Category Archives: geeking out

Published: January 31, 2012

150K Blog: Rare Books and a Chance to Game with Pat

This is a Worldbuilders blog.

As I write this, we’ve raised over $202,000 which means we’ve beaten last year’s total by over ten thousand dollars.

This seems to indicate that we, as a group, are awesome.

I’m going to celebrate by moving our donation goal up to 225K. Part of me wants to shoot for 250K. It would be nice to say, “We raised a quarter million dollars this year.” But we only have a week left, and I don’t want my reach to exceed my grasp….

Unfortunately, this burst of generosity draws attention to the fact that I haven’t posted the 150K bonus blog yet.

I’ve been slow posting this blog because I wanted to do something a special for this milestone. Specifically, I wanted to post up a video of me reading a picture book to y’all.

The book is called Beatrice’s Goat, and it’s the story that made me fall in love with Heifer International.

I’m donating 10 copies to the fundraiser:

I’ve been planning this for months. I got permission from Heifer International to read the book in a video. I found a guy that does video editing here in Stevens Point. I looked into the proper pronunciations for the names….

I even (and this should really underline how seriously I was taking things) got a haircut so I wouldn’t look like a hobo on the video. Or at the very least, I’d look like a halfway respectable hobo.

Lastly, in a stroke of genius, I decided to bring my son into the project. He’s way more photogenic than I am, and he loves books. Why wouldn’t I shoot a video of me reading the book to him?

So yesterday I got the edited video back, sat down to to watch it…. and was appalled.

The problem is my voice, you see. I never realized that my voice goes up about three quarters of an octave when I read to little Oot.

You know how that uncomfortable feeling you get when you hear your own voice played back from a recording? That’s how I felt watching the video, except about a hundred times worse. I was in a constant state of cringe.

I know it’s a silly thing to be embarrassed about, but I don’t know if I want a video out there of me reading to my son in this goofy-ass voice.

Why am I telling y’all this? Well, over the last month, I’ve told a lot of people that I was planning on posting the video, so I figured I owed you an explanation as to why I’m not posting it up here with the books.

Sorry to sissy out on y’all…. Let me make it up to you by tossing some more cool stuff into the fundraiser.

*     *     *

As some of you on facebook might have already seen, when I was out at Confusion a week ago, a bunch of authors got together and played a game of D&D. Old school D&D. AD&D.

There was a lot of talent at the table: Peter V. Brett, Joe Abercrombie, Jim Hines, Scott Lynch, Elizabeth Bear, and Jay Lake. Myke Cole and Saladin Ahmed ran things.

Brent Weeks did a write up of the adventure over here, if you want to hear the epic details of how we were almost killed by goblins.

Simply said, it was a great time. I got to cast Magic Missile and everything.

In order to pass on some of the geeky love, I’ve decided to run a game at the next convention I’m attending: Stellarcon 36.

So if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to have an adventure in the Four Corners, this is your chance to find out.

The winners of this auction will get to play in a one-shot role-playing geekfest set in the Four Corners world. You will join Pat Rothfuss and Steve Long of HERO Games for a collaborative storytelling experience of such intensity that it will doubtless leave you a shattered wreck of a human being.

Pat will pre-generate characters and provide a brief explanation of the HERO gaming system. (You don’t need to know the system in order to play and enjoy the game.) The game will be run on Saturday, March 3, 2012 in the afternoon or evening.

In addition to a seat at the gaming table, the winners of these auctions will receive free memberships to StellarCon 36 where the game will be held.

StellarCon 36 runs from March 2nd – 4th, 2012. The convention will be held at the Best Western High Point Hotel in High Point, North Carolina.

Please note: this auction does not include food, lodging, or transportation to the convention.

Two more seats will be in auctioned or raffled off at the convention itself on March 3rd. Folks who are through registration by 11:00 AM will definitely still be able to throw their name in the hat and/or bid on those at the convention.

You can bid on the first game seat here.

The second seat here.

And the third seat here.

Or you can stalk all the auctions at once by following this link.

  • 10 first edition hardcover copies of The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. The first WMF books ever signed by Pat.

I wasn’t going to include any copies of my book in the fundraiser, then Penguin sent a couple boxes of books along to help out with the fundraiser.

They were the last remaining books that I signed in New York back in January of 2011, months before the book was even out. I wrote about the surreal experience in the blog.

I’ve taken the liberty of dating these books January 26, 2011. Which makes them something of a rarity, as they’re dated two months before the publication date.

  • One hardcover copy of Subterranean Press’s Tales of Dark Fantasy.

A long out-of-print collection featuring an early version of my short story, “The Road to Levinshir,” as well as stories by other notable authors like Mike Carey and Poppy Z Bright.

  • Three first edition copies of The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle. Signed by the authors and doodled by Nate Taylor.

These are first edition copies that Nate was kind enough to doodle in:

I wish I could doodle….

  • Three hardcover copies of Gollancz 50th anniversary edition of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

Gollancz printed retro-style copies of 5 classic fantasy books in celebration of their 50th year in publishing. The fact that Name of the Wind made it into the mix still makes me blushy with pride.

The introduction in this book by Steaphen Deas makes me kinda blushy, too.

  • One copy of Your College Survival Guide. Signed by Patrick Rothfuss and doodled by B.J. Hiorns.

This book was my first publication from back in 2005. A shameful piece of my sordid past.

It’s a collection of of humor columns I wrote for the college paper between 1999 and 2003. Columns dealt with pressing philosophical issues such as the fast zombie/slow zombie debate as well as everyday problems like how to bribe your professor or start a career as a prostitute.

The book is full of illustrations by BJ Hiorns, the same guy that occasionally illustrates my blog. It also contains annotations where I explain how some columns got written, the lies I told, and what sort of trouble various jokes got me into.

