Well, it took a little doing, but at this point we’ve got 99.9% of the raffle prizes packaged up and in the mail.
Valerie did most of the packing and mailing, with solid assistance from a few others including Sarah and Oot. Though really, I don’t know if what Oot does can be considered assistance. Personally, I think he’s the weak member of the team. But Sarah and Valerie place great stock in cuteness, cooing, and the desire to bounce up and down while being held.
I don’t doubt that some of the books have already started arriving at the winners’ houses. If you’d like to send in a picture of you loving you cool new books, feel free to mail them to: paperback.contest [squiggly atsign thinger] gmail.com.
I helped with some of the packaging, but Valerie has perfectionist tendencies, and I tend to be a hardline proponent of function over form. After one particularly ugly wrapping job, I was told that my time would perhaps be better spent doing something else, like bouncing little Oot.
Personally, I thought the package was a marvel of engineering. Nigh-indestructible, in fact.
Sure it’s ugly, but it gets the job done. (I’m talking about the package.)
Anyway, the upshot is that the girl members of Team Elodin did most of the post-fundraiser sorting and shipping. Which is nice, as it freed me up to concentrate on the book.
And yes, I’ll be posting up news about that soon, so y’all can stop asking.
And no, there isn’t a publication date yet, so y’all can stop asking about that too.
I mean seriously. If the book had a solid pub date, don’t you think I’d mention it? Do you think I’d sit here at home, rubbing my hands together and chortling: “Yes! If I withhold this information another week, I’m sure to get another 100 e-mails asking me about the book!”
Yup. That’s exactly what I’d do. Because obviously I am some sort of alien life form that lives on snarky fanmail and bitchy blog comments. Since I became stranded on your strange world years ago, they have been my only means of sustenance.
That’s really the only explanation that makes any sense… Unless, of course, the reason I haven’t posted up any news is simply because there *isn’t* any news.
Now that I *do* have some news, I’ll write a post about it. It’s that simple. These things don’t happen faster because you ask for them, you realize. Quite the opposite, in fact.
So, if you care about that sort of thing, stay tuned. I’m planning on titling the post: “Why I Don’t Talk About Book Two.”
Oddly enough though, I *will* be talking about book two in that particular blog. Go figure.
pat
100 Comments
What a packing triumph! And nary a stray rogue packing peanut to be seen, either.
Oot's contributions cannot be underestimated in the cheering-up-the-workers department.
If suckling on breasts isn't what you'd call helpful…then call me useless!
You are up really early. And I suppose I am too. That is a ton of packages! I've half a mind to report you for child labor though…Oot looks way too overworked in that picture. Kidding of course.
And your packing job was the best, in my opinion. At least it stands out from the rest.
Oh, fun fan aside: today is my birthday and if some awesome author (*ahem* hint) was to wish me a happy birthday it would be pretty darn special…yet understandable if he was too busy.
Anyways.
A few things…
a) Oot is sooooo cute =)
b) I'm amazed someone is nearly as worthless as I am wrapping packages :s.
c) Oh My God (Janice Style), you said "no pub date" instead of "not finished" (just so we can get people screaming around a little bit longer :D)
Finally it was looking grim there for a while. The shimmer of your blog post have returned, comical and informing. I really hated the fundraiser posts and the posts following it, I was starting to wonder why I even read your blog. Anyhow I hope you post that news asap cause surfing the web is less boring when it has to do with book 2.
I don’t understand why so many people are complaining about Pat’s fundraiser posts. I really enjoyed the interviews with the fantasy authors, liked the story how Pat got the Creed guitar, was very excited to hear about “The Adventures of The Princess and Mr. Whiffle”, loved the Joss Whedon post, got a lot of recommendations for new books, … So where is the problem?
The posts were as clever, witty and entertaining as always.
In summary, thanks a lot for doing this blog, Pat!
Joana
yay! fundrasier getting done-ish! the only thing that could make me happier about the upcoming post is if it were called "Why i *didn't* talk about book 2", because now whatever situation has arisen looks like it hasnt been solved yet, so now it just sounds ominous. but still, ominous news is better than none! yay, news!
