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Pat’s Far Travels: MisCon, Phoenix Comicon, and GenCon

Hey guys, Amanda here! After the crazy-awesome end to the Tak Kickstarter, Pat almost immediately has to pack his bags and head off to a couple of cons.  The good news is it’s almost become tradition for me to hijack the blog to post his convention schedule information, so I wasn’t altogether surprised this time around.

Missoula, Montana

PatInMissoulaMontana

(Aren’t these graphics Brett made awesome? I want one to track where Pat is at all times)

First is going to be MisCon, a great hidden gem of a convention, held in Missoula, Montana. If you’re anywhere near there, Pat’s one of a lot of cool guests, like Jim Butcher, Robin Hobb, Peter Orullian, and Dan Wells.

If you’re in the neighborhood, you can still buy badges over on their website or at the door when you arrive.

The con runs from May 27th through the 30th, but Pat’s only panels are on the 30th:

  • Sunday, May 29

5:00pm-5:50pm: Q&A With Jim Butcher and Pat Rothfuss in Ballroom B

**This event has been changed from Monday the 30th to Sunday the 29th at 5:00pm.

  • Monday, May 30 

10:00am-10:50am: Signing in Ballroom B

12:pm-12:50pm: Making Characters Resonate in Ballroom B
with Carol Berg, Todd Lockwood, & Peter Orullian.

Definitely check this stuff out, because it all sounds amazing. And if you see Pat, say hi from me.

 

Phoenix, Arizona

PatInPhoenixArizona

If you’re headed to Phoenix Comicon, though, you won’t have to say hi for me, because I’ll be there slinging Worldbuilders Merch at our gigantic booth,  #740/641. If you’re interested in helping us out at the booth, we’re looking for volunteers! If you’ve got some time to spare, contact our coordinator, Thera, right here.

We’ll be hosting signings there with Pat, as well as Kevin Hearne (Thursday 6/2 from 4-5), Scott Sigler (Friday 6/3 from 12-1), Pierce Brown (Friday 6/3 from 6-7), Brad Beaulieu (Saturday 6/4 from 1:30-2:30), and Mary Robinette Kowal (Sunday 6/5 from 1-2). More might be added, so be sure to swing by and check us out.

All signings, including Pat’s, will require free time tickets so we can keep the lines under control. If you’re interested in getting in on one of our signings, you can come to the booth anytime the hall is open to get a ticket.

But before the con even starts, there’s a huge signing event happening at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale.

  • Wednesday, June 1

7:00pm: ELEVENGEDDON, an 19-author signing extravaganza
The Poisoned Pen Bookstore
4014 N Goldwater Blvd
Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
Facebook Event

There are going to be 19 different authors all hanging out at The Poisoned Pen, all ready to sign books and have a rocking time. They’ll start handing out free color-coded wristbands an hour before the event starts to keep things from being too crowded all at once.

Authors like Pierce Brown, Kevin Hearne, Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Sam Sykes, and Django Wexler are going to be there, just to name a very few. If you can, you should really check it out.

Then, of course, the con starts the next day.

Note: There’ve been a few things added, so be sure to double check this one!

  • Thursday, June 2

4:30pm-5:30pm: Would You Rather?- North 128B
with Alyssa Wong, Pierce Brown, Sam Sykes, and Shannon Messengers

If this is going to be anything like Author Batsu games (which is another panel you should go to, even though Pat isn’t on it), then we are all in for a very weird treat.

  • Friday, June 3

12:00pm-1:00pm: Adventuring Parties, Still Cool?- North 129A
With Sam Sykes, Sarah Remy, and Todd Lockwood

1:30pm-2:30pm: Signing in the Signing lounge, North 127AB

3:00pm-4:00pm: Signing at the Worldbuilders Booth #740/641

PatSigning - Color

  • Saturday, June 4

12:00pm-1:00pm: Signing in the Exhibitor Hall Signing Area

1:30pm-2:30pm: Glowy Swords: Magical Macguffins-North 129A
With Alyssa Wong, Brandon Sanderson, Sam Sykes, and Victoria V.E. Schwab

3:00pm-4:00pm: Signing at Worldbuilders Booth #740/641

4:30-5:30pm: Spotlight:  Join Pat as he talks writing, mead making and livestock  – West 301A

  • Sunday, June 5

10:30am-11:30am: Guilty Pleasure Tropes-North 128B
With Christina Henry, Gini Koch, and Tom Leveen

12:00pm-1:00pm: Signing in the Signing Lounge, North 127AB

3:00pm-4:00pm: Signing in the Exhibitor Hall Signing Area

4:30pm-5:30pm: Embarrassing Author Con Stories-North 128B
With Kevin Hearne, Leanna Hieber, Mary Robinette Kowal, Pierce Brown, Sam Sykes and Shannon Messenger

The subject matter of this panel would be enough for me to desperately want to attend. The authors who are going to be on it will make it that much more amazing. Anything Sam Sykes considers “embarrassing” is going to make for an awesome story.

Indianapolis, Indiana

PatInIndianapolisIndiana

And, even though it’s a couple of months away yet, we wanted to make sure you knew about Pat’s GenCon schedule. GenCon has tickets for some of the panels and events, so if you want to attend you need to register online. All of Pat’s panels are free, but have limited seating, and we don’t want you to miss out just because you weren’t able to register soon enough.

Worldbuilders will also be at GenCon in a few different places, including a table outside the Writer’s Symposium, and booth #267 in the exhibit hall. We’re still deciding what we’re going to bring to sell at the booth, but there’s a lot to choose from in The Tinker’s Packs, so if you have feelings on what we should bring, maybe let me know in the comments and it’ll help us decide…

  • Thursday, August 4

1pm-2pm: Writer’s Craft: Convince the Reader to Care, Capital 1

4pm-5pm: Signing in the Exhibit Hall Author Area

All of Pat’s signings will require a ticket (so that you guys don’t flood the signing area with awesome, awesome people), so you can register for this one right here.

  • Friday, August 5

12pm-1pm: Talk about Tak with James Ernest, Westin, Capitol II

WoodBoardPhoto

This promises to be a great talk, especially since the Kickstarter went so well, and it’s just plain fun to hear Pat and James get into really in-depth talks about games. If you want to check it out, ask some questions, or just hear Pat and James discuss all things Tak, you won’t want to miss this. You’ll need to register for this event, which you can do right here.