Only 500 of these were printed, and I have less than a dozen left.

The last time I looked online, the only ones I could find were being sold for over 800 bucks on Amazon:

Here’s the doodle Brett did in this one.

You can see why I love him….

  • AUCTION: One-of-a-kind Leather-bound Hardcover of  The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

(Click to Embiggen. It’s worth it.)

Last but not least, we have a real gem.

This is a one-of-a-kind copy of The Name of the Wind, hand-bound in leather by bookbinder Hunter Ford.

This hardcover book is bound in blue Northamptonshire goat leather and decorated with gold acrylic paint. Printed on acid-free paper with marbled end pages, it is 636 pages with size 12 font and narrow margins.

It’s not just a rare book, it’s a unique book. And I’ll gladly sign it to the winner, if the winner so desires.

Our thanks to Hunter Ford for this treasure.

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

*     *     *

Remember, for every 10 dollars you donate on our Team Page, you get a chance to win these books and many more.

Even better, if you chip in before February 7th of 2012, Worldbuilders will match 50% of your donation.

If you’d like to see all the auctions Worldbuilders is currently running, you can find them over here.

Or, 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 a billion links, BJ Hiorns Art, gaming, Tales from the Con, Worldbuilders 2011 | By Pat40 Responses
Published: January 22, 2012

Webcomics Galore!

This is Worldbuilders blog.

Today we have a great delicious slurry of donated cool from the webcomic community.

Most of these goodies are going into the general lottery, but we’ve got a good number of auctions, too. We’ve got guest appearances in various comics, some signed art, a few cool collections, and a frikkin Dr. Who scarf that will be going to the highest bidder.

First we’ve got some stuff from Blind Ferret Entertainment

There is a place, set in a reality and time unlike our own, where the eating of small children is not necessarily frowned upon; where beings of extraordinary power can destroy entire villages with only “because I could” as an excuse; where families are comically torn apart and sold into slavery in exchange for powerful weapons or a really nice hat; where prophecy, magic, and adventure is as common place as setting fire to and then re-animating a chipmunk into a skeletal minion (it happens more than you’d think); and where an epic journey can begin by an accident of fate. This is the world of Looking For Group.

The winner of this auction will work with webcomic writer Ryan Sohmer, on making a guest appearance in Looking for Group. The guest appearance will happen sometime in February. It will be a one-time event with the possibility of a few pages. The winner of the auction will be put in touch with Ryan.

You can bid on this auction over here.

“Least I Could Do is what comics should be. It makes you laugh, sometimes it makes you a little sad, but more often than not it makes you think, about who you are, and where you are going. Perhaps if everyone had just a little tiny spark of Rayne in them (and I do mean tiny. Dear God, too much Rayne would make for a terrifying world), perhaps our world would be a better, more honest place… If you aren’t reading Least I Could Do yet, then click your browser over there and get started. Believe me, you’ll be glad you did.” – Geek-life.com

  • AUCTION: Signed Hardcover of The Absolute Ultimate Gutters Omnibus Volume 1 by Ryan Sohmer

Pat’s Note: I didn’t know about this project by Ryan Sohmer until the book showed up for the fundraiser. I like to think that I’m pretty on top of the good comics that are out there, but the fact that I didn’t know about Gutters proves that I’m desperately out of touch. It’s really clever stuff.

The Absolute Ultimate Gutters Omnibus Volume 1 is the first printed collection of the wildly popular Gutters comic. Written by Ryan Sohmer (Least I Could Do, Looking For Group), Gutters is a series of standalone pages that parody the comic book industry and the heroes and characters that dwell within. Each page is penciled, inked and colored by a different artist, varying from the industry veteran to the newcomer.

Volume 1 is an over-sized full color (and glossy) printed book. With a cover by Darick Robertson (The Boys, Transmetropolitan) and a forward by Daniel Way (Deadpool, Wolverine), you won’t want to miss this.

You can bid on this giant book over here.

Pat’s Note: Okay. Fine. This isn’t a webcomic. But the lovely Jim Zub donated these books after we’d posted up the list of graphic novel donations. Rather than save these for next year, we decided to tuck them in here…

Two nameless mercenaries are mashing monsters and making a name for themselves. Image’s new hit fantasy action-comedy series has gone through multiple printings of each issue released so far and is getting rave reviews from readers and critics alike. Pick up the first collection and find out what all the excitement is about. Collects Skullkickers #1-5 and the short stories from Popgun Volumes 2 & 3.

Pat’s Note: XKCD is one of my favorite comics. Smart, funny, plus extra smart and extra funny.

Randall Munroe describes xkcd as a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. While it’s practically required reading in the geek community, xkcd fans are as varied as the comic’s subject matter. This book creates laughs from science jokes on one page to relationship humor on another.

Pat’s note: I can’t remember when I first stumbled onto Biff, but these comics are like little zen stories. They’re little haiku of bizarre misery. Fun stuff.

“R. K. Milholland has created one of the most entertaining web comics online right now. He has done this through excellent character development, precise comedic timing, a cynical attitude and a craftsman’s attention to detail in his art. The strip is not for everyone. It can be offensive, cynical, and textually graphic. Language is not filtered at all, and so the strip is not suitable for children. If you enjoy cynicism, dislike stupidity or self-righteousness, or if you simply wish you could express yourself with a baseball bat rather than a snarky letter to the editor, you’ll enjoy this.” – A.G. Hopkins at The Webcomics Examiner

  • One set of Hijinks Ensue Volume 1 and 2: Godspeed, You Fancy Bastard and My Heart Is A Hate-filled Pineapple by Joel Watson. Signed by Joel Watson.

