Category Archives: Neil Gaiman

How To Seduce An Author….

It’s been kinda quiet here on the blog lately. Part of the reason for that is because I’ve been recovering from the fundraiser, trying to catch up on my e-mail, and spending more time with my family because they got pretty short shrift while Worldbuilders was going on.

And I’ve been working on other things too. Dreaming dreams. Scheming schemes. Occasionally machinating.

The things I’ve been working will be showing up over the course of the year, some of them sooner rather than later. Many of them you’ll hear about first here on the blog, of course. Because I appreciate y’all stopping by and seeing what I have to say.

The Worldbuilders team hasn’t been letting the grass grow under their feet either. And yes, it’s partly due to the fact that it’s winter here in Wisconsin. And yeah, sure, it’s also because letting grass grow under your feet would be kind of a weird thing to do even if it was springtime….

Let me start again. What I meant to say is that the Worldbuilders team has been busy getting things done. In addition to packaging up hundreds of lottery prizes, they’ve been getting some new stuff ready for the Tinker’s Packs.

For example:

  • Valentines Day Cards.

2016Cards

Okay, okay. They’re not *specifically* Valentines Day cards. But they’re appropriately love-themed greeting cards just in time for those of you who might be looking to impress a geeky special someone on V-Day.

Also, do you see something a little different in what we’re doing this month?

That’s right. These cards aren’t just Kingkiller flavored. This year Worldbuilders is going to be doing our best to partner up with more authors: making cool things you’ll enjoy, while making the world a better place. So this month we’re launching cards not just from me, but based on Jacqueline Carey and Neil Gaiman’s works as well.

The card on the far left is mine, by which I mean it’s really by the wonderful Jackie Morris, a stunningly talented artist. She made this piece of art just for us, inspired by a quote from The Wise Man’s Fear: “These old name-knowers moved smoothly through the world. They knew the fox and they knew the hare, and they knew the space between the two.”

You can get the card with the quote inside, or a blank version that you can wax rhapsodic all over on. Both are available here.

Anyone who’s read Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series will recognize the center card. The phrase “Love As Thou Wilt” is a core concept of the books, and a beautiful idea besides, so making it into a Valentine’s Day card was a no-brainer.

Lastly, there’s the card from Neil. It’s based on some excellent advice from him.

For those of you who are oddly terrified of clicking that link, a fan once asked Neil: “What do you think is the best way to seduce a writer?”

Neil replied with some of the truest words ever spoken.

Writers tend to be really good at the inside of their own heads and imaginary people, and a lot less good at the stuff going on outside, which means that quite often if you flirt with us we will completely fail to notice, leaving everybody involved slightly uncomfortable and more than slightly unlaid.

So I would suggest that any attempted seduction of a writer would probably go a great deal easier for all parties if you sent them a cheerful note saying “YOU ARE INVITED TO A SEDUCTION: Please come to dinner on Friday Night. Wear the kind of clothes you would like to be seduced in.”

And alcohol may help, too. Or kissing. Many writers figure out that they’re being seduced or flirted with if someone is actually kissing them.

Yeah. This is so true that it hurts. The majority of my relationships have started with girls kissing me, and me thinking, “Oh! Hey! She’s interested in me! Suddenly a lot of her behavior over the last few months makes much better sense!”

Because this strikes so close to home for me, I’ve wanted to make a card out of this for ages. I can’t thank Neil enough for giving us the thumbs-up.

So… yeah. Trust me. This card is really the way to go if you’re hoping to seduce a writer. If there’s someone in your life who’s really bad at taking subtle hints, get them this card.

  • Curious Lovers print

JackieMorrisPrint_Tabletop

(Copy of Wise Man’s Fear not included, but good at demonstrating scale)

Jackie Morris painted this for us faster than I could believe. Honestly, I think she said she got all of it done in a night.

Once we had it in our hot little hands, we couldn’t help but turn it into a print. It’s gorgeous. And if you want one of these beauties for yourself, you can get it right here.

TigersWife_WithSignature_Blog

Téa was one of the authors who attended NerdCon: Stories this year. While we were there, she stopped by the Worldbuilders booth and signed some copies of her debut novel.

I just went looking for my goodreads review of this book, because I read it and *really* enjoyed it. But apparently that’s one of the books I only *meant* to give a gushy review to last year. You’ll have to just trust me. It’s a good read, and you can grab a lovely signed one right here.