4pm-6pm: An Evening with Pat Rothfuss

This is one of my favorite events Pat does, because you honestly never know what’s going to happen. Maybe he’ll read some poetry. Maybe he’ll make the entire audience sing with him. Maybe he’ll discuss the narrative structure of his favorite Marvel movie. No matter what, though, it’ll very likely be entertaining.

Registration for this one just went up today, so be sure to get in on it soon here.

  • Saturday, August 6

1:00pm-2:00pm: Signing, Exhibit Hall Author Area

As with the last signing, this will require registration for the sake of line control. If you want to attend this signing, you can do it here.

3:00pm-4:00pm: Character Craft: Representing Unconscious Motivation, Capital 1

4:00pm-5:00pm: Writer’s Life: Writers and Mental Health (You’re Not Alone), Capital 1

If I can, I’m going to make a point of swinging by this panel. It’s so rare for folks to discuss issues of mental health, and having a bunch of authors being candid and honest about it will hopefully open up the dialogue for more people, and take some of the stigma away.

* * *

And there you have it folks. You’ll probably see Pat around the con at all of these, but you’ll for sure be able to find him at these events. Make sure to register soon if you’re going to be at GenCon, and come say hi at the booths if you’ll be at Phoenix or GenCon.

Hope to see you soon!
Amanda

Also posted in conventions, The Tinker's Packs | By Amanda18 Responses

Books, Games, Terror, and Toddlers

As I sit down to write up my traditional blog full of Rothfuss-specific items I’m putting into the fundraiser, I notice that Worldbuilders has just crested over the $100,000 mark.

This fills me with joy. Not only because it confirms that all of you are lovely, generous people. But also because it means we’ve passed two stretch goals, and have just unlocked a third, where Nika Harper will do a Tarot reading for a goat.

What were the previous two stretch goals? Well, I brought my littlest boy (codename Cutie Snoo) into Worldbuilders the other day to see the team. While we were there, I found myself wondering what would happen if I introduced him to one of the … odder people that hangs around in our basement.

Namely, Cinder.

dea31d2133bddee7820ae6c35229d7eb_original

This is a life-sized statue created from whole cloth by Ravn Cotino. He kickstarted the project, then donated the statue to Worldbuilders.

If you’ve been following the Worldbuilders blog, you know how it arrived and has been freaking everyone out several months. Including me. Because let me tell you, nothing is better than showing up at Worldbuilders at midnight, knowing I’ll be able to have the place to myself while I sign books for the Tinker’s Packs. And then, while I’m catching up on the Nightvale podcast, I wander back to get a fresh pen and see this out of the corner of my eye….

Cinder crop

So yeah. It’s only natural that when I brought my not-yet-quite two year old toddler into the office, I proposed that we expose him to this tangible nightmare as a stretch goal for charity.

This is what happened.

If you want to see the other stretch goals as we unlock them, or see what’s coming in the future, you can take a peek at them on the Worldbuilders page.

Now, on to today’s prizes.

*     *     *

First and foremost we’ll start with the items going into the prize lottery. For every 10 dollars you kick in on our donation page you have a chance to win these items and many, many others.

Lottery Items

  • Card Decks: Sets of Name of the Wind, Pairs, and Geek a Week Decks

CardGames

There are 3 different Name of the Wind decks (Limited, Unlimited, and Magician’s Deck), 4 different Pairs decks (Commonwealth, Princess & Mr. Whiffle, Modegan, and Faen), and 3 different Geek-a-Week decks (Season 1, Season 5, and Season 5 Limited).

I’m putting 10 of each set in, so that’s 30 prizes into the GAMES part of the lottery.

  • A Set of Foreign Editions in the Language of Your Choice

ForeignEditions

My books have been published in 35 different languages, and I get between 5-10 “author copies” of each edition. More if the book goes into multiple printings.

Whoever wins this item will receive everything I have published in the language of their choice. Love Portuguese? You can have O Nome Do VentoO Medo Do Homem Sábio, and A Música do Silêncio. Want to give the book to your Grandma who only speaks Estonian? We’ve got you covered. We even have the rare, out of print set of the 3-volume Japanese edition of Name of the Wind.

And if you don’t want to leave it to chance, you can always buy some copies straight out of the The Tinker’s Packs, where all proceeds go to Worldbuilders.

Stuff in the Store

Speaking of the store, we have a lot of items in there you might not be aware of. And for the duration of the fundraiser, all the sales in the store count toward raising our donation totals and unlocking new stretch goals.

  • T-shirts

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We have a lot of t-shirts. So many we don’t have enough staff to model them. Our Eolian hoodie, a onesie, and a scarf, all over in the Apparel section of the store.

  • Games & Collectibles

P1090390

There are lots of games in The Tinker’s Packs, including some limited edition game pieces, like the Draccus monster for King of Tokyo and King of New York (it works for either game).

We also have Boss Monster and Boss Monster 2, which has limited edition Bast & Bastas heroes you can kill (again, in either game). Plus there’s cool collectible game stuff like our True Copper Dice made by Shire Post Mint.

  • Jewelry

P1090392

There’s lots of jewelry too, like the Pinny Arcade Talent Pipes pin, Auri’s Brazen Gear, the official Eolian Talent Pipes, and even Denna’s Ring. There’s a lot more than that, though, so be sure to head over and peruse to your heart’s desire.

Lottery AND Auction

There’s a lot of stuff that I wanted people to have a chance at winning, even though the items are bit more limited and rare. So for everything in this section, I’m putting one item up in an auction (for folks with more money, or who want a sure thing) and one going into the lottery (So everyone who donates gets a chance.)

  • Doodled Beta copy of Princess 2. A Matching Set of Numbered Princess 1 & 2. All signed by me and Nate Taylor.

PrincessPack

These are all really rare.

When we were working on the second princess book, Nate would send me his newest illustrations, I’d get them printed and bound, then get feedback from friends. After that was done, I had a few left over, so Nate signed and doodled them. There’s one up for auction right here, and one in the lottery.

