Blaylock will be a guest speaker at Stanford's "Great Books" summer program for middle school through high school age students:

http://www.greatbookssummer.com/program/lecturers/jamespblaylock?utm_source=e...

A new Blaylock article was posted today in The Orange County Register:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/blaylock-507328-steampunk-books.html

You can read the intro paragraph by searching for the article in Google and then clicking on the link to it. To read the full article, you'd have to sign up as a temporary subscriber and login to read it.

"Chapman University professor James P. Blaylock, a pioneer of the Steampunk historical fiction genre, has a new hero. She's an 11-year-old cryptozoologist (someone who studies mythical creatures) named Kathleen Perkins.

Blaylock, an Orange-based author, came up with the precocious Perkins for his new book, "Zeuglodon," aimed at a young adult audience.
Article Tab: image1-Steampunk pioneer James P. Blaylock
James P. Blaylock

Career:author, teacher

Claim to fame:pioneer of the Steampunk literary genre

Residence: Orange

Family:wife Viki Blaylock; children John Blaylock, 32 and Danny Blaylock, 30

Teaches at:Chapman University and Orange County School of the Arts

Reading:"The Pickwick Papers" by Charles Dickens

Authors he likes:James Lee Burke, Tony Hillerman, Michael Connelly, Patrick O'Brian

E-readers:He's a book guy. "I like the smell of paper. I really like the smell of old, dusty paper."

Education:Master of Arts in Literature, Cal State Fullerton

High School:Magnolia High School in Anaheim

Awards:Winner, World Fantasy Award; Winner, Philip K. Dick Memorial Award (for his novel "Homunculus"); Nominee, O. Henry Award; U.S. Presidential Scholars Program Teacher Recognition Award, 2012.

"I wrote 'Zeuglodon' on a whim," Blaylock said.

"I found myself writing the voice of an 11-year-old girl. I don't know why."

He wrote Perkins picturing the character Scout in "To Kill a ..."

The Titan Books website has the Limited Edition for sale again:

http://titanbooks.com/the-aylesford-skull-signed-limited-edition-6687/

Here's a nice quote from the Treasure Seekers that is also a good guide for writers:

You will not catch me saying 'thus the sad days passed slowly by' - or 'the years rolled on their weary course' - or 'time went on' - because it is silly; of course time goes on - whether you say so or not. So I shall just tell you the nice, interesting parts - and in between you will understand that we had our meals and got up and went to bed, and dull things like that. It would be sickening to write all that down, though of course it happens. I said so to Albert-next-door's uncle, who writes books, and he said 'Quite right, that's what we call selection, a necessity of true art.' And he is very clever indeed. So you see.

Thanks to the Aylesford Skull Tour...
Mr. Blaylock mentioned Nesbit's Bastable children stories responding to a question of what he was reading at the moment, and I found The Story of the Treasure Seekers, eBook edition.  Wow, does this evoke Blaylock at times, or rather, Blaylock evokes Nesbit at times.  There's a spirit in the stories, of whimsy (not Lord Peter) and willingness to embrace adventure, and a lack of cynicism that, I think, would appeal to a Blaylock fan.  It certainly does to me.  I have a few other books he's mentioned in his interviews, and hope to get onto those, as well.

Strange... I sense the hidden hand of Ignacio Narbondo in these events.

There was a delay for a while with the books, due to them getting stuck in customs in South America (odd, but true). Possibly the delay, and a premature listing in the catalogues of Amazon and Titan Books, explains the peculiar disappearance of the special edition.

It was also available briefly on Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Aylesford-Skull-Limited-James-Blaylock/dp/0857689800/re....

I ordered it and should receive it tomorrow.  Now that they've pulled them from the stores, though, I wonder if they found a problem with them.

The Aylesford Skull limited edition HC is available through Titan books now for £40.00 (Cost of shipping to the USA is £14.00. Shipping to Canada is £25.00 for some reason).
All copies are signed and printed in sepia ink, with a special cover and book-marker ribbon. http://titanbooks.com/the-aylesford-skull-signed-limited-edition-6687/

Interview on the Mythbehaving podcast:
http://mythbehaving.maerwilson.com/2013/03/18/episode-6-james-p-blaylock/

There's a note in Chapman University Happenings:

http://blogs.chapman.edu/happenings/2013/03/07/steampunk-pioneer-james-blaylo...

in which you can get a glimpse of the poker-playing dogs picture in Blaylock's office.