Your Mid-June Pimp Thread

Posted on June 15, 2009    Posted by      212 Comments

How long has it been since I’ve put up a pimp thread here on Whatever? Oh, probably too long. And I’ll be busy today typing in places you can’t see  (which sounds dirtier than it is), so: I declare this an open pimp thread.

For those of you who do not know what this means, it’s simple: In the comment thread, promote something you think people should know about. Could be a new book, album, piece of art, blog, whatever. Promote your yourself, promote your friends, promote people you don’t know personally but who you think are, like, doing supercool stuff. It’s all good. And the site here get 40k or so readers daily — there are worse places to tell people about what you think is new and cool.

A reminder about links: Feel free to put them in (it’s kind of the point), but remember that I have my moderation limit set to three links per comment, and sometimes, for reasons known only to WordPress, the moderation thing gets triggered even before then. If you post a comment and it doesn’t show up immediately, don’t panic (and don’t think I hate you). I’ll be along to free moderated messages. One way to avoid this is to simply do one link per comment. Multiple comments are encouraged in this case.

So: Promote!

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212 Comments on “Your Mid-June Pimp Thread”

  2. (Just to amend my above comment — you can get some free crosswords at that link, as well as read about a new puzzle project I’ve got cooking.)

  5. Sins and Shadows, new urban fantasy by my friend Lyn Benedict. Exciting read. Available through Amazon and any major bookseller.

  6. I’ve just started a new site for posting writing samples. My first piece is a few pages of an original comic script that I’m working on. My plan is to put something up once or twice per week; it could be a comic script piece like this, a short story, a piece of sketch comedy, anything.

    http://docmental.wordpress.com/

  10. Is it OK to pimp my belief that Illinoisians should contact their state legislator to support an increase in the state income tax? We just got word that without the increase, Illinois is cutting human service programs, including the 1.4 million to prevent homelessness. Cause, you know, no one is going homeless now, what with the recession and foreclosure crisis.

  11. Well, I’d love to pimp Primeval as a UK sci-fi series that actually had a consistent approach to time travel. Sadly though, despite high ratings it’s just been axed this morning. Damn. Watch it anyway, it’s fun, it’s good, it’s (reasonably) intelligent and has a fantastically sarcastic guy in it.

    Oh and check out Misfile a great webcomic that has a proper storyline and strong characters and doesn’t rely on a gag a day.

  13. I’m working on a piece of adaptive fiction (a mystery novel with reader interaction) called “Fission Chips” The voting on chapter 7 indicates our hero is going to assault someone with bundt cake. Join in and make my life even stranger, please!

    http://books.1889.ca/fission

  15. Thank you kindly for the thread, sir!

    I have a new little ebook out via Drollerie Press and would be honored if anyone would like to come by and check it out. It’s an urban fantasy called Faerie Blood, about a young woman who finds out she’s half-Seelie when her immortal kin come to town to try to kill her.

    I’m aiming for a lighter-hearted urban fantasy here, so if you like Tanya Huff’s Keeper books or maybe Esther Friesner, you might hopefully like my book too. :)

    An excerpt is available here, and you can buy the book here.

  17. I just discovered Cassandra Chan’s mysteries. Maybe I just don’t hang out in mystery circles enough, but I enjoyed them so much I was sort of offended that I’d never heard of them before, you know?

    Her series begins with The Young Widow and follows Phillip Bethancourt, wealthy bored London guy, and his best friend Jack Gibbons, homicide detective. The books have all the atmosphere of Dorothy Sayers’s Wimsey mysteries and all the wacky hijinks of modern crimes (CCTV cameras play a large role in the third book).

    If you know where to get cheap back issues of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, let me know, because I’d love to track down the early short stories in this series while I wait for the next book!

  18. I want to pimp my podcast – Geek Survival Guide. I’ve been putting out short comedy/satirical pieces for a couple of years now, on how to survive everything from zomibes to werewolves to Bigfoot to The Thing (think John Carpenter, not Ben Grimm). You can find it at http://www.geeksurvivalguide.org.

  19. Traffic at my blog has been building steadily. Most popular series of posts this past month — this one about giving sexual harassment prevention training to the employees (including cops) of a small city.

  21. My new Mystery novel comes out later this month – Null_Pointer. It’s about a programmer who must figure out why the members of his web development team are being killed and who is behind the murders, before he becomes the next victim.

    http://nullPointer.ning.com

    You can read the entire text on Scribd right now, or wait until the paperback comes out and order it from your local independent bookseller.

    Thanks John!

  22. I’ll take the opportunity to pimp Animal Rescue. Specifically, Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Maryland.

    We went there for Volunteer orientation this weekend. It seems a very impressive organization to me:

    http://www.defhr.org

    Pictures do not do justice to how badly some of these animals have suffered.

  23. Steampunk Tales is a resurrection of the pulp/penny-dreadful for the digital age. It’s a new iPhone/iPod Touch application featuring short stories from Jay Lake, Catherynne Valente, G.D. Falksen and others. It’s only $2, people!

    That’s right – ten amazing, adventure-filled, tantalizing short stories for your iPod Touch or iPhone, all for Two Dollars!

    Seriously! What’s not to love?

  25. I’ll be happy to promote my podcast here: The Labyrinth Library Podcast, in which I review books once a week. There’s usually no pattern to which books I do, though I sometimes cluster around themes – like the Apocalypse Trifecta that included The Stand, Swan Song and Day of the Triffids. I just talk about books I enjoy, on the basis that other people might enjoy them as well.

