Category Archives: miscelany

Delightful Miscellany

We’re getting closer to the end of the fundraiser, and things are starting to speed up. As I write this, we’re at 383,000 dollars, and we’ve been unlocking new stretch goals at an incredible rate.

If you haven’t been keeping up, you can access them all here:

Remember, if you donate on our main page, you move us toward future stretch goals and have a chance to win all manner of books, games, and other cool things in the lottery.

Cool things like these:

  • Copper Goats from Esoteric Garage.

AmandaAndSmallGoat

Earlier in the fundraiser we auctioned off a set of copper goat paperweights, based on the Worldbuilders logo.

Tait from Esoteric Garage was kind enough to send along 4 more, so we’re putting them in the lottery. Just don’t tell Amanda, because when I take that one away from her, I think she’s going to cry.

*     *     *

Everything else in today’s blog is up for auction. And pretty much everything we have in here is either one-of-a-kind, or so rare as to be virtually unique.

  • Auction: Cameo appearance in an upcoming book by April White.

AprilWhite

April’s been donating to the fundraiser for a couple of years now, and this year she’s also thrown her hat in for a tuckerization. Here’s how she described it:

“In a world where Time, Fate, Nature, War and Death are Immortal, and their Descendants have skills that include time travel, shape-shifting, and visions of the future, the winning bidder of this Tuckerization will have a character named for them in two of the Immortal Descendant books.

In book three, Changing Nature, which will be published in January, 2015, their character will be named as among the mysteriously missing mixed-blood Immortal Descendants. In book four, Waging War (to be published in the Summer, 2015), the character will continue as part of a storyline set in modern times, and will involve at least one interaction with main characters.”

If this sounds awesome to you (and it should) bid over here.

Mary Robinette Kowal

Hugo-award winning author Mary Robinette Kowal will tuckerize your name into a forthcoming piece of fiction. What does this mean? It means that she will work your name into a story or novel depending on what your name is and which project it seems to fit best into. She’ll also send you a signed manuscript before publication. So it’s like a literary twofer.

Bid on it in all its goodness over here.

  • Auction: Kvothe’s green linen shirt from The Wind Comes cosplay stretch goal. Handmade by Mary Robinette Kowal.

MaryAsKvothe

This is something of a specialty item. Mary Robinette Kowal handmade this and the rest of her costume that she wore when she came up to read her Name of the Wind erotica with me.

There are some more detailed images of the shirt, taken while she was making it. She tweeted them while she worked on it, and we borrowed a few of them for the auction listing if you’d like to see them.

The shirt looks awesome, and Mary wore it well because she’s classy like that. Now it can be all yours. Bid on it over here.

  • Auction: A ukulele doodled and signed by Hank Green.

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We offered 10 of these in the summer IndieGoGo. Amanda gushed and groaned over it, never taking the time to  buy one for herself because she didn’t think it was fair of her to nab one when they were so limited, and someone who would love it might miss out on it purely because Amanda saw it first.

I, however, did not have such qualms.

This is the one I personally bought. The folks over at the Nerd Nighters coordinated with me to buy one for Amanda, and she loves it with a powerful and deep love.

That kind of love and devotion can be a part of your life, too, if you bid on it here.

  • Auction: A personalized sketch from Karen Hallion.

marker_sketches_by_khallion-d5whplx

Karen has agreed to auction off a commissioned personalized sketch for whoever wins this auction, after the last auction did so well. You’ll be able to get any character of your choice meeting up with the beloved police box.

You know you want it. Bid on it over here.

  • AuctionShane Tyree will create art based on your likeness. 

Kilvin Card

Shane’s a great artist, and has done the art for the NOTW playing cards, as well as the Commonwealth and Modegan decks for Pairs. He’ll draw you up proper, and then send you a signed 13″ x 17″ print of the final piece.

To become true art, bid over here.

  • Auction: A full set of the 7 Calamities from the Commonwealth Deck, printed and signed by Shane Tyree.

Calamities

Many of you already have the Commonwealth pairs deck we put on sale in the Tinker’s Packs. In this deck, the sevens are… significant. They’re the only number where each card has its own art. And if you play one of the variant rules, they’re the worst card in the deck to draw.

