Two Books of Mine That Arrived Yesterday
Posted on January 25, 2014 Posted by John Scalzi 21 Comments
Here they are. One of them is the Spanish language version of Redshirts. The other… well, you’ll get more details soon. I will say that only four printed copies of it exist in the entire world, nor are there likely to be more of them.
Speculation on the smaller one: John puts a lot of his photos on this blog, and a lot of them look pretty nice. Could it be a photobook, collecting his favorites (not necessarily ones he’s posted here, but ones he’s taken)?
That cover looks awfully familiar. Which, given the state of my memory, probably means that we’re wrong and I’ve never seen it before.
My speculation: not just a photo book, but specifically a photo book of all of John’s sunset photos.
Looks a little small to be *all* John’s sunset photos … but favorites, I can believe. But since that’s so obvious all of us are guessing it, it’s probably something else … how many rounds of meta could we go here?
Dibs on one of the other three!
Sir,
Just spent a week in bed with something that was probably Bubonic Plague or worse, but Wil Wheaton was kind enough to read me “Redshirts”, which lifted my spirits a great deal. Since he’s kinda busy, he did it via Audible.com, but I’m still much endebted to both of you.
My speculation:
Since John posted a photo of a cover with a promise that we will hear more soon, and he promises that the quantity will be limited, I’m inclined to suspect that it is a collection of John’s photos (perhaps all sunset photos) that will be offered as swag for a charitable fundraiser.
I have one copy of a book of which only 5 copies exist. But rarity does not always breed value. Probably nobody in the world would pay $5 for it.
Note to self: (I’m not actually going to do anything, just like when I said this a while back but still, I will, honest!) Oh me, get an svideo cable and check to see if this box can do a third screen turned to 720 x 1080 because it would be nice to be be able to see pdf files in portrait mode because the blue cover would be an awesome pic for such a third screen.
“John Scalzi’s Rough Guide to Sunsets”
Hmm. I wonder if the local library will pick up the Spanish edition of Redshirts? Trying to read it would sure be a more interesting workout in verb forms than the Spanish textbooks are….
jnteresante
Is it a printed proof copy of an eBook-only release?
(Does that even make sense?)
I really really want it to be one of the only paper copies of Midnight Rises, which I’ve been keen on since it was announced.
(But, again, does that even make sense?)
And it does look quite small…
Perhaps John has started a new religion and that us his manifesto? If L Ron Hubbard can do it, John can do it better.
“The other… well, you’ll get more details soon. I will say that only four printed copies of it exist in the entire world, nor are there likely to be more of them.”
This is making me think of a line from ‘Small Favor’ by Jim Butcher:
“You don’t even explain the little things, do you?”
“It’s like a drug,” I said
Of course, I could just be projecting because I know I’d enjoy it waaaaaay too much if I had the opportunity to drop lines like that and watch others twist, just a little bit, in the wind. :)
Hope you enjoy whatever it is!
I think DG Lewis nailed it
I had that sunset picture as my desktop background. I loved it!! Unfortunately, my computer had to be re-formatted and I lost it. Furthermore, I forgot the blog entry that contained it. I think it was posted on Whatever in either 2010 or 2011.
Mike, look here –
https://www.google.com/search?q=sunset+computer+wallpaper&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Scalzi Sunsets – http://www.flickr.com/photos/scalzi/sets/1067777/
For those in the future who happen randomly across this thread and wonder what the second book turned out to be, SPOILER: the second book is seven chapters from Scalzi’s book “Lock In” which he ended up cutting from the final book.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/01/27/for-auction-extremely-rare-bound-signed-outtakes-from-lock-in-plus-signed-1st-edition-of-lock-in-for-the-worldbuilders-charity/
It’s Scalzi’s long awaited Luke Skywalker/Han Solo slash novel, entitled “Star Wars: A New Hope (for Love)”.