    It’s usually somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes long, perfect for whatever activity you enjoy that lasts between 10 and 15 minutes. I also leave a clue at the end of each episode regarding the identity of the following week’s review, on the basis that engaging with the listeners is a Good Idea. So far my brother is the king of the guessers, though I encourage people to unseat him.

    Here’s a link to the podcast, and just to suck up a little, here’s the review I did of The Android’s Dream.

    It’s something I look forward to doing every Wednesday night, which is pretty good, I think. Come on over, give it a listen and let me know what you think!

    (thanks for the promo space!)

  27. Todd- it is okay to pimp that. It is not, however, okay to pimp out your girlfriend.

  31. For those who are interested in the life and works of Robert A. Heinlein, check out http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/NewNitroForum/ .

    NitroForum is hosted by James Gifford, author of the Hugo nominee _Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader’s Companion_. Other prominent participants include Bill Patterson, who’s long awaited biography of Heinlein is, well, long-awaited (It was authorized by Virginia Heinlein, and Patterson had full access to the Heinlein archives at UC Santa Cruz, even the “sealed” correspondence. It is slowly working its way through the editorial process.), and many of the organizers of the Heinlein Centennial.

    It tries to be the home of intelligent, informed discussion about RAH and his writings (sort of the anti-alt.fan.heinlein . . . .).

  32. The Iranian election was just blatantly stolen by the current thugs in power. The country is about to explode, hopefully something will change this time. Andrew Sullivan has been up to date all weekend long here:
    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/
    It is a shame the msm does not see fit to cover this moment in history.

  38. I just finished reading a lovely novel (not science fiction, just plain-ole-modern literary stuff) called Six-Hundred Hours of a Life. I highly recommend it to anybody.

    You can see my more detailed review here.

  40. My company, Ohm Force, makes creative audio plugins for your homestudio at attractive prices.

    A list of acronyms :
    – VST, AudioUnits, Protools, Mac OS, Windows

    A list of (happy) artists :
    – Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Kruder and Dorfmeister and Rick Wakeman.

    A twitter username : @ohmforce

    A weblink : http://www.ohmforce.com/

  42. Since I’m up at what for me is an obscenely early hour, I’ll play along. In Ashes Lie, sequel to Midnight Never Come, is in US stores now and UK stores (I think) next week. Historical faerie fantasies, with politics and backstabbing and (in the case of Ashes) most of London burning to the ground. Boom!

  43. Nate @34:
    Wow. Your wife has really gone to town on that blog! I’ve bookmarked and will have to set aside a weekend to catch up.

  44. @TKay

    I actually read that story a little while back and loved it. I just couldn’t for the life of me figure out where Strange Horizons hides the comments section.

    Okay, now for my shameless self pimpery:

    I am currently writing some short fantasy stories all set in the same world that I want to grow into a much larger world, but haven’t so far because I know I just plain need to be a better writer.

    They can be found here.

  45. If you like Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files novels, wait until September rolls around for Child Of Fire by Harry Connolloy. I managed to grab an ARC, and it really wowed me. It’s an impressive first novel – lots of noir themes, a good anti-hero protagonist, and a really interesting set of villains.

    Or you could pre-order one. It’s mass market, so it’ll be inexpensive.

  48. Hi, my name is Guy Thomas Wade, and I run the blog Cranking Plot at http://crankingplot.wordpress.com where I talk about my progress toward getting published, and interesting things I learn along the way. Soon I’ll be reviewing books and hopefully interviewing authors about how they crank plot.

  49. I’ve just rebooted my old movie review website, Moviegeekz, and I’m really trying to put some effort into the reviews I’m writing there. My review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button just went live an hour or so ago. I’d love for people to drop by and see what they think.

    Also — and not that this really needs pimping but I’m gonna pimp it anyway — the company I work for, Harmonix Music Systems, will be releasing The Beatles: Rock Band on September 9 and please believe me when I say it’s going to be absolutely amazing.

  50. Okay. For you Kindle owners, my e-novel, Dancing In the Dark, is available for $1.49 before the Amazon discount at the Kindle store.

    For you SF fans, check out The Human Disguise by James O’Neal.

    For you MG/YA folks, check out Magickeepers by Erica Kirov.

    For you comedy-ish/chick-lit readers, check out Freudian Slip by Erica Orloff (same person as Erica Kirov).

  51. If you like humorous fantasy, you really should be reading Pewfell by Chuck Whelon. It’s a comic both on the web and in print. It’s about a slacker wizard, his loser friends, and his entirely competent wife. Nice lines, beautiful colors, and a cynical yet light hearted sense of humor.

    http://www.pewfell.com/

    He has hundreds of strips in his archive and several trade paperbacks (or graphic novels if you want to sound hip).

  53. I’ve been enjoying the Skeptic’s Dictionary for years, http://www.skepdic.com/

    The Skeptic’s Dictionary is a website and a book. Each features definitions, arguments, and essays on topics ranging from acupuncture to zombies, and provides a lively, commonsense trove of detailed information on things supernatural, paranormal, and pseudoscientific.

    Dozens of topics in logic, perception, science, and philosophy are also covered to help explain the appeal and popularity of occult beliefs and to provide a guide for critical thinking.

