DreamHaven

DreamHaven Open May 12 12-6:30

2012-05-07T03:10:01Z

Yesterday was an amazing day at the store. There were as many as 40 - 50 people in the store at any one time during much of the day. Sales were brisk and people were glad to see me open after so long closed. One customer said as he looked around at the crowd "I think I'd have to nominate you as the smartest bookseller around right now". If I had done this 10 years ago, I might have to agree. I'm still not completely convinced the new limited hours idea will work in the long run, but the early results have been good. I'm open again next week on Saturday, May 12th from 12-6:30. More sales on comics (tens of thousands of comics are priced at 25cents each/5 for a buck. I have boxes of silver age and golden age comics at half price and specials on many graphic novels and books about comics.

See you all soon.

Greg

DreamHaven Open Hours and Lovecraft

2012-05-03T19:46:40Z

Don't forget, DreamHaven will be open on Saturday, May 5th from 12 - 6:30pm. We'll be featuring a big comic book and graphic novel sale.

Also, our friends at the Trylon Cinema are showing an H.P. Lovecraft double feature that I highly recommend.

http://take-up.org/series/32/

Surprise Reading

2012-05-01T22:51:03Z

Sorry this is so late. I just got the info today. We'll have a Speculations Reading here tomorrow night at 6:30. Here are the details:

On Wednesday, May 2, ROB CALLAHAN reads his fiction from 6:30-7:45 p.m.
at DREAMHAVEN BOOKS, 2301 38th St E, Minneapolis. Rob Callahan is a
professional purveyor of made-up stories about the way we really are.
His works of fiction include the novel Hellbound Snowballs and the short
story collection, A Wish Upon a Fallen Sky. He has written and performed
two award-winning spoken shows, Idiosychronicity and The Last Ditch
(co-written with Allegra Lingo), and he regularly joins the Minneapolis
entertainment troupe The Rockstar Storytellers on stage. His nonfiction
has been featured in Secrets of the City, salon.com, l’etoil Magazine,
and cracked.com

dreamhaven @ 2012-04-25T11:10:00

2012-04-25T16:09:58Z

I'm home for a couple of days. I'm off to Chicago for the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention this weekend. If you're in the area I highly recommend this show.

I'll be in the store today, Wednesday, April 25 until about 7:00pm. If you're looking for your pull comics, come on by. The store is a mess right now (I'm still unpacking from the past three conventions and packing up for the next one), so browsing isn't really a great option. But if you have a pull or hold item, I'll be happy to help today.

Next week I'll be here on Wednesday as well as Saturday.

See you soon.

Greg

Monsterpalooza

2012-04-17T04:26:26Z

I drove all the way to Los Angeles (almost exactly 2000 miles) to try selling my new Creature book as well as other items at Monsterpalooza but it was a bust. They get somewhere around 8000 people and there's not a whole lot of direct competition for books, but it does appear that fewer and fewer people care for books at all. I swear a few people didn't even know what a book was from the way they looked at them.

Oh well.

I did have dinner with Julia (Julie) Adams the star from Creature From the Black Lagoon. It was a quite a highlight for me.

I also went to see Ron Borst's collection of movie posters, books and ephemera. It was so vast, impressive and awe-inspiring, I felt like burning my own collection and giving up completely. But that passed and I ended up buying more stuff for my collection.

Anyway, I'm back home later in the week and then on to Chicago for the Windy City Pulp and Paper Show (April 20-22). It's a great book show and I recommend it to anyone in the area who likes books.

Greg

MiniCon and Beyond

2012-04-10T14:16:07Z

Another MiniCon has come and gone. It was very low-key and somewhat bittersweet. I've been to the past 39 MiniCons and I've watched our group age and it's not very pretty. Many people are gone now, others debilitated. We're all fairly gray. But it's always good to see some old friends who only come out at Easter.

I left for California the day after MiniCon. I'm now near Denver and on my way to Las Vegas. I may get to LA a day early but I have several things to do before the convention so that would be a good thing. I'll be at Monsterpalooza, a monster movie convention. Then I have a bit of time to wend my way home until the next convention, The Windy City Pulp and Paper Show in Chicago.