“Watson’s account on the origins of his webcomic is a fascinating read on how he came to the decision to quit his job and do HijiNKS Ensue full time. It’s a nice testimonial on the values of following your dreams and leaving a legacy. Watson doesn’t hide the fears he has of failure. I appreciate the sometimes uncomfortable honesty of a man who’s willing to risk it all on a crazy dream.” – TheWebcomicOverlook.com

“When Willis flexes his crazy, nerdy sense of humor, he can squeeze out classics. And while the content is catered toward basement dwellers, Willis does possess a sense of comedic timing that makes the strip funny for everyone, even if you have no idea what a KISS Player Transformer is. (Philistine.)” -TheWebcomicOverlook.com

The winner of this auction will collaborate with webcomic artist Greg Dean, on making a guest appearance in a Real Life comic. While only one comic is guaranteed, the guest appearance may span more than one strip if the character becomes entangled in a longer storyline. And while the nature of the strip will be collaborative, the final call on content does belong to Greg. The winner of the auction will be put in touch with Greg.

You can bid to be in the Real Life world here.

  • Auction: Fourth Docter Who Scarf donated by Greg Dean.

Proving just how cool and talented he is, Greg Dean of Real Life Comics fame, has donated this amazing reproduction of the Fourth Doctor’s famous scarf. What makes this total win? Greg Dean spent around 70 hours knitting this beauty on his own. A month of toil led to the creation of 13 feet of woolen Doctor Who splendor. Just to make sure it was up to snuff, Greg wore the scarf a bit this winter before sending it to Worldbuilders. He also wore it in Real Life as well. So not only are you getting this neat Doctor Who inspired swag, but the creator of Real Life Comics made and briefly wore it.

You can bid here for this delicious scarf.

“Questionable Content is kind of like if the guy from Office Space turned into a disaffected twenty-something year old with a pet robot who spent his off work hours hanging out with baristas and discussing indie-rock, poop, relationships, and ladies’ bottoms.” – Examiner.com

Gaming fans will appreciate this awesome imagined scene that Jeph Jacques has created featuring the cool characters from his quirky webcomic Questionable Content.

This print measures 11 inches by 17 inches and is signed by the man himself.

You can view and bid on the auction here.

  • AUCTION: Signed & Numbered The Complete Collection of Girly by Josh Lesnick.

The super sexy Complete Collection of Girly by Josh Lesnick. Pat is donating this signed and numbered collection, 270 of 500. Josh Lesnick’s cool comic was published at girlyyy.com from 2003 to 2010 and now this auction winner can get one of the few copies of the Complete Collection of Girly.

This auction also comes with a signed illustration from Josh Lesnick.

To view and bid on this auction, click here.

“For more than 20 years, various cartoonists have jostled for the title of spiritual heir to Gary Larson, the famously weird creator of the groundbreaking strip The Far Side. Web cartoonist Gurewitch is a solid contender for the title. His preferred subject matter certainly tracks Larson: murderous mimes, vengeful T. Rexes and adulterous rolls of coins all make appearances… Subtle, sly and deeply, deeply weird, The Perry Bible Fellowship is one of the best comics out there.” – Publishers Weekly

AUCTION: A full set of the signed Girl Genius softcover collections AND your name will appear in Girl Genius in 2012.

That’s right, a full set of the Girl Genius softcover collections (That’s 10 books, each with a cover price of $22.95) mailed to you or to that special friend who once saved your life. They will all be signed by Kaja and Phil, AND- The high bidder will see their name appear within Girl Genius sometime in the next calendar year. Maybe you will just run a shop in Mechanicsburg. Maybe you will be a walk–on character with lines. Maybe you will become a recurring major villain with your own mini-series and sexy minions and an action figure and underoos and everything (this is extremely unlikely, but in an infinite universe, anything can happen).

You may recall a certain Doctor Rothfuss who made his own appearance in the Girl Genius world…

We love Kaja and Phil. They are awesome clever folks. Check them out on their webpage.

And check out this tempting auction here.

  • One copy of The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11 1/2 Anniversary Edition by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Signed by Gabe and Tyco.

Pat’s Note: If you’re interested, last year I did a fun interview with Jerry.

“If you’ve been living under a rock for the last ten years or so, you might not have heard of the web comic Penny Arcade. Produced by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, the comic, featuring two cameo characters called Tycho and Gabe, covers not only the ins and outs of the latest news and releases from the video game industry, but geekdom in general. Well-known SFF figures such as John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton are staunch fans of the comic and well acquainted with the authors in real life; the foreword of this book is written lovingly by Scalzi himself… The book is an easy, often hilarious read, and an absolute must-have for fans of the comic and newcomers alike.” – SFSite.com

  • Three copies of Penny Arcade Volume 7: Be Good, Little Puppy by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Signed by Gabe and Tyco. Introduction by Pat Rothfuss.

Pat’s Note: I got to write the intro to this book. Which makes me feel like a big man…

“Do not be deceived by this cutesy cover of Tycho and Gabe having fun with a puppy and butterflies, for within these pages lies tales of damnation and lust; whatever you do, don’t let a child get ahold of this book… and for those who are already familiar with the unforgettable and endlessly entertaining comic know as Penny Arcade, then this cover works as an excellent camouflage for the sordid-laughter-inducing artwork within its pages…” – Bookbanter

  • One set of Penny Arcade Volumes 1-7 by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Signed by Gabe and Tyco.

“Forget your warm and fuzzy newspaper strips. Penny Arcade is a scathing send-up of geek culture with jokes sharp enough to injure an eye… To say that Tycho and Gabe, its, uh, heroes, are video-game enthusiasts would be like saying that Anakin Skywalker has issues.” – Booklist

  • AUCTION: Penny Arcade Signed Print of When Larry Met Mary.

