The Violet Books Catalog
More Titles By Jessica Amanda Salmonson
Automatic Payment Through Paypal
postpaid within the United States for orders over $25.00
THE ELEVENTH JAGUARUNDI & OTHER MYSTERIOUS PERSONS. LeGrande, OR: Wordcraft of Oregon, 1995. First Edition. Fine wraps, limited to 250 copies of which 26 were specially handbound hardcovers. Signed by author and by collage illustrator Thomas Willoch.This collects much of my most experimental short stories. A truncated version of "Madame Enchantia & the the Maze of Dream" appeared in Walls of Fear edited by World Fantasy Award winning anthologist Kathryn Cramer, but the definitive text appears only in The Eleventh Jaguarundi.
The other tales first appeared in diverse locations, i.e., "The Strange Voyage of Doctor Morbid" appeared in Mark Rainy's magazine Deathrealm then in Marvin Kaye's big anthology Angels of Darkness. "Strange Doings in Viktor's Village," which received honorable mention in Year's Best Fantasy & Horror IX, 1996, is set in the world of Yugoslavian naive painter Viktor Magyar.
Other collected pieces are: "How to be a Surrealist" "The Fate of de Maupassant" "These Four Dreams" "A Celestial Occurrence" "Doves" "Incunabula" "Story with Story" "O, Familiar Man" & as Afterword, "Why Write, White Rye?"
Some of the stories are original to the collection: "The Eleventh Jaguarundi" "The Barker's Hat" "Allison's Cards" & the major novelette "Being Lost Viewed as a Virus Viewed as an Angel Lost in the Molecular Structure of the Human Gene" set in an Escherian universe.
Price AUTOGRAPHED by author & illustrator:
$20.00 postpaid trade paperback Price AUTOGRAPHED by author & illustrator:
$200.00 postpaid for ONE OF 26 HARDCOVERS
$20.00 postpaid trade paperback Price AUTOGRAPHED by author & illustrator:
$200.00 postpaid for ONE OF 26 HARDCOVERS
HAG'S TAPESTRY. Cheshire, England: Haunted Library, 1984. First Edition, Fine small wraps. Illustrated throughout by Wendy Wees, absolutely wonderful creepy art.I have exceedingly few copies of this rarity, which only ever had a couple hundred copies printed by the much-collected Haunted Library. I've seen this catalog from $20 to $45 so I'm asking a fierce $35.00 for copies autographed, a lot for such a slim book but when my last spare copy is gone, I'll never have them again.
This volume collects: "Full Moon Tonight" (something of a werewolf yarn); "The Rare Rains" (a terrible desert event), and "Nightmare Circus" (because who never thought the circus was evil).
New stories are: the alley horror of "The Uphill Slide," dementedly comic child-ghost story "A Mere Tragedy" & folkloric "Excerpt from an Old Journal". Author's Preface.
I've written a little commentary about this book and the joyfulness of working with the Haunted Library, which can be read Here.
Price AUTOGRAPHED: $35.00 postpaid
SONGS OF THE MAENADS. Seattle, Washington: Duck's-foot Tree & the Street of Crocodiles, 1992. First Edition. As New wraps. Chapbook limited to 100 signed and numbered copies, 26 of which were handbound hardcovers (alas, the h.c. is not available).I've mined my cabinets for file copies of books written over the years, most of them not generally available for a great long while. Anything I had five to ten copies of, I've decided to keep two or three, & offer the rest in this catalog, including Songs of the Maenads, Hag's Tapestry, The Eleventh Jaguarundi, & a couple others on this page.
The cardstock binding for Songs of the Maenads was printed on antique letterpress by Jules Remedios Faye of the Street of Crocodiles & Grey Spider presses. Jules additional hand-sewed the one-signature book.
These fantasy poems by J.A.S. affect to be Mother Goddess hymns from the ancient world, founded upon or inspired by ancient fragments and erotic myths.
The content of this attractive volume consists of "Rejoice in the All-mother" (based on a fragment of verse from Epidaurus in the third century B.C.), "The Maenads are Leaping" (affecting to be the work of the martial poetess Telisilla), "Pandrosos" (capturing an actual, startling sexual rite), "The Maenads' Prayer to the Muses" (the maenadic equivalent of an Orphic death-poem, honoring Erinna, a companion of Sappho who died in youth).
