Armour of Rod is now open to your comments, questions, objections, requests and fan letters.

The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it’s real, because that’s how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and around and around and it has thrills and chills and it’s very brightly coloured and it’s very loud. And it’s fun—for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question, is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, and they say, “Hey, don’t worry, don’t be afraid, ever, because… this is just a ride.”—BH

Maybourne has turned out to be a gem of a character over the years. Real motivations, not always so transparent, are always so satisfying to see (and of course they’re very rare in serial fiction these days).

Obviously, the Apple period left a deep, indelible impression on me. Some of the first music I can remember, those first Badfinger and Mary Hopkin singles. When my interest in music rekindled those records were among the first I sought ought and of course, by that time (circa 1981), none of them were in print. I bless Apple for the ’91 reissue campaign (and by extension, Steve Jobs; Apple Computer lawsuits seem to rouse Apple Records into activity).

Now, of course, you can get them all: Postcard, Earth Song/Ocean Song and a marvelously-reconfigured Those Were The Days.

Andrew Sandoval’s book on The Monkees finally has a release date (June 10).