Pat’s Note: Can I be honest here? Having Kvothe make a cameo appearance in a PA comic might be the biggest geek-out moment of my life. Seriously. I love Mike and Jerry with the nerdy passion of a thousand white-hot suns.

This signed print comes right from the fine folks at Penny Arcade. Pat’s mentioned this particular treat in his blog last spring. Starting as a Penny Arcade strip, this clever 12” x 18” print is signed by Gabe and Tycho.

Shouldn’t you have a visual of Kvothe and his prowess hanging from your bedroom wall?

Place your bids for this beautiful print here.

*     *     *

Remember, for every 10 dollars you donate on our Team Page, you get a chance to win these books and thousands of others. 

For a list of all the auctions Worldbuilders is currently running, you can head over here.

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

Also posted in cool things, Webcomics, Worldbuilders 2011 | By Pat13 Responses
Published: August 5, 2011

San Diego 2011: Thursday: Wherein Pat Is (mostly) Not A Pervert

This is part of the San Diego Diary: Wednesday, Thursday Part I, Thursday Part II (Wootstock), and Friday Ad Infinitum.

*     *    *

Thursday is my big day at the con, I’m on a panel with a bunch of epic fantasy bigwigs including George Martin and  Brandon Sanderson. It’s my only panel at the con this year, and it’s going to be a big one.

So I make a point of getting up extra early so I’ll have time to perform my elaborate grooming rituals, anoint myself with scented oils, and carefully select which of my many stylish tuxedos I will wear to the convention.

My which I mean to say that I wake up at 11:00 and am walking to the con by 11:20.

  • 11:30 – Coffee.

Yeah. If I’m going to try be witty on the panel. I definitely need some. So I get some.

For those of you that are curious, it’s a large white chocolate mocha with hazelnut.

Yeah, yeah. I know it’s not the most macho coffee in the world. But I couldn’t get my usual. They didn’t have blueberry syrup.

  • 11:45 – Satyriasis

While heading up to my panel I get a text from a friend. Pooka is the lovely fan who took me under her wing at my very first ComicCon back in 2009. I was wandering aimlessly, trembling and dewy as a newborn fawn. She took pity on me and, to completely mix the metaphor, showed me the ropes.

Pooka’s message tells me she’s been standing in line for hours and is worried that she won’t be able to get in. I give her a call and let her know that this is the one place in the world that I might actually be able to use my meager crumb of celebrity and get her in the door.

So I get to the room and start to stroll down the line. Pooka isn’t hard to spot because she’s wearing six inch platform boots and… well… this:

Pooka is the one on the right. You can’t see it too well in this picture, but she’s also covered in glitter.

(Also, those aren’t cat ears, they’re horns. I made the mistake of calling her a catgirl and she pointed out my mistake.)

She’s only about 20 people from the front of the line, so I wander over and say hello. Then I pull her out of the line and we head to the door where I’m also going to try and work my mojo to get her and another friend.

I met Gregory Noveck at the con last year, he’s a fan of the books that works in the movie business, and he’s been kind enough to help clue me in to some of the mysteries of how Hollywood works.

I introduce the two of them, and we chat for a moment or two until the panel before mine finishes. Then I show my badge to the door guy and head inside with my two friends and a few of the other speakers and press people. Once I’m in, I can see that there’s actually a ton of seats available. Pooka didn’t need my help after all.

With Pooka and Greg are safely inside, I head out again to get a drink of water and burn a little nervous energy. I’m preoccupied with the upcoming panel, a little nervous because I’m going to be up there with some people who are a Pretty Big Deal.

It’s not until almost 5 minutes later that I start thinking of how this must have looked to the other people standing in line around Pooka.

So for the record, I’d like to officially state that I’m not a pervert.

Well, wait. Depending on your viewpoint, I probably am.

But I’d like to officially state that I’m not the particular flavor of tacky pervert I must have looked like to the casual observer. I didn’t just show up for my panel, troll down the line until I found some random, scantily-clad, hot girl, and pull her inside as some sort honorary arm candy. We know each other. We’re friends.

Honestly.

  • 12:00: The Epic Panel

(Click to Embiggen.)

We talked about epic fantasy.

It was a good panel, but we needed more time or fewer people. Seven is too many in my opinion, especially when you’ve got this many heavy hitters. Especially if you consider that we’re folks who tend to measure our word counts in terms of millions.

For the most part, I tried to keep my answers brief and to the point. And a little funny never hurts, either. I got a few good laughs from the audience and didn’t make an ass of myself, so I consider the experience a success.

If you’re interested in the details, you can check out some videos of the panel over here.

After the panel, Martin came up and shook my hand, said he’d really enjoyed my second book. Said it was a good, quick read. A page-turner.

I was caught completely off guard by this. I was stunned and flattered, in all honesty. Luckily, I didn’t have time to make an ass of myself because the people in charge quickly hustle us over to our….

  • 1:30 Epic Signing

Everyone on the panel sits down to sign books for a while. Paolini and Martin were busy as bees. I wasn’t in nearly as big a demand, which was actually really nice as it gave me the chance to hang out and chat with the people that wanted their books signed. That’s something there isn’t time for me to do at some of the bigger events where we get 300+ people.

  • 2:30 – Ronin

I owe allegiance to no man. I wander the exhibit hall, a law unto myself, looking at catgirls and thinking a lot about waveform motion.

  • 4:30 – Christopher Fucking Moore.

I hear that Jim Butcher’s signing is finishing up at 4:30, so I wander over to meet him and see if he’s interested in grabbing an early dinner with Sanderson, Paolini and I.

As an unexpected treat, Amber Benson is there as well. I totally get a hug. Because I’m awesome.

