Your Official “Hey It’s Now the Second Half of November” Pimp Thread

Posted on November 16, 2009    Posted by      156 Comments

Look! It’s Sebastian, the non-alliteratively-named turkey! And he’s here to host this here November pimp thread. What’s a pimp thread, you ask, because apparently you’ve never been to the site before? Well, it’s a thread I open up so you — yes, you! — can tell the roughly 40,000 folks who visit here every day some of the things you’re currently finding very cool, and/or promote a project you’re working on.

So: Got something you want to promote? Have a friend who is doing something cool? Just read a book/listened to a band/seen an art installation/[past tense sensory verb] a you want to tell everyone about? This is the place to do it. Tell us about it and leave a link to it when applicable

And now, the standard technical note: If you put more than a couple of links in a comment, it’s possible it might trigger the blog’s automatic moderation and drop it into a special queue for my approval. If this happens, don’t panic; I’ll be going through the queue on a regular basis through the day and will release it presently. But the best way to avoid this is one recommendation/promotion with link per comment. Just make more than one comment if you have more than one thing to tell people about. Easy.

Now share! Share with Sebastian! And others!

Category: Uncategorized    

156 Comments on “Your Official “Hey It’s Now the Second Half of November” Pimp Thread”

  2. I’d like to pimp the fact that Michael Moorcock is to write a Doctor Who book. Yeah, that Michael Moorcock and that Dr Who.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8362658.stm

    Also everyone should check out Sunshine_Temple’s Sailor Moon web novel The Return: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1041573/1/The_Return

    Don’t let it being fanfic put you off, this is well written and tightly plotted. You would actually benefit from not knowing too much about the source material as it deviates from it quite a lot and into a very dark tale of secret government contractors and demonic societies. It is very cool.

  5. Hi Sebastian (and others),

    I just finished OLD MAN’S WAR, and it totally rocked!

    Also, I’m interviewing author Keith Raffel on my blog today–just click on my name to get there.

    (Tip – head for Mexico, Sebastian, or else I see bad things ahead for you!)

  9. Sebastian,

    I’m reading Scott Westerfeld’s ‘Uglies’ and it’s just as awesome as the internets have been claiming! You should totally read it, like, now!

  10. I have found my new favourite time travel show, which is brilliant despite its derivative nature. It’s called “Jin” and it’s a Japanese drama. So far they’re following every time travel rule I can think of, and it’s still entertaining.

    And it looks as though my novel “The Vector” (http://books.1889.ca/vector) might be turned into a movie, which is stunningly cool.

    Mondays aren’t so bad after all!

  12. I’d like to promote Capclave (http://www.capclave.org), the SF convention produced by the Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA). The upcoming convention will be held October 22-24, 2010 and the guests of honor are Connie Willis and Jeff and Ann Vandermeer. If you buy your membership now, you can get a full weekend membership for $35 dollars.

    Also, WSFA revived the WSFA Press this year and published Reincarnations, a collection of Harry Turtledove’s short stories. One of the stories is original to the collection, and the others have never before been reprinted. Harry wrote an afterward for each story, and Asimov’s editor Sheila Williams wrote the introduction for the collection. You can buy it at http://www.wsfapressbooks.org

  13. Every year, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, a group of us keep track of the amount of money we spend on alcohol and donate an equal amount to charity. It’s called the 100% Alcohol Tax, and we’ve got a website.

    Please check it out and, if you’re so inclined, join us this year.

    Oh, and if you’re in NYC, we’ll be having a weekly happy hour, and if you show up, I’ll buy your first round and, of course, donate an equal amount to charity.
    All this and more at http://www.thealcoholtax.com

    Drink responsibly,
    Justin

  15. Thanks for asking!
    Just did a really fun interview with Irish children’s author Derek Landy, author of the Skulduggery Pleasant series (Quick novel premise: Skeleton. Throws fireballs. Saves the world from various ghoulies, with 12-year-old female sidekick.).

  16. While it isn’t likely that many readers here are in the central PA area – this is for anyone that might be nearby.
    Mr. Scalzi was kind enough to answer some interview questions for Watch the Skies last month. This Wednesday Jeri Smith-Ready author of Wicked Games will be stopping by our meeting! January brings another visiting author! Joe Schreiber author of Death Troopers will visit with us for a signing and discussion of his work. If you’re anywhere near Camp Hill – come on by and visit.

  21. I’m working on a fashion site. You can find it at http://www.lookaday.com. We’re trying to promote real people wearing real clothes instead of ultra thin supermodels wearing a lot of photoshop art.

    Also working on finishing up my MBA. One more class to go!!!

  22. My second novel, The Lives of Perfect Creatures, is out now!

    Sophie didn’t intend to steal The Man With The Mustache‘s umbrella, but she did it anyway. In her search to find him and make amends, she meets the ghost of Yuri Gagarin, philosophical hobos and an astronomer hounded by a priest, a rabbi and a minister who think the comet he discovered is a harbinger of Jesus’ return to Earth. Her best friend, Astrid suspects that what Sophie is really looking for is a truth more permanent than apparent. But Astrid has other things to worry about (like finding out the real name of the Little Red-Haired Girl who comes into the library every afternoon). Meanwhile, the Chinese are planning to land on the Moon and the city of Portland is slowly drowning due to ice caps being melted by the heat death of the universe. How all of this is related to the umbrella is hard to say in a way that makes sense, but Sophie is sure it does, somehow.

    I’m experimenting with POD, so you can purchase the book from Amazon or Create Space. Links are here. You can also follow the link and download a PDF of the book, for free.

  23. I’m putting together a reprint anthology of sf/f fairy tale stories for Night Shade Books and I’m looking for recommendations. You can make them here:

    http://happilyeverafter.electricvelocipede.com

    Anthologist extraordinnaire John Joseph Adams has done this with several of his anthologies and he helped me get the recommendation system set up.