We also have fancy numbered editions of the Princess books.  They’re both numbered editions, leather bound, with beautiful signature pages signed by both me and Nate. We have two matching sets, so one is in the lottery, and the other is in an auction here.

  • Rare books: 1st Edition Name of the Wind. ARC copy of Unfettered.

Fabio_BrainGuy

Here you have it guys. I’ve had to start buying 1st editions off of people at signings to keep Worldbuilders stocked for things like this. One first edition/first printing of NOTW is going into the lottery, and the other is in an auction. We sold three of these for $2500 last summer, so I can only imagine what this will go for.

These ARCs of Unfettered are pretty rare too. The regular print run only had 5,000 copies, and there are only 250 of these ARCs.  Here’s the link to the auction if you just can’t leave it to chance, otherwise one is in the lottery as well.

Auctions

There are some things that are just too specialized to put into the lottery, so we’re auctioning these off to make sure they’re going to get into the right hands.

  •  General Geekery: Limited Edition Boss Monster cards, Master Set of  Cealdish Coins, and 300 Chip Poker Set.

BossMonsterCards_PokerSet_CealdishCoins

The first is an auction for the Quothe Ladykiller, Bast, and Bastas Hero Cards for Boss Monster. There were only ever 200 made, and we only have this one because a fan donated it back to us.  Auction is here.

We also have a 300-piece poker set from the Albino Dragon Kickstarter a while back. This contains 60 of each color chip, all three decks, plus some extras in in a lovely wooden case. The bidding starts here.

Next up is a Master Set of my Cealdish currency, made by the folks at Shire Post Mint. This even includes version 1.2 of the iron drab, which  you can’t get any other way. We only made 94 of these, and they’ve been sold out since about 2 hours after we made them available.

To bid on this, head over here.

  • Bookish Geekery: ARC of NOTW, ARC of WMF, Edited & Critiqued NOTW Text Scarf.

ARCsAndScarf

It’s getting harder to find ARC copies of The Name of the Wind, but we’ve got one up for auction. It’s one of the cool rarities where they didn’t print on the dust jacket image. Instead my editor, Betsy, wrote a note on the cover explaining why people should take a risk on this unknown author named Patrick Rothfuss.

There’s also a Wise Man’s Fear ARC looking for a new home, and if there’s a space for it on your shelf you can bid on it here. These are extremely rare (only 227 copies were ever printed), and all of them were numbered so that we’d know who had leaked their copy if one sold before the actual book release.

Those of you signed up for The Tinker’s Packs newsletter probably saw one of the new items launched last month, an infinity scarf printed with text from The Name of the Wind. I took the liberty of correcting some of the purpler prose on one of the scarves, and it’s going up for auction. This one is truly one-of-a-kind, because the team took my pen away before I could correct the rest of the scarves.

* * *

So there you go, folks. A bunch of signed and rare stuff in the Lottery, new items in the store, and unique items up for auction. A little bit of something for everybody.

Don’t forget: I’m streaming on Twitch every evening from 4:00-7:00 CST. I’ll either be working on Book 3 or playing Fallout 4 depending on which option people vote for.

The auctions for professional critiques of your manuscript go through Sunday, so be sure to check those out too.

Thanks for helping out, everyone. And thanks for spreading the word…

Also posted in Acts of Whimsy, babies, Cutie Snoo, Worldbuilders 2015 | By Pat26 Responses

Delicious Geekery – October 2013

Back in August, we tried something a little new for Worldbuilders. Kevin Hearne and several of his anthology-mates sent us some signed copies of their carnival-steampunk collection, aptly named Carniepunk.

The books were signed by multiple authors, and rather than save them for our end-of-the-year Worldbuilders extraviganza, we decided to throw them up in our online store. We doubled the cover price because they were signed by some cool authors and because all the money goes to charity

… and despite that, the books sold out in just a couple of hours.

Since people were obviously excited about the idea, we’ve decided to make a monthly habit of bringing you some new signed books in The Tinker’s Packs:

Since this is our first month, I tapped a few of my author friends. And, because they’re all awesome people, they jumped right in.

The first to agree was Brandon Sanderson.  His book Steelheart came out a few weeks ago. It’s the first in a new series…

1-Sanderson

Look at it, looming over you like it can write faster than you or something…

Sanderson Signature

Not to mention the fact that his signature is beautiful and flowing and doesn’t at all look like a 4 year old stole a pen from you…

I got a chance to read an ARC of this and loved it even before it went through final edits. My blurb on the back says, “Unfortunately for my ego, Steelheart is another win for Sanderson, proving that he’s not a brilliant writer of epic fantasy, he’s simply a brilliant writer. Period.”

If you want to know more about what I thought, you can check out my goodreads review here.

Or you could just jump right over to the Tinker’s packs and buy it.

These are signed first printings, and we’ve only got ten of them. So, fair warning, they’re bound to go quickly.

And remember, all the money we make in the Tinker’s Packs goes to Worldbuilders, helping Heifer International do awesome things all over the world.

Sustainable Community Development Project for Chitwan, Nawalparasi and Palpa (22-0531-23)

Our second set of books comes from my long-time friend Nnedi Okorafor. She and I go way back to the Writers of the Future Volume 18 in 2002, where we were both bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, newbie writers.

Me-and-Nnedi-730772

Awww… look at me, all young and thin and tiny-bearded.

Both Nnedi and I have both come a long way since then. Her book Zahrah the Windseeker won the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. And in 2011 Who Fears Death won the 2011 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

Her newest book Kabu Kabu just hit the shelves, and she’s been nice enough to send us some copies hot off the press.

Nnedi Signature

In addition to signing, she’s gone the extra mile and decorated them too….

1-photo

As you can see, each of these is signed, dated, and has it’s own individual doodle along the top and bottom of the book. She sent along 10 of these, and we’re putting them up in the store for you.

Fair warning: There’s only nine left because I just bought one. I haven’t read this one yet.

Last we have a lovely donation from Scott Lynch (who I’m doing an event with soon in Lond0n).

It’s the third book in the Gentleman Bastard series: The Republic of Thieves…

Lynch Cover

I’m a huge fan of the first two books in the series, and recently wrote a review of The Lies of Locke Lamora on Goodreads that was so gushy with love that his publisher contacted me to ask if they could use it as promo copy.