  • Copies of Level Up Your Life. Signed and inscribed by Steve Kamb.

LevelUp_WithSignature_Blog

I’ve heard good things about this one. It’s all about getting in shape and living a healthy life…but doing it in the nerdiest (and therefore best) way possible. You live your life like a character in a video game, movie, or book: you set goals and go on quests, find allies to help you with quests, train your skills, and level up all aspects of your life.

There doesn’t sound like any better way to get healthy, and these have been specially inscribed for us. You can get your own copy right here.

  • Individual Vintish Court Rings.

NameRings

We’ve had so many people over the years say that they wish they could get just one of the Court Rings, so we’ve finally decided to let you get just one Court Ring instead of the entire set, if you’re so inclined.

For a ring to give to your superiors, get the gold-plated ring. For someone of an equal rank, you’ll want the silver-plated ring. For those who are simply beneath you, the iron ring is the best choice.

  • Special Promotion: Greeting card + Jewelry = 15% off both!

vday bundle2

Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, we wanted to give you the option of doing all your shopping in one place. If you buy an item of jewelry from the specially-selected Valentine’s Jewelry Collection, as well as a greeting card, you’ll get 15% off both items. That is some unbeatable math.

Just so you know, The Tinker’s Packs usually puts up new products every month, but I don’t always mention them here on the blog. If you want to make sure you a heads-up about new stuff, it would probably be a good idea to sign up for the mailing list….

Later all,

pat

Also posted in cool things, Novelties | By Pat36 Responses

A Familiar Story About a Well-Loved Book

Over the last two weeks, authors, publishers and fans have been sending us box after box of signed books, cool games, and geeky miscellany have been showing up at WB headquarters. So many new items it’s caused a bit of a problem: There’s no way we can show all of it off in the five days remaining in the fundraiser.

It’s a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem.

I talked things over with the Worldbuilders team, and they’ve said they’re willing to put in the extra hours. So we’re going to extend the fundraiser for one more week. Seven extra days will give us enough time to process and organize these new donations, then show them off to proper effect.

That means the new end date will be December 15, 11:59pm. 

And now a story about a familiar friend….

* * *

If you’ve been following Worldbuilders for the last couple years, you probably know about this:

It’s a book that has been with the fundraiser since the beginning….

2008: A Gift from Gaiman.

In 2008 I was still a newbie author, barely published for a year. On a whim, I decided to try raising money for Heifer International on my blog. Things quickly spiraled out of control as other authors pitched in, helping spread the word and donating books for us to give away.

The pinnacle of the coolness/madness came when Neil Gaiman mentioned us to his vast legion of readers. He also donated a rare ARC of Stardust to the cause. Unfortunately, mail was delayed because of the holidays, so we couldn’t use the book until….

2009: Stardust for the People.

So we had this book. This beautiful book. This beautiful, *rare* book. And I was having a hard time deciding how best to use it. I knew we could auction it off and raise at least a thousand dollars, maybe a couple thousand, but that didn’t seem right somehow.

So I decided to put it into the lottery, where anyone who donated to Heifer International on our team page would have a chance at winning it. That seemed fair to me, more egalitarian.

But then something strange happened. At the end of the fundraiser the person who won the book gave it back to us. Their one stipulation is that we auction it off next year, so it would raise more money for Heifer. So….

2010: Stardust on the Auction Block.

During year three of Worldbuilders, we auctioned off all manner of things. And, as the previous winner requested, we put Gaiman’s Stardust ARC up on eBay too.

After some fierce bidding it sold for over $2500 to a lovely guy named Dan. There were many high-fives in Worldbuilders central. We were sad to see the book go, but $2500 bucks buys a lot of goats.

But when I e-mailed Dan to arrange shipping, he said he wanted to donate the book back to Worldbuilders.

I asked Dan if he was sure. He said he was sure. I asked Dan how he got to be so cool, and he said he was inspired by the story of how last year’s winner re-donated the book.

But most of the credit, he said, should go to his mom. She always made a point of donating to charity even though she never had a lot of money. Not only that, but she was a dyed-in-the-wool geek like the rest of us: she read fantasy and sci-fi, she played Infocom games…

From everything I’ve heard, she sounds like my kind of lady.

Dan told me she had passed away recently, and most of the money he inherited from her went into buying this book. He thinks she would be proud and happy to know that the money will go to helping as many people as possible through Heifer.