Those first four pieces are interconnected & attempt to recreate actual mythic literature of the ancient world. Footnotes are provided as to sources or inspirations.
The remaining two pieces in this attractive volume are "These Lines for Tara" expressing tantric sadomasochism, and a tragic heroic fantasy ballad, "The Quest of the Demoness."
Price SIGNED & numbered: $20.00 postpaid
THE MYSTERIOUS DOOM & OTHER GHOSTLY TALES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. Seattle: Sasquatch Press, 1992. As New 1993 trade paperback edition. Signed by author.A collection of literary ghost stories & fantasy tales founded on authentic regional lore. A big Addendum discusses the original material for whoever is interested in the ethnographic or folkloric source materials. It is illustrated by Jules Remedios Faye.
The volume consists of two large parts, the first "Northwest Tales of Terror & the Supernatural" & the second half "The Weird Epistles of Penelope Pettiweather, Northwest Ghost Hunter."
Collected tales: "Jeremiah" & "The Fabulous Sea Below". New tales: "The Mysterious Doom of Joshua Winfield" "The Barnacle Maid" "Hag's Head of Angel Street" "The Phantom Hound of Christmas" "The Headless Colonel" "The Last Passenger" "Pool of the Maple God" "Serene Omen of Death in the Pike Place Market" "The Forest in the Lake" "The Oval Dragon" "Legend of the White Eagle Saloon" "Sarah, the Ghost of Georgetown Castle" "Fritz, the Gentle Ghost of Shaw Island" "Ogopogo" "The Queen Mum."
Price SIGNED by author: $15.00 postpaid
PHANTOM WATERS: NORTHWEST LEGENDS OF RIVERS, LAKES, & SHORES. Seattle: Sasquatch Press, 1995. First Edition; Fine Trade Wraps. Signed by author.This collection of weird tales consists of material founded on authentic folklore of the region, but transformed as much as possible into literary tales.
Collects: "Spirit Elk: A Legend of Lost Lake" "Ghoul John & the Corpse: A Tale of Suavie Island on the Lower Columbia" "Young Man Who Became Weary: Legend of Willapa Bay" "The Shinbone Staff: A Legend of the Necanicum River" "The Door to Rainmaker's Lodge: A Legend of Stanley Park, Vancouver" (honorable mention Year's Best Science Fiction XIII, 1996), "When the Woman Chief was Young: A Legend of Crater Lake."
New tales: "The Legend of Chief Patkanim's Spies: A Tale of the Snoqualmie River" "The Phantom Ship: A Legend of the Seattle Waterfront" "The Ruined Idyll: A Legend of Multnomah Falls" "The Girl Who Loved the Forest: The Legend of Lake Sutherland" "Why the Loon Cries: A Legend of Mason Lake" "Place of Thunder: A Legend of Snow Lake" "The Vanished Great Lake: A Legend of the First People of Spokane Falls" "The Bone-cleaner of Blue Lake: A Legend of the Moses Coolee" "The Swan Queen & the Elk Child: A Legend of Horsethief Lake" "The Changelings: A Wapato Lake Legend" "Red Wolf's Daughter & Bloody Chief's Son: The Romance of Wallowa Lake" "Lake of the Jealous Women: A Tale of Glacier National Park" "Spirit of the Grey Wolf: An Idaho Legend of Red Fish Lake" "The Mysterious Hermit of Little Falls: A Story of Falls Creek & the St Joe River" "The Woman Whose Husband was a Seal: A Legend of Coos Bay" & "The Woman Who Turned to Soap: A Tale of Lake Crescent."
There's also a "Dedicatory Introduction" about my Yakama great-grandfather, & a lengthy Addendum of Notes & Commentaries for whoever is interested in the authentic folklore that inspired the short stories.
Price SIGNED by author: $20.00 postpaid
WISEWOMEN AND BOGGY-BOOS: A DICTIONARY OF LESBIAN FAIRY LORE, co-authored with Jules Remedios Faye. Austin, Texas: Banned Books, 1992. First Edition trade wraps. Fine.This is a collection of gay fantasy stories, vignettes, and poems, ranging from mystic to horrific to comedic, arranged in the format of a dictionary.
