We have a lot of books in the store. We have a lot of books in the basement. We have a lot of books still coming in from the collection Greg purchased earlier this year.

Fact #1: We need to clear some space.

Did you know that we have a whole garage full of $1 paperbacks and hardcovers? When something is a little too beat up to sell for regular prices, or when we have too many of them, or when something comes in that doesn’t fall under our usual range of SF-Fantasy-Horror-etc., they often go out into the garage at $1. Yes, the garage isn’t the easiest place to shop, often being a little too cold in the winter and a little too hot in the summer, but right now it’s just perfect. SF/Fantasy/Westerns/Poetry/Home Maintenance/Classics/Popular Fiction…it’s out there.

Fact #2: We have a lot of good books, going cheap, that nobody looks at.

1 + 2 = Fact #3: DreamHaven is going to have a bag sale.

Saturday, September 8th, DreamHaven is going to give you a chance to pick up a lot of good reading for not a lot of cash.

Here’s the plan: $5 gets you a small bag (6 3/4 x 4 3/4 x 13 1/2”) or $15 gets you a grocery bag. You take it into the garage, and fill it with all the hardcovers, paperbacks, 25-cent comics, or whatever else we manage to pack in there by Saturday. Fill it right up to the top, then take it away – not back into the store (we don’t want things to be confused, or to come back!). 

There are lots of goodies out there, and I expect that by the 8th we will have even more. And if the weather is nice, we could expand out onto the driveway and have room for even more things. Come on by, say hello, and help get us a little breathing space before we wedge even more wonders in!

On Wednesday, September 26, LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD will be reading from a work in progress. In 1985, she and Baen Books introduced us to the world of Miles Vorkosigan, and SF hasn’t been the same since. She is equally at home in the fantasy realm with her Chalion/World of the Five Gods series and others. And you don’t have to take my word for it – just look at a list of winners for any major SF/Fantasy award out there. She has an official website (http://www.dendarii.com), lives in Minneapolis, and watches anime.

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven Books and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a midsummer speculative fiction organization, DIVERSICON, the 27th edition of which will be held July 22-24, 2019 in the Twin Cities, with Guests TBA.

On Wednesday, October 17 NAOMI KRITZER reads from her work. Naomi Kritzer has been writing science fiction and fantasy for twenty years. Her short story “Cat Pictures Please” won the 2016 Hugo and Locus Awards and was nominated for the Nebula Award. A collection of her short stories was released in 2017, and her YA novel (based on “Cat Pictures Please”) will be coming out from Tor in November 2019. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with her spouse, two kids, and four cats. The number of cats is subject to change without notice.

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven Books and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a midsummer speculative fiction organization, DIVERSICON, the 27th edition of which will be held July 22-24, 2019 in the Twin Cities, with Guests TBA.

On Wednesday, November 14 JASON D. WITTMAN will read from his work. Jason D. Wittman lives and works in Minnesota.  He’s had fiction published on SciFi.com, The Best of Baen’s Universe, and recently in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, as well as a game, Tile Chess, published by Steve Jackson Games.  He can recite Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” from memory.

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven Books and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a midsummer speculative fiction organization, DIVERSICON, the 27th edition of which will be held July 22-24, 2019 in the Twin Cities, with Guests TBA.

Wednesday, December 5, The Speculations Reading Series at DreamHaven Books presents a book release event for SCOURGE OF THE SEAS OF TIME (AND SPACE), a new multigenre anthology of pirate stories, edited by CATHERINE LUNDOFF and published by Queen of Swords Press, featuring special guest and anthology contributor, MICHAEL MERRIAM. Michael and Catherine will be reading from the anthology and there will be refreshments.

Catherine Lundoff is a Minneapolis-based award-winning writer, editor and publisher. Her recent stories have appeared in Tales of the Unanticipated, Curious Fictions, Callisto, Respectable Horror, The Cainite Conspiracies: A Vampire the Masquerade V20 Anthology, The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Tales and The Mammoth Book of the Adventures of Professor Moriarty. Her books include Silver Moon, Out of This World: Queer Speculative Fiction Stories and, as editor, Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space). She is the publisher at Queen of Swords Press (www.queenofswordspress.com)

Michael Merriam is an author, actor, poet, and playwright. He has published ten books and over 90 pieces of short fiction and poetry.. His novel, Last Car to Annwn Station, was named a Top Book by Readings in Lesbian & Bisexual Women’s Fiction. His scripts have been produced for stage and radio, and he has appeared on stage in the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Tellebration, and StoryFest Minnesota. Michael is a co-founder of the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers. Visit his homepage at www.michaelmerriam.com

Speculations is a co-production of DreamHaven Books and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a midsummer speculative fiction convention, DIVERSICON, the 27th edition of which will be held July 22-24, 2019 in the Twin Cities, with Guests TBA.

