Great review from Locus!

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Pertinent quote: “This has become one of my must read series.”

Yeah, that makes this a good day.

Announcing a month of book giveaways! Day 18

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Game of Cages will be coming out on the last day of the month, so I’ve decided to hold a special month of book giveaways. Every day (unless I screw up, which I probably will) I’ll give away a book or themed set of books to someone who asks for it. To enter, you have to comment on this blog or on my LiveJournal–email, Facebook, and Twitter won’t count, and if more than one person speaks up, I’ll roll a die to determine the recipient. U.S. residents only, please.

You get a new book every day, and on the last day of the month I’ll give away my own.

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And now, one for the ladies! Readers of a certain age (like me!) will remember Dr. Joyce Brothers from her appearances on afternoon talk shows of the seventies and earlier. Mike Douglas used to have her on all the time. At the time, she seemed like a sensible person, but has her thinking on women withstood the test of time?

Let’s take a peek at the table of contents, shall we?

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Yep, this book titles Women is actually all about men and kids. BTW, the table of contents is on this page only, so the bottom “Everywoman” section that looks like it might be continued on the next page is actually just as truncated as it appears.

Caution: may cause outrage and or angry blog posts. The other book is a satire; I include it as a palate cleanser. If you want them, leave a comment saying so.

Update: These items have been won.

Announcing a month of book giveaways! Day 17

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Game of Cages will be coming out on the last day of the month, so I’ve decided to hold a special month of book giveaways. Every day (unless I screw up, which I probably will) I’ll give away a book or themed set of books to someone who asks for it. To enter, you have to comment on this blog or on my LiveJournal–email, Facebook, and Twitter won’t count, and if more than one person speaks up, I’ll roll a die to determine the recipient. U.S. residents only, please.

You get a new book every day, and on the last day of the month I’ll give away my own.

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Video novels? you ask yourself. What does that look like? Try this:

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Yep, it’s the pilot episode of MORK AND MINDY in fumetti format. If you want to know what’s inside the video novel of National Lampoon’s Class Reunion, enter to win!

This is my sad face, indie bookstore edition

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Everyday this month, I’ve posted about a book giveaway, and I’ve included a link to indiebound.org’s listing of Game of Cages every day. In fact, I’ve had a link in the sidebar of my blog for months.

And while I’ve had dozens of click-throughs, no one has bought a book from them.

My bookstore-loving brain is hoping that those sales will show after the book is officially published (which is 8/31–only two weeks away OMG), but come on, Child of Fire has been out since the end of last September, nearly 11 months ago, and no one has ordered that, either.

It’s sad to say that those links aren’t working for me, as much as I’d like them too. I’ll check the affiliate stats again in September, but it looks like I’ll be dropping those links from my site. Which is too bad; I’ve ordered books through indiebound, and it’s a good system.

Randomness for 8/16

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1) Wikipedia’s lamest edit wars.

2) Redesigned book covers.

3) A Star Wars Kid for the new age: HALO KID! Video.

4) Our Daughter Isn’t a Selfish Brat; Your Son Just Hasn’t Read
Atlas Shrugged. “When little Aiden toddled up our daughter Johanna and asked to play with her Elmo ball, he was, admittedly, very sweet and polite. I think his exact words were, “Have a ball, peas [sic]?” And I’m sure you were very proud of him for using his manners. To be sure, I was equally proud when Johanna yelled, “No! Looter!” right in his looter face, and then only marginally less proud when she sort of shoved him.”

5) How to recognize a card skimmer at your ATM. via Mary Catelli

6) How good do you have to be to win the World Yo-Yo Championships? Watch and find out. Video.

7) The history of Aquaman, explained.

The Channelled Scablands

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Last weekend my wife, son and I drove out of the city (in a rented car! Luxury!) to see a natural formation that’s unique in the world: The Channelled scablands of central Washington. Great name, huh? For those of you who don’t know about the scablands, Dry Falls and Lake Missoula, here’s a quick ‘n’ dirty explanation: Thirteen thousand years ago during the end of the last ice age, much of Montana was covered by a body of water we now call Lake Missoula. Ice dammed a river valley in Idaho, creating a body of fresh water larger than several of the Great Lakes.

You won’t be surprised to hear that eventually, the ice melted, the water broke through the dam, and the largest flood ever in the history of our planet was unleashed. Over the course of three days, a 300-ft-deep flood raced across Idaho, Washington and into Oregon as it raced to the sea. The effects of this flood are still most prevalent in the central Washington area near Grand Coulee. There was a Nova program that covered this: Mystery of the Megaflood, but it doesn’t appear to be one of the shows they offer for free online. Maybe you can borrow it from the library, like we did.

What this means is that, out in the desert of central WA, are the effects of floods of water writ large. You know the ripples you see in sand when waves flow over them? Well, look at the land formation above this small town:

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Those gigantic humps are marks of the flood. Crazy, isn’t it?

More below the cut, including Dry Falls, an ice age waterfall ten times larger than Niagra Falls. Continue reading

Announcing a month of book giveaways! Day 16

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Game of Cages will be coming out on the last day of the month, so I’ve decided to hold a special month of book giveaways. Every day (unless I screw up, which I probably will) I’ll give away a book or themed set of books to someone who asks for it. To enter, you have to comment on this blog or on my LiveJournal–email, Facebook, and Twitter won’t count, and if more than one person speaks up, I’ll roll a die to determine the recipient. U.S. residents only, please.

You get a new book every day, and on the last day of the month I’ll give away my own.

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Oh, yeah. You remember this book, which I wrote about here in some detail. Way back when, a year and a half ago, there was some interest in acquiring this book. Now’s your chance!

Update! This item has been won.

Announcing a month of book giveaways! Day 15

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Game of Cages will be coming out on the last day of the month, so I’ve decided to hold a special month of book giveaways. Every day (unless I screw up, which I probably will) I’ll give away a book or themed set of books to someone who asks for it. To enter, you have to comment on this blog or on my LiveJournal–email, Facebook, and Twitter won’t count, and if more than one person speaks up, I’ll roll a die to determine the recipient. U.S. residents only, please.

You get a new book every day, and on the last day of the month I’ll give away my own.

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My son loves these books. He jumps on them when I bring a new one home and reads them straight through. I bought this one for him without realizing he already had a copy. Would you like it?

Update: This book has been won.

Announcing a month of book giveaways! Day 14

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Game of Cages will be coming out on the last day of the month, so I’ve decided to hold a special month of book giveaways. Every day (unless I screw up, which I probably will) I’ll give away a book or themed set of books to someone who asks for it. To enter, you have to comment on this blog or on my LiveJournal–email, Facebook, and Twitter won’t count, and if more than one person speaks up, I’ll roll a die to determine the recipient. U.S. residents only, please.

You get a new book every day, and on the last day of the month I’ll give away my own.

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Want to read the thoughts of a Trappist monk?

Update: This book has been won.

Clueless neo-pro quote of the day

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“Read books from living authors only
… Hemingway’s grandkids are swimming in cash, whereas hustling artists need whatever they can get. That $10 purchase actually does make a difference for writers like me. Respect life.”

— Matt Stewart

(Respect life???)