While yesterday's field report from Doc Wasabassco focused on the "50th anniversary" of Hard Case Crime, the pulp fiction imprint headed up by Charles Ardai (top left), that wasn't the only cause for celebration at the Explorer's Club last week. I was also there to cheer on Ardai's wife, Naomi Novik (bottom right), who had just made her hardcover debut with Victory of Eagles, the fifth novel in the amazing Temeraire fantasy series. (Think Patrick O'Brian with talking dragons.) While the Hard Case crowd partied in sultry noir style in one room, Novik's end of the party was peppered with friends in 19th-century costumes, dancing up a storm with, I was assured, historical accuracy.