Scott went all out on copies he sent us, as you can see if you embiggen the below pictures.

1-Republic

Yeah, he’s a great guy. Because of that, I’ll try not to resent the fact that his handwriting looks like a stylish font.

By strange coincidence, I just started reading my copy tonight over dinner. And honestly, I wish I were still reading it instead of writing a blog post. It’s one of *those* books.

They’re available for sale over here.

*     *     *

We’ve also got one cool non-book thing we’re adding to the store. Something we’ve been saving for pre-christmass.

We’ve got the complete The Legend of Neil DVD series:

Legend of Neil DVDs

If you haven’t heard of Legend of Neil, well… not only do you lose some geek points, but you’re missing out on some of the best geek humor out there.

I’m not just a fan of the show, I bought the t-shirt. (Several copies of the t-shirt, actually.)

patrick rothfuss- Murder shirt

(Note: This is not the best shirt to go through airport security in.)

The series was written and directed by the inestimable Sandeep Parikh who agreed to let us sell the DVD to help raise money for Worldbuilders.

We’ve got some regular DVD’s and some signed by Sandeep, writer/actor Tony Janning, and geek glitterati princess Felicia Day.

We’ve got the DVDs and the posters available for sale individually, or you can buy them together at a discounted price.

We’ve only got a limited number of these, especially the signed ones. Fair warning.

*     *     *

And finally, a piece of news:

The Lauren Zurchin Fantasy Calendar just came back from the printers. That means as of today, we’re no longer doing pre-orders. If you buy one, we’ll be shipping it out to you straightaway.

oliver-updated

The same is true if you’re buying a couple calendars in a combo packs to get a discount. We’re shipping those out immediately too.

So… yeah. There you go folks. Plenty of geek swag you can add to your vasty horde or use to get a jump on your  holiday shopping.

Have fun,

pat

Also posted in recommendations, The Tinker's Packs, Things I Like, Worldbuilders | By Pat19 Responses

Books, Games, Art, and Awesome….

Hey there everybody,

So it looks like I’m going to survive convention season, if only just barely.

And you know what comes after convention season?

Well…Sleep mostly. But after I catch up on my sleep, we’re going to start prepping for our yearly Worldbuilders fundraiser.

It used to be that Worldbuilders only really existed for about one month out of the year. But over the years it’s grown bigger and bigger. What’s more, authors, artists, publishers, and game designers have all come forward, offering to help in different ways….

  • Anton Strout

Some of you might remember that last year, Anton made a very generous offer.

He had a book coming out, Alchemistic, and he said that for every copy that sold in the month leading up to the book, he was going to give Worldbuilders a dollar.

Anton Strout - Alchemistic

What’s more, Anton  convinced his publisher (Penguin) to donate another dollar to match his.

Needless to say, I thought this was amazingly generous, and agreed to take back half of the bad things I’d ever said about him.

Well, a new year is upon us, and Anton has a new book coming out:

strout-anton-stonecast

And, gentleman that he is, Anton has offered to help Worldbuilders out again….

That means that for every copy of Stonecast that people pre-order between now and the book’s release date, Worldbuilders will get two dollars. One from Anton and one from Penguin.

Now, all joking aside, let me take a moment to explain how generous Anton is actually being here….

You see, authors make their money by earning a royalty from each book they sell. For paperback books, that tends to be about 8% (at best).

That means that Anton makes about 60 cents for every book.

So you know that he’s really doing this out of the goodness of his heart. It’s not a clever moneymaking scheme.

Well… actually it is a clever moneymaking scheme. It’s just that it’s making money for charity, not for Anton.

And remember, Penguin has also agreed to match Anton up to the first $1500.  That means that $2 will come to Worldbuilders for every copy of Stonecast that gets pre-ordered between now and the publication date of 9/24.

And you can pre-order anywhere you like, your local indie bookstore, B&N, Amazon, wherever you like…

  • Boss Monster:

We’ve returned from GenCon with some copies of Boss Monster with the special promotional Quothe LadyKiller hero cards.

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We only had 200 copies of these to start with, and they sold extremely well at GenCon, and now we have less than two dozen remaining

But the ones we do have are up in the store….

  • Karen Hallion Prints

Another thing we brought to GenCon that sold like mad were prints from the ever-awesome Karen Hallion. Last year she donated some for us to auction off during last year’s fundraiser.  But now she’s letting us retail some, since all proceeds from the store go to Worldbuilders.

Hallion - Great Wide Everywhere 72

This print was our best seller at the convention and a personal favorite.

Oot just walked by and said: “Oh dad, is that a video of a princess walking to a bathroom?”

I appologise, he’s too young for Dr. Who.

A lot of folks don’t realize that Karen does a ton of mash-ups that are unrelated to police boxes, too.  She’s got a little bit for everyone, for example…

Hallion - Strawberry Girl 72

This one is Amanda’s favorite. And if you like it as much as she does, odds are the two of you can be best friends. It’s Kaylee and the Morton’s Salt Girl, all mashed up into one beautiful piece of art, great for Firefly fans and advertising enthusiasts alike.

Oot says: “A clown with an umbrella. Ha! She’s poopin’ ladybugs.”

Hallion - Cunning and Blue 72

Oot says: “That’s so silly! A mouse wearing a hat!”

We’ve got 8 different Hallion prints in the store, so make sure to check out the rest of them.

  • Carniepunk

Last, but not least, we have a cool donation from Kevin Hearne.  He sent us a few copies of the new anthology Carniepunk.

Carniepunk_out_July302013

Yeah. Carnival steampunk. I’ll admit that I’m all tingly at the thought of this.

I’m thinking this anthology is going to be like Ray Bradbury with a monocle and a lightning gun. I’m going to have to order a copy.

Not only did they donate some books, but fully half the authors in the anthology got together and signed these copies.

Hearne-Anthology-Signatures

The lovely authors who autographed are Rachel Caine, Seanan McGuire, Jaye Wells, Nicole Peeler, Mark Henry, Delilah S. Dawson, and, of course, Kevin Hearne himself.

It’s a rare treat to get so many authors signing a book. But it’s rarer still that we get something like this donated that we can sell in the store…. 

We only have a handful of them though, so if you want one, you better jump onboard quickly.