  54. I do a radio show called Geeky Pleasures on Friday nights. Every week, I discuss something geek that has caught my attention during the week. I also interview some pretty cool geeks. Two of the cool geeks I have interviewed on my show are Wil Wheaton and Dr. Phil Plait. You can listen to those interviews at http://sugarjules.blogspot.com

    Warning: The interview with Wil has some colourful language from the both of us and the interview with Phil I drop the “s” bomb a couple of times. So I give the interviews a PG13 rating.

  55. This falls to the category of “don’t know personally, but is doing supercool stuff”:

    There’s a new novel by J.C. Hutchins and Jordan Weisman out called Personal Effects: Dark Art. It’s a very nice thriller, and as a new twist it comes with a double handful of related effects: birth and death certificates, a credit card (nonfunctional — sigh), letters, photographs and so on, plus hints of a dozen or so related websites.

  57. Must pimp my local record store. http://www.electricfetus.com/
    They have negotiated there own licensing agreements for music downloads. So you can get high quality DRM free mp3 files and support a (my) independent record store.

  61. I am pimping the fanfilm “The Hunt For Gollum”. This is a short independent film that was made for under $5K that has a look and feel very reminiscent of the Peter Jackson films. I was very impressed with the quality of the acting and the overall project. It’s available in HD, too. Check it out at: http://www.thehuntforgollum.com

  62. I self-released a cd last may under the pseudonym The Next Big Disaster. The record is called “So Sly.” Glam rock with a pinch of prog. If you have Rhapsody, you can stream the whole thing for free. It’s also available on iTunes and CD Baby. Or you can visit Myspace.com/thenextbigdisaster.

    Thanks, John!

  63. My story “Machine” appears in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine issue #38. For a limited time, you can buy this issue of the wonderful Australian SF/F magazine as a PDF.

    Limited time, because yesterday ASIM paid me for “In The Blink Of An Eye” which will appear shortly in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine issue #39 — and when they get the PDF of issue #39 up in probably a few weeks, you’ll have missed issue #38’s PDF. (grin)

    Of course you can always subscribe to the print version of ASIM and help support their excellent efforts. I’ve been a fan of theirs long before they bought any of my stories.

    Dr. Phil

  66. For sci-fi fantasy readers with the bifocals and money to burn, I have my debut sci-fi fantasy novels coming out in 2010:

    Whoosh: In the Slipstream of a Weather God
    Whoosh: Haloblazer

    Edited by Arlene Prunkl, book design by Fiona Raven.

    I’m self-publishing them through Lightning Press under Bolt Publishing, hoping to gain some local attention in Vancouver, Canada. I love living in the same city as William Gibson and Douglas Coupland.

    Stay tuned for more details . . .

    R.J. McIsaac

    PS Thanks for the read Cat.

  67. My friend Aaron Vanek writes about cocktails for the Los Angeles Examiner. Being a beer drinker, I don’t care that much about cocktails, but Aaron’s columns are often about more than just drinks. He brings a real sense of place and character to his descriptions of the nostalgic, entrepreneurial, sometimes steam-punky LA cocktail scene. Along with the recipes and bar reviews, there’s some fine local writing and history.

    http://www.examiner.com/x-5200-LA-Cocktails-Examiner

  68. Well, crap, there’s goes my productivity for the day as I click on all these interesting links.

    But just to add my bit – this is how we spent our Saturday, so I heartily recommend seat belts.

    (And yes, everyone walked away just fine, and ours was slightly different because rather than 40mph into an unmoving wall, it was 50mph into the side of a Prius which most definitely moved.)

    So seat belts people. It’s the 21st century, don’t be stupid. You may drive safe, but the teenager who thinks it’s a 4 way stop when it most definitely isn’t will get ya every time.

    (And I’ll try to have something less obvious for whenever the next pimp thread is. Promise.)

  70. The guests of honor this year at Capclave, the science fiction convention produced by the Washington (DC) Science Fiction Association (WSFA) are author Harry Turtledove and Asimov’s editor Sheila Williams.

    The con is being held October 16-18, 2009 at the WashigntonDC-Rockville Hilton Executuve Meeting Center, which is just across the parking lot from the Twinbrook station of the metro red line.

    Other program participants include Catherine Asaro, James Morrow, Scott Edelman, David Louis Edelman, Bud Sparhawk, Peter Heck, John G. Hemry (Jack Campbell), Virginia DeMarce, Edmund Schubert, Hildy Silverman and Lawrene Watt-Evans, as well as many others.

    This years workshops include a writers workshop taught by Allen Wold, a reviewers workshop taught by Peter Heck, a contracts workshop taught by Jane Jewell and a podcasting workshop.

    We have a special rate for students, military and wounded veterans: $20 for Saturday only, $25 for the whole weekend.

    Memberships are currently $45 for the whole weekend, but the price goes up July 1st, so get your membership now.

    Go to our website for more information – http://www.capclave.org

  72. i also hate to pimp, which is why i’m a starving (but excellent) photographer, but it’s for a good cause: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503099186@N01/sets/72157617749881047/detail/ is where i keep my unique/original poster photography and fractography. i’m looking for a marketing genius to take me out of the cubicles of everyday life and put me years closer to retiring. for the next month, your first print order received that says the magick phrase “scalzi sent me” will pay no sales tax and no postage\handling. for the master himself, he can order as often as he wants and receive the same benefit :)

    if you have a pithy (short) quote that needs matching with a great photo, i can customize.

    because of previous hassles, i can deliver to North America only… sorry, world.