I got me a book Pat! I will maybe send you a picture of it if I can think of something clever.
Thanks, but most of all thanks to you, Sarah, Valerie and Oot for doing all this for Heifer. We know you are not rich and all this money you donated could have been used on a ski chalet or an in-house beard groomer. You maybe could have even hired John Scalzi to snark back at the haters. What you folks have done is inspirational, and I'm old and bitter and don't say that much anymore.
:) great post and great news!! I admit (Though i never bitched it to you Mr. Patfuss) That i was one of your fan's secretly praying and hoping and checking your blog daily for any scrap of news for "book 2" and getting pretty upset by the absence of any. But that's kay, it left me with atleast a solid 40 minutes a day of hard searching through threads to see what everyone else was saying and laughing at them all because no one had a clue lol.
– On a side note, as do to the recomendations on this blog i must thank you all!! I've started watching Cowboy Bebop and it is amazing. Never even heard of it til i came on this site.
@Pat: Best. Blog. Ever. We like hearing about prospects of good news as much as we like hearing about good news itself! Also the hat makes the picture.
@DK: Happy birthday! Mine's not for another five days.
I guess I might be an alien as well, because I don't understand the whole "we want book two and we want it now!" position. I loved The Name of the Wind and will reread before Wise Man's Fear comes out and savor every minute of it, but in the meantime there are lots of wonderful books out there (and you've mentioned tons here on this blog). There is also Goodreads, which I totally love (thanks for that, too Pat).
Congrats to you all for an amazing fundraising job!
More than anything else, I'm surprised people still were Obama shirts. :)
Yup. That's exactly what I'd do. Because obviously I am some sort of alien life form that lives on snarky fanmail and bitchy blog comments.
LOL. I love you man. Hang in there. Ignore the turds as best you can.
Yup. That’s exactly what I’d do. Because obviously I am some sort of alien life form that lives on snarky fanmail and bitchy blog comments.
LOL. I love you man. Hang in there. Ignore the turds as best you can.
You just made my stressful, crazy, and ultimately hellish week into a very funny moment. Thank you. I love rambles like this. Not to mention that it makes me look forward to the second book even more!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the awesome post!!
Granted, Oot is very cute, and you did an amazing job with the fundraiser. I'm just a little disappointed that no one mentioned your shelves! I did the "enbiggen" click and admired your man skills on those suckers! You should have your own show on DIY Network!
My God. That hat. Make it stop.
(interestingly the word verification thingy that I got on the "leave your comment" box was 'berate')
It's funny – my son likes to help load and unload the dishwasher. His most productive helping session involved grabbing a clean fork, chewing on it, and then managing to gag himself with it so that he threw up in the clean dishwasher. I'm thinking of not letting him help anymore.
uhm… nice… hat?
;) Looking foward to the next "I'm not talking about Book Two, Shut it!"-post!
Damn, I wanted Oot!
You all did an amazing job on a very worth while charity — pat on the back for you all and a squeeze of the checks for Oot
And thanks Isacc for the hilarious comment about suckling on breasts – made me lmao!
If I had gotten that package, I think I would've been really pleased to know that you (and potentially little Oot) put so much work into it for me ;)
I'm glad you're pretty much kind of almost maybe done with the insanity. Good luck!
I think there has been some sort of mistake… why did I receive Oot in the mail yesterday?
*I hope* *I hope* *I hope* I hope I will recieve a book in my mail soon! That would make this crappy week awesome!
Thank you for the always funny posts and for being an awesome human!
And as a side note: I wouldn't want book 2 to be anything less than book 1. That is what makes me want A Wise Man's Fear so badly, Name Of The Wind was so freaking amazing! How didapointing would it be if AWMF was rushed and sloppy?
I love you Pat!
I was looking at the picture for a while then, trying to guess which is which. Personally I think the guitar is in packages 1, 6 and 9 on the top right. But shhhh.
Dude got Beardier! I recently went cold turkey and am now clean-shaven….you're glowing-halo-of-furze makes me jealous….