    I need to put this on the page itself, but duplicate recs are fine, so don’t worry whether someone has already recommended something.

  25. Just because it’s totally random and a good friend of mine is involved. Where else can you find a throwdown surrounding cupcakes.

  27. I am a co-founder of The Fallen Branches Project, which began in 2008 as a writing competition-turned-performance piece to benefit The Family Tree of Maryland and our host, The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre. The Family Tree is Maryland’s leading 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to improving the community by providing families with proven solutions to prevent child abuse and neglect.

    For the 2010 project, we have added a visual arts component to the original writing competition. The art competition is still open for submissions.

    Please check out http://spotlighters.org/fallenbranches/ for more info.

    The Fallen Branches Project has already inspired similar projects in Maryland and we would love to spread the movement. Please email FallenBranches@spotlighters.org if you are interested in starting a project in your state.

  30. I’d like to let people know about LAST DRINK BIRD HEAD, a flash fiction anthology for charity that was edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer.

    Last Drink Bird Head is a variation on a surrealist writing game: Jeff gave the phrase to over 70 writers and asked them “Who or what is Last Drink Bird Head?” The results run the gamut from the hilarious to the terrifying, with each writer bringing their signature style and voice to the enterprise.

    All proceeds on Last Drink go to ProLiteracy.org.

    Ordering information and a complete list of contributors can be found here:
    http://wyrmpublishing.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=20

  32. The Devil’s Alphabet by Daryl Gregory

    Absolutely fantastic novel. If you haven’t read Gregory yet, please do, he’s one of the best “new” authors out there. I’ll be running an joint interview/review on my site Stomping on Yeti later this week.

    http://yetistomper.blogspot.com/

    TDA comes out next Tuesday

  33. I’m in a brand spanking new anthology! Defiance: Tales of the U.S. Civil War is a recent release by Drollerie Press and features three tales of women making life-changing decisions–and all three tales have paranormal aspects as well. Laura Anne Gilman is the featured author in it, and the other two stories are by myself and my fellow Drollerie author Joely Sue Burkhart!

    Hope you’ll consider checking it out. An excerpt is available here, and you can buy it from Drollerie right over here!

    Thanks much!

  34. The second issue of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, the comic book that I’ve written, arrived at your Local Comics Shop last week. Artist John DaCosta and I have been trying to capture the fun of the of the original series in this new version.

  36. The Interstitial Arts Foundation is hosting an auction of portable art based on the stories in its new anthology. I have a piece coming up for bidding on Thanksgiving day, based on a story by Theodora Goss and sharing the title, ‘The Child Empress of Mars.’ (A bookmark fit for an Empress: http://iafauctions.com/artgallery/photo/4060061456/the-interfictions-2-auction-the-child-empress-of-mars.html).

    Among the other pieces featured in the Interstitial Arts Foundation auction: these are my favorites:

    ‘Je me souviens,’ by Wendy Ellertson, based on ‘The Long and the Short of Long-Term Memory’ by Cecil Castelucci from Interfictions 2. Expandable cut, folded and hand stitched artist book incorporating handmade papers, deerskin leather, and thread with hand stitched deerskin leather and bead pouch. Okay, this is just cool; this little book defies the conventions of ‘bookness’ – in ways that remind me very much that a book is a three-dimensional object, made of stuff you can touch, and see, as much as it is the ideas it contains.

    ‘Berry Moon, Bound’, by Erzebet YellowBoy, based on ‘Berry Moon’ by Camilla Bruce
    I love handmade books to start with, and love the bold colors (red, black, silver), aesthetically pleasing materials and imaginative binding of this one especially.

    ‘Shatterglass Datakey’, by Kendra Tornheim, based on the story, ‘Valentines’ by Shira Lipkin, from Interfictions 2. The old-fashioned key is unusable beneath its wrappings of wire, blue glass chips and odd fragments of words and things – I don’t know why I relate to that, and maybe it’s better I don’t.

  43. Dearest Sebastian,

    If you find yourself here in Portland, Oregon this January, and if you like theater, please consider coming to the very first public reading staged by my new theater company, Playwrights West – http://www.playwrightswest.org. I don’t believe we are offering complementary seating for turkeys, but in your case we might make an exception.

    Sincerely Yours,
    Patrick

  44. Damn. Do not doubt the power of the Whatever. Already #3 on my list of referrers (behind Google and Facebook) and the day is but young! Google’s lead is commanding, but Facebook is beatable and looks to be wilting in the face of the Watever’s sustained assault.

  45. The third novel in my Derek Stillwater series, The Fallen, comes out in April 2010. But if that won’t entice you to visit my website, how about free stuff for you? On my blog there’s an 11-part series on Freelance Writing For A Living, and on my website there’s a PDF that’s over 100 pages of a mini-book On Writing, and that’s a free download. So check it out, ’cause I’m just thinking about you, after all. http://www.markterrybooks.com

  46. This is a very creative gathering, so I guess I’ll try talking about my own work. I’ve finished the book, and now I have to illustrate it. It’s sf and f/occult. Then I’ll give it away. Unlike many, I’m too lazy to deal with publishers…for now.

  47. I’m preparing to restore a brick press that my great grandmother used to make the bricks used in most of the buildings on the family farm. The intent is to use it to make bricks to use in a barn in desperate need of demolition and reconstruction.

    Pictures and more info available at http://dougintology.blogspot.com/2009/03/brick-press.html

    So far I haven’t been able to get any useful information from the company that made it or from brick museums. If any of you know how to use one of these or even how to figure out what parts are still missing I’d appreciate some help.

  48. In anticipation of making a micro budget indie film next year I have been learning how to create my own special effects. So here is a short clip of my son teleporting. Check it out. It’s cute and a whopping 14 seconds long so it won’t waste your time.