Shane has only printed 7 of each of these pieces of art. The winner of this auction will have one of those sets, so it’s going to be very, very rare. Bid on it before it’s too late.

Amber from Serpent’s Dance Designs has been donating jewelry to Worlbuilders for the last couple years. The first year, her Bookwyrm Pendant sold out before we managed to post the blog about it. Last year, we managed to auction off three unique designs from her.

This year, we’ve got nine. (That’s three threes, just so you know.) She swung by one of my signings on the Slow Regard tour,  then had me sign the backs of a few of the items so she could etch in my signature.

It should go without saying that these are all one-of-a-kind creations. But I’ll say it anyway: These are all one-of-a-kind. More pictures of each of these can be found if you follow the links below.

SerpentsDance_Square

In the same order as the pictures: Signed All the Truth in the World Pendant, Signed All Stories Are True Pendant, Signed You May Have Heard of Me Pendant, Etched Kvothe Pendant.

And more…

SerpentsDance_Round

In the same order as the pictures: All Stories are True Pendant, You May Have Heard of Me Pendant, Hatchling Dragon Pendant, Kvothe Profile Pendant.

And finally, the Ornament Package:

SerpentsDance_Ornament

A little Kvothe felt doll (with four pockets in his cloak) and a signed, etched Kvothe plate. This one’s available over here.

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Back during the Slow Regard of Silent Things tour event in Portland, I invited the Doubleclicks to open for me, and  they graciously allowed me to perform a song with them.

I failed pretty miserably, as I detailed a bit in the blog.

For their stretch goal this year, they’re letting me take a mulligan on my previous performance, I’m going to play with them again in a google hangout and try to get it right this time. Or at the very least I’ll get it marginally less wrong.

This is the keyboard I’ll be using. The Doubleclicks mailed it to us, and Angela and Aubrey have both signed it. (I’ll sign it too if you like.) If you’d like to own this glorious cat keyboard, this testament to my shame and redemption, you can bid on it over here.

  • Auction: Two tickets to the Heifer International Beyond Hunger event in Beverly Hills, CA, July or August 2015. Also in attendance: The Worldbuilders Team and Me.

ForHeiferAuction

This is particularly exciting. Every year Heifer throws a swank dinner event, and this year they’re bringing me and some of the Worldbuilders team out so that we can join the fun, as well as hang out with some of our favorite people from Heifer.

This event is incredibly posh. It’s formal attire only, and lots of Hollywood celebrities will be there. The dates aren’t set yet, but as soon as they are we’ll contact you and let you know where to be and when. Hopefully we’ll all be able to hang out a bit.

Full disclosure: This auction is just for tickets to the event. You’ll have to provide transportation yourself.

If this sounds like it’s up your alley, bid here for the chance to experience it.

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There you have it folks. Bid early and bid often.

If you want to see ALL the current auctions running, you can head over here.

Also posted in Worldbuilders 2014 | By Pat8 Responses

Miscellany: Some of the Best for Last….

Well folks, the fundraiser is almost over.

As I write this, Worldbuilders has raised $570,000 for Heifer International. Geeks of all creeds and nations have come together to make the world a better place. I am stunned and humbled and ever so slightly tingly at how supportive the community has been.

Today we have our last donation blog, and, according to tradition, it’s a miscellaneous blog. We’ve got signed books, weaponry, and other esoterica that didn’t have a tidy place anywhere else.

Believe me when I say, we’ve saved some of the best for last.

Keep in mind that while a *few* of these items are up for auction on E-Bay, the vast majority of these items, especially the books, are going into our prize lottery:

2013 Book Wall 03

We have more than $70,000 worth of books we’re giving away this year. Signed books. Rare books. First edition books. Books you simply cannot get anywhere else.

Remember, for every 10 bucks you donate on the Worldbuilders Team Page you get another chance to win.

Serpent of Venice

Y’all know who Christopher Moore is, right? He wrote Lamb, You Suck, Sacre Bleu….

The truth is, if you aren’t reading Christopher Moore, you’re missing out on one of the most brilliant, diverse, genuinely humorous storytellers in existence.

Here we have a signed Advance Reading Copy of his upcoming book: Serpent of Venice.

