words

Reviews part 18

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Behind the cut: Continue reading

A short, happy story

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The tale of my very first book sale is up on Jim C. Hines’s blog and LiveJournal. For new readers here, it’s not the usual book sale story: It’s a tale of quitting and shame.

Of course, I’m typing this on four hours of sleep so ‘asli lkasj mnfsi lasl jfasi back to bed. Hope everyone is enjoying their day.

Storytelling, Heroes, and The Goon.

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I just deleted a long post I’d written about The Goon, which was brought on by reading the trades. It was Volume 8: Those That Is Damned.

It was about happiness, and heroism, and how happiness is for people who are too fucking weak to get out into the world and face down evil and misery. It was also about how fundamental this is to so many heroic story structures. It was also about my own need for order and how fucking weak I am that I pursue happiness when I could be doing more and risking more for justice.

But I couldn’t make my point, possibly because I was talking about a lesson I learned from a beautiful comic book about violent antihero criminals who fight zombies and ghosts, who pal around with werewolves and a giant spider in a bowler hat, and all the humor comes from poo-flinging and punches to the face. In other words, an oddball horror comic that’s full of raw, sophomoric humor and incredibly dark characters and storylines. It didn’t seem to fit, but there you go.

They’re terrific books, though; as the stories go past, they acquire a depth you would never really expect. They’re that well written. If you have a chance to check them out (of the library, maybe?) you should.

BTW, here’s a few sample pages of the comic. The art is representative (iow, beautiful), but it doesn’t capture the verve of the book.

Randomness for 9/6

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1) While I have pretty much given up on DOCTOR WHO, the chances are you haven’t. In recognition of that, a link: Warren Ellis challenges artists to create a photograph/original artwork depicting the 13th (and final) reincarnation of The Doctor. It takes a while for the art to really start coming in, so be sure to skim through the pages to check it out. Some is pretty cool.

2) “Vampire” skull discovered.

3) 600 Hanna Barbera Characters This pretty much has to be viewed at the original size. And I reject the notion that “Snorkle” was the main character on The Banana Splits. I reject it!

4) Brazillian Legolas of the cell phones.

5) A quick summation of the problems inherent in our student loan system.

6) Seanan McGuire, this year’s Campbell Award winner, lays out the dos and don’ts for folks who want to support an author with a new book out. Like her, I would rather people not send me notes about Amazon.com reviews. Unlike her, it’s because I’ve already read them. The other stuff she says is pretty much spot on, too.

7) Oh. My. God. Why didn’t anyone tell me David Fincher was making an animated movie of THE GOON??!! There’s even a trailer already! Video. It looks incredible! WANT!!!

Book signing rules

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Having read the long list of restrictions at Tony Blair’s book signing, I’ve decided to institute my own list of restrictions for tomorrow’s signing. Please adhere closely to these rules.

1. No photography. All photographs with cameras or camera phones is strictly prohibited due to the danger of capturing one of The Author’s many bad sides. A sketch artist will be provided and pencil sketches will be available for a reasonable price.

2. Backpacks, purses and satchels are allowed, but all fannypacks will be confiscated and disposed of in the alley out back. Because dude, fannypacks.

3. The Author is happy to add a personal dedication to books as well as sign them, but no dedications will be made out to given names. Nicknames only. Also, The Author will be assigning all nicknames on the spot. Got that, Skippy?

4. To keep things moving quickly, all conversation should be limited to complimentary assessments of The Author’s appearance and demeanor, as well as unqualified praise for his books.

5. No cell phones conversations, Twittering, texting or “sexting” permitted, unless The Author is allowed to read/listen in, and finds the conversation amusing.

6. Physical assault is strongly discouraged. The Author should not be spit upon, slapped, struck with a weasel (dead), shot, punched, stabbed, struck with a ferret (living or dead), kicked, or head-butted. In fact, let’s just go with “No touching,” okay?

7. Child care will be provided for book purchases who require it. A special playpen will be installed before the event; readers will not have to worry about children escaping the pen, as it is a very modern kind that comes with a top.

