Thanks for the update on Tey! She won my heart with Candles. I don’t think her body of work is extensive, so I’m taking my time with the rest.

If you’re ever near St. Louis, you need to visit my friend’s museum in Greenville, Ill. It opens in March, and it’ll have examples of strange lodge initiation devices full of coils and dials and diagrams. Mostly stuff from the early 1900s. Very steampunkish. I just wrote some lobby card copy for him and tried to set a mood. It was Sherlock Holmes meets Jules Verne. For me, they lived in the same neighborhood anyway.

And Lynn (and Kate), if you like steampunk, you might give Jay Lake a go. His “Mainspring” is lush. It’s steampunk, but has the feel of epic fantasy, in that the world is so fully realized. I love the devices and the environment. The opening rocks. The guy can wax lyrical like nobody’s business.

That said, if you’re a reader who doesn’t have time nor patience for world building, better go elsewhere. Also, the narrative is segmented. There are times when you jump the tracks, and don’t get back for a while. Me, I like the push-pull feeling of being dragged and flung through a story to the very end.

I’m often bloodied and bruised by the time I finish a book.

A word of caution on Jay Lake: some sequences in his material are decidedly adult. Not something I’d hand off to m’ youngin’s.

Finally, I’ve heard good things about Cherie Priest but haven’t sampled the work.

Craig Ferguson – host of The Late Show with Craig Ferguson, on after Letterman – played Drew Carey’s out-there boss on The Drew Carey Show. Ahh, Lynn, acquaint yourself, you’ll find him interesting, I bet.

I overheard someone mention Tey at a convention, and realized I had another of her books, “A Shilling for Candles,” in my “cover copy caught me and it’s only a dime” stack. I read it, loved Tey’s writing, and recently picked up Pym. Enjoying it as well.

Also in the stack: “The Best American Spiritual Writing 2008″ (yup, I’m behind) and “Death Without Company” by Craig Johnson. Johnson’s first book, “Cold Dish,” was also a bargain buy–and an awesome find. I buy him hardcover or in Penguin trade when I find him.

If you haven’t tried anything in the Best American series (mystery short stories are in included), give it a go. Since editors vary from year to year, there’s always something new. To date, my favorite Best American series samples sports writing. The words sing and the people come alive. And keep in mind–I’m not a guy who follows sports.

But I have heard of Soulless by Gail Carriger. I haven’t read any Steampunk yet. It sounds like something I’d like…