I too would like to thank you for every blog post! The ones during the fund-raiser, and since, have been interesting and have helped me keep my excitement at Wise Man and his Dog at bay [I especially loved the interviews, as I now have new favourite authors to add to the list =)].
Love you guys over at the Rothfuss Pad!
So how much was raised total? Any coolness happen at the 11th hour of the fundraiser?
I was going to comment on this until I heard about the next blog entry. I must say that sounds a lot more interesting so i'll be waiting to comment on that instead.
Wait.. now i'm confused.
Anyway I wouldn't worry about the lack of news; I have noticed that bitching about release dates gets you flamed a lot quicker than anything else these days. I can only assume the internet has become a much kinder, yet vengeful place than in my youth.
Personally I prefer the bitching.
JenMo: There will be one last final wrap-up blog where I give final totals and some cool news about what happened at the end this year. I needed to wait and see how much shipping and everything was before I started doing final totals.
I dunno Pat – I happen to think Oot is the ultimate prize!!! ;o)
Thank you again to Sarah, Valerie and YOU for all of your hard work in collecting the physical donations, posting said donations, matching the monetary donations, and mailing the physical donations out to us….. I won last year, so I don't think I'll win this year (unfortunately – some of that stuff looked AWESOME) – but I am hoping that next year will be even better!!!!
I am sooooooo jealous of your beard.
Are you single-handedly keeping your branch of the USPS in business? That is a phenomenal number of packages.
Also, I love your hat. I admire a man who can rock pink sparkly fun fur.
I got a book. YEAH!! Had to rub it in someones face none of my friends care.
Your note after the first picture about Oot not being a prize caused a question to surface in my head; Since the two ladies aren't mentioned in the note does that mean they are prizes? Only kidding.
Seriously though impressive work, even if your packing is… different.
Hoooraaay! I've been faithfully following the blog and not emailing my anticipation-irritation, but now i dont have to. BTW Mass Effect 2 is awesome. :P
after following your bog for the past few months and making it one of the two that I read regularly I have to say:
you have swagger
I agree with Mr or Ms "anonymous" I don't get why there is so many comments bitchin about Pat's fund-raiser posts, I mean come on people! Stop your complaining they are for a good cause, I'm looking forward to see how much it raised etc. =]
..and about book two, yeah I agree it's been awhile (this is not a dig at Pat when he's happy with the book then and only then should the book be released) but there are plenty more books out there to read until it comes out!
Like the blogs Pat, love the book!
Hey, Pat. When you do that final wrap-up blog, any chance you'll post what the two golden ticket winners asked for? I doubt I'm the only one curious.
Hey, Pat. When you do that final wrap-up blog, any chance you’ll post what the two golden ticket winners asked for? I doubt I’m the only one curious.
Is it just me, or is the beard getting bigger? And what is it with fantasy writers and big beards, anyway?
And what the heck is that on your head?
Haha, your post was extra funny today. In fact it made me laugh out loud at my cubicle, which caused some weird stares from co-workers. Then when they saw that I wasn't really working and had some random website up, their looks turned even dirtier. Thanks! (kinda)
I loved the interviews, so I'm all for fundraiser posts.
And it's been whispered (read: boldly stated) on the Butcher forums that Jim sleeps sweetest when the beta readers are sobbing quietly in their corners. Maybe tantalizing the fans is exactly what you need? (Or maybe I'm suggesting it because the people who bitch irritate me enough that I'd rather wait a little longer than see their complaints satisfied)
I almost don't want another blog about book 2 just to spite the impatient bastards who leave anonymous comments. Take a look at yourselves; complaining about how Pat did a fundraiser that is giving people a chance to survive is deplorable. Book 2 will be out when comes out. In the mean time go read some other authors that were interviewed in the fundraiser blogs. I understand you're posting because of your extreme love for the series, but honestly get a grip on reality and realize what's more important: Offering hope to families in third world countries, or you getting a chance to find out some tiny morsel of information about when "Wise Man's Fear" will be released.