35 Years Ago Today...

2012-04-01T13:02:33Z

It was 35 years ago today that I opened the doors to my bookstore. It was called Star*Lite Books, later The Compleat Enchanter, and finally DreamHaven. I don't know where all that time has gone; I must have been only a year old when I opened the store since I still can't believe that I'm now eligible to join the AARP and get the senior menu at Denny's. I still think of myself as just barely out of my teens.

I'm in Cleveland at Cinema Wasteland. Next week is Minicon. Hope to see you there.

Happy April's Fool Day.

Greg

Back ..... for a moment

2012-03-27T20:33:19Z

I'm currently here in the store and will be here tomorrow, Wednesday, March 28th from 12-6:30. No special deals, just the usual great ones.

I'm going to Cleveland on Thursday and will be at Cinema Wasteland trying to promote my new book on The Creature From the Black Lagoon, among other things. Then comes Minicon. Then Monsterpalooza. Then The Windy City Pulp and Paper Show. Then, uh, home for a couple of weeks.

If you can visit me at any of the above mentioned conventions, I encourage you to do so. The next time after tomorrow that the store will be open is Saturday, May 5th from noon -6:30pm. That day I'm featuring a huge sale on Comics and related items. Don't miss it!

Greg

California Dreaming

2012-03-24T05:09:29Z

I'm in Los Angeles for a few days. Here's where I'll be on Sunday:

www.la-vintage-paperback-show.com

Greg

Event Reminder

2012-03-15T16:56:56Z

Event at DreamHaven Books

Saturday, March 17th at 7:00pm

Writer's Group Panel Discussion and Book Launch Party

Panel Discussion of the importance of having a writing group, of being part of a writing community, and, how a good group can function.

Panelists include:

William Alexander
Barth Anderson
Haddayr Copley-Woods
David J. Schwartz
Stacy Thieszen

We are also celebrating the publication of William Alexander's first book, Goblin Secrets (McElderry Books 2012; $16.99).

Lost Another Bookseller

2012-03-07T17:37:34Z

I've just had word that Dick Spelman passed away yesterday. He was a fan, collector and bookseller for many years.

Dick was my main competitor at conventions for many years. I remember when he started selling parts of his (massive) collection at conventions and then started adding new books to help defray the cost of the conventions. Then he added more to pay for the car that he had to have to go to the conventions. He got larger and larger in new books and gave up on the used and rare early on. He began doing more an more conventions and helped run quite a few along the way.

Dick and I had a "cool" friendship. People thought that because we were in competition, that we were enemies. Not so. We frequently talked at conventions and sometimes even went out to dinner together. He was rather taciturn and I would probably do most of the talking. I remember once at a bookseller event in New Orleans when a New York editor invited several booksellers out to dinner and after dinner, people mostly drifted away. It was just the editor (a very attractive woman who I guess I can admit now that I had a bit of a crush on), me and Dick left. She wanted to take me out dancing but Dick was hanging there, looking not at all happy. We took a trolley ride around the Garden District and talked. When we eventually made it it the editor's hotel, she went to her room. Dick and I then went to our respective hotels and that was that. And that was Dick.

He was a good fellow and very interested in books. He later sold the business to Larry Smith who still goes to a bazillion conventions and works very hard at selling new books.

I'll miss Dick.

Greg

Event Head's Up

2012-03-05T22:04:52Z

Next Open Day

2012-03-01T20:32:20Z

I've been quiet recently owing to both being too busy and too lazy to post. I'm not sure I'll ever get the hang of this....

I'll be open this Saturday, March 3, from Noon to 6:30pm. I'm featuring a huge sale of hardcover books priced at $1/$3/$5. I'll also put a few more vintage paperbacks which haven't yet been seen by mortal eyes. And I'm pricing a huge lot of new graphic novels at 50-80% off. And if there's time, I'll put special prices on a few other things to entice people to part with their hard-earned cash.

**Next open days Wednesday, March 14th 12-7:30 Reading by Catherine Lundoff at 6:30pm.
Saturday, March 17th 12-6:30 More sale stuff TBA.

Greg

Vintage Paperback Sale Redux

2012-02-16T22:35:55Z

DreamHaven will be open again on Saturday, February 18th from Noon - 6:30pm. I'm offering a completely different selection of Vintage Paperbacks at $1.00 each plus special markdowns on some hardcovers, paperbacks and miscellaneous.