As for me, I’m off to order some books.

Later Space Cowboys…

pat

Also posted in gaming, The Tinker's Packs | By Pat17 Responses

Even More DAW Books

This is a Worldbuilders Blog.

A few announcements before we get to the goods.

Firstly:  Since the blog went up yesterday, we’ve gone from $328,000 to over $363,000.  We blew past the Lockless Box stretch goal and are steadily climbing our way toward the extra $100,000 for Heifer.  That’s the true power you folks have, right there.

Secondly: Our True Dungeon game auctions end tonight (along with many others).  Mary Robinette Kowal and Jim Hines had already agreed to play with us, but we’d like to reveal one more player: John Scalzi.

 

As you can see from his debonair hat and sweet uke, he’s going to be our bard.  If you’re at all interested in hunting lycans while being serenaded by John Scalzi, it would be in your best interest to go bid.

Thirdly: Pat isn’t writing this blog.

I (that is, Amanda) often help Pat out here on the blog.  I help answer a lot of the questions in the comments, and if there’s ever a typo or other error that gets fixed, I most likely did that, too.  When we extended the deadline of the fundraiser, it meant some blogs had to go up while Pat is out at ConFusion.  He’s booked pretty solidly while he’s there, and won’t be able to hole himself up in the hotel to write blogs.  So, he told me it was my turn.

Be gentle.

*     *     *

Our previous DAW blog had tons of books in it.  It had so many books that even they admitted they may have gone overboard – overboard in the most awesome way possible.  So, here in this second blog, you’d think we wouldn’t have very much.  In fact, we struggled to squeeze everything in without it getting unwieldy.  They truly went above and beyond for their donation this year.

No more preamble.  Let’s get right to the books.

  • 7 hardcover sets of Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines, The Silvered by Tanya Huff, and The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams.  All copies of Libriomancer and The Dirty Streets of Heaven are signed.

“This enchanting, suspenseful urban fantasy should grab fans of Charles de Lint, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, and Jim Butcher.” – Booklist (starred review) about The Silvered.

  • 6 ARC copies of The Dirty Streets of Heaven.  Signed by Tad Williams.

Just to add to the awesome, DAW sent along some great ARCs, including this one.  Pat has a pretty lengthy review over on Goodreads where he gushes about how great it is, and this prize is extra awesome because they’re all signed.

  • A set of The Book of Ler and The Transformer Trillogy by M.A. Foster.

“Foster will be ranked among the greats…”  – Library Journal

Just so you know, these are both collections of M.A. Foster’s two cornerstone trilogies. That’s right, you get two books that actually contain a total of six novels–you don’t have to hunt for the rest of them.

“Cherryh has created her strongest character and her best novel in a story of space exploration, colonization and war.” – Questar, about Downbelow Station.

“Violette Malan has accomplished that most difficult fusions – she’s given a complex, high fantasy world a very readable contemporary voice.” – Tanya Huff

ARCs have always been cool to me.  I feel like I’m holding something secret, that only really special people ever get to have.  Almost every one I’ve ever held have been for Worldbuilders, or to give to Pat, so I don’t get to be one of those special people.  But now you might.

This is an ARC of a book that doesn’t come out until February.  In case you just can’t wait for the two in the lottery, we’ve decided to auction one off, too.

To bid on this, go to the auction here.

Here’s another ARC which doesn’t come out until March, and they’re all signed to boot.  I was beyond convinced by this review:

“I was captivated by Julie Czerneda’s A Turn of Light. Yep, she used her writerly powers and sucked me right in. Many fantasy novels out there are *about* magic. Few, like Julie’s, embody it.” – Kristen Britain

Six will go into the lottery, but we’re auctioning the seventh over here.

“The settings are well drawn and creative… The characters possess substance, emotions and realistic motivations… Most important, the action and surprises keep coming… this book is almost impossible to put down.” – SCI FI Weekly, about The Helix War.

I’m not going to lie – this might be my favorite prize in this blog just for the all of the cover art.  I mean, I used to tell my students all the time not to judge books by their covers, but… you can when they’re *really* nice.

“With this volume, bestseller Hickman (The Immortals) creates memorable characters and realms of immense richness, while holding the reader enthralled with exhilarating action.” – Publishers Weekly, about Song of the Dragon

“… a terrific entry into the wonderful swashbuckling fantasy world of Mickey Zucker Reichert.” – Midwest Book Review, about Flight of  the Renshai

“I love the way Nnedi Okorafor writes, the precise, steely short sentences like blows to the body, the accumulation of experiences that lean to inspired insights, and the strangeness and beauty of an Africa both imagined and real. Perception, courage, and grace illuminate Who Fears Death.” – Peter Straub

  • Plus, all of these ARCs down here:

(Click to embiggen and read all the titles)

That’s right.  Every single one of those books is an advance reader copy.  You may not realize this, but some publishers are moving away from ARCs.  In this digital age, sometimes it’s not worth it to do an expensive not-even-for-sale print run of a book that may not end up doing well.

But not DAW.  They produce a lot of ARCs.  A lot of *really* nice ARCs.  They really go the extra mile to do right by their authors.

There are a ton of ARCs this year, so simply bask in the glory that is many, many books you can win just by donating via the Team Page.

*     *     *

You only have until Monday, January 21st to donate on the Worldbuilders Team Page. For every $10 you pitch in, you get another chance to win one of these books, as well as thousands of others.

There are a bunch of awesome auctions ending tonight, including tickets to PAX East, two different ways to game with Pat, and some awesome books and art. You can view all of them on our current auctions page here.

If you want to see the other items that have been donated to Worldbuilders, or learn more about the fundraiser itself, you can head over to our main page.

Also posted in Worldbuilders 2012 | By Amanda7 Responses

Geekery for Gamers

This is a Worldbuilders Blog.

Today’s blog centers around one of my favorite types of geekery: Gaming.

It’s no secret that I’ve been a gamer from way back. I played PC games back when they were only text. I played D&D in the days of the red box and dice you had to color in yourself with crayon.

And, of course, my prowess in Catan is legendary. I have never been beaten at Catan.

*Note: Some people claim to have beaten me at Catan, but let me assure you that these are nothing more than fever dreams or elaborate fantasies constructed by sad individuals.

