed here?

I was fortunate to be able to be very picky here, because these actually represent less than half of my published stories!

Ultimately I wanted to include the stories that got the best response from readers – including ones that got award recognition or were anthologized – but I also wanted to be able to tell a broader story about masculinity and monstrosity and patriarchy, which are obviously super important themes in my work, and these seemed like the best stories with which to tell that story.
Transfer Orbit

A whole host of reviews appeared for the collection including contributions from Margaret Kingsbury in “20 Amazing New Science Fiction And Fantasy Beach Reads“ (BuzzFeed), **Gary K. Wolfe at Locus, Melody Bowles from The British Fantasy Society, BC Clark at Ancillary Review of Books, Neil Czeszejko at Delphic Reviews, Just Geeking By, and Disciples of Boltax.**

All 14 of these brilliant, character-driven short stories are perfectly crafted, subtly altering reality using SFF elements while managing to fully explore the repercussions of doing so with the conciseness a short story requires.
20 Amazing New Science Fiction And Fantasy Beach Reads (BuzzFeed)

Miller is clearly one of the generation of writers thoroughly comfortable with genre hopping (or genre-ignoring, or genre-pillaging), and BOYS, BEASTS & MEN is no exception to that. . . . Given the pain and joy that Miller can so vividly evoke, it’s both an admonition and a celebration.
Locus

Overall, I enjoyed the wide variety of stories in BOYS, BEASTS & MEN. Not every story was a hit for me, but they were certainly all memorable. If you like your fantasy and sci-fi with realistic grit to ground it, pick this one up.
The British Fantasy Society

Sam J. Miller’s stories collected in BOYS, BEASTS & MEN are fire in about the same way a blast furnace is. They are full of evolving, disintegrating, and re-assembling identities, a funhouse hall of molten mirrors. These stories burn away façades to reveal true histories full of fierce magic. Histories queer as all hell’s furies unleashed. Histories often uncontrollable by those who bend the course of the story. An able craftsman, Miller harnesses the powers of the twin underground rivers of loneliness and desire to channel the rage and hope of his characters. And through that craft, Miller brings tales of justice regained and character reframed
Ancillary Review of Books

BOYS, BEASTS & MEN is a phenomenal short story collection that brings to mind a pack of wolves, with each story pulsing to its own heartbeat, straining at the leash that affixes it to the whole with bestial vigor.
Delphic Reviews

To be honest, the entire anthology is mesmerising. Miller’s writing is witty and hard-hitting, drawing out stories from angles that most people don’t tend to see.
Just Geeking By

The stories in this collection run the gamut from scary to angry to sad to kind but they all have a raw humanity that I loved. I recommend this book highly and hope to read more from Mr. Miller in the future.
Disciples of Boltax

**Arley Song for Clarkesworld interviewed Miller.**

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about this book?

That the incredible Amal El-Mohtar wrote the introduction! And it’s amazing! Seriously made me choke up when I read it. In 2014, when my short story “We Are the Cloud” (included in the collection) was published in Lightspeed, it got some super homophobic reviews, which suuuuuuuuucked—any LGBTQIA+ SFF writer can tell you that queering the genre means coming up against a whole lot of really vicious trolls—and Amal wrote the most beautiful review/defense of the story; that’s how I knew she’d be the perfect person to do the introduction.
Clarkesworld

September 28, 2017

Tachyon tidbits featuring Ellen Klages, Joe R. Lansdale, and Jeff VanderMeer

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized andrew dice clay, annihilation, corbin benson, dana k white, deadline, denise petski, ellen klages, hap and leonard, hap and leonard ride again, hap and leonard: blood and lemonade, jeff vandermeer, Joe R. Lansdale, louise gosset jr, review, satellite mind, sundanceTV', trailer, wicked wonders

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

Ellen Klages (photo: Scott R. Kline), Joe R. Lansdale (Karen Lansdale), and Jeff VanderMeer (Kyle Cassidy)

At SATELLITE MIND, Dana K. White praises Ellen Klages’ WICKED WONDERS.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you think short stories are not for you, read this book.

From the first page I was instantly immersed in the magical and vibrant worlds of Wicked Wonders. The author has this amazing talent of writing short stories that leave you with enough closure to feel satisfied, but also include an intriguing enough premise to have you musing and daydreaming about the stories for weeks on end! Only a master storyteller could make glimpses of other worlds feel so complete.

Overall this is great collection from an award winning author, and while not every story includes magic, every story is magical.

Buy, Borrow or Bin Verdict: Buy

With the third season of the acclaimed HAP AND LEONARD, based on Joe R. Lansdale’s popular crime series, in production, Denise Petski of DEADLINE reports on several of the new recurring cast members.