  73. First my web site: http://www.robertmitchellevans.com
    There you can find free SF and Horror short stories. Micro-reviews of books and movies and of course a blog. I am unpublished nationally but I have placed as honorable mention three times with the Writers Of The Future contest.

    Second look up http://www.gailcarriger.com she a friend of mine and about to hit the publishing world this October with her first book, Souless. Which combine paranormal with steampunk in Victorian London. The ARC has been getting really good notices in the industry.

  74. My local science fiction bookstore, Mysterious Galaxy, also does online sales. Considering the challenges faced by indy bookstores, not to mention genre bookstores, they’re doing well. And I hope they keep doing well, so next time you’re planning to buy a book online from a massive corporate behemoth, maybe consider buying it instead from a tiny business that cares about books, especially science fiction, fantasy, and mystery.

    http://www.mysteriousgalaxy.com

  77. My recent illustration “Steampunk Tortoise and Hare” has been included in the premier annual digital art book, Exposé 7 from Ballistic Publishing! It’s quite an honor to be presented among “The finest digital art in the known Universe” along with so many artists that I admire.

    The book can be purchased here: http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/books/expose/expose_7/ (and certainly at Amazon or even your local bookstore)

    “Steampunk Tortoise and Hare” can be seen here: http://www.jeffzugale.com/artblog/2009/01/steampunk-challenge-final-submission.html

    And finally I’m selling 8.5×11 prints of the illustration here:http://www.jeffzugale.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=288

  78. My new favorite novel is a Gothic Victorian ghost story by Leanna Renee Hieber: The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. Greek mythology, alchemists, mysterious academies, secret societies, ghosts, demons, and Jack the Ripper. What’s not to love?

    Release date: late August

    http://www.leannareneehieber.com/

  79. Nice idea.

    And it’s kind of fitting. After 6 years writing a blog about books, comics, movies and life in general, i decided that it was more like a mirror of my old self, after so many changes in the last couple years. So i created a new one, which i intend to use as a tool for my various projects as well as a place to speak about whatever thing comes to mind. And somehow, the design of this blog inspired me in creating the new one (i discovered delicious here, thanks!).

    So come and visit http://www.losotrosplanes.com (the Other Plans). I started oficcially last week, and so long i have a funny video with the outtakes from the last short film i’ve been working on and a review of a conference by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neil.

    And tough it’s in spanish, i included the translation widget, so it would be interesting to see if it makes inteligible translations. And the video is almost entirely in english, so give it a look!

  81. Copied from another thread, but maybe it will get a few more hits here:

    This is the Yes on 8 ad featuring Newsom’s speech…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2QV0uHOe5g&feature=related

    In my outrage over that ad, I had previously overlooked something of some significance. The ad features a law professor named Richard Peterson, who suggests that people will be “sued over personal beliefs,” “churches could lose their tax exemption,” and “gay marriage [will be] taught in public schools.” These claims are outrageously dishonest. It’s one thing when they are made from ignorance. It is quite another when they are made by a law professor who, I strongly suspect, knows better. And his status as a law professor lends credibility to those watching the ad who do not know better. And that, frankly, is offensive.

    Here is a link to Mr. Peterson’s bio at Pepperdine Law…

    http://law.pepperdine.edu/academics/faculty/peterson.html

    Mr. Peterson’s email address is included. He might be interested to hear some of your thoughts and feelings on this topic. (Keep it thoughtful and respectful, please).

    For an outstanding legal analysis debunking the claims Mr. Peterson makes in the ad, please see:

    http://www.mormonsformarriage.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/mat-responses-to-six-consequences-if-prop-8-fails-rev-1-1.pdf

    While the points Mr. Thurston makes are common sense to any competent lawyer, he does a great job of articulating them here, and also has apparently done a fair amount of research regarding the cases the Prop 8 liars refer to in the context of these arguments, showing that those cases in fact have nothing to do with gay marriage, and certainly don’t support the claims being made.

  84. The organization I volunteer for, the DC Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, is having its annual fundraiser, Ripple, this Saturday (which is also International Surfing Day). It’s a show of ocean-related art, with free alcohol and people wearing tuxes with boardshorts. Fun!

    http://www.rippledc.com

  86. @71 # Greg van Eekhouton
    I second this. I live in San Diego and only by my genre books from Patrick at Myterious Galaxy. They are great people, have lots of authors in store, and realy love book readers.

  87. Well if you insist… I run a book review blog mainly focused on Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Come by and check out what I have to say about some of the latest reads. Most recently I’ve interviewed S.M. Peters author of the great steampunk book Whitechapel Gods and the just released Ghost Ocean. I also run contests and host author guest posts from time to time.

    Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf & Book Review
    http://booktionary.blogspot.com/

  90. Self-pimpage on my latest book, IN KEISHA’S SHADOW, a YA novel:
    Dumped by her high school sweetheart for not being out and proud, bi-racial Tori Kahl struggles with college life, her demanding mother, and the legacy of her dead sister Keisha. Her only escapes are riding her horse, drinking, and cutting herself. Then Ashley, the brash and flirty new boarder, shows up at the stables and not only challenges Tori’s top rider status, but shakes her world of self-pity as they cope with the pains of growing up.

    http://tinyurl.com/nx3jhk

  94. Hey, thanks for this.

    I’d like to point to some friends of mine who have a nice little publishing house, Blaft (http://www.blaft.com) based in Chennai, India. They started last year with the very interesting Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction, and have gone on to publish a diverse and eclectic series of books.