PS – I am SO glad I'm not the one behind you in line at the post office……. lol
snark, snark, snark . . .
wow…good job girls! And little Oot!(serves to keep the stress down and for an hourly dose of cuteness for the girls, i'm sure).
but…seriously Mr. Fussy, are you actually going to ship the book like that?! (Did you wrap that particular one?) If I got that like that, I'd assume someone opened it, read it, then tried (and failed) to wrap it back…
Mr. Rothfuss, sir, pay no attention to the mindless drivel and sputtering of a few impatient fans! Or maybe you should.. I imagine it difficult and annoying to appease all. Nonetheless, rest assured there are those amongst us that realize writing is a lengthy process.
Now that I have filled your mind with the fickle notion that I am a supposed patient person, when is book 2 going to be released?
Just Kidding :) Thank you for the update and dedication to the charity. Keep up the noble work!
That clock is really tiny…
Does it hurt very badly when Oot pulls on your magnificent beard?
Also, have you ever dressed up as a viking? If so, do you have a picture?
-FryMama
P.S. word verification is train. I wonder if it means the kind you ride, or the thing women (and babies) do to men…
I like your hat.
"I am some sort of alien life form that lives on snarky fanmail and bitchy blog comments. Since I became stranded on your strange world years ago, they have been my only means of sustenance."
…
Hey, uh… I don't suppose you could put up an image of your fine self in some sort of alien get-up so I have something to caption with this? Because, seriously, I think it would be fantastic.
!!!YAY!!!!!!
**Jumping up and down at the prospect of a blog post discussing Book 2**
**Hits head on door jamb**
**inexplicably still smiling***
I am extreemly excited to read your next blog just so I can become more frustrated at the fact that Im not reading book 2 yet (joking). I am waiting for the book but I have been reading the wheel of time books to keep myself busy and well I started on book 1 and am on book 4 so you have plenty of time. Oh I really liked the packaging you did I think we should do a live ammo test and see if it holds up… I would so put some money on that.
I, too, am a solid proponent of function over form, and if I had received your indestructible package, I would deem myself quite lucky. This IS the package *in the mail* we're talking about. Not some other sort of dirty, innuendo-laden package, you sick bastards.
As far as news on the book goes, take your time. I'm a GRRM fan, kinda used to it (although he's been making progress too, which might lead me to DEMAND constant updates from you, because we fans work that way).
Your beard would shame the mighty Dwarven kings of old, and with your hat could lay waste to entire nations.
I pray that you use their powers for good.
Your eyebrows are epic and you have the best looking Elodin assistants of all time.
That's all.
ola! sou uma fã portuguesa! e adorei o seu livro!
Sorry, I was kidding, i´m Rita and i´m A HUGEEE FAN!
I´m portuguese, from Lisbon.
i´ve read your book in two days, after benning i just can´t stop..
i skip everything just to read it!
thank you so much, for wrtiting such a perfect book, the characters are amazing, the youth of Kvothe was so well descripted, i´m speechless!
PLEASE COME TO PORTUGAL SOON!
BEST WISHES!
LOOKING FORWARD FOR BOOK TWO!
Great post, hilarious about Oot…and in related news, a real life Draccus (albeit a tiny one) was discovered recently. This photo made my day: http://scienceblogs.com/sciencepunk/2010/02/real_life_dragon_discovered.php
You look great with the colourful hat!
And that package sure looks like a bomb lol
Yay!!
nice packing job, by the way. reminds me of christmas…
was reading your blog when i came across mention of book two.
now am very happy.
am apparently dropping words left and right also.
excitement stems not only from (duh) BOOK TWO but also from fact that i can now tell my friends and dad – who are quite snarky about book two – that there could possibly be a publishing date soon in existence.
i like the hat. kind of jealous.
word verification is synners
this makes me worry
Can't wait for that post!!!And cuteness is very important. Don't underestimate cuteness. Or bouncing up and down. That's big stuff.