Dan also said that he was a big Gaiman fan, and that he hoped that this whole exchange didn’t give Gaiman a complex because nobody would keep his book….

His only stipulation was that we put the book back into the lottery next year, so anyone could win it….

2011: Stardust Full Circle.

We put the ARC back into the lottery with much cheering. After picking the prizes, I called the winner, Maayan, to set up shipping (because you don’t want something like this to show up as a surprise on someone’s doorstep).

Maayan tells me no.  She wants it back in the fundraiser. It’s sort of a thing now.

I send her a box of books as a “Thanks for being cool” present.

And Stardust goes back on the shelf…

2012: Stardust as Statistical Anomaly.

In 2012, we put Stardust back in the lottery again. Mostly because I like the idea of this amazingly cool prize being something anyone can win.

At the end of the fundraiser, we run our numbers. We cross-reference our list of prizes with our list of winners.

Amanda ran through the house yelling, after she checked it three times.

When I’m told, I look at the assistant holding the handful of papers with grim, fatherly disapproval, telling them in the gentlest of terms that they’ve fucked up and are obviously using last year’s spreadsheets.

But no. The truth is, Maayan won it *again*. For the second year in row.

This is bizarre math, people. This is like Heart-of-Gold level improbability.

I called her. She was shocked, amused, and flustered. So we sent her the book.

And she sent us back a picture.

IMGP0664

Here’s what she had to say:

I was really extremely surprised to win the Stardust ARC two years ago, because I don’t think I’ve ever won any kind of online contest before. I was actually sitting in a hot tub on a ski trip to Colorado when Pat called, and my friends got to watch me make the craziest faces while on the phone. A few weeks later, Neil Gaiman sent me a little card with a picture he had drawn in it, which was so nice of him.

When Pat called me this year to say that I had won again, I’m pretty sure my first words were, “No, I did not!” Surprised doesn’t begin to describe it. If I win again this year, I’m going to start to be suspicious of your randomization algorithm.

Worldbuilders is such a great fundraiser, and Heifer International is an outstanding organization. I’m thrilled to take part. Thank you to Pat Rothfuss for putting it together, and thank you to all of the authors and artists who donate the prizes! I’ve enjoyed reading the fruits of your generosity.

Then Maayan sent it back to us again.

Thanks so much, Maayan. We’re glad you at least got to touch the book that seemed so desperate to meet you.

2013: Stardust In the Lottery Again.

Last year, Stardust chose a new person to love. It chose Jennifer.

She was overjoyed, happy to have won it, and just as happy to return it.

We sent her a care package full of goodies as a thank you.

And this year, we had a cool idea – we’ve instituted a Library Card system for the Stardust ARC.

IMG_20141201_170740

When I was a kid, every single library book had one of these. Even now, all these years later, the sight of one fills me with an indescribable joy.

Neil graciously agreed to sign the library cards for us.

NeilLibraryCard

What’s more, we are currently having all the previous winners signing the cards and passing them after keeping one for themselves of course (or two, in the case of Maayan).

That means this year, if the winner chooses to return the book, they will still have a keepsake to remember it by: signed by all the people who have loved the book before them, and the original donor, Neil Gaiman.

So, without further ado allow me to add today’s book to the lottery.

  • A numbered, ARC of Stardust in its own slipcase. Signed by Neil Gaiman.

Stardust (6)

Not much remains to be said here. It’s a beautiful book with its own slipcase. Numbered 28 out of 250. Signed by Gaiman.

If you donate to Heifer International on the Worldbuilders team page, you have a chance of winning not only this book, but hundreds upon hundreds of other books and game donated by authors, publishers, collectors and fans.

Every $10 you donate gets you a chance to win. So if you donate enough for honeybees ($30) you get three chances to win. Donate enough for a goat along with the training and materials to care for it ($120) and you get twelve chances to win. Donate enough to provide clean water for a village ($300) you get 30 chances to win.

And if that wasn’t enough by itself, this year Neil has agreed to do an Act of Whimsy, too. When we reach $600,000, he’s going to read a book for us, and if you donate, you get to vote on what he’s going to read.

Screen Shot 2014-11-13 at 2.58.01 PM

So far, the voting is pretty close, but there is a title in the lead:

#NeilReads 12.2

Where the Wild Things Are and Jabberwocky were tied earlier in the week, but since then Jabberwocky has re-taken the lead.