Then I realize one of the other guys there signing books is Christopher Moore. And at first all I can think is, “Fucksocks!”

You see, up until a year ago, I’d never read anything Moore had written. Then I picked up a copy of You Suck to read on a plane and immediately fell in love. The next day I went to my local indi bookstore and bought every book he’d ever written.

I’ve been meaning to write a blog about his books for ages. But for now, let me simply say that he’s brilliant. Double plus brilliant.

I grab a quick handshake and do a brief, “Hello. Your stuff is incredible.” And leave it at that, lest I over-gush.

Then I buy the last two special-edition copies of Lamb they have for sale. (They look like bibles, gold leaf and everything) One is for me, and the other I’m going to use it as a prize for Worldbuilders later on this year.

  • 5:00 – Dinner

So Sanderson, Butcher, Paolini, and Rothfuss walk into a bar….

Or rather, we walk through a bar, and into a restaurant to have dinner. We’re accompanied by Christopher’s sister, Angela, and Jim’s friend, Priscilla Spencer. I know Priscilla from way back (She does Books for Boobs, among other things.) But I never realized that she was the same Priscilla that did Jim’s maps for the Codex Alera.

Yeah. I’m kinda thick sometimes.

We have a lovely time over dinner. We tell stories and engage in the geeky book talk.

Unfortunately, I have a previous engagement, and I have to leave far sooner than I’d like.

I stand up and put my napkin on the table. “I’m really sorry,” I say. “But I’ve got to get going. I’m doing a little cameo appearance at Wootstock.”

I try to say this casually. As if I do this sort thing all the time. But I’m pretty sure I sound smug as hell. Because the truth is, I’m really, really fucking excited about getting to be part of Wootstock.

Also, I am slightly terrified. Slightly completely terrified.

It turns out Jim and Priscilla have tickets for Wootstock, so we share a taxi on the way there….

I’m in a taxi with Jim Butcher, heading to a theater where I’m going to meet with members of the Geek Gliterati. I’m heading to a theater where I’m going to stand onstage, alone, and read something to a crowd of over 1000 people.

My life has become rather strange over the last couple years….

*     *     *

Next: Wootstock!

Also posted in conventions, recommendations, Tales from the Con, videos | By Pat50 Responses
Published: August 1, 2011

San Diego 2011: Wednesday

Okay. ComicCon was cool this year, and people have been asking for details.

So here they are.

*     *     *

As I mentioned earlier, my trip to comic-con had a pretty rocky start.

This seems to be a theme of ComicCon for me. My first trip to ComicCon was fraught with peril, as mentioned in this comic by Greg Dean. While my second trip had a delayed flight that left me stranded in Chicago for a night.

Luckily, this year I had Valerie to help me out, so I made it to the con without too much stress. Though I did only get about an hour and a half of sleep Tuesday night.

Wednesday:

  • 11:00 – Nap.

I arrive in San Diego, find my hotel, and promptly fall asleep. The people at the hotel seem a little confused when I ask them for a 3:00 wake up call.

“You want us to wake you up at 3:00 AM tomorrow morning?” they say.

“No.” I say. “3:00 this afternoon. Four hours from now.”

Eventually they catch on, but I feel like they’re judging me. And I guess that’s fair. When the first thing I do at the convention is take a nap, I am officially old.

The fact remains that it was a delicious nap. I wake up refreshed and ready to get my geek on.

  • 4:00 – Blog.

Because I didn’t have the chance the night before, I decide to post a blog telling everyone about the talent pipes Badali Jewelry is making based on my books.

(This one is shown with black antiquing)

I’ve been approached by various people over these last couple years who want to do merchandising. Most of the time I’ve replied with a polite, “Thank you, no.”

The biggest reason is that I don’t want to feel like a great big whore. I don’t want to churn out a bunch of gimmicky merch just to make some extra money. That sort of thing has always struck me as being tacky, if not downright unethical. It seems like a betrayal of trust, like taking advantage of my readers.

But Badali Jewelry does wonderful work. They hold the jewelry licenses for several big-name geek properties (LOTR and Wheel of Time, just to name a few.) What’s more, they’re actually fans of my books. They’re proper geeks, and their love for what they do shows in their work. I trusted them enough to let them beta read The Wise Man’s Fear, and that says a lot right there.

Anyway, the pipes turned out great. That’s the moral of the story here. You’ll be seeing some more stuff from them before too long.

  • 5:00 – Crash.

After banging out  quick blog on the computer in the hotel lobby, I head to the convention center. I end up standing next to Seth Green while waiting for a stoplight to change. I try to think of a way to say, “Your stuff is awesome” that doesn’t sound gushy and fanboy, but I can’t think of anything. So I settle on a companionable silence instead.

Despite the long line, getting my badge is a remarkably painless process. I’m just putting the program book in my backpack when my phone rings.

I open it up. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Valerie says. “It’s Valerie.”

“I know,” I say. “Your text is green. What’s up?”

“Badali’s website is down. A bunch of people posted comments about it.”

“Really?” I say. “When did it go down?”

“About twenty minutes after you posted the link on your blog.”

My first reaction was to feel pretty cool. My second reaction was terrible guilt. I thank Valerie and give my contact at Badali a call. They’re only a couple hundred feet away, but I don’t have an exhibitor badge, so I can’t go into the hall until 6:00.

“Janelle?” I say as soon as she picks up. “I’m sorry. I think I broke your stuff.”

“What?”

“I posted up a link to the talent pipes on my blog. But I think the traffic crashed your website.”

“Wow,” she says. A pause. “That’s kinda awesome!”

A wave of relief fills me, and I’m no longer overwhelmed with guilt. “I know!” I say. “I feel like Neil Gaiman!”