Here’s the tricky bit. Everyone has a particular flavor of game that they’re partial to.

For example, some people would love to win, a set of handmade copper dice. (Details below.) While other folks don’t really need to roll damage for a heavy flail very often and would much prefer to win the Collector’s edition of Mists of Pandera, signed by 40 members of the Blizzard development team.

So, rather than leave things to random chance, we’re auctioning off today’s items. That way everyone can have what they like best. (You can see a full listing of all current Worldbuilders auctions here.)

And, as time is tight, I’d take it as a great kindness if you helped spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested in the following.

Now, on to the show.

  • Play some Four Corners Tabletop with Pat Rothfuss at GenCon.

Last year, as an experiment, I ran a game at a small con and auctioned off the seats for Worldbuilders.

It went over surprisingly well. We had a good, geeky time and raised some money for charity.

But I also realized something. I’m not great at running a one-shot game. I’m more of a long-rambly-journey-of-self-discovery sort of GM.

Luckily, I happen to know someone who’s a much better GM than I am.

So this year I’ve roped my long time friend and gaming buddy Todd. He’s going to run a game at Gencon. It will be set in the University, and I’m going to play Kvothe.

You can and play too, if you like.

To our infinite delight, GenCon is giving Worldbuilders their official support. They’ve given us a room at the con, and will be giving away 4-day badges for the folks that win seats at the gaming table.

The game will be Friday August 16th. It will start at 1pm and run for 4 hours. This auction does NOT include travel or hotel arrangements for the event.

Game system will be determined before Gen Con and pre-made characters will be provided so we can get to playing more quickly. (Rest assured, Todd and I will be in contact before the convention to find out what sort of character you’d like to play before generating the characters.)

For more information, or to bid on the chance to game in the Four Corners, auction 1 is here, auction 2 is here, auction 3 is here.

Last year when I was at GenCon, King of the Internet and all around hoopy frood Wil Wheaton introduced me to True Dungeon.

It was magical. I’ve been meaning to blog about it ever since, but I never got around to it. Suffice to say that it was among the coolest, most enjoyable gaming experiences of my entire life.

We went through with a team of other geeks, including John Scalzi, Brandon Sanderson, and Robert Gifford.

Okay. I don’t look like I’m loving it there.  That may be a bad example.  But we were running through the puzzle track, and honestly that room with the anvil puzzle fucking baffled me.

I can’t believe the other folks figured it out. Some of that shit was *hard.*

There.  That’s better.  You can see the awesome here. We’d just whooped ass all over a dragon.

After playing, I got in touch with the folks that run True Dungeon, mostly so I could gush about how much I loved it. And at the end of things, they offered to donate a dungeon run to Worldbuilders.

I’m filling up half the party with geeks I know and love, and we’re auctioning off the rest of the places in the party to you.

Right now, our celebrity geeks include authors Mary Robinette Kowal, (Who has been my guest on Storyboard.) and Jim Hines (Who wrote Libriomancer.) They’ve also both won Hugo Awards, now that I’m thinking of it, which makes me feel rather small.

Other geek guests will be added as I hear back from people about their schedules.

The game will be Saturday, August 17th 2013 at 2:00pm and last for 2 hours.  This auction does NOT include travel or hotel arrangements for the event. Unlike the last auction, this one does NOT come with badges to GenCon – you need to get those yourself!

You know you want this. Auction 1 is here, auction 2 is here, auction 3 is here, and auction 4 is here.

A while ago, we were contacted by a lovely lady named Jessica.  Here’s what she sent us:

“This  year PAX registration for 3 day passes sold out in a day. Luckily, I was alert and managed to register for 2 passes before this happened. Not so luckily I found out soon after that I would not be attending the convention. As I was about to login and cancel my registration it occurred to me that hey, maybe I can put these passes to good use!”

Jessica could have gone online and tried to sell them to the teaming masses trying to get into this fabulous sold-out event. But she didn’t. She donated them to Worldbuilders. Because she’s awesome.

Again, please note that this auction does not come with travel or hotel arrangements.

To bid, head over here.

  • Pathfinder Books: Core Rulebook & Inner Sea World Guide (both signed by Paizo staff), Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, Nightglass, City of the Fallen Sky, and Death’s Heretic signed by James L. Sutter.

I’ve only recently started to dabble with Pathfinder, but I have to say that what I’ve seen has impressed me. A lot. Some of the advice in their books has changed the way I’ve thought about running a game, and even influenced my storytelling somewhat.

This pack has everything you need to get started and then some. PLUS, two of the books are signed by the folks at Paizo.

To see more pictures, or bid on the this auction click here.

  • Eclectic gamer pack: Millennium Falcon Haynes manual, signed Mistrunner Core Rulebook, Champions Complete rulebook, and a copy of the Dwarven Cookbook.

Here’s why you want this: 1. Millennium Falcon. 2. Mistrunner is post-apocalyptic steampunk fantasy. 3. Champions is HERO system, which also happens to be my favorite gaming system, which means it’s the best system. 4. This cookbook looks awesome.  Seriously.

We’ve got two of these sampler packs. You can bid on the first one here. Or the second one over here.

  • Auctions: Copper Dice: A set of three & a set of two.

Tait and Lorren, who made my copper knife I blogged about, sent us some cool stuff this year.  They sent the copper rings that sold out in the store, and they also sent us awesome gaming dice.

We’re auctioning off two different sets of these dice. We’ve got a  two-die set you can bid on if you’re a D&D type, and you need to roll damage for, say, flaming sphere.

Or, if you play in Hero system like me, then you can bid on the set of three.

  • Auction: World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Collector’s edition.  Signed by Blizzard staff. Also comes with Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden.

In addition to being hand-signed by over 40 members of the Blizzard Staff, this Collector’s Edition of Mists of Pandaria includes the full  version of the game on DVD-ROM and contains the following exclusive  bonus items:

  • Behind-the-Scenes DVD and Blu-Ray.
  • Collector’s Edition Soundtrack CD.
  • 208-page hardcover tome featuring never-before-seen art from the  expansion.

Also included is a copy of Rise of the Horde signed by the author.

To bid, head over to the auction here.

  • Auction: Diablo III collector’s edition and Moon of the Spider by Richard A. Knaak.