Banned Books was up until the time of this book's release a very active, successful specialty press for gay and lesbian works. But illness brought the small publishing firm to a screeching halt and this book ended up very poorly distributed so was soon all too scarce.
Somewhere in the vicinity of one-third of the contents was written by JAS, a third by JRF, & a third co-authored. Pieces by JAS alone are listed here in clude these collected stories: "Anna & the Miserable Man" "The Evil Jinn" "Haggardly Beth & the Black Hour" (honorable mention in Year's Best Science Fiction IX, 1992), "Three Wisewomen & a Fool" "The Wisewomen & the Wonder".
New stories: "The Corn Fairy & the Gypsy" "The Dead Moon" "The Kaifeng Beggar Women" "The Princess Knight" "The Three Feminists" "The Visit of Tiger Maid" "The Wandering Gentlewomen" "Yuki Onna & the Woodcutter's Daughter".
Collected poems & prose poems: "Crone" "For the Biographer of Goblins" "Madwoman" "Pets Given in Evidence of Old English Witchcraft" "The Sorceress & the Sleeping Witch".
New poems & prose poems: "One Night of Love" "Cat Anna" "Churchmilk Gladdy" "Doony-ma" "Gloriana" "Goldy Yarrow" "Grandmother Junk" "Hazden Mot, the Nuggly Little Woman" "Killy-ma, the Kelpie of Warwickshire" "Magic Shopping Cart" "Six Drunken Ladies" "Peg o'Nell" "Sabrina" "Waps & Thacks" "When I Was a Priest" "Zany". The rest of the content was written either by or with Jules.
Price SIGNED by Jessica: $20.00 postpaid
TEN MAGNIFICENT PEONIES PRESENTS: SLIDE SHOW (Seattle, WA: Duck's-foot Tree, 1983). Limited to 100 signed & numbered copies. Dada pamphlet of visual & comedic word-collage "poems" & cut-up prose.Together with:
YOUNG TYRONE: A MELODRAMA (Seattle, WA: Duck's-foot Tree, 1983). Limited to 100 signed & numbered copies. Dada pamphlet. A totally surreal "adventure" fantasy constructed by cutting & pasting texts from an old zoological publication. It's the rare person who can read this out loud at a gathering & not bust up. The newsletter Locus gave this a four-word review: "Stranger than science fiction."
These two ephemeral pamphlets were issued simultaneously, as gifts to friends & folks encountered at a long-ago convention. I kept aside a handful of file copies lo these many years, & am now parting with all but three each.
These are a great fun & not likely ever to be reprinted in any context ever, so very great rarities, & I've seen them in rare book catalogs for $15 to $35 each. Still, bare in mind they're awfully slim wraps.
Price SIGNED: $20.00 the pair postpaid
FEIGNED DEATH & OTHER SORCERIES. Seattle, Washington: Duck's-foot Tree Press, 1981. First Edition; Chapbook; Limited to 100 copies. Fine small wraps.A collection of macabre verse gathered from diverse publications. Contains: "Party" "The Sorceress & the Sleeping Witch" "Handbill for the Harlequin" "Feigned Death" "Cynicism" "Madwoman" "The Woman Who" "The Unsuspecting" "The Ghost Upon the Staircase" "The Princess & the Crocodile" "Homoensis Superior" "Hyborean Reality."
Together with:
INNOCENT OF EVIL: POEMS IN PROSE. Madison, Wisconsin: Dream House/The Strange Company, 1984. First Edition; Chapbook; limited edition. Fine small wraps. Published by the Strange Company coincident with Jessica's first stint as Guest of Honor at WisCon.
New poems-in-prose: "The Wrong Ghost" "Pulling" "Harvestman" "Box" "Limbo" "Post Card" "Lost" "The Judge" "City" "Suphlatus" & "Incunabula." Illustrated by Robert Kellogg.
Price SIGNED by Jessica: $20.00 for the pair, postpaid
ANTHONY SHRIEK: HIS DOLEFUL ADVENTURES. New York: Dell Abyss, 1992. First Edition wraps. I've a few copies in As New condition that I'd had stored away in the basement for a long, long time, & am offering these few SIGNED until I'm down to just three file copies, after which, if I can ever offer them again, they'll probably be used copies picked up here & there without the perfect uncreased spines of these "unread & mint" few.I was awfully proud of this novel which mixes horror with emotional harrowism & what streetlife was like in Seattle for runaways during the punk rock era.
