Writer and editor Jeff VanderMeer held a reading, discussion and signing, entitled “Dead Men Do Talk Back,” at The Book Escape on Light Street in Baltimore yesterday, as part of his current book tour. He was joined by Sandra Ruttan, who read from her novel Lullaby for the Nameless. Jeff read from his new noir fantasy novel Finch. The discussion, led by Brian Lindenmuth, covered noir, mystery and fantasy fiction, as well as all combinations thereof.

It was a delight to meet Jeff for the first time. I’ve been following his career since we both had stories in the same issue of TransVersions magazine in the mid-1990s. He was very entertaining and downright cool. Audience members included Scott Edelman, Jennifer Barnes and John Lawson of Raw Dog Screaming Press, Ramsey Shenadeh, and several others who braved a sea of purple from Ravens game-day traffic to attend. It was a great evening.

Jeff VanderMeer, Sandra Ruttan