  54. Hi,

    We’ve just made the first episode, Dead Skinny, of In The Gloaming podcasts. It’s here: http://bit.ly/1uP2Xq

    You might like it if you like comedy, horror, or, you know, comedy-horror. Oh, or Old Time Radio. We’ve tried to stay in the spirit of Lights Out, Tales from the Crypt, and Tales of the Unexpected…

    There’s more information on our website ( http://inthegloamingpodcasts.wordpress.com ). Hope you enjoy!

    Nathaniel Tapley

  55. I’ll start out by putting on my Conniewillis.net webmaster hat to let you all know that Connie Willis will be appearing on NPR’s Studio 360 this week, being taped live in NYC tomorrow night. It is described as:

    On November 17, Studio 360 takes you where no audience has gone before: traveling through time. In this live show hosted by Kurt Andersen at WNYC’s The Greene Space (taped for later broadcast), scientists and artists explain why time travel is more than an idle fantasy.

    Astrophysicist David Goldberg (A User’s Guide to the Universe) unravels the physics of time travel. Sci-fi writer Connie Willis tells us what to do if your journey through time goes awry. Simon Wells, the great-grandson of H.G., shares his obsession with the classic The Time Machine. Musical sensation Janelle Monae performs her 28th-century funk. And Mike Daisey drops by to give us advice from the future.

    Studio 360’s “Science & Creativity” explores the intersection of art and science. The series is supported in part by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

    Follow the links from http://www.conniewillis.net for the theoretical live broadcast (I couldn’t find the specific info on The Greene Space web site for the live feed, but I assume it will show up when it happens).

  56. Hey – If you’re in the DC area & looking for a non-traditional but very effective academic coach/tutor, please check out academiccoachingdc.com.

    If you’re interested in a website that you aren’t interested in doing yourself, please check out: http://www.siennese.com/.

  58. Putting on my Phoenix ComiCon SciFi Director Hat, I’d like to remind you that the Phoenix ComiCon will happen over Memorial Day weekend in Phoenix Arizona (May 27-30, 2010). We will have John Scalzi on hand as our main Author Guest, TV and film actors include Levar Burton, Jonathan Frakes, Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood and others to be announced. We’re also expanding the science track with Seth Shostak from S.E.T.I. and Kevin Grazier (BSG Science Consultant). We’re also about to officiall announce in the next couple of days some more guests including the return appearance of a certain Geek Icon and the announcement of a popular actress with ties to the Geek icon.

    There’s also lots of comics guests, too.

    http://www.phoenixcomicon.com

  61. My friends and I are growing beards (or failing to grow beards) to raise money for breast cancer research.

    How Not To Grow A Beard Month was born of silliness and an unfortunate inability to grow a proper beard. We shave on October 31st and let our “beards” grow until December 1st.

    This year, we’re proud to introduce Beards4Boobs and inviting generous people to sponsor their favorite beard. All proceeds go to The Ann Voegerl Memorial Breast Cancer Research Fund (we’re covering all PayPal fees for the first $2,000).

    Why Beards4Boobs? Because we love boobs. And beards don’t get cancer.

  62. There’s a job opening at the Lambda Literary Foundation: Web Producer/Editor for the LLF under-development website. Half-time salaried position. Dream job–I’d jump on it with both feet if I didn’t have so many other things to do.

    PDF here.

  63. Hey! Perfect timing.
    My second short story sale, The House Of Bad Blood, was just published yesterday at the webzine, The Edge of Propintquity.
    It’s free to read so drop by and give it a go if supernatural horror about writers is your thing.

  66. Pimp the first: My very good friend Angela Korra’ti, who has both a novel and a short story in an anthology published on the ePublisher Drollerie. She writes a darn good yarn, and I’m not the only one who’s read her stuff and said, “more?”

    http://www.angelakorrati.com is her WP site; links to the goodies off there.

  67. November already?

    Well, the timing is good. On Saturday, Chizine Publications threw a launch for my story collection Monstrous Affections. It’s been well-received, with a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly, and another starred review in Canada’s Quill & Quire. But whatever you think about the stories, the cover illustration by boy genius Erik Mohr is a screaming horror that’ll ruin your Thanksgiving and raise questions about whether there’ll even be a Christmas this year (and I mean this in a good way).

    Here’s a link to the pimpage page, with some free fiction, ordering information – and that cover illustration:

    http://davidnickle.googlepages.com/monstrousaffections

  68. Pimp the second: S.J. Tucker. Faerie pirate gypsy rock with a side of mythpunk. Please check the roof of any venue you invite her to or see her in. All but the best roofs will be blown right the hell off. Better still if you can see her with her east coast/midwest band, the Traveling Fates, or on the West Coast, Tricky Pixie.

    http://www.skinnywhitechick.com

  71. If you like robots on Mars and/or action-adventure heroes (and who doesn’t?), then you should check out my post about why the next Mars rover has a lot more in common with James Bond than you think: http://www.scientificblogging.com/marsward/blog/msl_mars_action_hero_0

    If you enjoy the post, please vote for it by clicking the gray widget to the right of the title! It’s a finalist in the science writing competition that scientificblogging.com is hosting, and you can vote daily until the 22nd.

    Thanks!

  72. I’m starting a small press dedicated to multicultural science fiction and fantasy for children and young adults. We hope to be up and open for submissions from writers in January. We’re running a fundraiser at Kickstarter.com to be sure we’ll have enough to publish two books our first year–with rewards for donations! get a bookmark for a donation of $5, a coupon for a book for $10, ARCs, books for yourself and for your local library, and so on.

    We’re at 30% of our goal, and we have a month to go. So if you can even spare $5 and think we’re doing a good thing, check out the campaign at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1586632165/tu-publishing-a-small-independent-multicultural.

    Note that no money exchanges hands unless we reach our goal by Dec. 14, and the payments are all handled securely through Amazon payments.