I attended CapriCon last week in Chicago (Wheeling) and sales were down again. At least two of the other 3 book dealers told me that their sales were also way down. It frustrates me when I attend a "Science Fiction Convention" and the literature of choice, Science Fiction, is so sorely ignored. There were probably 75-80 tables or so of which there were about 8 or nine tables of books. I heard complaints that there were too many books. But 8 tables of corsets, 10 of t-shirts, more of jewelry, etc, were OK I guess at a SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION.

The literature of SF at many SF cons has become less and less the focus. There are frequently small regional conventions which feature no books at all but plenty of other stuff. And for most attendees that seems OK. Me, I'm always thrilled to see more book dealers even when it may mean cutting into my own profitability. I just like to see books out on display for sale. The Windy City Pulp and Paper Show in the Chicago area always thrills me since it's over 100 tables of ALL BOOKS (well, some comics, a few DVDs and some artwork too). But the main focus is on BOOKS. Mostly SF/Fantasy?Horror books at that. And most attendees love to talk about books. To me it's the most exciting convention of the year. I never know what I'm going to find. And I always find something. And I always sell a lot more....

See you Saturday.

Greg

Vintage Paperback Sale & Thanks

2012-02-03T03:31:39Z

The next day I'll be open to the public at DreamHaven will be Saturday, February 4 from noon - 7:00pm. I've been bringing up many boxes of old and vintage paperbacks and I'm finding quite a few interesting books. Some boxes have been sitting unopened for up to 20 years. I'll have hundreds to thousands of books at only $1 and other vintage books at great prices. I'll also be offering other items at various discounts as well.

I'd like to thank the many people who made the party last Saturday; we had over 500 people in the store throughout the day. Todd Menton deserves special thanks for playing some great music during the evening. I'd also like to thank Fiona and Steve for manning the register and allowing me to schmooze with as many people as possible. I apologize if I didn't manage to talk to you on Saturday but it was incredibly gratifying that so many people stopped by to chat, eat and buy some books.

Be Well.

Greg

The Party's Over...

2012-01-29T05:19:37Z

What a great day!

I'm exhausted.

Must sleep now.

Be quiet (in a nice way).

Greg

This Is It!

2012-01-28T16:48:20Z

I'm declaring today to be "My Day". I'm so excited I'm fit to burst (but that would be messy and spoil the shirt and tie I wore today). This is the last regular hours day for me and DreamHaven and I'm busy preparing for THE PARTY.

It officially starts tonight at 7:00pm but I'll be putting things out all day. I hope some, many, all of you can make it to help me make this transition. It's scary, exhilarating, happy and sad, and a whole lot of other adjectives. It's been quite a rollercoaster ride the last 35 years and it's not over yet. It's just a more tame sort of coaster.

Please do come by for a book, a chat, a cookie and make me even happier today.

Be Very Happy.

Greg

One More Week

2012-01-23T03:14:37Z

I'm down to the last week of regular hours. Things have been going really wel lately, but it hasn't made me change my mind about going to irregular and much-reduced hours. Still most of the sales I'm making are special order sales and mail orders so keeping to the regular schedule still doesn't make enough economic sense. This coming week my regular hours are Tuesday 12-5:30; Wednesday 12-7; Thursday 12-5:30; Friday and Saturday 12-7. Then the PARTY will commence. It may even start a little earlier; I have several friends helping me set out food and drink and we'll start a bit earlier than that.

Since I'm not going out of business, I haven't been putting things out at fire-sale prices but I have been marking some items down to cost or below. It's a great time to come in for a bargain. Every day this week there will be new and better sale items. And I'm still getting more books in every day, both new and used.

I'm going to open up on Saturday, February 4th from 12 - 6 pm as well. I will be putting out a few thousand VINTAGE PAPERBACKS from the basement on that day. I'll be announcing some other special sales in the future including a VINTAGE TOY and a special 25¢ COMIC BOOK SALE.

Watch this space for more announcements.

Be Well.