I still think I achieved something of urban horror that had the same symbolist or expressionist depth of East European horror, but alas it vanished from the world as do most mass market novels & made no real splash. My dream for the book now is to someday get it a hardcover limited edition so that a few well-made copies will outlast my lifetime. It's the most I can realistically hope for such a work after its initial but short life in the mass-market.
It's the journey of "lovers of another realm," the grey-eyed ones, Anthony Shriek the schizophrenic creature of light & song, & Emily Maupin the uncompromising creature of darkness & silence, yang & yin respectively whirling about one another & opening vortices into Seattle's ill-lit shadow-city, a tale verging on gnostic fable.
I've an essay here at violetbooks.com which speaks not of this novel, but of some of the experiences & socially relevant issues that inspired the novel, i.e., "Homeless Days, Homeless Nights," which may be of some interest as supplementary commentary at least tangentially related to Anthony Shriek.
Price SIGNED by author: $10.00 as-new postpaid
TOMOE GOZEN (Ace Books, 1981); THE GOLDEN NAGINATA (Ace Books, 1982); & THOUSAND SHRINE WARRIOR (Ace Books, 1984).I'm so frequently asked for copies of these books that I pick them up wherever I find copies in reasonable condition, & can provide a set AUTOGRAPHED. Condition varies from Very Good to Fine, & edition varies, though the third volume only had one printing so is inevitably the First Edition.
As I'm usually paying a used bookstore's retail price for them myself, I'm reselling them for $30.00 the set (which however doesn't maximize their value as several dealers list the third volume for $45 as the hardest one to locate in fine condition). It's no huge quest to find them affordably, however, & if anyone would rather find their own copies more cheaply, or already has a set, & would like them autographed, feel free to mail me the three books together with a pre-addressed return mailer with sufficient postage for me to send them back to you, & I'll be glad to sign them.
These three novels trace the mystical life & heroic deeds of Tomoe Gozen, an 11th Century woman samurai who existed in historical fact, but is seen in these books as she existed in a parallel world. In the 66 provinces of Naipon, the divinities & strange magics & beings of our world's Japanese mythology actually exist or walk the earth.
In the first novel Tomoe Gozen, our heroine is resurrected from Hell & caused to fight against her own Lord. By the time she has returned to her own self, she has by then lost all honor, having so utterly failed at her duty. She sets out as a wanderer bereft of her former sense of self-worth. How she regains honor & eventually duels the Shogun's champion is at the heart of her string interconnected adventures. Cover art sucks (inducing me to petition the publisher to get Kinuko Kraft for the next covers). But there are superb interior illustrations for Tomoe Gozen by Wendy Wees.
In the second novel The Golden Naginata, Tomoe has rebelled against an arranged marriage so that her own clan seeks her death. As a veritable outlaw, she joins a small group of swordsmen with the shared goal of avenging the swordsmith Okio, as she too bares one of his creations. Soon she finds herself in an unexpected alliance with the very man her family intended her to wed, the Rising Sun General whose ultimate desire is to overthrow the shogunate itself, instigating Civil War. Tomoe's part in the great battle will require her to obtain a treasured, supernatural halbard, the golden naginata, guarded by the mighty kirin. Spectacular cover art by Kinuko Kraft. Interior illustrations by Wendy Wees.
In the concluding novel for this gloomy trilogy, Tomoe has cast off her identity & class privilege to become the Thousand Shrine Warrior, a widowed, wandering martial nun. She seeks redemption across a haunted landscape, battling the supernatural at every turn, laboring under a curse that brings all her best deeds to sorry outcomes. Another great cover by Kinuko Kraft, & interior illustrations to match by Wendy Wees.
Price AUTOGRAPHED: $30.00 set of three postpaid
Continue To Next Page:
Catalog of the "Grim Maids" Series:
American Mistresses of the Macabre
Catalog of the "Grim Maids" Series:
American Mistresses of the Macabre
|
Site Navigation: | Art Gallery | Essays | Bibliographies | Special Interests | | Announcements | Home | | Catalog | Contact Violet Books | Visit Also: | My Film Review Website | | My Temperate Gardening Website | |