Bill Schafer; Vince Keenan

Once in awhile the good guys win one. I've probably known Subterranean Press founder (along with his partner Tim Holt) Bill Schafer for fifteen years. He's been a good loyal friend, a bright, honorable guy who through savvy, hard work and relentless enthusiasm for good writing has turned his Press into one of the most successfull of all small publishing houses. I'd like to congratulate Bill and Tim on their astonishing showing in the new Locus nominations. From Galleycat:

Friday Apr 25, 2008
Subterranean on top in Locus Awards

Subterranean Press - and works published by them - have made the final list in no less than five different categories for the Locus awards. Including best Magazine and Publisher. The winners will be announced at the Locus Awards Ceremony in Seattle, June 21st.
In today's mailbag I received a few upcoming titles from Subterranean including: The Best of Michael Swanwick (Swanwick is nominated for best short story and collection) along with Muse of Fire by Dan Simmons (best novella).

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From Vince Keenan - Sleeping Dogs

With the last major primary out of the way and the Democratic party’s electoral future clear – sweet Jesus, this campaign is gonna go on forever – this seems like an ideal time to recommend Sleeping Dogs, the latest from friend-of-the-site Ed Gorman. Ed, an immensely talented writer who’s done some time in politics, knows the territory and covers it well.

Political operative Dev Conrad steps into an Illinois Senate race in the closing stages. The incumbent, a good-enough pol with only a minor history of bimbo eruptions, finds himself in a pitched battle with a downstate “nut job ... (who’d) gone to sanity school recently.” Dev has to deal with campaign sabotage and the suicide of the man he’s replacing, not to mention his own doubts about the candidate he’s working to reelect. The action, as always with Ed, goes down smooth, and is punctuated by his bittersweet observations about life and culture.

Don’t just take my word for it. Bill Crider, Lee Goldberg and James Reasoner like the book, too. I might steer you wrong, but those guys? Never.