We’re putting this book in our prize lottery, where anyone can win it if they make a donation to Heifer International on the Worldbuilders Team Page.

That’s right, you have a chance to read it before it even hits the shelves. You can taunt your friends. You can be smug on Goodreads.

At least that’s what I’m planning on doing if I win it…

  • First Edition copies of Island of the Sequined Love Nun and Fool. Signed by Christopher Moore.
Fool and Island of

“[Island of the Sequined Love Nun has] humor that seamlessly blends lunacy with larceny … habit-forming zaniness ….” – USA Today

These are both are first editions that Christopher signed and sent to us. They are lovely, rare books, and I covet them. I desire them with a terrible desire.

Fool is my favorite of Moore’s books. And the staff here at Worldbuilders have deliberately put these books into the lottery, knowing that if they were in an auction, I’d bid a crazy amount of money to win them, potentially bankrupting myself and endangering their jobs.

That shows what they know. If I cannot bid on an auction, I’m going to donate on the team page instead with the desperate hope of winning them for myself.

(If you end up being the person that wins them, send me an e-mail. I’ll trade you some ridiculous things in exchange. Seriously.)

  • Sets of Galactic Football League: The Rookie and The Starter by Scott Sigler.

IMG_20140127_141716

Here we have a fantasy series based in a world where pro football is a lethal sport played by humans and aliens, and financed and run by organized crime. Being the bookish geeks we are, we assumed it was already like this.

“In the Galactic Football League, wars are no longer fought in space, but on the gridiron. If you like aliens and football then I suspect you’re unlikely to find a better combination than THE ROOKIE. –Phil Plait, Discover Magazine

  • Auction: A set of The Twelve Fingered Boy and The Shibboleth.  Signed by John Horner Jacobs.  The Shibboleth will be released in March.

twelve fingered boy

We’ve got a few sets of this in the lottery already, but we thought we’d auction a set off, as well, since The Shibboleth won’t be released until early March.

If you want to get your hands on this sweet pre-release, bid here.

  • The Full Geek A Week Card Sets 2, 3, 4, and a Special MythBusters Set.

COLLECTION

The awesome Len Peralta thought it was high time to put geek heroes on trading cards. Len interviews an awesome geek, draws them, and then turns them into a trading cards, with the write ups on the back written by Storm (of Paul & Storm).  In this prize there’s seasons 2, 3, and 4, as well as two special MythBusters sets created for Discovery Channel and San Diego Comic Con in 2012, and they’re signed by Adam and Jamie.

We’re putting one of these in the lottery where anyone can win it, and another in an auction….

  • AuctionThe Full Geek A Week Card Sets 2, 3, 4, and a Special MythBusters Set.

ERNIE_F

Len does great work.  I was on an episode of NSFW Show with him a couple of weeks ago, and it was hilarious to watch him whip something together while everyone talked.  In case you couldn’t guess by the title of the show, this may not be safe for work (depending on where you work).

If you’d like to grab this yourself, you can bid on it in an auction over here.

(And if you’d like to get in on Len’s current Kickstarter, where I’m doing a guest appearance, you can find it over here.)

P1060071

The guys over at Esoteric Garage have been donating to Worldbuilders for a while now, and this is their epic donation for this year.

Here we have a warded axe and a pair of warded arrowheads, based on Peter V. Brett’s books. These sort of weapons are how people fight the demons that take over at night, and would scare off any demon threatening your homestead.

If you want them, you should really bid over here.

P1060078

Esoteric Garage actually sent along four warded arrowheads, so we thought we’d spread the love around a bit by offering up two of them separately, for those of you who live in small appartments with limited room for axe storage, but still would like to protect yourselves from demons.

They’re up for auction over here.

  • A set of the Miriam Black series. Signed and inscribed by Chuck Wendig.

Miriam Black series

“If you’re looking for a sassy, hard-boiled thriller with a paranormal slant, Wendig has established himself as the go-to man.” – Keith Brooke, The Guardian

So if you can tell when someone is going to die just by touching them, you just don’t touch people, right? Easy! As it turns out, no. So say you touch someone–just ignore it, right? Well, you’re a good person, so that’s not an option. So how much trouble can you get into by helping the nearly-deceased? As it turns out, all of it.