For those of you who feels strongly one way or the other, we made Facebook cover photos for each team you might be interested. So, if you’re Team Jabberwocky, Team Wild Things, Team Goodnight Moon, or Team Fox in Socks, you can let your geek flag fly on and promote it with the hope of converting your friends to your cause.

Thanks for being the greatest, people. Let’s make these last days count.

Also posted in Stardust ARC, Worldbuilders 2014 | By Pat24 Responses

The News: The Slow Regard of Silent Things

So here’s the news:

I have a book coming out around November-ish.

Slow Regard - Front

It’s not book three. It’s not a mammoth tome that you can use to threaten people and hold open doors.

It’s a short, sweet story about one of my favorite characters.

It’s a book about Auri.

That’s the news. The short version. If you’d like the long version, I’ll give that below….

*     *     *

I didn’t set out to write a book about Auri. I really didn’t.

What happened was this: a while back, I was invited to contribute something to George Martin’s Rogues anthology. I mentioned it a while back on the blog…

Wow. I just went looking for the blog post where I mentioned the Rogues anthology, only to discover that I kinda never wrote it.

Well. Okay. I guess y’all get a little side order of news with your news today:

rouges cover 2

I’m in this book too. It’s coming out in June.

What happened was this: a couple years back, George Martin and Gardner Dozois invited me to be in an anthology called Rogues. I said yes, because back in 2009, when I was working on The Wise Man’s Fear, they’d invited me to participate in a different anthology: Star Crossed Lovers.

But in 2009 I was behind deadline and freaked out about it. So I said “No” and went back to struggling with WMF. It broke my heart a little. Because it’s one of those anthologies you dream about being invited to. It was the anthology equivalent of getting invited to the cool-kid party back in high-school.

Anyway, when they asked me to contribute a story to Rogues back in 2012, I said yes for two reasons.

1. Because how fucking cool is it to be in this anthology? Look at my name up there, right next to Neil Gaiman’s. Seriously. Look at that. My name is almost touching Neil Gaiman’s name….

I know I should be cooler about this. I should pretend that I’m a professional and a grown-up and everything. But I’m really not. I’m still the same person who read Neverwhere back in the late 90’s and went, “What? Seriously? You can do that?”

And now I’m anthology-buddies with him. In fact, Gaiman’s story is “How the Marquis Got his Coat Back.” It’s about the Marquis De Carabas from Neverwhere.

The other reason I said yes was…

2. I’d had a story idea about Auri tickling around my head for a while. What’s more, I thought she would make a nice counterpoint to some of the other  classic rogue-type characters in the anthology. Sort of a trickster rogue, as opposed to a thief, swashbuckler, or a con man.

“Besides,” I thought to myself. “It’s just a short story. Three or four thousand words. Maybe 6 or 7 thousand if I run long. That’s about two week’s writing, tops.”

So I started writing about Auri. But as it unfolded, it went in directions I hadn’t expected. The story was… strange. I hit 3000 words and I was barely started. Writing about the Underthing was more complicated than I’d anticipated.

So the story got longer. I hit 7ooo words without even realizing it. I kept going, unearthing more secrets about Auri and the Underthing.

Eventually I hit about 15,000 words and forced myself to stop. It wasn’t going to work for the anthology, it was too long, and it wasn’t a trickster tale of the sort I initially expected it to be. Honestly didn’t know what the hell kind of story it was, but it wasn’t going to work for the anthology.

I e-mailed George and Gardner and begged for an extension on my deadline. They were very kind and understanding. I tried a few different things that failed miserably, then I realized who *really* belonged in an anthology about Rogues: Bast. Once I figured that out, I wrote “The Lightning Tree” for the anthology, and it worked out really well.

But I was stuck with half a story. Half a strange story. Half a strange, too-long story that wasn’t doing the things a story is supposed to do.

Reluctantly, I walked away from it and went back to working on book three. I love Auri, and the story had an odd sweetness to it. But I had work to do.

But the Auri story kept tickling at me. And let me tell you this, having a half-finished story stuck in your head is ten times worse than having a song stuck in there.

And there’s only one way to get it out. So when I came to a good stopping point in my revisions, I went back to the Auri story. It just wouldn’t leave me alone.

It ended up over 30,000 words long. An odd length for me. Much too long for a short story. Much shorter than my usual novels. (For a frame of reference, 30,000 words is about the same length as Neil Gaiman’s Coraline.)

