The history of Badger Books is nearly finished. Again. I had a second proof of Beyond the Void arrive during the week, but there was a glitch in the printing that meant that the printer had trimmed the book poorly and cut into the header (the text across the top of the page). This wasn't a problem with the first proof I received at the tail end of November, so I've asked for a replacement, and spent a busy day on Tuesday reducing the size and height of the header to make sure this doesn't happen again even if the printing is wonky. (We're talking only a couple of millimeters, so it wouldn't normally even be noticeable.)
These things are sent to try us... and hopefully you'll now understand why a book I had hoped to get out in November or, at the latest, early December, is now dragging its heels.
I'm now waiting on yet another proof. With that in mind, I think I'll leave any promotion and the book's release until January as we're now only days away from Christmas and the busy family week that runs through to new year. Mel and I are doing the family thing as usual, but she is back at work towards the end of the week, so I'll knuckle down and see what I can get done on the next book.
At the moment that would appear to be another volume of Forgotten Authors — the fifth — as I have been busy rereading a bunch of essays for inclusion. They include a lengthy piece about early writings about pirates covering Daniel Defoe, Alexander Smith and Charles Johnson, a long hard Paddington stare at Sexton Blake writer John G. Brandon, a revealing piece on historian Alfred Duggan, the surprising story of crime writer Donald Cresswell, and a glimpse behind the curtains of Tibetan mystic T. Lobsang Rampa. There will be a few more names added to that list, including -- if I stick to my current plans — a couple of pen-names that remain elusive. I do like my "mysteries that have me mystified".
I have spent the morning digging a little further into Rampa and adding a few more details that I can verify about his life. I first wrote about him for Dodgem Logic (remember that?) back in 2010 and published an expanded version as an ebook in 2014. Its latest appearance will hopefully find a different (albeit small) audience; the series doesn't sell many copies, but some of these pieces can be over 10,000 words long, so where else can I publish them?
There are still authors I would love to write about, but time always seems to be too tight these days to indulge myself spending two to three weeks writing about someone few people will have heard of for a book that nobody is really looking for because the Authors truly are Forgotten by all but a handful of collectors.
Once we get into the new year, I'll be looking at my history/index to Action. Again... that's the plan as of this moment of writing. Things may change.
All that's left is for me to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Frankly, it has been a bit of a shit year with some glorious highlights — expanding and publishing The Trials of Hank Janson, writing Beyond the Void: The Remarkable History of Badger Books — and I'm hoping that 2024 will be better!
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