I just heard it on National Public Radio: E. Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons, has passed away. He was 69 years old.

Gamers of the world, this is a sad day for us all . . .

An article from CNN:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/04/obit.gygax.ap/?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail

Greetings everyone! WOW, it's been, what, over a month since I last sent a newsletter?!?

We at Viridian have been busy, busy, busy with new projects coming up as well as older ones that we are trying to tie up and send on its way.

However, I do want to take this time to mention a couple of things regarding the future of Viridian Books:

1) As of today, all of the newsletters from tonight on will be posted on Myspace, Vampirefreaks, EnchantedFolk, and Nerd Fighters.

2) We will still have our catalogues posted on the website as well as Myspace, Vampirefreaks, EnchantedFolk, and Nerd Fighters.

Now with that aside . . . .bring on the good stuff!

MidSouth Con is only a couple of weeks away and yours truly has been confirmed as a guest author!! If you are going to be in the area, stop by and say hello to the Goth Librarian!

I recently received an e-mail from a fellow Fae lover on Enchanted Folk's website:

Fairy greetings

Feb 29, 05:10AM

Fairy greetings to you Kimberly, I have just come across your site and find you interesting.  Do you write faery stories yourself?  If you do I am compiling a book of faery tales of which the whole proceeds will go to further our work with the orphanage my family support in S.A.  Please check out our website www.projectprimrose.com.

Hope you have a magical day filled with love, joy and peace.

Liz xxx

The story, Pine Needles, will hopefully be a part of this anthology so stay tuned for more details!

Looking for a new and good book to read? Look no further! The Fortune Cookie Chronicles written by Jennifer 8 Lee is sure to please even the pickiest of readers! I'll be buying my copy; will you? If you love Chinese food, this book will greaten your appreciation for it! Sign up on her blog and e-mail list to make sure you don't miss out on any of her updates!

For all of the creative people on this list and who read the website Creativity Portal, be sure to check out Molly Childers and her juicy creative blog! She is one hell of a woman and creative soul! Read the e-mail I recently received from this wonderful woman:

Greetings to you all!

For any of you who are poetry / literature fiends like yours truly, this update is for you!

I have many, many copies of past issues of the literary journal The Paris Review. Each one has had one home (mine).

Here is what I have, with as much detail as I can give:

#68 ((Winter 1976): fair condition; William Goyen Interview, Ray Russell, Charles Newman stories, John Updike, William Stratford poems, art portfolios

#69(Spring 1977): fair condition; Kurt Vonnegut interview, Ed Sanders, William Burroughs stories, John Logan, Frank O' Hara poems, portfolio

#72(Winter 1977): fair condition; Richard Wilbur interview, Joy Williams, Stephen Minot stories, David Ignatow portfolio

#73 (Spring-Summer 1978): fair condition; James M. Cain, Anthony Powell interviews, Wiebe, Midwood stories, Disch poems, portfolios

#74 (Fall-Winter 1978): fair condition

#77(Winter- Spring 1980): fair condition; Stephen Spender interview, Mark Strand, David Ohle stories, Joseph Brodsky, Phillip Levine, Dave Smith poems, portfolios

#78 (Summer 1980): fair condition; Voznesensky interview, Voznesensky - Ginsberg conversation, Boyle, Barton stories, Elytis, Disch poems, Bobby Anderson on Edie Sedgwick, Baldessari portfolio

#84 (Summer 1982): fair condition; Philip Larkin, James Merrill interviews, Archibald MacLeish letters, Edmund White, T.C. Boyle stories, Bartlett, Wiley, and Zucker portfolios

#86 (Winter 1982): fair condition; Erskine Caldwell, P.L. Travers interview, Norman Mailer, Craig Nova, Literary Happenings: China

#87 (Spring 1983): fair condition; Heinrich Boll, Cabera Infante interview, Czeslaw Milosz, Thomas Lux poetry, C.K. Williams' prize winning poem

#104 (Fall 1987): fair condition; Anita Brookner, Peter Taylor interviews, William Kittredge, James Lasdun fiction, Phillip Levine, Charles Wright poetry

#120 (Fall 1991): fair condition; Donald Hall, Wright Morris interviews, Harold Brodkey, Norman Mailer fiction, Czeslaw Milosz, Geoffrey Wolff features, Sandra McPherson, John Updike poetry