On Wednesday, January 9, from 6:30-7:45 p.m., Speculations presents its fifth annual ROUND ROBIN READINGS. Writers are encouraged to bring from one to three pieces, each running five to seven minutes, to read. The readings will conclude at 7:30 or when readers run out of material, whichever comes first, allowing time for a brief reception, and an 8:00 p.m. expedition to Parkway Pizza, 4359 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis.

Speculations is a coproduction of DreamHaven and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a mid-summer speculative fiction convention, DIVERSICON, the 27th edition of which will be held in the Twin Cities on July 26-28, 2019, with Guest of Honor NISI SHAWL and Special Guest BEN HUSET.

Wednesday, February 6, DAMIAN SHERIDAN reads from his work from 6:30-7:45 p.m. Mr. Sheridan has written and produced one science fiction play and one speculative musical. He is in discussion with a local backer to write and produce a third play. He has published short stories with several small presses and is presently working on two different novels. In addition, he has presented short sketches at CONvergence, Balls Caberet, and Merlin’s Rest and Kieran’s Irish Pub. He has a back catalog of short stories and self published poetry and graphic novellas. He lives in the Twin Cities.

Speculations is a coproduction of DreamHaven and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a mid-summer speculative fiction convention, DIVERSICON, the 27th edition of which will be held in the Twin Cities on July 26-28, 2019, with Guest of Honor NISI SHAWL and Special Guest BEN HUSET.

Come down to DreamHaven Books to see the team of artists from The Subverted Fairy Project working on new fairies for their next book! This is a great opportunity to preview what they’re doing and get to know them better. They’ll be drawing, painting, and socializing all afternoon.

Who are The Subverted Fairy Project and what do they do? This is from their website:

The Subverted Fairy Project has little interest in fairies as they’ve evolved in popular Western imagination over the last 200 years. Fairies also have a deeper history as elemental forces, capturing the brutal innocence of nature. Their dark, delicious folk mythology is a rich tradition. However, our Project is not directly concerned with with the historical roles of fairies, either. Instead, we abandon both those traditions of the fairy concept and forge ahead into contemporary territory.

To create our fairies, The Subverted Fairy project pairs artists and writers together around uncommon, naturalistic words. The first phase of the Project centers around words from Mr. McFarlane’s lexicons. The artist illustrates (in any media) a fairy in response to a specific word (like blinter, or feorrain, or cairrag). The illustration is informed by the word and its meaning. That word becomes the fairy’s name. The artist is encouraged to pull from their own personal background as much as from the word. That’s the crucial part of the project. The intersection of the personal drawing, the uncommon word, and the fairy cliche. Once the drawing is done, a writer creates a one-page poem or short story in response to the word, its meaning, and the artwork. Taken together, the word, art, and writing define a new kind of fairy born through collaboration and naturalist language. We have built dozens of fairies like this, each a unique creature. Look for more coming in 2019 as we expand our horizons to words from SE Asia, the US state of Kansas, and scientific jargon.

On Wednesday, March 6, S.N. ARLY reads from her work. S.N. Arly writes adult and young adult fantasy, science fiction, and dark fiction from her basement in St. Paul, MN. She has had several short stories published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. She is currently working on novels, with the exception of the occasional short story her brain foists upon her.

Speculations is a coproduction of DreamHaven and SF MINNESOTA, a multicultural organization that also sponsors a mid-summer speculative fiction convention, DIVERSICON, the 27th edition of which will be held in the Twin Cities on July 26-28, 2019, with Guest of Honor NISI SHAWL and Special Guest BEN HUSET.

Catherine Lundoff, publisher at Queen of Swords Press, joined us back in November of 2017 for a first presentation on the topic of running a small publishing company. (If you missed it, the video can be found here.) Now she’s back with another year of experience under her belt to tell us how things are going.

Queen of Swords Press is a Minneapolis-based small publisher of genre fiction, with 7 titles out
so far and more on the way. Catherine will be talking about how she got started in independent
publishing, what she’s learned so far and what’s next. Q&A to follow. Queen of Swords Press titles
will be available for sale and light refreshments will be served.