  77. I’m writing my first novel currently called “Jaine,” for National Novel Writing Month, and while its not done yet, I’ve got the first three edited chapters I completed befor NaNoWriMo began at my blog dedicated to the book:http://edwardwritesjaine.wordpress.com/

    It’s a YA story, that is fantasy without too much of the fantastical, and science fiction without very deep science. It is too dark for young readers and has too many talking animals and little people for your run-of-the-mill adult.

    In other words, I’m writing this for everybody! :D Seriously though, I do believe this has an audience. This book is for people who’ve begun to face what the world can throw at them, but who haven’t lost the ability to dream about other worlds. This is truly a book for Young Adults. And both of those words are required, I think. Of course that doesn’t mean that other people can’t enjoy it, heaven forbid my demographic calculations abuse anyone of enjoying the story, by all means! I hope everyone who reads it enjoys it. And I do suggest you read it.

    The story centers around two characters, Robert (an unassuming regular teenager who happens to live on his own and work as an assistant surveyor,) and Jaine (an assuming Royal Agent from an underground kingdom.) They meet on the surface world you and I inhabit, and through a terrible accident and misunderstanding find themselves both stuck in Robert’s head. What follows is a dangerous adventure into an underground world to retrieve Jaine’s renegade body and thwart the creature inside it, all the while dealing with threats from the strange environment, and the hostile people, and most dangerously of all, themselves.

    I’d really love some feedback :)

  80. I’m tipping my big feathered pimp hat and raising my ruby-encrusted pimp goblet to David Nickle’s collection. The stories within that I wasn’t privileged to read earlier as manuscripts, I read during a recent power outage. They were damn spooky. If there were some nomination widget for The Big Idea, I’d suggest him.

  81. Well, I have just recently started the fun yet slightly nerve-wracking process of actually marketing and selling my artistic output.

    My photography and other 2D work can be found here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/irvingplace while wearables and a certain amount of 3D stuff can be found here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFloatingMarket

    Both shops are works in progress as I get more of my current inventory into a ready-to-go state (mostly, scanned and/or photographed).

  82. I just want to pimp the fact that an essay a while back from Scalzi about not working for free (I think it was part of Scalzi’s larger I-don’t-want-to-sound-like-an-asshole, so-it-is-incumbent-on-you-to-not-force-me-to-behave-as-one) totally let me be completely awesome in a client pitch today, my most successful one since I went solo.

    I won’t jinx it by getting into detail, but Scalzi’s advice to not do anything in one’s profession without getting paid for it was very helpful not just in the specific sense of making these guys a paying client and asking for money, but in having the swagger to do so boldly and unapologetically.

    Folks on the other side never even blinked.

    So, thanks, John! And also, yeah, me.

  83. I’d like to promote this joke about two Lutheran pastors, which, based on the comments, is only funny if you are a) Lutheran, b) from Minnesota, c) in a doctoral degree program, d) all of the above.

    It’s a clean joke in good taste which will please and amuse the demographic being joked about. How many Internet jokes can make the same claim?

  84. My book of poetry and short stories – Returning the Favor and other slices of life – is available on my website for $15, signed and shipped to you!

    The Avett Brothers new album – I and Love and You – is amazing

    Check out the Gambling Tales Podcast – http://www.gtpodcast.com for the best lies and legends about gamblers throughout history.

    I think I’m eclectic – is there treatment for that?

  85. I got nothing to promote (since my book “Writers Gone Wild” won’t come out for another year), so instead let me suggest Pandora, a freebie Internet station.

    Yes, I am behind the times. I didn’t get a cable modem until this year.

    I was hipped to it through this cool article in the New York Times magazine. You sign up, then set up a “station” based on a song or artist you like, and they play that artist, plus songs that fit the same pattern for that artist.

    So I went there, set up a station based on an Amanda Palmer song, and while I was rewriting the book fell in love with quirky female singer-songwriters. Especially Kate Bush, who has been around for awhile, but could be Lily Allen’s twin.

    Pandora’s an great way to discover new music for free.

  88. I have not been very active lately as there is impending job doom and I can’t let those things get published as I intend to find another position in my company. but there are a few entries that any old hippies or children thereof wishing for a bit of perspective should enjoy.
    http://ram-s-calm.blogspot.com/

  89. I’m reading Scott Westerfeld’s ‘Uglies’ and it’s just as awesome as the internets have been claiming! You should totally read it, like, now!

  91. I am in Fontana, CA and have free kittens available. They are about 10 weeks old and mostly gray – they look like Russian Blues, but are half breeds.

    Fontana is in the Riverside – San Bernardino -Ontario area.

    Email me at tungtung (at) pacbell (dot) net if you’re interested.

  92. This is my friend’s comic.

    It’s a crazy sci-fi comic with wild looking aliens and gonzo epic drama. There’s also a charity drive going on. Give to your favorite charity and send proof to my friend and state which of two side comic options you’d like to see. My friend will put the amount of your donation toward the final tally and they will draw the project with the most money.

    A lot of work goes into this comic and it really shows.

  97. A little known Japanese Anime that I’m finding very cool: Texhnolyze. It’s become easily my favorite audio-visual media… live-action movies, animated movies, live-action shows, animated shows… this is it. The show doesn’t fit easily into any conventional genres, but you could classify it as a Sci-Fi/Action/Drama.

    Here’s a preview video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dEQ6Senktw

    As with many animes, it’s fairly short as TV shows go — 22 episodes, 20 minutes a piece, meaning the whole thing together is about 7-8 hours long. Since first seeing it six months ago, I’ve watched it twice more — once by myself and once with friends. And I swear the next time I watch it I’m going to take notes, since it’s a very complex show and even after seeing it three times I still don’t “get” all of it. That’s part of the joy for me… I keep seeing new things. It’s a show that not just suggests, but *demands* multiple viewings.