8. Readers are not required to bring their own pen, but those who don’t will be charged an additional $1 ink fee to help compensate for the loss of The Author’s specially-formulated brand of ink (from Bic).

9. All pens provided by the readers themselves must be disinfected by The Author’s staff before the signing. Charge for that: also $1.

That’s all, I think. Adding a tenth restriction seems… excessive. Better to be easy-going and understated.

See you tomorrow, and be sure to OBEY.

Book signing tomorrow

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Hey, guys. I will be having a book signing tomorrow afternoon at Magnolia’s Bookstore in Seattle. It’s easily accessible by the 24 or 31 bus lines, and there’s plenty of parking. I’ll start things off around 1pm and end about half-past “I don’t think anyone else is coming.”

Both books should be available and it’s a nice little store with a substantial kids/YA section. Please drop by and say hello.

Randomness for 9/2

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1) Blind soccer championships, 2010. Video.

2) Gail Simone wants the comics industry to open their eyes.

3) Paul Krugman notices that Trantor is less dense than the state of New Jersey. That doesn’t even include all those Jersey Devils.

4) Normally, I’m not someone who laughs a crotch-kicks, but this sketch gallery of Batman being hit in the balls is pretty funny, even if just for the facial expressions.

5) What it’s like to be captured by Somali pirates. I put this here mainly for myself, so I can read it later.

6) “You don’t have to read my book to be my friend.”

7) Getting out of jury duty via Facebook.

Book giveaways

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All the winners of the book giveaways have been notified. The last three should receive messages as of a couple minutes ago, including the winner of Game of Cages. I’ll mail my two books out the day after I get addresses for them, but the other books will be subject to the vagaries of wrapping and packing.

There are also two people who haven’t written back with their addresses to claim their books. I’ll be dropping them another line soon.

As for the unclaimed books… I’ll donate them to the library.

Thank you, everyone, I’ve had fun making room on my bookshelves sharing great books. Sorry for those of you who didn’t win.

The glamorous life of the writer

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So! Yesterday was release day for Game of Cages, and how did I spend most of that day? Answering emails for one. Public transit for another.

Yeah, yesterday was one of those days when not having a car really hurt.

The mission was simple: sign books on the day they were released. Sometimes it can take a while for new releases to make their way out of the back room onto the shelves, and often the books are delivered late in the day. So I went into the store, introduced myself to an employee, offered to sign books, signed, moved on to the next one.

They were: the downtown Borders, downtown B&N, the University of WA bookstore, the University Village B&N and finally the Northgate mall B&N. The whole time, I had my 8yo son with me.

That took six hours.

Here’s another fun fact about yesterday: the weather was chilly and rainy, with blustery winds. It was cool even for a Seattle August.

And that’s fine. A little rain keeps you cool as you walk from bus stop to store, right? Same for a chilly breeze. It tames the humidity.

Then I would walk into the stores, where the air was hot and still but just as humid, and the sweat would start to bloom all over my body. (Sorry, ladies! I’m taken.) I did not greet a bookseller or sign a book without feeling all nasty and damp.

It was gross. I felt gross. My son? Behaved like a champ (partly because he knew there was a Nerf gun in it for him, partly because he’s a great kid).

And now I’m back at my day job, and I’m exhausted. I’m also way behind on my web/LJ reading. But hey, my book is out there, people are reading it, and one of the B&N employees recognized my name and told me how much she loved my first book. I also have a bunch of new books to read (you knew I couldn’t pop in a bookstores without spending a little money, didn’t you?).

Anyway, I’ll be announcing the giveaway winners for the collection of how-to writing books, Child of Fire and Game of Cages tonight around 6 or 7 PST (in other words, when I get home from the day job). Also, there are a couple of book offerings that have never been claimed. If you want to skim back through the entries, you might find something you like that you missed the first time around.

Hope you guys are having a great day.

Announcing a month of book giveaways! Day 31

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It’s the last day of the book giveaway, and that means it’s time for someone to win a copy of —

Game of Cages

Speak up if you want it! This contest will close on September 1st at 6pm PST, when my son rolls the die and chooses the winner. Good luck!

Update: This book has been won.