Greg

Counting Down to a PARTY

2012-01-14T23:16:03Z

Only two more weeks of regular hours left. I'll be announcing several events in February and March shortly. If you would like to sign up for email notices, go to the website at www.dreamhavenbooks.com and there is a new "button" to add your name and email to our list. I've got some signings, readings and even a panel discussion in the works so keep an eye on this space.

And remember, there is a PARTY on Saturday, January 28th at 7:00pm. We'll have food, drink and conversation. Come on by to help me celebrate the last 35 years of DreamHaven in its various incarnations.

Greg

Tintin

2012-01-09T03:01:02Z

I just saw The Adventures of Tintin this afternoon and I thought it was great. It was really exciting, colorful and funny. I laughed like crazy.

I'd been worried how it might come out. I'm a huge fan of Herge's Tintin and with the track record of some of Hollywood's adaptations, well, it doesn't take too much imagination to figure out my trepidation. But the story was true to the original comics, the visuals were amazing (the motion-capture animation technique really had me worried but after a short time I came to enjoy the look of the film), and it was just a lot of fun. A really great effort.

Last week I saw the film Hugo, the adaptation of Brian Selznick's graphic novel by Martin Scorsese. It was a gorgeous and faithful adaptation of the book. It's a fictional account of the true story of the re-discovery of George Melies, the French movie pioneer after he had fallen into obscurity. With little embellishment (there was no Hugo Cabret as far as I know), the story is simple but quite moving. I loved Ben Kingsley as Melies and Chloë Grace Moretz as Isabelle, even though she didn't have a lot to do (I'll go see anything she's in after Kick Ass and Let Me In). Christopher Lee plays a bookseller - hooray!

After seeing Sherlock Holmes on Christmas Day, this makes three movies in a row I've really liked. Can't get much better than that.

Tomorrow I turn 55. Oh joy.

Greg

Stayin' Alive

2012-01-04T23:03:27Z

There's been a bit of confusion about exactly when I'm giving up regular store hours. But the short of it is, I'm going to maintain regular store hours until Saturday, January 28th. THERE WILL BE A PARTY on that day after regular closing time (7:00pm).

After January 28th I will only be open very sporadically. I will post it here and on my webpage (www.dreamhavenbooks.com) and on the door and windows of the store itself. I will also be sending out emails reminding people of open days, sales, readings, signings and any special events I can think of. Again, there is a signup on the website if you would like to be on the email list (it will never be traded or sold, only used for DreamHaven store purposes).

I hope to see many of you before the "closing of the doors". Or at least at the party. It's been a good run - nearly 35 years.

Be Happy.

Greg

The Creature Is In the House

2011-12-31T19:32:16Z

The books have arrived! They look great and I'm extremely pleased. I think I've underestimated the demand and they're going to sell out much sooner than I expected. I only wish I could have that problem more often.

Here's to a happy 2012 for all!

Greg

Rusty Hevelin

2011-12-28T20:49:35Z

I just looked at the Locus website and saw that my old, very good friend, Rusty Hevelin passed away yesterday. I'm going to be incredibly sad today and maybe for a few more days. Rusty was my fannish father. Fannish legend Wilson (Bob) Tucker used to introduce Rusty as his father (Tucker was about 8 years older than Rusty) but I always felt that Rusty really could have been my father.

He had a passion for books and people, not necessarily in that order and Im sure the order changed from time to time. He loved being with people. And I loved spending time with Rusty.

Sad-face day.

Greg

Good King Sauerkraut and other stories

2011-12-24T18:26:58Z

Another Christmas season is here and I seem to have survived mostly unscathed. It's been a very busy year for sales and I'm very thankful for that. It's quiet today, Christmas Eve Day, and that's a bit of a relief. William and I will be joining Lisa for a hopefully uneventful Christmas in Marshall MN, where Lisa is on call at the local hospital.

So here's to a wonderful Holiday Season for everyone and let's all hope for better things in the future.

Be festive.

Greg

O Boy, More Books!

2011-12-19T22:50:46Z

I just finished unloading another large collection of books, about 3000 hardcover and paperback Science Fiction and Fantasy titles. They're all relatively recent (1980+) and most are in nearly perfect shape. I've put out boxes of paperbacks at $1 each and hundreds of hardcovers at $3 and $5. The prices will be good until the end of the year. Come early for the best selection.

Be bookish.

Greg