Writings Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is listed on both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com for pre-order. BOOKSGhosts of the Chicken Ranch: The permanent closure of the Chicken Ranch on August 1, 1973, made international headlines. The legendary brothel�reputed to have maintained continuous business for 144 years�seemed invincible until that fateful day. But if the brothel�s opponents had hoped the story would end there, they were surely disappointed. Immortalized by a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical and subsequent motion picture, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" grew in fame and notoriety even as time and neglect took a toll on the original building. Decades passed, and rumors spread even as memory faded. The Chicken Ranch had moved to Dallas and became a restaurant, some recalled. No, it had burned to the ground, others said. They tore it down long ago, argued another. No matter the story, one thing remained consistent: There was nothing left to see. GHOSTS OF THE CHICKEN RANCH takes readers on a photographic tour of the brothel�s ruins and shows that �nothing left to see� is not entirely true... �Jayme Blaschke has done a superb job in telling the story of the famous (or infamous, if you prefer) Chicken Ranch of La Grange, Texas. He delves into the perhaps mythical history of its ancestor, Mrs. Swine's establishment. He deals affectionately with civic benefactor Miss Edna and her boarders, as well as their protector and civic leader, Fayette County Sheriff Jim Flournoy. This is the best account of the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ever written.� Voices of Vision: Creators of Science Fiction and Fantasy Speak: A host of authors talk to Blaschke about what it�s like to do what they do, how they work and how they started, and where they think the genre is headed. Blaschke talks to writers such as Robin Hobb, Charles de Lint, Patricia Anthony, and Elizabeth Moon; revered authors of comic books and graphic novels, including Neil Gaiman and Brad Meltzer; and icons such as Samuel R. Delany, Gene Wolfe, Harlan Ellison, and Jack Williamson. Editors such as Gardner Dozois, editor of Asimov�s Science Fiction magazine, discuss their publishing philosophies and strategies, the origins and probable directions of their magazines, and the broader influence of such ventures. For devoted reader, aspiring writer, and curious onlooker alike, these interviews open a largely hidden, endlessly engrossing world. What others are saying: �An expert savvy interviewer is a rare beast. Jayme Lynn Blaschke is just such a paragon. . . . Blaschke displays reverence, passion, and curiosity. He manages to elicit quotable moments from everyone, and dredges up insightful apercus." Fast Ships, Black Sails: Do you love the sound of a peg leg stomping across a quarterdeck? Or maybe you prefer a parrot on your arm, a strong wind at your back? Adventure, treasure, intrigue, humor, romance, danger--and, yes, plunder. Oh, the Devil does love a pirate--and so do readers everywhere. Fast Ships, Black Sails presents an incredibly entertaining volume of original swashbuckling stories from the past to the present and beyond. If ever you had a yearning for adventure on the high seas, now's the time to indulge it. You'll return with a sword shoved through your sash, booty in a safe harbor and beer on your breath. We promise. "The top two stories from the book, in my opinion, are the Garth Nix story, �Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar-Pirates of Sarsk�e,� a wild conglomeration of pirates, ancient technology, clockwork robots, general steampunkery, gods, and other whatnot with a dash of humor, and Jayme Lynn Blaschke�s �The Whale Below� (also a tale of steampunkishness, but with airships, whaling, gibbering beasts, and other good stuff). Both stories give a unique perspective on pirates as well as having a great deal of world-building that�s gone into them. As a reader, I appreciate when an author has put the effort into creating a world that I feel like I could step into and experience. Both writers have done this here." Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard: The year 2006 marked the centenary of the birth of pioneering Texan pulp writer Robert E. Howard. In celebration, editors Scott A. Cupp and Joe R. Lansdale have assembled this collection of original stories by Texas writers, each paying homage to the man who blazed a trail for all who followed. Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrat Robert E. Howard, a limited-edited original anthology, was a co-publication of MonkeyBrain Books and the Fandom Association of Central Texas with the cooperation of Paradox Entertainment. Each attendee of the 2006 World Fantasy Convention, hosted in 2006 by the Fandom Association of Central Texas, was presented a copy. "Favorite monkey: Jayme Lynn Blaschke's smart-ass giant ape Prince Koindrindra in 'Prince Koindrindra Escapes,' from Cross Plains Universe." The Ant-Men of Tibet, and Other Stories: Interzone is still Britain's best selling science fiction and fantasy short fiction magazine, and the only monthly one. The Ant-Men of Tibet and Other Stories is a collection of 10 of its most significant stories in recent years: flamboyant space opera, chilly thrillers, contemplation and comic fantasy. All are by authors who had their first or near-first sales to the magazine and every new story opens up a completely new world with new visions and ideas. This collection is a celebration of the diversity that is British science fiction. "A ship sent out to establish trading operations with the planet Niveleur nearly comes to disaster when approaching the planet. The ship�s squidlike navigator takes umbrage at having its professional capabilities questioned, but worse than that, something most peculiar has happened to the planet � there is no trace of intelligent life on the planet, nor trace of there ever having been any.... An enjoyable story, with faint echoes of Iain M. Banks, from an author of whom I am unfamiliar." FICTION ONLINE The following links lead to various pieces of fiction I have available online for your reading pleasure. Some are reprints, some are original, and hopefully at least a few are entertaining. Memory: Memory is an ongoing, online experiment in serial storytelling. Wholly unplanned from the beginning, I started with no plot, no story arc, no theme and no word limit, just a couple of characters and a perilous situation. The idea was to challenge myself as a writer, and see if I could write creatively in a manner I don't normally attempt. The supposedly weekly installments have been few and far between as the Chicken Ranch project consumes most of my writing time, but Memory does indeed live. INTERVIEWS ONLINE You can take the journalist out of the newsroom, but you can't take the newsroom out of the journalist. Or something like that. In addition to writing genre fiction and non-fiction centered on defunct Texas bordellos, I've spent a great deal of time and effort over the past decade tracking down and interviewing authors, artists and editors who are all far more interesting and successful than I am. While most have appeared in magazines and the above-mentioned Voices of Vision, a good number are currently available online. I've listed a selection of them below. Enjoy! John Gregory Betancourt at SFSite.comAnd if that's not enough for you, I invite you to check out... Jayme's More-Or-Less Complete Bibliography |