Randomness for 6/1

Standard

1) Negotiating with the British.

2) http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/ I really can’t do better than show that URL.

3) Who shot the serif? If you’re curious about fonts and typography, this is a good place to start learning about them.

4) A Tumblr devoted exclusively to Facebook status updates from people who believe stories from The Onion are real.

5) Autobiography of a vampire (former). This shit is why I’m careful to explain to my son that “non-fiction” doesn’t mean “true.”

6) This is cool: a library in NZ opens a public recording studio.

7) THE LESSER BOOK OF THE VISHANTI: A Companion to the Dr. Strange Comic Books. The spells, artifacts, world-building, and more to the Sorcerer Supreme’s end of the Marvel Universe.

No hypothetical this week.

Standard

today’s my wife’s birthday.

:)

My usual library book post

Standard

It’s that time again. Circle of Enemies will be released in three months (at the end of August) and, if your library is like mine, now is the time that you can ask your local system to purchase a few copies. (The Seattle Public Library won’t order anything more than three months in advance.)

If you need other information like the ISBN and such, it’s here.

Thanks.

Look what arrived!

Standard

IMG_2692

On a Sunday, yet. I can only assume it was dropped at a neighbor’s place and they brought it by sometime today, probably while I was busy not-throttling my son.

Anyway, it’s open to my story, “Eating Venom,” and you can see by comparison that Black Gate is twice the height and width of my last novel while being nearly as thick. Have I mentioned that it’s 150K words? That’s an epic fantasy novel, for serious.

Check it out, guys.

Eating 3.64 cookies

Standard

Friday on Twitter, I joked that once Child of Fire received 300 ratings on Goodreads, I would eat 3.64 out of 5 cookies in celebration. Well what do you know. It happened! Last night I bought some Pepperidge Farm Nantuckets (no limericks, please) because I knew I wouldn’t have time for the preferred option, which was baking fresh.

And I took pictures:
Continue reading

In which I work

Standard

I’ve been a little unproductive lately. I’m not sure exactly why, but the pages have been difficult. Revisions have been difficult. Polishing has been difficult.

Yesterday I deliberately got a late start, set Freedom for 3 hours, and focused. It was good.

This morning I made sure to be up by 5 am. I set Freedom for the max: 8 hours. I hit the Starbucks and the library and tore into the notes (and polish) for Twenty Palaces.

And I finished more than half the book.

I dunno, you guys. Do you think the internet might by harming my productivity?

Board game reviews

Standard

Have any of you ever played any of these board games? What do you think about them?

Small World
Dominion
Power Grid
Catacombs
Puerto Rico
Sid Meier’s Civilization: The Board Game

The Twenty Palaces trailer

Standard

Due to circumstances beyond my control and which have nothing to do with the excellent work being done by the guys at Wyrd, the trailer for the Twenty Palaces series won’t be released until July. The guys are nearly finished with their work (which looks fantastic) but other factors will delay things.

Which means I’ll probably be sitting on a finished–and awesome–trailer for weeks without releasing it. Have I mentioned that I’m not the most patient person in the world?

Ah well.

This week’s hypothetical

Standard

You are staying in a remote log cabin for a weekend, completely alone and totally cut off from the wider world. You have a camera and a phone, but you need to hike for two hours down a wooded trail to get reception.

On the first morning of your stay, you’re awoken by a loud crash. You go over the hill to investigate, and you discover a wrecked vehicle. It is, in fact, a classic flying sauce, which has struck the ground hard, tearing a long furrow in the earth and ripping a wide gash in its side.

What do you do?

Randomness for 5/24

Standard

1) If this summer’s movie posters told the truth.

2) Patton Oswalt on the Star Wars prequels. Video (but really just audio).

3) This is so friggin’ funny, and it so perfectly encapsulates the utterly irrational gonzo appeal of comic books. Even if you don’t think you’ll be interested in the subject of this article, give it a look: The Greatest Dinosaurs in Comics.

4) A psychopath walks into a room: Can you tell?

5) Life-size baby T-Rex puppet makes kids scream. Video. This is awesome!

6) Tom Waits Theme for Iron Man 2 (Rejected). Video. Best comment on this video: “Quite obviously fake.”

7) Jonathan Coulter on being a fluke (or not), new business models, connecting with fans, and being compared to the Snuggie. Lots to think about for everyone who creates entertainment in the modern era.