Oscar winner Louis
Gossett Jr. (AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, ROOTS), PSYCH alum Corbin
Bernsen and DICE star Andrew Dice Clay are set for recurring roles in
the upcoming third season of SundanceTV’s critically-praised
anthology series HAP & LEONARD.

James Purefoy and Michael Kenneth Williams as the titular characters

Gossett Jr. plays
Bacon, a veterinarian-turned-cook at the local diner. Bernsen will
portray Chief Cantuck, the foul-mouthed, morally ambiguous head of
the Grovetown Police department. Clay is Sonny Knox, the town’s
politically incorrect radio disc jockey. In addition, Laura Allen
(AMERICAN HORROR STORY: CULT) plays Officer Reynolds, an East Texas
cop who hides her bigotry behind her badge, Sydney Wease (THE VAMPIRE
DIARIES), portrays Belinda, ethereal teenage waif, mute since a
mysterious abduction, and musician Curtis Harding plays blues legend,
L.C. Soothe, and L.C.’s grandson, Bobby Joe, both of whom run afoul
of the Klan. Tiffany Mack (Florida Grange) and Cranston Johnson
(Detective Hanson) return as series regulars.

In Season 3, when
Florida Grange goes missing in the Klan-infested town of Grovetown,
Hap and Leonard set out to find her. As the mystery unfolds, Hap and
Leonard find themselves at odds with a cast of characters so tough
they could chew the bumper off a pickup truck, including a possibly
corrupt sheriff, and the leader of the Caucasian Knights. Set once
again in East Texas, against an impending storm of Biblical
proportions, Hap and Leonard scramble to locate Florida before the
Klan locates them. The boys learn that the good guys don’t always
win, and nobody beats Mother Nature.

Paramount Pictures have released the first teaser trailer for the forthcoming movie ANNIHILATION, based on the best-selling novel by Jeff VanderMeer.

For more info on WICKED WONDERS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover by Elizabeth Story

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

Cover by Elizabeth Story

January 18, 2017

HAP AND LEONARD: MUCHO MOJO trailer, release date, and more

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized april neal, blood and lemonade, elizabeth story, hap and leonard, hap and leonard: blood and lemonade, hap and leonard: mucho mojo, james purefoy, Joe R. Lansdale, Marty Halpern, michael k. williams, monsters & critics, More Red Ink, professor mondo, rusty puppy, trailer

SUNDANCETV released a trailer for HAP AND LEONARD: MUCHO MOJO, the second season of the hit show based on the books by Joe R. Lansdale, and announced that the trouble starts on March 15.

At MONSTERS & CRITICS, April Neale details James Purefoy comments from the Television Critics Association (TCA) winter press tour.

HAP AND LEONARD star James Purefoy says Tiffany Mack’s character Florida Grange is crucial to Season 2 — and is much more than just a love interest for his character.

The actor told the Television Critics Association (TCA) winter press tour: “She is so much more than a love interest, Tiffany’s contribution is enormous.

“She’s bright, she’s smart and she’s got a lot to say for herself. Love interest is the LEAST interesting thing to say about her.”

PROFESSOR MONDO praises Lansdale’s writing in Hap and Leonard.

I spent a chunk of last week reading Joe Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard novels, and have now read the entire series (although I read them out of order, having doubled back to catch the earlier books), with the next installment, RUSTY PUPPY, coming out in a few months. As my binge read indicates, I highly recommend the series.

Particular strengths of the series include the friendship between the two principal characters, which I think nails the needling love of lifelong male friends, and the insight into the blue-collar world of Lansdale’s East Texas. Lansdale’s characteristic blend of horror and humor (both frequently verging on the Southern tall tale tradition) is another selling point, and I would recommend his handling of fight scenes as textbook lessons for writers wanting to handle violence effectively.

But I think what makes the books especially readable — and valuable — for me is Hap Collins’s voice as the narrator. I’ve mentioned that my background was a weird mix of working class and Bohemian, and that my maternal grandparents were country folks who came to Nashville looking for work, which my grandmother found as a drugstore cashier and my grandfather found driving fire engines. My grandfather in particular was a natural storyteller, and had both an endless source of material and a chance to hone his craft during nearly 40 years at the fire hall.

On his MORE RED INK, copy editor Marty Halpern previews the forthcoming HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE.

One of the projects that I worked on is the new HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE novel by Joe R. Lansdale, his ownself. This title, forthcoming in March from Tachyon Publications, will coincide with the premiere of season two of the SundanceTV series HAP AND LEONARD.

HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE is actually a “mosaic” novel. A mosaic novel is comprised of a number of related stories that are tied together with new connecting material; occasionally the author will even tweak the beginnings and/or endings of some of the stories so that the book flows more cohesively from one story to the next. If you have read Ray Bradbury’s classic THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, then you have read a mosaic novel. Back in 2005 I acquired and edited a mosaic novel for Golden Gryphon Press entitled FROM THE FILES OF THE TIME RANGERS by Richard Bowes. The SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, in its review of TIME RANGERS, described the mosaic novel as “something more integrated than a simple story collection but not confined to a singular, linear narrative structure.”

The stories are primarily from Hap’s point of view, while he’s hanging out with Leonard – often when they are driving in Hap’s truck, occasionally hanging out at the local Dairy Queen; a few of the latter stories take place at Hap’s house, in the presence of both Brett (Brett Sawyer, Hap’s on-again, off-again girlfriend) and Chance (Hap’s daughter).

We learn how these two disparate individuals – Hap Collins, a liberal, typically non-violent white boy (who spent time in federal prison as a young man for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War), and Leonard Pine, a gay, black, Vietnam vet (and a Republican) – actually meet, and not only become partners and friends, but brothers.

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

Cover by Elizabeth Story

February 5, 2016

Learn more about the crazed world of HAP AND LEONARD

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized christina hendricks, crime, elizabeth story, hap and leonard, hap and leonard ride again, interview, james purefoy, jim mickle, joe lansdale, Joe R. Lansdale, michael k. williams, sundanceTV', swamp noir, texas noir, trailer, yahoo

More footage, a behind-the-scenes vignette, and an interview with director Jim Mickle get’s us ready for March’s HAP AND LEONARD.

James Purefoy and Michael K. Williams as the titular characters in SundanceTV’s HAP AND LEONARD

SundanceTV has released the official trailer.

They also shared this clip.

YAHOO shared this fascinating behind-the-scenes video with lots of new footage. Includes interviews with the three stars and director Mickle.

Speaking of which, SUNDANCETV shares “6 questions with “hap and leonard” director jim mickle.”

Q: What are three words you would use to describe HAP AND LEONARD?

A: Unpredictable, funny and explosive.

Q: What kind of obstacles will Hap and Leonard face?

A:First and foremost, they have to find the money. It’s at the bottom of a river. Early on in our season, they can’t even find the river, which shows you what kind of adventures these guys go on. In one sense, it’s Hap returning to his home base, the town that he grew up in. He’s waking up some ghosts along the way from his past, but he’s also trying to fend off his bad habit of falling in and out of love with the wrong woman over and over again. Along the way, they’re going to be scuba diving. They’re going to be fending off alligators. There are a number of odd figures that they will cross paths with. And there will definitely be some gun fighting… It’s a mixed bag of just about everything.

Jim Mickle on the set of HAP AND LEONARD

Q: What do you think viewers will find special about this series?

A: What’s unique about the show is that we introduce a lot of unpredictable plot twists that I don’t think traditional television series generally do. We are able to tell a much faster-paced story. We’re able to keep the point of view very narrow, which I like. A lot of times, television has to introduce a lot of characters to sustain itself. We came in very early on saying we didn’t want to do that kind of story. We didn’t want to do the multithreaded character drama. This is pulp storytelling. There’s an inciting incident at the beginning of the series, and events unfold based off that. I think that allowed us to take directions in the plot and create characterizations that are just a little bit different than stock television.

Read the rest of the interview with Mickle at SUNDANCETV.

Also coming soon are two new collections featuring the dynamic duo:

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

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD RIDE AGAIN, visit the Tachyon page.

Covers by Elizabeth Story

June 26, 2014

The mirrored Worrom Semaj interviews James Morrow about THE MADONNA AND THE STARSHIP

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized elizabeth story, humor, interview, James Morrow, satire, science fiction, the madonna and the starship, trailer, video

In the amusing The Madonna and the Starship trailer, James Morrow interviews himself!

For more on The Madonna and the Starship, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover and design by Elizabeth Story.

April 28, 2014

Raves for COLD IN JULY abound

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized Cannes, cold in july, crime, Crow n' Bones, dread central, goodreads, joe lansdale, Joe R. Lansdale, L.A. Daily News, marvin vernon, marvin's bookish blog, movie, movie tie-in, Moviemaker, mystery, novel pursuit, reviews, texas noir, trailer

Following the release of the trailer and the announcement of the films inclusion with the Cannes Fortnight festivities, Cold in July reviews and mentions abound.

Marvin Vernon was so excited about the new Tachyon edition that he dusted off his 5 year old Goodreads review and rewrote and expanded the original. Additionally, he published it on two separate blogs: Marvin’s Bookish Blog and The Novel Pursuit.