    I’m not such a fanboy that I can’t see why it was never a commercial success:

    1) It’s very slow. There isn’t even any dialogue until half-way through the first episode. It does speed up four to five episodes in, but a lot of people would quit watching with so much slow build-up.

    2) It contains graphic sex and violence. While that’s not a bad thing in itself, the fact is that some people refuse to watch/buy certain things that depict sex and violence, especially since Americans don’t typically like “cartoons” that aren’t all nice and sterile and Disney-fied.

    3) It’s confusing as hell. As I’ve already said, I’ve now seen it three times and I still can’t unravel all the symbolism in it. That can easily put some people off, though for me it’s a plus. I don’t get the sense that the show is being obtuse just for the sake of being obtuse; there’s just a lot going on, and not all of it is easily unraveled.

    4) It’s not generally available in the US. The company that put it out here (Geneon) went under, so there aren’t any more copies being made. Luckily there’s at least one site online with copies still in stock:

    http://www.rightstuf.com/cgi-bin/catalogmgr/cB6=o=-QARO5qn64qH/browse/item/69935/4/0/0

    If you can stand the sex and violence, are willing to sit through a slow beginning, don’t mind being a bit confused, and can actually find a copy of it, this show is richly rewarding. The animation is beautiful, the music as atmospheric as music gets, the characters simply fascinating. The story is so complex and the symbolism so deep and rich that it’s difficult to summarize in any satisfactory fashion, but here’s a synopsis from some reviewer:

    ————————

    http://www.animesou.com/?p=475

    Ichise is an “entertainment fighter” in the underground city of Lux. However, when a gang punishes Ichise by cutting his arm and leg off, his will to live overcomes the odds and attracts the attention of the ruling Organo syndicate that controls both the city and the cybernetic Texhnolyze technology which is usually reserved for the elite. Meanwhile, an outsider has come down to the city and, along with a young psychic girl, the dominos are beginning to fall in the seething unrest of the city as their paths slowly intertwine with Ichise’s. What will come of these people and what will happen in this city of no hope?

    ————————

    Check it out. Really. Shows this good should be seen by everyone. If you’re not sure, watch the Youtube video above, it gives a pretty good feel of the show, and read the full review.

    Happy viewing… hopefully someone smarter than me will watch it and be able to explain all the things I still don’t understand!

  99. hi sebastian.

    first, 25 days ’til hanukkah. :)

    second, chase bank is doing this thing on facebook where they are donating five million dollars (yeah, that’s $5,000,000) to charity. you can help decide who gets the money by going to http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/ and becoming a fan. each fan gets 20 votes. use them wisely. or, hey, frivolously. just use them. :)

  100. Well John, I know how you feel about self-published work as a whole, but not all of it is crap. And yes I know you know that as well and I completely understand the having to wade through mostly crap to find the good.

    My book is finally published. I had an offer from a couple publishers to publish it but turned them down for 2 reasons: partial proceeds are going to fund Lupus research and treatment and thus I need to have control over a few things; and second, I use to work for a publishing company doing layout and a few other things so I figured why not. I didn’t want the integrity of the book to be cut away by some company who’s main motivator for selling my book was money for themselves and not funding charity and much needed research. Now this choice may not have been a totally smart one, but it was the only one I could live with.

    The official sales copy of the book is thus:
    “Julia Sherred’s From the Mundane to the Insane is the touching tale of one woman’s love of life and hope for the future despite overwhelming challenges. Written as a love letter to her two children in an intimate, conversational tone, Sherred explores the contours of her fascinating life as a dancer, actor, daughter, mother, and Lupus sufferer. It is a tender and humorous celebration of life and family, of creativity and geeky obsessions, and is an inspiration and invitation for each of us to grab life by the horns and truly enjoy every aspect of our wonderful journey without destination.

    One dollar of each sale is donated to the scientific search for the treatment and cure for Lupus.”

    You can find out more information here http://juliasherred.com/book/

  101. @48 John Shea Your teleporting son is supercute – can I have him?

    Can’t believe no-one’s pimped Riese The Series yet – new steampunk(ish) webseries that looks just great. High production values, intriguing story, excellent cast which includes an actual WOLF! I’m already counting down till the next episode is released. http://www.riesetheseries.com/

  102. Crap, I wish I could edit comments here. Should also add that is DISCOVERmagazine.com and Phil Plait signed off on me using some of their material, it can’t be all that bad.

  103. Is it bad taste to pimp the same thing twice in a row? It’s true, I’ve already pimped Apocalypse Engine, the podcasty/radioshowy/RPG thing I’m involved in. But back then, we only had a few episodes released, and now we’re up to nine episodes, which makes us a SRS podcast, not one of those fly-by-night, canceled by the network before it gets going podcasts.

    And because it really isn’t all about me, I’ll pre-pimp Lucy Snyder’s Spellbent urban fantasy novel, which should be out ’round Christmas time. Lucy is awesome, so you should buy her book.

  104. I honestly don’t know how to live a life where one has only one project to pimp. Lately, I’ve been tweaking my priorities with a list whose first page is a 260 K Word file whose ToDo list prepended in as unformatted text as below.

    Jonathan Vos Post’s Master List of All Ongoing Projects
    “Clusters of Related Ongoing Works” [COROW]
    Draft 2.7 of 16 Nov 2009, 38 pp., 15600 words

    “I’ve resigned,” said The Prisoner. “I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered.”