Love ya Pat but seriously man, we may need to adjust your coolness score based on your attire here…
Your blog is great, every single dang post, nuff said. If you ever give up writing (please don't) you should go into interviewing cause you are awesome :)
I have the same t-shirt and I wear it a lot when I play tennis just to piss off the old right wing farts in my league :)
Oot is cute, but not as cute as mine :) (note that is obligatory parent speek)
Drop me a line if you ever want parenting of boys advice or a shoulder to cry on when he has done something to make you tear your hair out (trust me he will, eventually)
I look forward to your next post :)
Very nice Pat! Love the pic. This keept running though my mind evertime i looked at it. "Yes we can wrap packages like a pro!"
everyone loves this word. snarky. cant wait for the next post!!!
coolest hat out ;D
This is mo _not_ asking about book two.
Just saying
Something tells me Pat and GRRM are conspiring to release their books on the same day…
I hope that's not true cause I'd like to see WMF come out before 2013. :P
Yay! I love the array of books with little Oot sitting on top. Thanks for including a pic of him. It's always fun to see how much he's grown.
Also, fabulous job on the book wrapping! I dont think the intended recipient will even be able to get at it, and that's quite a feat.
A big huge thank you to Sarah and Valerie (and Oot in his own way) for getting all the prizes mailed!
In my excitement over the promise of a blog post about The Book, I totally did not even see that hat. After I read a few other folks' comments about it, I checked it out. Have you ever seen Monet's paintings of haystacks? They look like your hat.
Also your little guy is very very cute.
Don't worry about what these impatient fools say about book 2. Just write and enjoy. It'll come out when you're damn ready to release it!
Your hat is so ridiculous it is awesome.
Also I am going to be useless until you post the news.
"Because obviously I am some sort of alien life form that lives on snarky fanmail and bitchy blog comments."
If that life form ever actually comes to earth, that'll be it. We'll be conquered within a week. Especially if you add in fanwank.
Thanks for the incoming update on book 2 Pat, we may nag – but we love you.
What's with all the touchy feely supportive sentiment? Didn't Al Gore invent the Internet for the purpose anonymous vitriole and the posting of wild, unfounded speculation (Wise Man's Fear to be divided into 3 books, you heard it here first, folks. LOL, I hope). But seriously, people, this is no place for fawning over cute Babies.
Aww! Cutest little packager ever.
I picked up a copy of The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2009 a few weeks ago, and I of course had to read "The Road to Levinshur" first. Fantastic, of course. Nerdbaby left a nice hand print of green beans on the pages, which I think means that he also liked it. Or that I need to not read while I feed him.
Oh, I hope I won something… not that I'm not proud of myself for donating… but… winning things is just so fun! You're in Wisconsin and I'm in Georgia, so mayhaps it takes a long time for packages to make it down south, and there have been some weather problems that could have held things up. Fuh show.
Glad "Wise Man's Fear" revisions are coming along well for you! I eagerly await your next glorious post.
dear god that beard is beyond EPIC
Pat,
You look like Zach Galifianakis in that picture.
I will leave it to you to decide whether that's a good thing.
Separated at birth?
Love the blog!
–B
The first rule of book two is you do not talk about book two
the second rule of book two is YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT BOOK TWO
A man walks down the street in that hat,people know he's not afraid of anything.
Can we at least get a publishing date for this blog post? :)
"Sure it's ugly, but it gets the job done. (I'm talking about the package.)"… Hell, I thought you were talking about the T-shirt……
I just wanted to say that I loved your book and I look forward to reading others in the future. Keep up the great work!
Love the Beanie and the Obama T-shirt =')
i noticed you put another brick on top of the besser block DIY shelves. thats a hell of alot of stuff to mail out. awesome job with the fundraiser and the books, cant wait for book 2 AND The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle, both books look like they will be AWESOME!
I like your beard.
I can't wait till I can grow one like yours.
The thing you need to remember is that Pat isn't wealthy, yet he donates his time, money and resources towards this noble charity. He's the last guy in the world that would "toot" his own horn, but he deserves a round of applause for his efforts.
Quote: Personally, I think he's the weak member of the team.
As DeMarco/Lister mentioned in Peopleware there are people in projects, that aren't good at anything: coding, debugging, QA, ….