Cold in July is certainly within the tradition of pulp mysteries and, more precisely, crime fiction. It is also firmly in Lansdale’s typical East Texas setting full of blue collar families and characters from the more dubious sides of life. Yet Lansdale has hit a literary note in this novel as he uses the plot and themes to explore father-son relationships. In that way, this novel may be one of his most subtle and maybe even more personal.

<snip>

So I have to say I enjoyed this book more on the second read and, maybe because of my own older age, felt closer for the relationship and the emotions of these men. I originally gave this book four stars but now I would increase it to five. It’s a crime fiction classic.

Crow n’ Bones loves the novel, the trailer, and has high hopes for the movie.

One of my favourite Lansdale novels is Cold In July. It’s a steely, badass noir story and an honest and often brutal examination of violence. And it features one of my favorite protagonists in all of literature in Jim Bob Luke, the deadly, smart- ass pig farmer / private eye. And now they made it into a movie! Cold In July is directed by Jim Mickle (Stake Land, We Are What We Are) and stars Michael C. Hall (Dexter himself!), the great Sam Sheppard and an awesomely grizzled Don Johnson as Jim Bob. The film has gathered a lot of praise and will be on theatrical release from May 23. The trailer below is everything I could hope for. This needs to be a ruthless shark of a thriller and the Walter Hill- meets- John Carpenter vibe of the trailer makes me smile. And check out that vintage 80s synth score! I have a lot of hope for this one.

MovieMaker explains “Why We Like” the Cold in July trailer.

Set in Texas in 1989, Cold in July begins with a home invasion that ends badly for the burglar. Family man Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall of Dexter) kills a man named Freddy Russell while defending his home, but soon finds out that Freddy’s ex-con father, Ben, is hell-bent on revenge. Corruption, betrayal, and doubt set the perfect stage for this Southern gothic noir. The trailer, embedded below,is intriguingly dark and devoid of comedy.

L.A. Daily News includes Cold in July in its feature about the current great noir renaissance.

We’re now in the midst of another great noir renaissance, although you may not have noticed it. Low-budget, American indie films such as “Blue Ruin” (opening in select theaters Friday), “Cheap Thrills,” “Perfect Sisters,” “Cold Comes the Night,” “Better Living Through Chemistry,” “Cold in July” and “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” have been wowing audiences on the festival circuit and Video on Demand, as well as the lucky few astute enough to catch some of their limited, commercial theatrical releases.

<snip>

And in “Cold in July,” another mild-mannered Texan, played by “Dexter’s” Michael C. Hall, becomes increasingly disoriented after killing an intruder in his home, and then discovers that the police charged with protecting his family may not be as trustworthy as the dead man’s revenge-seeking father (Sam Shepard).

That’s just one of the twists in “July,” which was adapted from Joe R. Lansdale’s 1989 novel and hits theaters and VOD May 23.

“This has elements of Westerns and Korean revenge thrillers to it,” the film’s director, Jim Mickle, confesses. “I love stories of guys who are put under immense pressure and put in really violent situations they’re not accustomed to, and see how they respond.”

Dread Central praises the movie and Joe R. Lansdale.

Joe R. Landsdale is one of those rare fiction writers whose work translates beautifully to the screen. Incident on and off a Mountain Road is one of my favorite episodes of “Masters of Horror,” and of course Bubba Ho-Tep is a cult classic. Now his novel Cold in July comes to the screen in an adaptation by Nick Damici (who also acts), as directed by indie darling Jim Mickle.

I’ve seen a couple of Mickle’s movies – Stake Land and We Are What We Are – and while I appreciated his unique style, I never fully liked his work. Until now. Perhaps it’s the Lansdale connection, or maybe it’s the truly committed performances by three excellent lead actors (Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, and Don Johnson), but whatever the reason – the gritty, 80s-set Cold in July sent shivers down my spine from start to finish.

The movie tie-in edition of Cold in July will be available from all finer outlets on May 20.

Cold in July the movie, starring Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Sam Shepard (Black Hawk Down), and Don Johnson (Miami Vice), hits theaters and VOD on May 23.

Book cover design by Elizabeth Story

April 16, 2014

The “tense, gripping, gruesome” COLD IN JULY gets a trailer & a movie poster

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized cold in july, crime, Don Johnson, elizabeth story, entertainment weekly, jim mickle, joe lansdale, Joe R. Lansdale, Michael C. Hall, movie, movie tie-in, mystery, poster, Sam Shepard, texas noir, trailer

Not only was the official poster for Cold in July revealed yesterday by Entertainment Weekly but the trailer was released today.

On May 20 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.

The movie tie-in edition of Cold in July will be available from all finer outlets on May 20.

Cold in July the movie, starring Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Sam Shepard (Black Hawk Down), and Don Johnson (Miami Vice), hits theaters and VOD on May 23.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story