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Bleak House Books

bleakhousebooks

About Me

Independent publisher of literary and crime fiction. The most important thing to us is that an author loves words like we love words. We don't want the next Da Vinci Code (though the money wouldn't suck). We want art on the page.We believe in the power of the written word. We believe in writers who dare to write about the truth--be it sad, savage, silly, sexy, or sublime.There is power in literature. Grab it.

My Interests

Words. Letters. Punctuation. Maybe a little plot. Ooh, yeah. Now you're talking. Mix in some pace. Uh huh. Yeah. That's what interests us. {Also, sharks. Sharks are crazy interesting. They have such life experience!}

I'd like to meet:

Authors with something to say and the ability to say it beautifully.

Music:

Some of what we listen to in the office: The Butchies; Saul Williams; Neutral Milk Hotel; Jack Kerouac; Tool; Jawbreaker; American Football; Sage Francis; Aceyalone; Propagandhi; Pelican; Allen Ginsberg; The Smiths; Sarge; Husker Du (this list is soooo skewed to Ben's tastes, it's not even really funny, but that's what you get when Ben fills this out)

Movies:

And, as soon as Alison gets a chance, she can tell you about all the movies she loves (because for the most part, I can't stand movies). But if I had to watch movies, they'd be Apocalypse Now, It's a Wonderful Life, Magnolia, Crash and The Wall. {Alison likes all kinds of movies. She saw E.T. over thirty times in the theater. Yeah, she was only two at the time, but it really stuck with her. She still cries when she sees it. More recently, Alison has enjoyed many films featuring superheros, antiheros, animated animals, dastardly deeds, feats of derringdo, warm hearts, cold hands, guns, flowers, and mice.}

Television:

The only thing that matters is the Shield and Andy Griffith. You can keep your Friends, I don't Love Raymond, and the next time I'm in the ER, it'll be on business.But Alison will be along shortly, and she'll namedrop all the things the kids like, proving that I do NOT have my finger on the pulse of our culture like she does.{Ah, television. Let's see. I am in love with nature documentaries. I also enjoy the one hour drama. I watch and gleefully judge reality television. And the cartoon network? Yes, the cartoon network. Oh, and best show that is no longer being made: Homicide, Life on the Street.}

Books:

Ben's list--Franny and Zooey; Raise High the Roofbeam Carpenters/Seymour: An Introduction; A Prayer for Dawn; Provincetown Follies, Bangkok Blues; Shot in the Heart; Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?; Nine StoriesAlison will probably say something about all the sappy romance novels she spends her lunch hour reading.{Sappy romance novels indeed. Ben is such a jokester. And he forgot to mention his abiding love of erotic Buffy fanfic.}

Heroes:

Ty Cobb; Salinger; Roberto Clemente; Grover Cleveland Alexander; Mordecai "3 Finger" Brown; Actually, I think baseball is my hero (can a game be a hero? Let's pretend it can). People with guts.

My Blog

Bleak House Books in Publishers Weekly

We hope that everybody is having a good run up to spring. We’re anxiously waiting for the mercury to start the upward climb.Bleak House got a little ink in this week’s Publishers Weekly. T...
Posted by Bleak House Books on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:46:00 PST

Well, we didn’t see that coming.

Last Friday the finalists for this year's Edgar Awards were announced. Because of some alignment of planets and lucky charms, we somehow managed to pick up THREE nominations. Congratulations to Craig ...
Posted by Bleak House Books on Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:44:00 PST

Bouchercon 2006

Hey- To everybody who made it to Bouchercon 2006 in lovely Madison, Wisconsin, we'd like to extend our sincerest thank you. It was great to see so many readers and authors and other publishers. Most...
Posted by Bleak House Books on Mon, 02 Oct 2006 12:03:00 PST