Dinocalypse

“A raging flood of heroic pulp action!” – GeekDad

Psychic dinosaurs attack Manhattan. With those four words, we have triggered much want within you.

  • Unclean Spirits and a first edition of Under the Empyrean Sky. Signed by Chuck Wendig.

Chuck Wendig set

“This story is just plain fun. Dark, sometimes horribly creepy, but fun.” – Fantasy Book Critic

  • Auction: A copy of The Kick-Ass Writer.  Signed by Chuck Wendig

Kickass cover

This book is filled with tips and tricks for the aspiring author who hopes to be published.  If that describes you pretty well, be sure to go over here and bid.

  • Auction: Comedy musician Mike Phirman will write a ringtone for you.

Mike-Phirman-Red-Wall-sm

This is another one of those auctions where we’re amazed at the sorts of things people are willing to do to help us out here at Worldbuilders.

Mike has, among other things, worked on Learning Town with Paul and Storm, and is willing to write you your own personalized ringtone, and then record it and send it to you.

For more information, and to bid, go over here.

  • Auction: A consultation with professional animal trainer Laura VanArendonk.

laura-laev-laugh-crop

Laura is a really cool person.  She donated one of these last year, and it went over really well, so she’s doing it again.

The consultation will be via video  or phone, and she’ll include a signed copy of her bestselling training book, Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training Crazy Dogs from Over-The-Top to Under Control.

To bond better with your dog, go here and bid.

  • A copy of Practical Demon Keeping.  First edition, signed by Chistopher Moore.

Practical Demon Keeping

“Practical Deemonkeeping is practically perfect!  It’s one of the few and special novels that conveys a sense that the author had as much fun writing it as his audience will have in reading it.  Can hardly wait for the next one – the Moore, the merrier!” – Robert Bloch

(Again the Worldbuilders staff taunts me.)

Moon and the Sun

“Drawing on deep research (detailed in an afterword), McIntyre vividly re-creates a Versailles poised on the cusp between alchemy and modern science. Her imaginings enliven her history with wonder, but, as in the best fantasy, they serve less to dazzle by their inventiveness than to illuminate brilliantly real-world truths about humanity’s responses, base and noble, when confronting the unknown.” – Publishers Weekly

This swirling tale won a little thing called the Nebula Award for the best novel of 1997. And if that doesn’t entice you, there’s a sea monster in it. Can’t resist sea monsters. Also, this might be the first blog post to feature two different sea monsters, so how can you say no?

Peters Epic Dinner

Peter Orullian set up a great little event for the fantasy geek in all of us.  He’ll coordinate with you on a date, and (so long as you can get yourself to Seattle) you’ll all go out to dinner, tour the Fantasy exhibit at the EMP Museum and have an all-around great time.

To be the coolest of the cool, go over here and bid.

  • AuctionLock In and (Not) Lock In – the novel and the seven chapters cut from it.  Signed by John Scalzi.

nlicovers

John Scalzi has sent along a signed copy of his novel, Lock In, which we thought was pretty cool.

He also sent along seven chapters he had to cut from the finished novel, printed and bound into a paperback book. We thought that was seriously awesome because he only made four for himself. This is one of those four. Of course he will sign and personalize it to the winner.

If you’ve ever wondered what gets cut from some novels, you can see if you just bid on this right over here.

  • The Tinker’s Packs: Cunning Knit Hats in various styles

Cunning Hats

It’s become something of a tradition at this point for someone to knit us some cunning hats for the fundraiser, and this year is no different.

Even cooler, we have regular hats for folks to wear, as well as some adorable, tiny hats, which are on keychains, pins, and loose. Clementines not included.

If you want to buy one all for yourself, go over here and grab them before they’re gone.

*     *     *

Keep in mind that our auctions and the fundraiser itself are ending soon. So if you’ve been waiting to donate, now is the time.

Consider this fair warning: if you end up getting distracted by Superbowl commercials tomorrow and miss your chance, you’ll end up kicking yourself. Trust me on this.

Thanks for helping to spread the word, everyone.

pat

Also posted in The Tinker's Packs, Worldbuilders 2013 | By Pat30 Responses

Maps, Brackets, Interviews, and Wind

On today’s menu we have:

Warning, it will bog down your browser a bit.

