And it’s a nice one, playing off the fact that The Last Colony is a Sci-Fi Channel Essential book for May:

I deem this book essential not just because every other star in the science fiction universe says it’s great (it is), but rather because I think essential is a good description of the reason Scalzi is so much fun to read. His prose it and his story are stripped clean, smoothed down to the essentials. He packs more action into a 300 something page novel than some writers manage to get in a 3,000 page trilogy. Everything is crystal clear. The universe may be complicated and the aliens jockeying for the limited resources in that universe may be complicated, heck, even the politics of the human race are complicated, but in Scalzi’s precise vision, all you get are the essentials you need as a reader to plug yourself into the story and set yourself loose at light speed. Scalzi is an essential writer to read because he offers readers only the essentials they need to get out there in his universe and have one hell of a good time.

Well, shucks. I do try.

Coincidentally, or perhaps not, I had an interview with Rick Kleffel (who writes at The Agony Column) today, over at KQED, and what I’m really proud of was that I think it’s the first interview I’ve done where I may not have muttered a single “uuuuuuuh.” We’ll have to wait until it’s released, of course, to see if I’m correct.

I have to tell you, the Half Moon Bay appearance was something of a question mark for me; I didn’t know much about Bay Books, and I didn’t know if I knew anyone in that area. But you know what, The staff Bay Books did an awesome job of promoting the event, because the store was packed with folks (including my pal Michael Rawdon, there in the center of the picture, who with his friend Andrew trekked down for the event). I had a great time chatting with everyone, and when it was all done, they sent me off with a box full of cookies. You can’t beat that. So now that’s two really excellent appearances. I like this tour.

Tonight: Borderlands Books in San Francisco, which is an appearance I’ve been really looking forward to, since its been one of my favorite speciality stores for years — and yet this will be the first time I’ve been in the actual store (I’ve done signings for them at cons, though). So I’m really excited for tonight, and if you’re on the San Francisco side of the bay, you really need to be there tonight at 7, if only to see me totally geek out. (If you’re in East Bay, I’ll be at Dark Carnival in Berkeley tomorrow at 5:30 — come, it’ll be excellent!)

Gotta get ready for a radio interview. Later.