What’s more, the story had unfurled into something full of secrets and mysteries. Something sweet and strange. Not a normal sort of story at all. I suppose it was silly of me to assume a story about Auri would be usual in any way.

The problem was, I had no idea what to do with it. I liked the story, but I like strange things. And I’m fond of Auri. And most importantly, I’m the author. Asking me if I like my story is like asking a mom if she likes her baby….

I showed it to a few people, and they seemed to like it pretty well. But they were friends, you can only trust them to be so honest with you.

I revised it a couple times, then showed it to a few authors. They liked it, but they agreed, it was an odd story.

Then I took a big risk and showed it to Vi Hart. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier blog where she put some of my lyrics to music, we are now Best Friends.

So I knew her, and respected her opinion, but since we haven’t known each other very long, I trusted her to tell me the truth.

She read it, and we talked about the story. She pointed out some things she thought were problematic. I agreed. She pointed out some things she liked, and I was flattered.

We were in a bar in San Fransisco at this point. The Casanova. We’d spent a lovely evening together, and I was drinking a little bit, which is unusual for me. And it might be because of that that I started to lament the fact that the story was kind of a hot mess. Good stories are supposed to contain certain elements, I explained, and my story didn’t have those things.

Vi said she liked it.

I told her I liked it too, but that didn’t change the fact that people expect certain things from a story. If people read this story looking for those things, they wouldn’t get them, they’d be dissatisfied. Disappointed.

And Vi said something I hope she’ll forgive me for paraphrasing here without asking her first. She said, “Fuck those people. Those people get all the other stories in the world. Everyone writes stories for them. This story is for people like me. We deserve stories too.”

That shut me up. Because she’s right. It might not be for everyone. But not every story has to be for everyone. Maybe this was just a story for people like me and Vi. People who are curious about Auri and the life she leads. People who are, perhaps, not entirely normal.

Vi said a few other things that gave me enough confidence to send the story to my agent. He liked it, and said we should show it to Betsy, my editor at DAW. Betsy liked it. Really liked it. The people in her office liked it.

That made me think that maybe it *was* a story for everyone. Or maybe there are more people like me and Vi in the world than either of us expected.

Anyway, the end result is this:

Slow Regard - Front

I’ll have more details about it later. Exact dates. If and when I’m touring. Those things are still up in the air a bit right now.

But today’s the day we’re officially announcing the cover, showing it off to people at C2E2 and letting it out onto the internet. I’ve been holding off on this post so y’all could be some of the very first people to see it.

I think a lot of you are going to like it.

Fondly,

pat

Also posted in book covers, cool news, geeking out, Stories about stories., the business of writing | By Pat157 Responses

Signed Rarities by Gaiman and Pratchett

Things are going really well over here at Worldbuilders. We’re closing in on the end of the fundraiser, so headquarters is a whirlwind of activity. Every day more books come in from authors and publishers, blogs are assembled by our team of indentured internet elves, and orders are packaged and shipped out from our online store.

Best of all, donations keep rolling in on the Worldbuilders Team page.

In fact, donations are coming in so quickly we’re having trouble keeping up with our stretch goals. As I write this, we’re at 347,000 dollars, which means if we raise another $3,000 Hank Green will record a video of himself seducing a tree.

Seriously.

If people continue to chip in, it looks like we’ve got a decent chance of hitting our $500,000 goal, where Neil Gaiman will record a video of himself reading Green Eggs and Ham.

You know you want to see that.

*     *     *

Today we’ve got works from two of my very favorite authors: Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett.

These items have been donated by different folks over the last year. Some of them are going up for auction, and some of them you can win by donating directly to Heifer International on the Worldbuilders Team Page.

Let’s start with Terry Pratchett.

Last Hero cover

“A fable? Perhaps. Fabulous? Certainly” – The Times

This is a bit of an oddity, as it’s one of the few Discworld novels that’s illustrated. What’s more, the illustrator has signed this copy, making it increasingly awesome.

As with most of the books in today’s blog, we’re putting this one in the lottery, where anyone who donates at least $10 gets a chance to win it. (And if you donate more, your chances of winning improve too.)

My thought is this book will either find a loving home in the arms of a Pratchett fan, or it will brighten the lives of a person (a sad, lonely person) who hasn’t experienced the joy of Discworld yet.

  • Auction: A copy of The Art of Discworld. Signed by Paul Kidby.