Pat’s note: I once played Diablo II for a month straight rather than prep for my GRE.

The auction is here.  Bid to your heart’s content.

  • Auction: Starcraft Battle Chest and the Wings of Liberty expansion pack.

Back in the day, I was able to beat the original Starcraft while playing against three computer AIs turned up to their highest difficulty setting. True story.

If you can’t say the same, you might want to Bid over here.

  • 5 copies of A Dwarven Cookbook.  Signed by Stephanie Drummonds and Daniel Meyers.

And, because I can’t let an entire blog go by without putting *something* into the lottery. We’re going to throw in five copies of the Dwarven Cookbook.

You have to read this book description:

The Dwarven Cookbook: Recipes from the Kingdom of Kathaldum provides a look into the often ignored world of Dwarven cuisine. Carefully translated from the original manuscript, this book contains recipes interpreted for the modern kitchen. The editors have striven to remain true to the original intent, but some dishes have been updated to make them more accessible to the modern palate. While reflecting the traditions of Dwarven culture, the text also displays a rich diversity in flavors and spicing.”

*     *     *

Fair warning time: Worldbuilders ends January 18th, so if you want in on the lottery make sure to make your donation on the Worldbuilders Team Page. For every $10 you pitch in, you get another chance to win thousands of books and DVD’s.

There were tons of auctions in this blog, and we have even more running. You can view all of our current auctions over here.

If you want to see the other items that have been donated to Worldbuilders, or learn more about the fundraiser itself, you can head over to our main page.

If you have enjoyed the experience of this blog, why not share it with your friends?

Share and Enjoy,

pat

Also posted in Worldbuilders 2012 | By Pat40 Responses

A Holiday Hodgelany

 

This is a Worldbuilders Blog.

Today, we bring you… well… everything we wanted to get out before Christmas.

We’ve got a bunch of new stuff in the store. Most of these new items we only have a few of, so you might want to move quickly.

We’ve also got a *ton* of auctions running and some of them are going to be over in only a day.

We’ve got books, art, and one-of a kind items like this…

All parts of the doll and accessories are hand made. All of the sewn clothes were done by Shannon’s mom, Karen Rivera, the rest was made by Shannon herself.

I’ll tell you the truth folks, until Shannon sent this to Worldbuilders, I’d never even seen the word Amigurumi. Now, I can only assume that it’s Japanese for “Soooo Cuuuute.”

(Amanda’s Editorial note: According to Shannon, Amigurumi is the Japanese style of knit/crochet dolls where the main objective is disproportionate cuteness. So Pat apparently knows more Japanese than he thinks.)

(There’s so much cute in this picture I now have diabetes.)

I can hardly express how adorable this little Kvothe doll is. Everyone at Worldbuilders was talking about it, but I didn’t get to see it until yesterday. And when I did. I *had* to pick it up and play with it.

(And a little plushy Totoro.)

His clothes are all real. His little boots come off and everything. And when I undid his cape, (using the little talent-pipe pin that Shannon *made*) I found out that his cloak had little pockets…..

So of course I spent the next hour finding little things to put in those pockets. Little things that Kvothe would make a point of carrying with him at all times.

All of these things will be yours if you win the auction. But you should hurry up and bid before Amanda runs away with the doll. Seriously. We took the photos, and then had to sneak up behind her and crack her over the head just to get it away from her.

This is a beautiful book, and it’s been signed by pretty much everyone ever. To see more pictures or check out the signatures, you can head over here.

  • Auction: A limited hardcover 20th Anniversary edition of Polar Express.  Signed by Chris Van Allsburg.

This edition features a special cover with matching slipcase, as well as a CD of the book read by actor Liam Neeson. Find out for yourself why this enduring book earned a Caldecott Award.

To bid, head over to the auction.

  • Auction: A professionally matted and framed Luring the Draccus poster by Phil McDarby.

We received an email from a lovely woman named Menolly, and she told us about how she had her Luring the Draccus poster professionally matted and framed after she bought it from us.

She has since decided to donate it to us.  So she’s awesome.  If you want this beautifully framed poster, head over to the auction and bid your heart out.

(You really need to click this to see the bigger version.)

For legal reasons, we would never imply that any Disney characters ever met a certain Doctor….

But I have to say that Karen did a beautiful job imagining what it would be like if some princesses were extended offers much different than what they’d originally gotten.

We’ve pictured this together to save space, but we’re auctioning each of them individually. If nothing else, you should go look at the auctions to see better pictures than the one I’ve taken here…

For Cinderella, click here.
If you want Belle, click here.
If you want Ariel, click here.
And if you want Rapunzel, click here.

  • AuctionsThe Night Watch and The Wyrd Sisters prints.  Both signed by artist Paul Kidby.

Now’s your chance to own signed copies of some of Kidby’s marvelous discworld illustrations.

The first of these shows Carrot, Vimes, Colon, and Nobby keeping the streets of Ankh Morpork safe. Bid here.

The second features Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick. Bid over here.

This lithograph reproduces some richly detailed pencil illustrations by Paul Kidby and is signed by Kidby and author Terry Pratchett.

This gorgeous print features finished pencil illustrations of Discworld’s rather highly strung Bursar in three bizarre reaction poses (you can practically hear Ridcully shouting “BURSAR!!”) followed by a fourth, more normal pose of an abnormally large smile. We’re guessing frog pills are some kind of opiate.

I would like to stress that this limited, numbered print is signed by both Pratchett and Kidby.

It can be yours if you win the auction over here.

  • Auction: A set of Twisted Elephant and a Twisted Rabbit prints.  Signed by Michel Gagné.

Twisted Bunny & Twisted Elephant

Artist and animator Michel Gagné (Saga of RexZed: A Cosmic Tale) cooked up a demented collection of off-kilter sketches called Insanely Twisted Rabbits. This auction features two prints signed by Mr. Gagné: a Twisted Elephant and one of the spikier Twisted Rabbits.

To bid on these insanely twisted prints, head over here.

PORTAL GUN!

  • Auction: A limited edition, 1:1 prop replica of the Portal Gun.  Signed by the Portal Team.

We here at Worldbuilders are a bunch of nerds, for the most part.  So to say we were excited when ThinkGeek donated this item is a HUGE understatement.