  • 5:30 – First contact.

I get off the phone and finish putting some stuff away into my backpack. I sling it over one shoulder and look around, wondering how I’m going to kill half an hour until the hall opens up for preview night.

A pretty young Asian woman makes eye contact with me. She cocks her head to one side. “Are you Patrick Rothfuss?” she asks.

“I am,” I say.

She looks hesitant, then says, “Can I have a hug?”

“Absolutely,” I say.

And we hug.

I decide that this is probably going to be a pretty good convention.

  • 6:00 – On the Floor.

For those of you that don’t know much about San Diego ComicCon, let me explain. Wednesday night from 6:00-9:00 is preview night. Only people with 4-day passes can get in.

This makes it a great time to meet people in the exhibit hall. Not only is the place relatively uncrowded, but all the exhibitors are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. (Both literally and/or figuratively, depending on the booth.)

I wander around pretty aimlessly at first. But luck takes me past Donato’s booth, and I get to say howdy to him. He’s a hell of a nice guy, to say nothing of the fact that he’s amazing artist. We chat for a bit, and I thank him for the donation of some prints he made to Worldbuilders this year. (You’ll be seeing those in the Tinker’s Packs before too long.)

I swing by Jason Palmer’s booth too, but he’s not at the con yet. I shrug it off, knowing that I’ll have plenty of time to stop back later in the con.

Next I stumble onto a booth where the cast of the Guild is doing a signing. The con is barely half an hour old, and they already have a huge line. I consider stopping to say hello to Felicia and Sandeep, but even though they’re not signing yet, I can tell the cast is kinda hanging out together. Besides, Felicia and Sandeep are chatting with some guy and I don’t want to barge into their conversation.

I’m also vaguely anxious that if I run into them 30 minutes into the convention, I’ll look like I’m stalking them. Which I’m not. Not at the current moment, that is.

I decide to leave them to their throng of adoring fans and see what else the floor has to offer.

I swing by the Penny Arcade booth, where I say howdy to Mike and Jerry. I wrote an intro for their most recent anthology, and hadn’t had a chance to see it in the real world yet.

Jerry comes out from the booth and gives me a hug. “We said terrible things,” he says.

At first, I have no idea what he’s talking about. Then I realize he’s probably referring to the comic they did a while back, and the podcast where they talked about the book in frank terms, and, well… mocked me.

Honestly, I’m a little flabbergasted. “I don’t know what it’s like where you live,” I say. “But where I come from, mocking is how we express love.”

And it’s true. There’s a world of difference between snarkery, loving satire, and full-blown vitriolic excoriation. Penny Arcade does all of these things, and does them well, but I can tell the difference.

After establishing that we’re all still best friends, I wander by Mysterious Galaxy’s booth, where it turns out they’re selling copies of Ghost Story even though the book technically wasn’t going to be released for days yet.

Needless to say, I bought a copy and clutched it lovingly.

“Is Butcher going to be here at the con?” I ask the people at the booth.

They tell me he is.

This is good news. I’ve read all the Dresden Files books at least twice, many of them three or four times. I’m a huge fan and I’ve been hoping to meet Butcher for years.

So Wednesday was full of win. A great way to start the convention. Best of all, I’d managed to make it through the whole thing without committing any huge social gaffs and making an ass of myself.

But it was only Wednesday, I still had four days of convention left….

*     *     *

This is part of the San Diego Diary: Wednesday, Thursday Part I, Thursday Part II (Wootstock), and Friday Ad Infinitum.

Also posted in meeting famous people, my dumbness, my rockstar life | By Pat56 Responses
Published: May 16, 2011

Comics and Cameos

So during the madness of the book tour, some cool things happened online. Things I would have liked to geek out about in a proper fashion here on the blog if only I’d had the time.

Unfortunately, for the vast majority of that month, I was too busy to get a full night’s sleep, let alone write any sort of cohesive blog.

So, somewhat belatedly, here’s a few of the things I wish I could have mentioned then:

Real Life:

The lovely Greg Dean over at Real Life gave the book a week-long mention in the comic, where he had some fairly cogent (if geeky) musings on the similarity (heh) between sympathy and string theory, among other things.

Here’s the beginning of that cameo.

Goblins:

Back in the long-ago. Back in the beforetimes. One of my favorite webcomics helped me spread the word about the paperback release of The Name of the Wind.

When The Wise Man’s Fear came out, we collaborated on another comic where I got to make a few good old-fashioned D&D jokes.

Girl Genius:

I’ve been fairly open and honest about the amount of love I feel for Girl Genius. I wrote a rather effusively gushy blog about how much I loved Phil and Kaja’s stuff not too long ago.

So it’s not entirely surprising that when I stumbled onto a charity auction on ebay that contained some Girl Genius Swag, I was delighted. I hovered on ebay, and crushed all who dared oppose me in the bidding.

As a result, I was the proud recipient of:

1. Signed copies of all the Girl Genius books.

2. A personalized sketch that I’ve been looking for an excuse to show off for months now….

(Guess which piece of art was the first thing I’ve ever had professionally framed…)

3. The promise that my name would appear in a girl Genius comic at a time and a place of Phil’s choosing.

I was expecting that my name might appear on a street sign, as he’s done occasionally in the past. Or perhaps he might name a disease after me, or something.

Much to my delight, I actually appeared in a brief cameo….

If you aren’t reading these comics, you might want to consider giving them a lookie-loo, as they’re some of my personal favorites.

Later all,

pat

Also posted in comics, cool things | By Pat32 Responses
Published: January 11, 2010

Seven Stories Concerning Joss Whedon – or – The Road to Damascus

This is a Worldbuilders blog.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s come to my attention that some of you out there might not know about Joss Whedon. This worries me.