    Table of Contents
    Page Section (top level or 2 only of title)
    1 O: To Do List (subset cross-referenced to remainder of Master List)
    7 I. Fiction & Poetry
    11 II. Science
    11 II.A Astronomy/Physics, including Quantum Cosmology Papers
    13 II.B Biomedical / Biochemistry / Nanotechnology / Artificial Life
    19 II.C Pure Math / Applied Math / Logic / Computer Science
    22 II.D Economics / Management / Sociology / Organizational Science
    26 II.E Graphical / Visual Presentations
    27 III. Other Non-Fiction Books
    29 IV. Employment / Legal / Tax
    30 V. Online Cyber-Presence
    31 VI. Enabling Infrastructure
    32 VII. Inter-institutional Liaisons
    34 VIII. Other Media
    35 IX. Overall Chronologies
    32 X. List of Publications, by Alphabetized List of Venues
    36 XI. List of Co-Authors, Co-Editors, Co-Broadcasters
    38 XII. Miscellaneous

    O: To Do List (subset cross-referenced to remainder of Master List)

    I.A [1/2] write story on Qian Xuesen interviewing Wernher von Braun, for “Oh, and Another Thing About the Universe” (and check with ACP and PVF on their solo stories): Wrote first few pages: “Qian Xuesen Meets Wernher von Braun”, Draft 1.1 of 13 Nov 2009, 5 pages, 1900 words.
    Intended to connect to both “Fast Times at Stuyvesant High” (novel)
    and “Oh, and Another Thing About the Universe” (story collection)
    [ ] check with ACP on planned “A lion, a witch, and a wardrobe walk into a bar”
    [ ] check with PVF on planned multiverse vampire story
    [ ] who wants to do the reversed biochem chirality or quantum chirality story?
    [ ] find the fission reactor in belly short short, ACP want this a lot

    I.B.2 [ ] make short chunk of “Norbert Wiener: Wolfe in Sheep’s Clothing” [AxiomaticWolfe], 18,500 words, 66-page incomplete Draft 3.0
    of 10 Feb 2009, to submit

  105. Geez, I really should try to peddle my own crap here… but in the spirit of the season… Go visit my friend Jay. He’s an excellent designer, artist, and satirist. and he can be found at http://www.jayoconnell.com/

    Thanks, John.

  106. I love the pimping threads, especially since I’m making something I’m proud of.

    The Labyrinth Library Podcast, wherein I do short reviews (usually 10-15 minutes) of books that I like. They’re not necessarily new books, though sometimes they are, but they’re almost always books that I thought were interesting or enjoyable and that I think other people would like as well. (The Android’s Dream was review #3, by the way – just in case there’s any Brownie Points in it from our dear host).

    Books range from fiction to non-fiction, science fiction, fantasy, history, politics, psychology…. I try to keep it varied. And I always give a clue to the next review, so as to encourage creator/fan interactivity. Right now my Spanish listeners are the best at guessing, so I’m doing my best to foment national rivalries in the hopes that my listenership goes up. Ah, FOX, you’ve taught me well….

    It goes live once a week, 9 AM Japan Time (that’s 7 PM EST), and you can subscribe on iTunes or through the website.

    There’s a Facebook page and a Twitter feed (@lablib) in case you need a way to show your obsessive love of the podcast, which I know you have deep in your heart.

    I look forward to recording it every week, which is reward enough. A legion of adoring fans is a nice bit of icing on the cake, though.

  108. wants to pimp that Kenneth Branagh, one of the best shakespearean actors, ever, is directing Thor. According to reports by Joe Quesada he is immersing himself into the material and treating the project seriously. Anthony Hopkins has been cast as Odin. Natalie Portman is also appearing. Oh and that guy from star trek, chris something or other :) Shooting starts in January.

  109. hey y’all. a few of my friends and I have started a books blog, but we have only one reader and they’re kind of discouraged, so if you could go and comment on some entries over at polyphonybooks.blogspot.com they might post more so its not the Mel’s book reviews show and there is actually a polyphony there

  110. I Just realized that, while I announced the time at which my book review podcast updates, I did not, in fact, note the day on which it does so.

    Now this may, to the untrained eye, appear to be a careless error, made by commenting in haste in the hopes of harnessing the AWESOME POWER of The Whatever.

    Nothing could be further from the truth.

    It is, in fact, an invitation for you to use your very clever brains and awesome powers of deduction to go to the website and find out what day the podcast updates!!

    Fly, my monkeys, FLY!!

  111. I’m expounding on science, 500 words at a time, at BrightHub. :D So far only four of them up, but hopefully more soon (I stopped for Nanowrimo). I’m aiming to have a wide variety of topics eventually.

  113. I’d like to pimp a friend’s novel. It’s called Judgement and is by Fergus Bannon, a fellow member of the Glasgow SF Writer’s Circle in the UK. He’s made a few pro sales over the years but, as they say, life got in the way while other members of the writer’s circle including myself, Hal Duncan, William King and Michael Cobley went on to successful careers as science fiction and fantasy novelists.

    A few years back I asked to read the manuscript of a novel Fergus had written, called Judgement, and thought it was terrific – a solid, entertaining and frankly psychedelic debut novel. Getting an agent or publisher for it, however, was pretty much out of the question since Fergus’s circumstances meant the chances of him having either the time or opportunity to write anything else ranged from minimal to zero (although both myself and others hope this may change one day).

    Given the circumstances, I encouraged him to finally put the book out there in some form so at least someone had an opportunity to read what I happen to think is a fine piece of science fiction. It’s now available at Smashwords.com, where you can get it in electronic format for two measly dollars (or read the first fifty percent for free). I highly recommend it, of course.

    And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my pimping for the day.

    The blurb:
    It started with a few isolated incidents. A mob shootout in Las Vegas, a firefight in the Central American jungles – one apparently unconnected event after the other, hinting at a worldwide conspiracy of unprecedented proportions. But before long CIA computer expert Bob Leith realises it’s something much more than mere globalised terrorism, something literally not of this world …

    The link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/5587

  116. I’d like to pimp my weekday webcomic, The Adventures of the S-Team, which is the longest-running humorous superhero webcomic done in LEGO on the web. Got all that? Good.