    The one that’s dearest to me is the one I worked on, of course :). I translated a Hindi pulp thriller – The 65 Lakh Heist – into English for them, which they’re working on bringing to the US as we speak. It’s about a safecracker planning his last big job, which goes awry when a don from the Punjabi underworld gets wind of the loot.

  95. Back in the late 80’s early 90’s a guy by the name of Daniel Keys Moran had a few books published in a series he called the Tales Of The Continuing Time

    I had read them and remembered enjoying them but my copies were loaned out and never returned and once they were out of print I semi forgot about them. Then a friend I hadn’t seen in a while was home last year and we got to talking about books we had enjoyed. They came up in the conversation and he said he had recently reread them and that they were available free online. I tracked them down myself and reread them:

    http://immunitysec.com/resources-dkm.shtml

    In order read
    Emerald Eyes
    The Long Run
    The Last Dancer

    I loved them. They have it all – Time travelling demi-gods, cyberpunks, bioengineered telepaths, room temp superconductors, ultra tech of all shapes and styles. Storytelling on a mythic scale. How the hell did I forget them?

    (I don’t know how accurate it is but in Dan’s wikipedia entry it says that in The Long Run as part of his “description of how a ubiquitously available Internet would affect society, he introduced the concept of Internet addiction disorder, which he called “data-starve”.)

    He also has a blog

    http://danielkeysmoran.blogspot.com/search/label/AI%20War

    He hasn’t been too active on the blog recently due to personal and legal reasons (part of a long long story you can read about there if you want to) but they are mostly settled now and he is back blogging.

    He plans to post the first half of the next novel in his Tales Of The Continuing Time, an unpublished sequel called The A.I. War, sometime soon on the blog or the host site at immunitysec since he recently regained the rights to it.

    He has already posted some extensive excerpts from The A.I. War on the blog and the first three chapters can be found here:

    http://www.kithrup.com/dkm/dkmfic/

    (Kithrup.com was also home to David Brin until a few years ago when he managed to get a hold of his own domain name (finally) from a squatter….Dan keeps good company)

    Why The A.I. War is unpublished has nothing to do with sales (which were actually pretty strong) or that the novels sucked….they don’t……personal reasons and part of the long long story.

    Lets give him our support. I’d love to see him back in print (not to mention finish all the novels in his Tales….all 33 of them)

    The crystal wind is the storm, the storm is the data, and the data is life.
    — The Players Litany

  97. I have nothing to pimp, but I must say I’m very miffed about the axing of Primeval. It was a fun show.

  98. I shall pimp Can’t Stop the Serenity, a worldwide charity screening of the movie “Serenity” to raise funds for Equality Now. Dates vary by city, but they’re all happening soon. Many screenings will also include “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”. Find your nearest screening at http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com

  100. I just landed a dream job (after getting pink slipped by my former employer), so I’m compelled to put in a plug for the new guys. The place is called The Editorial Department and they provide editorial services for both fiction and non-fiction writers. They also have an agent matchmaking program once an author has a manuscript ready to go. We just released our June “Between the Lines” (a writerly-themed e-zine), and the July one is going to have a SF/F focus. I’m in charge of assembling content, so comments and ideas are welcome!

  101. For those who enjoy playing online pet sims, Canis Novus:

    http://www.canisnovus.com

    It is a dog breeding game with a strong focus on working dogs. Very fun, I have been hooked from my first day!

    There is an application process, but it is reasonable enough, and there are previews etc available for viewing so that you can get an idea of what the game is like before applying.

    Right now there is a LOT going on, all sorts of changes and additions, so it’s a great time to join.

    Hope to see some of you there.

  103. Dwarf Fortress.
    http://www.bay12games.com/

    This is an ASCII game in development by two dudes, one of whom does the programming.

    It can procedurally generate an entire world with centuries of history for every citizen and creature, hundreds of miles across, detailed down to the level of a single dwarf cutting down a single tree, and the elves who get mad at him for it.

    If a skeletal elk (skelk) attacks him, the elk might strike through his chest armor, shirt, hair layer, skin layer, fat layer, muscle layer, might or night not hit a rib or two, possibly damaging an individual organ. He can have a few specific teeth knocked out. If he’s tough he might pick the skelk up and toss it right over the edge of a cliff, shattering into peices on the rocks far below.

    Construct and manage a fortress and deal with all its problems at the micro scale, along with the macro scale of civilization wars and trade. Or just play an adventurer scuttling around the world doing stuff.

    And if you get bored with that world, make a new one. It takes about 5 minutes. Edit the parameters to make the world and anything in it act the way you want. One guy used the simple scripting language to make a furnace that smelted cows (stone goes in, cows come out).

    When they finish this game and put a nice GUI on it, you won’t need to buy another RTS or RPG ever again.

  105. Okay, last one:

    Paul and Storm are terrific, funny musicians, who (like Jonathan Coulton, with whom they frequently perform) spread their music through Creative Commons and word of mouth. They’re also fans of John Scalzi. Over on Twitter this morning, they mentioned their difficulties in getting their music on Pandora. They submit their albums, only to have them rejected. If any Paul and Storm fans want to give them a hand (and thus benefit by having access to their music on Pandora), they suggest the following:

    “Best bet is to suggest us at suggest-music@pandora.com, and maybe let @pandora_radio & @timwestergren know. BE NICE!”

    http://www.paulandstorm.com

  106. I’ve been blogging about my jewelry-making as part of the Creative Wire Jewelry Year of Jewelry 2009. If you are interested in handmade jewelry or the creative processes behind it, I’d love for you to take a look.

    http://moonbowdesigns.blogspot.com/

    Thanks! And thanks, John, for this thread.