Even more troubling is the thought that some of you might know of Whedon, but still haven’t taken him into your heart or witnessed his glorious work.

I used to be like you. I used to live in darkness. Let me share my story with the hope that you might come to know him as I do….

* * *

It’s 1999. Home from college, I go to a New Year’s party with some old friends. Halfway through the evening, someone mentions Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

“Never seen it,” I say.

Suddenly they’re all bleating like sheep about how much they love the show. Everyone feels compelled to tell me their favorite line. Their favorite part. The time this character did this thing in this place.

“Yes yes,” I said. “I’ve heard it all before. Honestly, it sounds pretty dumb to me.”

Things get heated. It turns out I’m the only person there not actively following the show. They can’t believe how ignorant I am. How can I not be watching it?

Finally I’ve had enough. I hold up a hand to get everyone’s attention. “Listen,” I say. “I’m a huge geek. I’ve written a fantasy trilogy that will never be published. I once dressed up as Pan for Halloween. I have LARPed.” I looked at them all seriously. “And you people embarrass me. I am ashamed to be standing close to you right now. Kindly shut up about your stupid vampire cheerleader show.”

It’s 2002. I’m in grad school, covered in a thick, greasy layer of drudgery and helpless rage. I’m fighting as hard as I can, only to realize that academia is a tarbaby made out of bullshit and willful ignorance.

One of my friends buys the first season of Buffy on DVD and leaves it in my house. That’s it. No sales pitch. I just come home from class and it’s sitting on my coffee table.

And that’s where it stays. I’ve made my feelings clear. I’m getting my Masters in English Literature. I’ll be god-damned if I watch a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

But, eventually, there’s nothing else to watch in the house, so I plug it one evening while I eat my dinner.

And it’s exactly what I expected. It’s trash. It’s heavy handed. The plot is predictable.

Worse of all, there’s a showdown between the plucky blond eye-candy and the bad guy at the end of the first episode.

Buffy: Well you forgot about one thing!
Vampire: Whats that?
Buffy: Sunrise!

She breaks a window behind the vampire and rich amber light pours in, making the vampire howl in fear.

I roll my eyes. I’ve seen this cliche a dozen times before. I’d be bored if I wasn’t so insulted. I reach for the remote.

But it isn’t sunlight pouring through the window. It’s just a lightbulb in the alleyway. The vampire looks out the window, confused.

Buffy: Its not for another 9 hours, moron.

I start to laugh, realizing whoever wrote this knows exactly what he’s doing. This isn’t cliche. This is whatever the opposite of cliche is.

I watch the second episode.

It’s 2003. I’m out of grad school and teaching my own classes for the very first time.

I’ve made contact with a big-name New York literary agent. He’s read my book and thinks it has potential. He says I’m a good writer, but my book has structural problems. There are plot issues. Am I willing to revise?

I am. But I have no idea where to start. I read a book called Writing the Blockbuster Novel and it makes no sense at all to me. I re-read my novel and realize I don’t have the slightest fucking idea what I’m doing.

Fall semester ends, and the university tells me enrollment is down. Quick as that I’m unemployed.

So I go out and buy my very first home theater system. Bose speakers. Subwoofer. I fill up the credit card, figuring that if I’m going to be unemployed, I might as well enjoy my free time. Besides, it’s not like I’m going to be able to get any writing done….

The first thing I watch is the second season Buffy.

It opens a window in my head. It changes the way I think about stories.

It’s 2004. Despite the fact that I’m not really interested in space cowboys or whatever, I buy a copy of Firefly.

It’s 6:00 AM when I sit down to watch it. After half an hour, one of my roommates wanders blearily into the living room.

“Wassis?” he asks.

“Firefly,” I say. “First episode. I can start it over if you want…”

He lays down on the other couch and we re-start the episode.

Ten minutes later he looks at me. “They canceled this?” he asks.

“Apparently.”

He looks at the screen, then back at me. “I’m so fucking pissed!”

I nod.

Six years later I’m still pissed. I’ll probably be pissed about Firefly until the day I die.

It’s 2006, and I’m attending one of my first conventions. I’ve sold my book, so now my job is to make friends in the fan community. Mingle. Rub elbows. Network.

I get invited to a party. I drink a drink. I end up talking with a beautiful young woman in a tight red dress.

“I don’t know what all the fuss is about,” she says. “I watched some Buffy, couldn’t get into it. Firefly was boring. I just don’t get what I’m supposed to be missing.”

“Well…” I said thoughtfully. “Have you ever considered the fact that you might not actually have a soul?”

It’s 2008. Dr. Horrible goes online. I’m giddy as a schoolgirl. I write a blog about it. I bring my friends over to watch. I leave it playing on my computer while I do work around the house, while I check my e-mail, while I eat lunch.

This continues for weeks.

Then one day while I’m singing “A Man’s gotta Do…” in the shower, I have an idea for a short story. This is a rarity. I don’t do short stories. Better yet, it’s a short graphic novel.

So I sit down and start to write it out. It’s fun. I’ve never written a script for a graphic novel, and it’s tricky thinking in terms of page layouts, paneling, and dialogue placement. I break out my copy of Understanding Comics and start making notes for a friend who could do the illustrations.

Two hours later I realize I’m writing Dr. Horrible fanfiction.

Four hours later I’m still writing it.

It’s 2009. While playing Guest of Honor at a convention, I end up on a panel about Joss Whedon.

Much to my surprise, I hear people nitpicking. They say, “Buffy was great until season four.” “I got bored with Dollhouse after two episodes.” “Angel was too dark.” “Buffy got weird in season five….”

Finally I’ve had enough. I hold up a hand to get everyone’s attention.