    Strip #1000 is only weeks away, so you have to hurry to get caught up so you can join the discussion on who is the father of Sandstorm’s baby, when the Tyrannical T-Men will have their showdown with the Legion of T for rights to use the headquarters, and what is the deal with Charlie, anyway?

    Clicking on my name links to my author website as well, but you don’t wanna go there (unless you’re interested in previewing my NaNoWriMo ’09 project, “Blood on the Ice”, an Urban Fantasy Hockey novel featuring vampires and minor-league hockey).

  117. i hear that Neil Gaiman is doing a project with Journey to the West, often known as the Monkey King outside of China. I cannot wait…
    Why is Gaiman so fascinated with the Journey To The West?

    “There is a reason why Journey To The West is one of the classics of literature and have worked as well as they have,” he explained. “It’s those amazing characters, those wonderful stories, the intricate plot, this glorious plot that jerks from mysticism to Chinese culture, and the journey with this wonderful magical group. And I love the fact that there is a Monkey God!”http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/11/16/lifebookshelf/5084966&sec=lifebookshelf

  120. My youngest daughter, Julia, and a friend of hers named Caroline, from the Bay area, have started a movie blog called,
    Broad reviews by the Movie Dames.

    moviedames.wordpress.com

    It feels very wrong to publicize your daughter in something called a “pimp thread” and I feel proud and somewhat despicable at the same time.

    No big time recent movies here. Classics and odd little films are the subject matter.

  121. I write the webcomic ‘Cold Iron Badge’. It’s a fairy tale — but nobody lives happily ever after.

    Cold Iron Badge is a story about what happens when fairy tales become reality. It’s about a world just like our own, except that the gates to Fairyland have opened, and the Sidhe have returned.

    It’s a police procedural — about cops whose beat includes Elfland. It’s the story of the officers of the Borderland Guard, the men and women who patrol the border between our world and Faerie, and the price they pay when their lives intersect with a real fairy tale — with all the traditional blood, madness and wild magic.

    The entire series to date is available online; you can read it from the beginning here: http://coldironbadge.com/archives/48

  124. It’s certainly not a Project for everyone, but for the past almost-two years I’ve been getting a lot of fun out of a community gardens vegetable plot — as well as quite a lot of pesticide-free food.

    Not that I’m learning much about growing plants — did it professionally with Ornamental ones for about 40 years — but I find it fascinating to try to juggle things so that there’s _something_ to be harvested every day of the year… which can be done, here in Southern California.

    (Okay, currently it’s only chives, scallions, lettuces, nappa/Chinese cabbage, Swiss chard, and pak choi, but carrots are almost ready to be thinned for fingerlings, and the first batch of edible-pod peas are starting to bloom.) The major trick (which I haven’t yet mastered) lies in scheduling frequent small plantings so that they produce just enough food for this octogenerian who lives alone and does most of his own cooking.

    (Hint: No human being needs more than a maximum of two producing-size Swiss Chard plants at a time, so forget about growing one each of broad-ribbed white, narrow-ribbed white, red, yellow, and orange.)

    Additional bonus: An opportunity to observe the foibles & interactions of the other gardeners (Plant People can be Rather Strange) and the /i/n/c/o/m/p/e/t/e/n/c/e/ bureaucratic workings of the local School District, which operates this Community Gardens Project — though, granted, the latter is not so much “fun” as “Interesting”.

  125. My short story collection A GLIMPSE OF SPLENDOR AND OTHER STORIES just received a VERY positive review in the latest ANALOG (yeah, I know most of the stories were originally published there).

    So if you get a chance, and you’re interested in some good old-fashioned space opera with an emphasis on character and alien societies, check it out on Amazon or, even better at http://yarddogpress.com (we get more money that way, than thru Amazon).

  127. Alright, I’ll pimp my blog site. It’s not much, but it’s home.

    lus.moldydrinks.com

    (Oh – and I’m working on turning my short story into a novel. If you want to read the first draft it’s up and downloadable, under the page of “Nothing Left.”)

    -Ironfist

  129. If you, like me, think that terrible destruction on a massive scale is what cinema is all about, please visit my blog Disaster Movie World at http://disastermovies.wordpress.com/

    Among the latest reviews: Roland Emmerich’s 2012, SyFy’s Megafault and Jan de Bont’s Twister. Enjoy!

  133. Any artists out there want to help me out with some graphic design, illustrations, whatever? I’m self-publishing two sff novels in early 2010 through Lightning Source. These are the last two novels I’m planning on self-publishing before looking for a traditional publisher for my fifth book. I self-published two books with Lulu a few years back, after receiving dozens of rejection slips from [cough]. [Cough] were right, in retrospect. But onwards and upwards– I’m strapped for cash, living in the slums of South Korea, looking for a creative partner. My writings, your illustrations, our book. PS I’m submitting a novella to Panverse Publishing later in the week, so fingers crossed.

    treow dot hot mail, attention Whatever

  134. I’d like to point folks towards a great band out of Tallahassee, Florida that’s been going strong since ’92. Their style is fairly eclectic, but tends to center on goth in their first 7-8 years and darkwave/club beat since around ’01. They’ve put four singles on the Billboard top 10 singles and dance charts in the last three years, with their first chart hit being a debut at #1 (the single Sophia). If you’re looking for a good band with a great live performance presence (average of 100 shows a year for over a decade), then follow the link (it’s a brand new version of their site, so some things might be a bit twitchy).

    http://cruxshadows.com/Home.html

  135. I have a new story out! It’s from a long time ago, but I’m glad it’s getting some screentime. It’s called “Milk+”, and it’s about breastfeeding, post-partum and embedded surveillance by Big Pharma. You might like it. Or you might not. The mums I know seem to have enjoyed it. I hope that you will, too.