Art of Discworld - lying

Paul Kidby has been doing the art for Discworld for about 20 years, and it’s always hilarious and beautiful. This book has full versions of some of the works he’s made for dust jackets and other prints, as well as some paintings that aren’t available anywhere else.

This book is also signed by Mr. Kidby, so we’re auctioning it off over here.

Daybreak Kidby Print - full

Here we have a great faerie print by Paul Kidby.  It’s a different side to his artwork, and was featured in a collection of art called La Royaume Enchante.

We have a print of it up for auction, so if you want in, be sure to go bid on it.

Greebo Rising

This is a really great print of Nanny Ogg’s cat Greebo, about to pounce on an unsuspecting little fellow.

It’s extra cool because it’s signed by both Paul and Terry Pratchett, and is numbered 696 out of 950.

If you want to hang this beautiful beast on your wall, go bid on it before someone else does.

Death Print and Book

We’re bundling both of these together for fans of Terry Pratchett’s Death character.

This is a great print signed by Terry and Paul, as well as an awesome mapbook of Death’s domain signed by the artist himself, Paul Kidby.

If you want to add these to your collection, you can bid on them over here.

*     *     *

Now on to the Neil Gaiman items…

  • Auction: Media print, modeled by Amanda Palmer. Numbered and signed by Lee Moyer.

Amanda P Moyer Pinup

 (Click to embiggen)

This is a numbered print of the pin-up Lee Moyer did for Neil Gaiman’s page in last year’s Pin-up-calendar.

Neils rockstar wife, Amanda Palmer, was the model for this delightfully meta depiction of Media. So this print is sure to please any fan of American Gods, Neil Gaiman, or Amanda Palmer herself…

To bid, head over here.

Fortunately the Milk - signatures

This awesome children’s book is Gaiman’s most recent publication, and this edition is signed by both him and the illustrator. That thing tucked in by Chris’s signature is a little metal bookmark with the Neil cartoon screened onto it.

We’re throwing it into the lottery, so anyone can share it with the kid (or child-like adult) in their life.

Stardust - standing

“A twisting, wondrous tale full of magic that only Neil Gaiman could have written.” – Chicago Tribune

If you don’t win our beloved Stardust ARC in the lottery this year, you still have a chance at winning this beautiful, signed copy.

  • First edition copy of Fragile Things.  Signed by Neil Gaiman.

Fragile Things - standing

“Half the pleasure of reading Gaiman comes from his lighthearted prose… the other half comes from Gaiman’s inventiveness.  His work resists categorization… Gaiman not only taps into our collective unconscious… but reinvents our myths.” – Houston Chronicle

This is a great collection of some of Gaiman’s short fiction and poetry.  If you haven’t read any of that before, you’re going to have to, and soon.

Melinda - standin

 

This is a beautiful story, and seriously hard to come by.  Most places, it goes for as much as $500. It’s printed on specially selected red-speckled paper with black and white illustrations and several color plates that were hand-set.

What’s more, It’s double signed on the first plate (once in silver marker and once in purple), which makes it double cool. Or maybe four times as cool. I’m not sure about the math here…

This one’s in the lottery too. So every $10 you donate on our Team Page gets you another chance to win it and all the other books we have in the lottery.

Dangerous Alphabet - cover

“Gaiman and Grimly have combined forces to produce an acrid, gothic confection that bubbles with vitriol and wit.” – ALA Booklist

  • Auction: A first-edition copy of Duran Duran: The First Four Years of the Fab Five. Signed by Neil Gaiman.

DuranDuran - Standing

I’ll say it before you do: What does a Duran Duran biography have to do with Neil Gaiman?

Well, this was actually the *first* book Neil Gaiman ever wrote.

It’s ridiculously rare, as the publisher went bankrupt after the book had only one small print run. Plus, people didn’t know they should be collecting their beloved Duran Duran biographies back in the 80s. Apparently, lots of people cut up their copies for the pictures.

So when Worldbuilders fan David saw a copy out in the wild, he felt he *needed* to pick it up. And when he got it signed, Gaiman wrote: “This is one from the vaults…”

Then David sent us to us. And we did a little dance.

For the truly avid Neil Gaiman collector, or someone who’s really into Duran Duran, this rarity is up for auction over here.

  • Auction: A numbered edition copy of A Screenplay.  Signed by Neil Gaiman.

Screenplay Cover

Another rarity, this is numbered 436 out of 500.  It’s a beautiful copy of the book which was never available for general sale, and hasn’t been read by many.