“Listen,” I say unto them. “You’re all a bunch of whiny little titbabies. Joss Whedon is a storyteller and you’re upset because he isn’t acting like a music box, playing you your favorite song again and again.

“Joss Whedon made me care about the X-men, even Cyclops. He sold me on space cowboys. He made me sing in the shower and write fanfiction for the first time in my life. He told me a subtle story with Dollhouse and gave me the best character arc I’ve ever seen with Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.”

“Why don’t you marry him?” someone shouts from the audience.

“Because of Proposition 8,” I shot back. “And because he never returns my calls.”

* * *

So that’s the story of my conversion to Whedonism. I’ve pulled a Saul of Tarsus and these days I’m a full-blown missionary. In fact, Sarah has informed me my man-crush is about to step from being cute to creepy, so I’m trying to reign myself in a little bit here.

For example, I’m not going to post up any of my Whedon-tribute macaroni art. Neither will I trouble you with any of the sonnets I’ve composed.

Instead, I’ll add some Whedon stuff to the Worldbuilders lottery. That means if you donate money to Heifer International before January 15th, you have a chance of winning this stuff in addition to all the other cool prizes.

  • All seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the five seasons of Angel, and the first five graphic novels composing “Season Eight”of Buffy.


About a year ago, I went to talk to a bunch of high-schoolers as part of a book festival.

As per usual, I read a bit, then did some Q&A.

One of the kids asked a question about character building. I thought of the perfect example that would answer his question and said, “Have you seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer?”

I meant it to be a rhetorical question. I mean, everyone’s seen Buffy, right?

He hadn’t. I was a little surprised. So I asked the whole auditorium, “Who here has watched Buffy?”

Only about three hands went up.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, I suppose. But I was. What’s more, I was actually mad. I turned to the teacher that had arranged for me to come out and talk to the kids and demanded, “What the hell are you teaching these kids?”

  • Both hardcover volumes of the Astonishing X-Men, containing the entire story arc written by Joss Whedon.


Even if you don’t read comics, you will enjoy this. Even if you don’t care about the X-Men, you will like this story. It’s wonderfully self-contained, so you don’t need to know the last 40 years of x-history to follow what’s going on.

  • The complete series of Firefly and the sequel movie Serenity.


If I ever get to teach a creative writing class, I’m assigning Firefly as a textbook. Everything you need to know about storytelling is right there in the pilot episode.

Side note: if you watch the movie before watching the series, I will magically appear and choke you.

  • The first season of Dollhouse.


Some people I normally respect are all snarky about Dollhouse.

Fie, I say unto them. If you can’t handle a subtle story, feel free to go watch MTV cribs. The rest of us will be right here, enjoying the awesome.

It’s a different sort of story. That means, of necessity, it has a different tone. But it’s still Whedon, and that’s all that matters.

  • Two copies of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.


For concentrated cool, it’s hard to beat this disk. Not only is DR. Horrible like a primer on how to create a realistic villain, but the commentary track is a musical too. I’m not even kidding.

God. Just looking at the cover makes me want to listen to it again….

That’s all for now folks. Remember that the fundraiser is over on January 15th. So if you want to get in on the action, you better do so soon.

Money raised by Worldbuilders goes to Heifer International, which helps people all over the world raise themselves out of poverty and starvation. If you’d like to donate directly you can head over to my page at Team Heifer and I’ll match your donation by 50%. Trust me. You’ll feel great afterward.

Or, if you want more information about the Worldbuilders fundraiser itself, you can head to the main page HERE.

With thanks to our sponsor, Subterranean Press.

Also posted in Firefly, Joss Whedon, my dumbness, Subterranean Press, Worldbuilders 2009 | By Pat128 Responses
Published: September 30, 2008

IAQ – Kvothe’s Alignment.

I get a lot of fanmail, which means I get a lot of questions.

The questions that get asked a lot, I put into the FAQ, for obvious reasons.

But there are other questions too. It’s occurred to me that some of these questions, while infrequent, might still intrigue or amuse folks.

So here’s the first of these. Not part of the FAQ. More like the begining of an IAQ, if you will….

Pat,

With the shape of an “L” on my forehead, here’s my question: What would you say is Kvothe’s alignment (i.e. ad&d terms)

[Name withheld for reasons of not wanting the person to die of geeky shame]

Oh yeah. Total Geek question.

Here’s my total geek answer: I didn’t even have to think about it. Chaotic good.

Though honestly, now that I pause for consideration, it’s possible he’s neutral good. He doesn’t work actively against the system, he just doesn’t feel constrained by it.

Now, of course, you’ve got me thinking about everyones’ alignment.

Some are easy, like Master Lorren: Lawful Good.

Some are hard, like Elodin. Chaotic neutral? True neutral? He’s just too complicated to put in a box like that. Plus there’s a lot of him you haven’t seen yet. I honestly don’t know where I’d put him overall.

The more I think about it, the fact that I can’t fit most of the characters into little AD&D boxes makes me feel good. It shows that they’re more complex than that. I hope that complexity isn’t just inside my head. I’d like to think that y’all get to experience it too….

Pop quiz:

What is Pat’s alignment?

Where does Bast fall on the Kinsey Scale?

What is Denna’s Myers-Briggs Personality Type?

Would Elodin pass a Thematic Apperception Test?

How many questions does it take to clear Lorren on the Voight-Kampff?

Extra Credit:

If Auri were a tree, what kind of tree would she be?

Geekily yours,

pat

Also posted in Fanmail Q + A | By Pat32 Responses

  • RSS info

  • Visit Worldbuilders!

  • Our Store

    The Store

  • Previous Posts

  • Archives



  • Bookmark this Blog!

    (IE and Firefox users only - Safari users, click Command-D)