But strangely projects they participate are more successfull than projects where thye're absent. They call those people "catalyst" and attribute the project success to the improvement of team communication and togetherness.
Since bouncing is a special form of communication and bouncing is well known to enhance togetherness, i think Oot may be a member of that sort of people. You should be happy to have her as part of the team :-).
CU, Martin
Just looked on Borders' Web site and guess what comes up on page one of their top 50 Pre-Orders?
"These things don't happen faster because you ask for them, you realize. Quite the opposite, in fact."
just wonderin, how exactly dus it make it go slower?? :|
Well, i finally decided I should start leaving comments but i come here and find that almost everything I was gonna say has already been said, and probably better. And then you have the social worker wannabees offering a shoulder to cry on and child advice. Then those who feel that without their heartfelt consolation you would be a devastated wreck. Then you have those who have fetishes for beards. I mean you have all types. One lady even included a very funny story, Kari i think. She's just below, (or above, I can never figure out the order on these comment pages) Wow I wrote a lot, anyways, cute baby, imma get back to writing my term paper.
I got some books. Thank you:) It was awesome being involved in the fundraiser in a small way. Getting a prize reminded me of it and also…who doesn't like books? I was actually thinking about purchasing these ones (because you showed them in your blog, and they looked cool), but decided to hold off *just in case*.
I got the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. I'm very excited!
Thank you again….
Dr. Rothfuss, you are THE MAN. I loved your first book. Therefore I will love anything you will ever right, on into eternity. Yeah, I'm good at math like that…
Ahhhh Pat you complete me! Why do people always give me strange looks when I bust out laughing at something you write in the middle of a coffee shop…jeez…
also, just wanted to say
1: LOVE the packaging, and I would be delighted to receive such a marvel of damage-resistant, package engineering in the mail.
2: love the shirt – I have the same one :)
Couple of thoughts…. I know why the second book is delayed. Patrick went bankrupt trying to match the Heifer International Donations and couldn't afford to pay the electric bill. Book two is being written by hand on single ply toilet tissue with revisioning taking place on the more durable paper towels. His editors are still trying to find someone capable of deciphering his handwriting.
Great job on Heifer though, great cause and I even got a book in the mail a couple of days ago. Count me in for next year too.
Another thought, can o worms style. Pat's doubled the snarky email/post sustenance because now people will be asking both "when is book two coming out" and "when is the blog about book two coming out". Might come to be a problem when bathing suit season (assuming there is one in Wisconsin) comes around.
Well, I'll wait indefinitely for the book to come out since the blog's an adequate Rothfuss fix. Have a good one. My best to Oot, Sarah and the rest.
So, if you care about that sort of thing, stay tuned. I'm planning on titling the post: "Why I Don't Talk About Book Two."
I'm waiting for this post to translate it into german. Since i gave away NotW several times as present, the recipients now ask me about the next part….
Acting as a firewall, Martin
Thank you for posting a picture of the OOT! Our family LOVES your book, and we can't for our baby Ollie (same age as oot) to learn to reas, so he can one day enjoy its greatness as well.
The picture made my day because Ollie has the same dinosaur feet pajamas!
Until I started reading this blog, I didn't know people from Wisconsin said y'all! I thought that was only Southerners!
Pat packaged my book lol. I recognize that packaging. I feel oh so special!
It required no less than a degree in engineering to unwrap that package…or numerous snips from a scissor. It was like trying to get the insides of a turkey or chicken out. No complaints though because the book was in perfect condition!
Hi Pat!
Love to hear that there will be news soon about book 2….
although I really want to know when Princess and Mr. Wiffle will be out!
Also, I got a book! I was so very excited to see that package in the mail with your name on the return addy =) It looks awesome too- I can't wait to read it!
Oot is awesome and a baby's contributions should never go unnoticed =p
my word for the verify thingy: ackedo (tried looking up what it means or applies to- Nada found makes me wonder….
checking the blog about 3 times an hour waiting for the "why I don't talk about book two" post. I'm beginning to think i KNOW why…