  116. My blog But the Third One was Great:

    http://butthethirdonewasgreat.blogspot.com/

    The blog that asks the question – just what happens when horror movies, the red-headed stepchildren of the film industry, spout red-headed direct-to-video stepchildren of their own?

    Covered so far: Child’s Play, It’s Alive, Sleepaway Camp, Phantasm, and The Evil Dead. Up next: The Exorcist.

  117. Pimping Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton, it’s trad fantasy with some very original details and is an amazing read!

  118. The annual Westercon convention (the 62nd), aka FiestaCon, is taking place July 2-5 at the Tempe Mission Palms in Tempe, Arizona. Artist GoH is Todd Lockwood, Author GoH is Alan Dean Foster, Editor GoH is Stanley Schmidt, Fan GoHs are Jim and Doreen Webbert and Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden are serving as our Toastmasters. We’re also hosting the annual 1632 minicon with Eric Flint and other Grantville Gazette contributors. We’ve got many other authors and artists taking part including Diana Gabaldon, Janni Lee Simner, Susan Krinard, Jennifer Roberson, Dani & Eytan Kollin, Dennis McKiernan, and others. We’ve got lots of panels and presentations, a full filk schedule, two charity auctions (including a signed first edition auction) and lots more. Plus, we’ll have a great view of the July 4th fireworks in downtown Tempe. Full details including program schedule is at http://www.fiestacon.org.

  119. I am currently trying to raise $4,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in memory of my Mother and to celebrate my 40th birthday in October. I am doing this by training to run the Marine Corps Marathon (which happens to fall on my 40th birthday weekend) through their Team in Training program. So if anyone out there in Whatever land is willing and able to help out, you can make an on-line donation here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/md/corps09/etucker Thanks in advance.

  120. Please, if you are interested, do visit my web site. I am a Sf and Horror author. I have shorties for the reading in the Trunk and I have three times placed as an honorable mention in the Writers Of The Future contest.
    That contest is well worth the time if you are trying to break into the industry.

    http://www.robertmitchellevans.com

  121. Now available at Samhain Publishing, In Plain Sight.
    In a choice between fight or flight, love makes the final decision. Want to read about shapeshifters, birds of prey, a woman done wrong, and a man trying to do right? To read more, click here

    Thanks for the opportunity to “pimp,” John!

    Marie

  122. I am translating “Amadis of Gaul,” Europe’s first best-selling novel. Published in 1508, it’s a medieval masterpiece about chivalry, and it set off a century of sequels and spin-offs across Europe. These books made Don Quixote go mad and imagine himself a knight-errant like Amadis. I’m posting a new chapter each week. http://www.amadisofgaul.blogspot.com

  123. I’m translating “Amadis of Gual,” Europe’s first best-selling novel. It’s a medieval masterpiece of chivalry that set off a century of sequels and spinoffs. These books were the ones that made Don Quixote go mad. I’m posting a new chapter every week: http://amadisofgaol.blogspot.com

  128. I was shocked and appalled by the most recent star trek movie, and on a whim, decided to see if a URL was available to express my feelings. To my surprise I was able to register http://www.ihatestartrek.com

    which is like most of the other urls that I own in that I’m just surprised I was able to get it.

  129. I’m pimping my friend’s company, Media Awaken – http://mediaawaken.com/. The idea is that through the use of social media (like a blog, for instance…), a company can expand beyond its current boundaries. That’s all I’m going to say, as she says it much better than I can!

  131. Same link as always, because it’s still cool:

    The webcomic HERO (http://applearmy.com/hero), which by now has reached over 200 of a planned 300-some pages. It’s been described as, if I remember correctly, The Little Prince set in a Final Fantasy-esque world, as it would be written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano.

    I describe it as awesome, beautiful, and thought- and emotion-provoking. Go read.

  132. i have a chapter in a new book called “Mothering and Blogging: The Radical Act of the Mommy Blog” through Demeter Press. (Mine is Chapter Four, under my regular name.) The other contributions in the book are worth a read as well.

    You can find out more here:
    http://www.yorku.ca/arm/MotheringandBlogging.html

    This book has been featured at BlogHer and other conferences and is a product of the gender studies department of York University in Toronto, ON.

  133. Bachata dancing. It’s from the Dominican Republic (unlike me), and it’s fun, sexy and makes the girlfriend, wife (or both) happy. If you can count to eight, you can bachata dance. It’s easy to learn, hard to master.

    Look up the band Aventura to listen to the type of music it is. I highly recommend the song Un Beso.

  134. EVE Online. It has been around since 2004 but it is one of the few MMOs that has consistently grown and evolved and it is more popular now that at anytime in it’s lifetime. If you want hardcore, gritty sci-fi spaceships in space shooting at each other, this is your game.

  141. Okay, I’ll chime in and pimp our small press, which publishes anthropomorphic (“furry”) SF, fantasy, and contemporary fiction. Our authors and publications just won another handful of awards for novels, short stories, graphic novels, and so on from the community (the Ursa Major Awards). So if you like good stories and you don’t mind animal-people characters, check out our stuff.

    (And if you write good stories … drop us a line at talent@sofawolf.com)

  142. GAH! I think my brain is being overloaded with all the geeky goodness in these comments. Giving me way too much material than my poor brain can handle at the moment.