  136. Very cool that you are doing this! I run an erotic reading series in NYC called In The Flesh and this Thursday November 19th is our 4-year anniversary with 300+ free cupcakes, and a gold vibrator giveaway. Free, 21+, but I’d recommend arriving at 7 when the doors open. http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

    I also co-edit the blog Cupcakes Take the Cake and we’re having a free 5-year anniversary party on December 3rd at Roger Smith Hotel. All are welcome, you just have to RSVP.

  138. Pimpage from across the pond:

    My first two books, ‘Principles of Angels’ and ‘Consorts of Heaven’ are out from Gollancz in the UK and now available in the US as imports.

    The Times (the London one) said this about ‘Principles of Angels’: ‘a vivid and unusual world, populated by an interesting array of characters’. I was, as we say over here, well chuffed.

    Nice turkey, by the way. What’s that all about then?

  139. I’d like to promote OASIS (http://www.oasfis.org/oasis), the SF convention produced by the Orlando Area Science Fiction Society (OASFiS). The upcoming convention will be held May 28-30, 2010 and the guests of honor are Sharon Lee (writer), Steve Miller (writer), Richard Livingston (artist), and Rob Balder (filk). If you buy your membership now, you can get a full weekend membership for $30 dollars.

  143. Ok, what can I pimp? How’s about my blog about shaving….yes, shaving. With a straight razor and lots of olde timeye (is that enough ‘e’s?) soaps, creams and brushes! In Japan! It’s Eastern smooth, and it’s guaranteed not to cause Hepatitis.

    http://japanshave.blogspot.com (or just click on my name).

    FYI, I actually got into wetshaving (using a traditional brush and cream) because of a comment here on Whatever about “Liesureguy’s Guide to Gourmet Shaving”. Good for the skin, good for the soul.

  145. Pimping Fantasy, Science Fiction (soft) and soon to-be web cartoonist Elaine Corvidae at http://www.onecrow.net

    Check the free stuff section for short stories and novels Exile’s Burn and Fire in the Void (orig serialized on the web).

  148. Hmmm, late as usual to this sort of thing. I celebrated my father’s 75th birthday with him, over the weekend, so that was pretty cool. Go, dad!

    I also finally got around to self-publishing some of my photographs, which you can check out at http://www.blurb.com/search/site_search?search=Brent+Jernigan&filter=all&commit=Search

    And I do my own version of a blog at Newsvine– http://iarnuocon.newsvine.com

    Working on a book of photographs of Hocking Hills State Park, at the moment. And I may be going to Athens, Greece the first week of December. So, “yea!” me.

    BTW, I like a lot of the stuff everyone else is posting. Who knew we were all so creative?

  149. Hello Mr Scalzi and others,
    I have heretofore only lurked on this site but would like to promote my new venture “The Joy of Writing” which can be found at http://www.joyofwriting.net.

    This offers online tutorials at €20 an hour (about €29 at the current exchange rate for US based people). I am a published writer and my credentials are viewable on the website.

    There is also a blog at http://joyofwriting.net/blog/ where I am looking at a good representative piece of literature to edit and refine to an acceptable standard (My plan being to put a demo of same on Youtube and embed it on the site!) Winning suggestion gets a very nice box of Green and Black organic chocolate bars!

    Thank you for allowing me to pimp and have a pleasant day!

    Susan

  152. I’ll pimp a new book written by a woman who I volunteer with at the local cat rescue. It’s called The Cat Who Sang, and I’ve linked the Amazon page up on my name. It has stories about some of the cats who have come through our doors over the years. I don’t know what proceeds we’ll get from those sales (Amazon is selling for less than we are asking in person, and of course taking a cut) but anything we do get goes directly to the care of the cats. If you want to know more about the shelter itself, we’re on Petfinder:
    http://members.petfinder.org/~BC136/index.html

    For anyone local (Lower Mainland of BC), we’re also selling boxes of holiday season cards (12 cards to a box) and again, all monies raised goes to help the animals. All cards were printed and assembled by the volunteers.

  153. I’d like to pimp my blog, anticontrarian, which you can read by clicking my name up above there. I’m also working on a magical realist science fiction novel (which is not quite ready for pimping, yet), but the blog is usually for more philosophical and political musings. I’m also a bartender, so sometimes I talk about delicious alcohol and how to prepare it deliciously, and the occasionally ridiculous things people do and say under its influence.

  155. Okay, I’ll pimp myself:

    Okay, a little while ago I finished The Departure, wrote a couple of synopses and some blurbs for it, then sent it off to Macmillan. Good response from the commissioning editor (bloody marvelous). Here’s one of the blurbs for you:

    Like Wellsian war machines the shepherds stride into riots to grab up the ringleaders and drag them off to Inspectorate HQ for adjustment, unless they are in shredding mode, in which case their captives visit community digesters, or rather whatever of them has not been washed down the street drains.

    Pain inducers are used for adjustment, and soon the Committee will have the power to edit human minds, but not yet, twelve billion human beings need to die before Earth can be stabilized, but by turning large portions of Earth into concentration camps this is achievable, especially when the Argus satellite laser network comes fully online…

    Alan Saul has taken a different route to disposal, waking as he does inside a crate on the conveyor into the Calais incinerator. How he got there he does not know, but he does remember the pain and the face of his interrogator. Janus speaks to Saul through the hardware implanted in his skull, sketching the nightmare world for him. And Saul decides to bring it all crashing down…

    Not sure if this is what will be appearing on the back of the book, but it gives you a taste of what it’s all about.

    http://theskinner.blogspot.com

  156. My friend Nicole (full disclosure: she’s also an employee of mine!) wrote and awesome book called The Passion of The Hausfrau. It’s part zine, part book on motherhood, part parenting and all funny! I’m supplying the Amazon link but if you can get it from your local indie bookstore please do.

    Hausfrau rocks!!!

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John Scalzi, proprietor – JS
Athena Scalzi, contributor – AMS
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