#121 (Winter 1991): fair condition; Harold Brodkey, Reynolds Price interviews, Susan Minot, Paul West fiction, Donald Hall feature, Zbigniew Herbert, Charles Tomlinson poetry

#122 (Spring 1992): fair condition; Yehuda Amichai, Claude Somin interviews, George Konrad, Jean Rouaud fiction, Alfred Corn, Baron Wormser, Cynthia Zarin poetry, James Merrill feature

#125 (Winter 1992): fair condition; John Guare, Neil Simon interviews, Rick Bass, Barry Lopez fiction, John Hollander, Gail Mazur, Mark Strand poetry, John Barth features

#126 (Spring 1993): fair condition; Amy Clampett, Mark Helprin interviews, Joy Williams, Umberto Eco fiction, Albert Goldbarth, Cynthia Zarin poetry, Sybille Bedford feature

#130 (Spring 1994): fair condition; Ken Kesey, W.D. Snodgrass interviews, Kate Braverman, Susan Power fiction, Virgil Thomson feature, Octavio Paz, Stephen Sandy poetry

#131 (Summer 1994): fair condition; Yes Bonnefoy, Alice Munro interviews, Rick Moody, Melissa Pritchard fiction, Bishop Swenson correspondence, Marilyn Hacker, James Merrill poetry

#132 (Fall 1994): fair condition; Louis Auchinloss, Robert Gottlieb interviews, William Gass, M.R. Thon, Paul West fiction, Alfred Kazin, Leone & Macdonald features, Galway Kinnell, Charles Tomlinson poetry

Whew! I think that is all of them. So, what to do if you are interested????

The price for each one is $6 but if you buy more than two from me, I will knock off $2 each add'l one. If you want the entire lot, the non-negotiable price is $70.

Shipping will be Priority Mail unless if you live in the Memphis, TN area plus an add'l charge of $1.50 for handling.

I will accept the following forms of payment: PAYPAL or money order or cash if you live in the Memphis, TN greater metropolitan area. If you decide to do PAYPAL, the e-mail address to use is: artgirl74@gmail.com

If you desire to see what the covers look like, go to: http://www.parisreview.org and click on BACK ISSUES.

If you have any questions about any of the issues for sale or any general questions, please send them to: info@viridianbooks.com or send a message to me here!

Absinthe Dreams to you all,

Kimberly
Goth Librarian 74

The Library

A Personal Essay by Kimberly Richardson

When I was younger, my mother used to take me to the library every Saturday so I could check out four or five books to read during the upcoming week. Now, many years later, I still find myself telling that moment of my past to whoever wants to listen. That simple act meant more to me than anything else, for it shaped me into the person I am today. Without my passion for the written word, I would be nothing. Many years ago, our main library used to be in the heart of Midtown, Memphis’ arts and culture (hippie) district. It stood as a behemoth among the old oak trees and bungalow homes; dark bricks and immense wooden doors giving off a heady scent that would make me swoon every time I walked in. The delicate essences of musk, dust, information, and people were combined to give the library a scent all its own. The scent is so powerful to me that I have even discovered a perfume entitled PAPERBACK and I try to buy a bottle every so often just to smell like my biggest source of passion. Perhaps it is because I am a writer that libraries still hold me in their influence, seducing the one who desires knowledge and wants to know more about the world they live in. Of course now, the scene is much different; the old main library was shut down several years ago and bulldozed to make way for a brand new state of the art information technology center in one of the suburban areas of our fine city. The place, mainly made with glass and steel rods, is supposed to catch the eye of anyone viewing it. We’re supposed to be hip and information savvy, so why not just destroy the old and musty and bring in the new and fragile? Now, when I walk in the main branch’s front area, I feel nothing but cold and a blankness that is frightfully unsettling.  Going up the stairs, I want to re-discover my passion, far away from screaming kids just getting out of school, people who use the computers for every bit of knowledge they have acquired. I want my narrow shelves, my dust motes flying before me as I search for that one book, the one that I have been searching for all day. I want that simple bit of bliss and strangely enough, I do find it. Although the outer shell is hard and transparent, giving off an unfamiliar scent, the inside is still the same. I walk through the shelves on the third floor, find a quiet and secluded spot, and smile. My passion still remains.