    Thanks you John for this thread!

  144. I recently updated my look back at growing up a Star Wars fan and general nerd (surprise) in the 1980s – “Collect All 21!” – with a new cover by the ultra-talented Kirk Demarais and a foreword by webcomic creator, role-playing writer and astrophysics Ph.D. David Morgan-Mar, both of whose works I will happily pimp here as well: Kirk’s “Life of the Party: A Visual History of the S.S. Adams Company, Makers of Pranks & Magic for 100 Years” uncovers the mysteries of all those cheap gimmicky doodads advertised in comic books, and David’s Irregular Webcomic! is just a heck of an entertaining, multi-storied smart and funny webcomic.

  145. A new poem everyday- all of them are contemporary work from a broad range of unknown poets. None get posted unless the editor/site admin likes it. It’s been an ongoing project out for almost a decade. A great starting place for new poets looking for a venue and for developing a voice.

    http://www.haggardandhalloo.com

  149. This is a bit of a two-fer. First, I have a review of Nicola Griffith’s novel Ammonite. I point it out for two reasons. First, I thought it was a fantastic novel that should get some more attention. Second, it leads to the second link.

    Nicola gave me permission to post the author’s note from Ammonite on my blog. It’s a powerful essay that looks at some of the reasons behind why she wrote the novel. It’s very much worth a look.

  152. Well, there’s my webpage! I most recently blogged about how magic realism is genre fiction’s sneaky defeat of academia. I also make a funny joke about making tea with human sweat. (www.jensrushing.com)

  153. A photograph site with a geolocation. If you have any interest in the British Isles and want to know what it’s like just here visit Geograph British Isles. I have had a lot of fun over the last few years wandering around Cornwall and Devon creating contributions to the site.

  154. I just saw an excellent little Science Fiction film last weekend. It’s called “Moon.” The director is Duncan Jones, the son of David Bowie.

    The film snuck into town (L.A.) with very little publicity, playing a very limited release, and I suspect it will sneak out to video just as quietly, but it’s worth catching if you can. The characterization is mature. The science is treated intelligently and it has a good plot.

    The blurb: Sam Bell is a lone astronaut minding a helium 3 mining operation on the far side of the moon. He has 2 weeks to go of his three year stint. He’s feeling run down. He’s starting to hallucinate. Then he wakes up one morning to find a younger, fitter version of himself in the station.

    You can see the trailer here

    http://www.moviefone.com/movie/moon/36289/video/moon-trailer-no-1/20292755001

    NOTE TO JOHN (Scalzi) you might want to pull some strings a get a reviewer’s copy of this movie.

  155. I’m now the “computer virus examiner” for the San Francisco Examiner (a newspaper) website: http://www.examiner.com/x-13522-SF-Computer-Virus-Examiner

    My introductory entry touches on the fact that you can screw up your computer by desperately wanting to know the lyrics of a Phish song. I’m currently working on a second entry that may be even more geekishly useful: it will show where to download, and how to use free Windows browser plug-ins that set access level limitations on what the browser can do. (When mean people plant a bomb in an Adobe PDF that your AV program doesn’t know about, it will still fizzle harmlessly.)

  158. If you’re interested in seeing how up on the current political discourse you happen to be, I recently put a 10-question quiz up on the Introduction to Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism – “Everything You Know About Fascism is Wrong.”

  159. Since you asked so kindly John … I’m hosting a MICRO FICTION CHALLENGE all month at my blog:

    http://morning-of-dystopia.blogspot.com/

    I’m defining “micro fiction” as stories between 300 to 600 words.
    The rules are simple … All ideas must be inspired by two randomly generated words or phrases and all works must be written in under 30 minutes. Visit the site for some submitted examples.

    I WANT MORE SUBMISSIONS! Please send me some, folks! If nothing else, you’ll participate in an enjoyable writing exercise!

  163. If you’re looking for a summer sci-fi con that’s smaller, friendlier, and a bit further south than Worldcon (or if you want to go to something else a few weeks after Worldcon, because you’re as con-crazy as I am), you really ought to check out http://www.pi-con.org.

  164. This is a shameless promotion of my short story collection A GLIMPSE OF SPLENDOR AND OTHER STORIES. It’s from Yard Dog Press, and consists of all my “Splendor” stories from ANALOG, along with a new Splendor tale and several other adventures featuring my series characters Mike Christopher and Chanda Kasmira.

    For more info and links to my blog, check out my website, http://www.davecreek.net. Or you can go directly to the Yard Dog site, http://www.yarddogpress.com/aglimpse.htm.

  165. I’ll pimp the online in-browser nation simulation game I help moderate; http://www.nationstates.net/

    We recently installed some shiny new forums, where we have a thriving roleplaying community, a very large political discussion community, and we’ve (very) recently installed some changes to the way the World Assembly is run. The game has been about since 2002 and is (still) the best online nation simulation game in all the series of tubes.

  166. Alrightythen…
    I have a talented musician friend. He is very good on the Ukulele. We went to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to video him playing some tunes. We got sixteen songs out of that shoot. I like them all, but here is one (from Gilbert and Sullivan):

  167. http://www.WorldsWithoutEnd.com

    – Complete Best Novel listings for 10 SF/F awards
    – Synopses and excerpts for over 1,200 books
    – Detailed information for more than 480 authors and 230+ publishers
    – Extensive Resources section with podcasts, magazines, conventions, eBooks etc.