It is a perfect replica, with blue and orange lights and different sounds depending on which portal you’re shooting.  Amanda used it for a few minutes to defend her little Kvothe doll, until she was overpowered.

To bid on this auction, head over here.  There’s cake!

New Items in the Store.

In keeping with the Christmas spirit, we’ve put up a bunch of new stuff in the store recently.

  • Greysdale Mead T-Shirts

Nicole withstood the terrible Wisconsin winter without a coat just to take these pictures for you in some natural light. And so she could look pretty, of course.

To buy a t-shirt, head over here.

  • More Bear Steins and More Different Bear Steins.

(Click to embiggen and see their faces…)

The last time we put up some steins from Sea Bear Pots, they sold out in about 24 hours. So Charlie offered to make some more for us.

Then, in a fit of kindness, he offered to make some for  the Worldbuilders Team itself. Unfortunately for him, he offered to personalize the mugs, and he paid for it. Just to give you a sense of the sort of folks that work here, you can read Brett’s personalization form, or Nate’s.

If you’d like to snap up some of these Steins from Sea Bear Pots before they’re gone, click here.

When we sold out of bear steins early on in the fundraiser, a gentleman named Frank emailed us.

See, he makes bear steins too. So now we’re selling two different kinds of bear steins. Because obviously you guys have a burning desire to quaff like the vikings you are.

To buy one of the Bear Steins from Off-Center Ceramics, click here.

  • Jayne Hats, Cthulu Plushies, and Chibi Totoro Plushies.

Here we have Amanda, sporting the latest in eclectic fangirl fashion.

But she’s not just geeking out, she’s showing off four new items in the store. (And playing with the portal gun. Because PORTAL GUN.)

1. New Jayne Hats. Better hurry – these sell quickly.

2. Plush Totoros. They’re always there for you, and they’ll always love you.

2. Little Cthulhus (Cthulhii?). Made for us by Heather, who has more stuff up on her Etsy store.

  • Cthulhu Playing Cards.

(Click to embiggen)

The folks over at Albino Dragon were gracious enough to let us sell their decks of standard and limited edition Cthulhu-themed playing cards.

I have to say folks. The designs on these are really gorgeous. You should go look at them in the store if only to see some high-res pictures of the cards. Plus they’re genuine Bicycle cards, not some cheap knockoff. So they have a good feel in your hand.

You can buy your own copies over here on the Tinker’s Packs.

Poor Lovecraft!

When Albino Dragon was doing the Kickstarter for their Cthuluhu cards, (see above) their $1000 dollar donation bonus was that the talented artist Shane Tyree would would design you your own set of cards.

They were cool enough to give us the same package so we could auction it off for Worldbuilders.

That’s right, the artist behind those beautiful cards (and you can see more over at the auction) is willing to design a deck to your specifications.

What are you waiting for?  Go bid!

  • Bookwyrm Pendant

This pendant is clearly beautiful, and it was lovingly hand-made by Amber of Serpent’s Dance.

But it sold out before the blog even went up.  So now you can’t have it.  However, she has an Etsy, and you can probably get other cool things there.

  • ImpSec Silver Eyes Collar Pins.

Are you a Bujold fan? These ImpSec Silver Eyes will strike terror into the hearts of your rivals! Wear you best sinister smile with these etched and antiqued sterling silver collar pins. Made and donated by Paige of YayPrettyColors!

Do you like Bujold? Into the Eye of Horace? Either way, click here and to buy them.

  • Auction: One-hour consultation with award-winning dog trainer Laura VanArendonk Baugh.

Canines In Action

Laura decided to help out Worldbuilders this year by offering up something different from our usual book-and-geekery, because let’s face it, it’s tough to get some good reading done when you’re waiting for your dog to race through the room with half of your bedspread in his mouth.

Here’s what Laura told us:

Got a crazy dog in your life, or know someone whose dog needs some manners before your next visit? Try this one-hour consultation with an award-winning trainer. Pet manners and many specialized concerns can be addressed via consult. Please note I much prefer video where I can see the dog live as we work! (If initial contact indicates that remote consult is not appropriate for the issue of concern, I’ll contribute $75 toward training with the nearest trainer I am comfortable referring.)

Need help with your dog?  Just want to be a better dog owner?  Go over here and bid on this awesome auction.

  • Auction: 2-night *Suite* package at Rancho Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage, California!

Rancho Las Palmas

Amanda’s Editorial Note: There have been a couple of complications with this auction, so we’re hoping to get it up tomorrow morning – stay tuned. 

Later Editorial Note: So, it turns out Ebay has different rules set up  when vacations and trips are being auctioned off, for buyer protection.  Worldbuilders has to clear a few security measures, so this auction will go back up after the holiday.  Thanks for your patience, guys!

  • Auction: Play AD&D with eight fantasy authors at ConFusion in January.

 You can smell the writer's musk in the room.

And, last but not least…

Join me and seven other fantasy authors playing a game of classic AD&D at Immortal ConFusion this coming January. Players include some of the best in the fantasy world: Peter V. Brett, Diana Rowland, Jim C. Hines, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Sam Sykes. Authors Myke Cole and Saladin Ahmed will DM the game. I will be there too, playing Master Lambernath.

You can see the video we made of last year’s game over here.

Confusion will provide the winner of this auction with a badge. We’ll provide you with a seat. But you’ll have to arrange your own transport and bring your own dice. Because real gamers don’t share dice. Because that’s how you get diseases.

Later Edit: The winner of this auction will also receive a set of the DVD’s chronicling last year’s entire delightfully geeky event.

Gaming with these people is awesome. And I, while I’m not nearly as cool as they are, I plan on casting magic missile and drinking Mountain Dew, which is a close second place to being awesome.

If you want to be a part of the party, you should bid over here.

*     *     *

Whew… that was a lot.  I hope you all got it, but if not, it might be worth taking a lookie-loo over at all the auctions Worldbuilders is currently running so you don’t miss anything.

Taking a minute to check out the Recently Added category of the Tinker’s Packs wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

If you want to see the other items that have been donated to Worldbuilders, or learn more about the fundraiser itself, you can head over to the main page here.

Also posted in hodgelany, Worldbuilders 2012 | By Pat31 Responses
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