Edit: Whoops. Turns out the voting on this round is over. I thought it went *through* the 2nd. Not *until* the 2nd.

The title seems a little argumentative, but I didn’t mean it to come off that way. I’m also a little irritated that the pictures they used to punctuate the article are from The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, two series two authors who are delightfully NOT-guilty of following in the tired rut of fantasy cliche. (Tolkien because he wrote before these things were cliche, and Martin because he’s skilled at avoiding it.)

And yes, I’m aware that it’s a little hypocritical that I say people should avoid writing about dragons even though I include something very similar to a dragon in my book. We actually talked about that in the interview as well, but we had to cut that piece out because I’m a wordy bitch and the interview ran long….

  • Lastly, there’s an article over on IGN that asks, “What’s the next Hunger Games?” A grammatically baffling title to an article that speculates as to what the next hot book-into-movie adaptation might be. Kingkiller gets a nice nod on there.

Normally I wouldn’t mock their title, but they took a dig at me for how long I take to write. So fair’s fair.

*     *     *

In related news, I actually got to watch Hunger Games in the theater. That’s not something I get to do very much these days.

I liked it a lot. It’s rare that I leave a movie without some fairly major gripes. Especially one based off a book that I enjoyed.

But Hunger Games was solid. Good casting. Good acting. Sensible changes to suit the adaptation into a different medium. And properly subversive. I love me some good subversive.

It was also nice to see the author of the books having a hand in the screenplay. Things like that tend to warm my bitter old heart.

Later,

pat

Also posted in Interviews | By Pat62 Responses

Season Five of the Guild

Generally speaking, I assume that if you’re reading this blog, you’re a geek of some degree or other.

And if you’re a geek, I assume other things about you. I assume you’ve watched Star Trek. I assume you engage in some type of gaming, be it  computer, board, or role.

I assume that you know who Dr. Who is. I assume you have a tiny shrine to Joss Whedon somewhere in your house.

And I assume you watch The Guild.

More importantly, I assume you know when a new season of The Guild has begun.

But just in case some of you aren’t entirely tuned into the geek allmind. I figure I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that season 5 is already upon us.

If you’re a fan, it would be a shame if you didn’t wander over and check it out…

If you’re *not* a fan… well… then I’m guessing there’s either something wrong with you, or you’ve simply never been exposed to it. And if the latter’s the case, it would be a shame if you didn’t give it a try…

*     *     *

In other, slightly surreal news, NPR recently posted the results of the poll where they asked folks to vote on what their favorite SF and Fantasy books of all time were.

The Kingkiller Chronicles came in #18 on the list.

Out of all SF and Fantasy books. Ever. #18.

Seriously.

pat

Also posted in Felicia Day, Uncategorized | By Pat66 Responses

Miscellanea

It occurs to me that I haven’t mentioned the current season of The Guild on the blog yet.

This makes me feel strangely guilty, as if I’ve failed to uphold my end of some unspoken agreement we have here on the blog. Namely, that I will occasionally remind you of some cool things that are out there, so you can enjoy them.

Included in the category of cool things, of course, is The Legend of Neil. I think I already linked to it when I posted up the interview I did with Sandeep at Comic-con. But what the hell, you can have another link. It’s free.

Lastly, for those of you that don’t make a habit of checking out my tour page or the events I post up on the Facebook fan page. I’m at Madcon this weekend in… well… in Madison, obviously. Or maybe not obviously. I suppose it could be a convention for people who were mad….

Then, on Wednesday night, (the 29th) I’m doing a little panel for the Wisconsin Book Festival, also in Madison. My talk is going to be in the overture center, which makes me feel all posh. I’ll probably fancy myself up for the special occasion in the only way I know how: by taking a shower and making sure I’m wearing pants. I also plan on limiting myself to only the most erudite cussings. (They must have at least three syllables or a Latin root.)

That’s all for now, folks. Have a good weekend.

pat

P.S. Since I’m throwing out links to random cool things. Here’s a link to an article about Joss Whedon that I very much enjoyed.

Also posted in a billion links, appearances, Joss Whedon | By Pat46 Responses
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