  169. Alright, so it’s not necessarily supercool or anything. But it’s my little personal corner of the ‘Net, and it’s the one place where I can pontificate about giant robots and high tech, with occasional side dishes of model kits, gaming and politics.

    http://www.vectorsphere.com/weblog

  170. Pimping myself. I feel slightly unclean doing so, but hey, how else can I spread the word?

    http://dragnew.wordpress.com/

    My Blog, Ramblings from New Zealand. I try and update every day, with musings on life and schooling, reviews of things, and other general rambles. Oh, and pictures of my cats, which are always important.

  173. In an effort to get back into writing (after years of neglect), I started up a blog called, Cuban Nomad.

    It’s about my attempts to balance my ultra nerdy technology side with my super artsy creative side, mixed in with discussions about writing itself.

  176. Huzzah, a pimp thread! My chum Peter and I turned our hands to “comedy” recently. This is one of the things we came up with:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WWe86v-uj0

    Fair warning, one (numerals, 1) F-bomb, gratuitous silliness and some squirty blood. Oh, and terrible greenscreening but for a pillowcase stretched over a head it’s OK… ;)

    Hope you enjoy. And apologies for my apalling pseudo-texan accent.

  179. Book! My book! *Salt and Silver*, from Tor Books. It’s technically shelved under paranormal romance, it gets called urban fantasy by a lot of folks, and there is a handy excerpt (the entire first chapter) here. If nothing else, that’s a lot of free words.

    “This is not a long or a complicated story. There’s a Door to Hell in the basement of my diner, right next to where we stack the boxes from food deliveries.” …

  182. Thank you John. While I didn’t pimp anything out, I thoroughly enjoyed weeding through the pimps. I found some awesome sites in the process and added a few more bookmarks. Please do this again! :)

    It might be fun to do categories too. Like “Pimp my book”, “Pimp my site/blog”… Thanks again!

  183. Wow, there’s a lot of cool stuff here! Thanks, John.

    Pimping my own site: I write a blog, zed equals zee, that focuses on the intersection of technology, culture and indie music. If this is up your alley, please get in touch – I’m always on the lookout for tips and for artists that are doing interesting things with technology.

  184. I’d like to second Stephanie B (182); categorization means less accidental overlooking >.>

  191. I wrote an SF novel to see if I could, used a print-on-demand service to make a few copies to give friends at Christmastime, and found that some people actually bought it. To date, the amount of fan mail I have received pegs my popularity at about 10 nanotwilights. So, on with the pimping: Until Earthset! A twisted tale of murder, forbidden love and string theory.

    And just so that I don’t come across as a total egomaniac — among everything else, I am also superb at deception and false modesty — I’ll note that my pal Jason Rosenhouse recently published a good book on the Monty Hall Problem, entitled The Monty Hall Problem.

  192. A quick pimp for the 62nd Westercon; FiestaCon!

    http://www.fiestacon.org/

    July 2-5 2009

    Tempe Mission Palms Hotel in Tempe, AZ.

    Author Alan Dean Foster
    Artist Todd Lockwood
    Editor Stanley Schmidt

    Please check it out!

  193. June 23rd (Tuesday) is Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Day. Go show your appreciation by reading, buying, or pimping your favorite SFF fiction. Have fun with it!

    I didn’t start it – neither did Constellation Books – we got the good word from Sharon Lee over at
    http://rolanni.livejournal.com/439604.html

  194. I’m reviewing a book a day on Twitter! For a year, or until my head explodes, whichever comes first. You can follow me @booktweeting.

    These are all new books and I’m reading them all, every word. So much for my social life.

  195. If you like SF humor, check out these two pieces of mine in the Australian science magazine Cosmos:

    http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/fiction/online/1537/time-traveling-a-quick-reference-guide

    http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/fiction/2732/delivering-tomorrow-today

    Also, if anyone out there needs some tech writing, e-learning, or on-line help development work done, check out my business site at http://www.dnrcom.com. (Yes, DNR does stand for Do Not Resuscitate; I didn’t have high hopes for the company when founding it. But it’s been 10 years and DNR hasn’t needed life support yet.)

  196. And a plug for my own project:

    The Reader’s Repository, a linkhub for free online fiction from published authors. (Predictably, it is rather majoritied with SFF, but there’s a fair representation of other genres, and I’m working on it…)

  202. i’d like to pimp cheese. the real sort that’s wrapped in waxy paper and smells of milk. mmm. like gruyere. i’d also like to pimp just staying up late and browsing the net. you can do that here.

    oh, if i must do this properly; listen to belleruche. they are amazing (and cuddly).

  206. What’s up, is there anybody else here?
    If there’s anyone else here, let me know.
    Oh, and yes I’m a real person LOL.

    Later,

  207. If you’re in South Africa and you’re pressed for time, I would simply go to Cape Town and visit the following: Table Mountain, Cape Point, The VA Waterfront and then also Kirstenbosch Gardens.

    It’s probably the most beautiful part in an already beautiful South Africa, so be sure to take the time. You won’t regret it.

  208. Windows Movie Maker doesn’t let me put videos from my digi cam because it’s in the wrong format so what converter can I use?
    I want one that’s pretty decent quality, doesn’t cost anything, doesn’t stick the logo on my videos and it converts all of the video, not just half of it.
    I used to have prism something but then my trial run ran out so yeah, I can’t use that >.<
    And zamzar has a limit of 100MB :l

    Help please?

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Athena Scalzi, editor – AMS
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