I just want to congratulate @crumpledlinenpress.com on nailing the most frustrating part of buying beautiful books - the packaging meant this M R James book arrived absolutely mint.
Charles Prepolec
@sherlockeditor.bsky.social
Editor on the 'Gaslight Sherlock Holmes' series, 'Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places' and 'Beyond Rue Morgue' anthologies. Mostly, I just like to read... but will rage about Canadian politics as a federal Liberal and AB NDP supporter in Calgary.
Born #OTD in 1814 Irish author of the supernatural, Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (28 Aug 1814 – 7 Feb 1873). "Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter" (1839), Uncle Silas (1864), In a Glass Darkly (1872) features "Green Tea" and "Carmilla". www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho...
Jamil Jivani considers this guy a friend.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4d agoJD Vance: "Canada is a state -- sorry. Freudian slip."
"Our fight...is the civilized world’s fight. It is a fight for reason and comity in the affairs of nations, against an administration whose worldview, and behaviour, is increasingly that of an aggressive dictatorship, in all its crudeness and its thuggery..." archive.today/uxkXd
As the Alberta separatist referendum approaches, this needs to be shared as widely as possible. Alberta’s grievances have largely been created by the Alberta conservative for political gain.
Max Fawcett@maxfawcett.bsky.social · 3mo agoAlberta’s grievances with Ottawa are mostly manufactured, always exaggerated and, often, completely illusory. Now it's time for the people who spent the last decade amplifying and weaponizing them to put out the fire they helped create. #cdnpoli #abpoli www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/26/o...
i hear we're celebrating Canada today. what better way to do that than by supporting one of the coolest Canadian weird fiction indie publishers around (who also happens to be having an incredible sale on eBooks).
Undertow Publications 🇨🇦@undertow.bsky.social · last wk.Reminder we have 6 of our eBooks on sale from $2 to $4. Check it out. Grab a bargain. undertowpublications.com/ebooks
We've now shipped 90% of the rewards and copies are arriving on doormats. Check your email for a tracking number for Royal Mail. And let us know what you think when it arrive!
Charles Prepolec@sherlockeditor.bsky.social · last wk.Received the signed limited 1st Vol of The Haunted Archive: The Annotated Ghost Story Manuscripts of M. R. James - ‘Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’ edited by Paul Chapman and Mark Jones. Also included an engraved police whistle and art cards as part of the Kickstarter package. Great stuff!
“Given the desperate tone of your nine-minute sales pitch, it’s pretty obvious you’re stuck with a thorny political problem that is squarely of your own making.” Andrew Nikiforuk has some notes for Premier Danielle Smith’s latest data centre video. thetyee.ca/Opinion/2026...
Lights! Camera! Action! Roll the Data Centre Sell Job! | The Tyee
Notes on Premier Smith’s video attempt to reassure Albertans that AI tycoons are everybody’s friends.
thetyee.ca
Received the signed limited 1st Vol of The Haunted Archive: The Annotated Ghost Story Manuscripts of M. R. James - ‘Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’ edited by Paul Chapman and Mark Jones. Also included an engraved police whistle and art cards as part of the Kickstarter package. Great stuff!
"I think it is the very best story of diablerie which I have read for many years." Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, #OTD in 1897 - on August 20th - sent a fan letter to Bram Stoker congratulating him on the publication of DRACULA. #dracula #sherlockholmes
Canada announces largest clean energy investment in North American history “We are making Canada the best place in the world to build and invest in clean energy.”
Canada announces largest clean energy investment in North American history
In partnership with Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, Prime Minister Mark Carney has just announced the largest investment in clean energy in the history of North America, at nearly $70-billion.
cultmtl.com
Only 104 pages in but already willing to bet this makes my top 5 reads of 2026. Something about Mike Carey's writing, it was the same with Once Was Willem last year, that feels like classic literature or all ages fables, that makes me feel like a kid caught up in the magic of reading again. Wow.
They're exactly who we thought they were. To those considering voting with these goons to "send a message to Ottawa" -- consider the message you're sending about your own values.
The Breakdown AB@thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 2w agoRemember when the separatists got all upset that it was implied they were racist? Tonight at Mitch Sylvestre's new constitution release they were clear who rights belonged to... "Not some flip flop towel headed police officer who doesn't even speak Canadian". #abpoli
Finished the new Ana and Din mystery by Robert Jackson Bennett and now 40 pages into Christopher Buehlman’s Those Across the River.
It was 32 years ago today that Peter Cushing, OBE (26 May 1913 – 11 Aug 1994) died. A fine actor in every sense, a terrific Sherlock Holmes & even better Van Helsing, he brought class, charm and ability to every role. Here's to the memory of Peter Cushing!
Starting on this today. The new Ana and Din mystery.
“But you have retired, Holmes. We heard of you as living the life of a hermit among your bees and your books in a small farm upon the South Downs.” - His Last Bow
Frank and I have something extra special for the August 2026 feature. Please join me in welcoming USA Today bestselling author Craig DiLouie! We chat about his writing journey, and his latest novel, The Summer Fun Massacre. See my interview with Craig DiLouie on YouTube - youtu.be/PDwmpk04cp4
Born #OTD in 1932, actor Edward Hardwicke (7 Aug 1932 – 16 May 2011). One of the great small screen Watsons. He also appeared as Arthur Conan Doyle in Photographing Fairies (1997) & Davenport in the lost 1968 BBC TV adaptation of The Greek Interpreter, opposite Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes.
Sending this out to whoever needs to see it: It's okay if you read slowly, there's no great victory in being able to read quickly, everyone kind of has their own reading speed, and that's perfectly fine. I'm just really happy you're reading. I hope it gives you joy at any pace. Thank you!
Remembering great American artist and illustrator Frederic Dorr Steele on the anniversary of his birth (6 Aug 1873 - 6 July 1944). Steele's striking illustrations and stunning Collier's covers stand alongside the work of Sidney Paget in forming what became the early popular image of Sherlock Holmes.
You should expect the pipeline to get fast-tracked. That's the whole point here -- it removes excuses about federal approvals and reveals the real, and longstanding, impediment to Danielle Smith's dreams of doubling oil production: economics. www.nationalobserver.com/2026/08/04/n...
Controversial West Coast pipeline one step closer to being fast-tracked
The federal government gave notice that it intends to designate the West Coast pipeline proposal for fast-tracking under the Building Canada Act which could make it the first project to achieve specia...
nationalobserver.com
In today from France and Sarob Press is a numbered limited edition of Ancient Tracks by the always excellent Josh Reynolds. Nice cover and frontispiece art by Paul Lowe.
There is a lengthy pro-AI screed in the latest HWA newsletter and it is . . . a mood.