If you want one for your very own, you can bid on it over here.

  • A limited edition copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Signed and inscribed by Neil Gaiman specially for Worldbuilders.

Ocean at - Standing

As I’ve mentioned before on my blog and in my goodreads review, I had a fairly major geek out over Ocean at the End of the Lane.

So I couldn’t be more pleased when, before we were even requesting donations, Neil offered to send this copy in for Worldbuilders this year.

It’s a lovely, slipcased, limited edition book, and Gamain added his own flourish to it.

Ocean at - inscription

Honestly? When I saw that, it made my heart a little melty.

This one’s going in the lottery too.

  • A complete set of  The Absolute Sandman Volumes 1-5.  Signed by Neil Gaiman.

Sandman - stack

I’m guessing most of you know about Sandman. It’s a comic series that finally convinced a lot of people (including me) that comics were a brilliant storytelling medium in their own right. That comics could be as marvelous and orchestral and clever as anything ever written by Shakespeare or Chaucer or Homer.

These are the Absolute editions of the entire Sandman series. The art has been retouched. And they’re collected into gorgeous, slipcased, hard-bound books.

Just calling these “books” doesn’t give the right impression. These are Tomes.

Sandman - towering

Here’s the thing. These weren’t originally going to be in the fundraiser.

You see, couple months ago I found these in a store. The whole set. Signed. And I love Sandman. And I love Gaiman. And I love beautiful books. I wanted them with a powerful powerful want. I coveted these books.

So I bought them. I spend kind of a lot of of money on them.

Then, a couple days ago, we were planning out the blogs. And we were putting a bunch of cool Neil Gaiman stuff in the blog, and I thought to myself, “If I put these into the prize lottery, anyone who donates to Worldbuilders will be able to win them.”

Sandman - signature

But they were my books. They were precious to me. My precious.

“They’ll make an awesome prize,” I thought. “Some book geek out there will win them. And they’ll love these books. And they’ll give them a good home. And they will be really, really happy.”

Sandman wall

But they were my books. I hadn’t even had a chance to read them yet.

“People will get excited about them,” I thought to myself. “And people will go in and donate a little more with the hope of winning them, because they are beautiful. And those people will have warm, fuzzy feelings because they’ve made the world a better place. And kids all over the world will have milk to drink and eggs to eat. Kids will get to go to school and have better lives.”

So. I’m putting them into the lottery.

For every ten bucks you donate, you get a chance to win. Not just the books we’re showing here, but over a thousand books donated by authors, fans, and publishers. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of books.

Here’s the link.

Also posted in Worldbuilders 2013 | By Pat29 Responses

A Cold Day, A Warm Fuzzy, and a Familiar Book….

Well folks, as many of you know, we’re having a bit of a cold snap here in Wisconsin.

It’s not the coldest weather I’ve ever seen. But it is cold. -20 something Fahrenheit. Or, if you’re part of the logistically consistent world, -30 degrees Celsius.

If you count the windchill, we’re closer to -40. Which, interestingly enough, is that magical place where both Celsius and Fahrenheit shake hands and agree on a number.

We’re no strangers to the cold here in Wisconsin, but this is enough to catch even our jaded attention. It’s cold enough that we’re having to make some concessions. For one thing, I actually put on gloves earlier this evening, and I buttoned up my coat.

The other thing I’ve done is to give everyone at Worldbuilders the day off. Some of them have to commute to work, and not to sound all sissy, but this *is* the sort of cold that can kill you pretty easily if your car quits on some back road.

You see, while I may be a tyrannical dictator of a boss, I like to think of myself as a benevolent tyrannical dictator. The sort that stops just short of risking my employees’ lives.

Lastly, something in the cold brings out the storyteller in me. So I’m going to tell you a story. A story about a book. Some of you might have heard it before, but it bears repeating.

And there’s a new chapter this year. Read on, my friend.

*     *     *

If you’ve been following Worldbuilders for the last couple years, you probably know about our now-mythical Stardust ARC. It’s a book that has been with the fundraiser since the beginning, since 2008….

2008: A Gift from Gaiman.

In 2008 I was still a newbie author, barely published for a year. On a whim, I decided to try raising money for Heifer International on my blog. As you can guess, things quickly spiraled out of control as other authors pitched in, helping spread the word and donating books for us to give away.

The pinnacle of the coolness/madness came when Neil Gaiman mentioned us to his vast legion of readers. He also donated a rare ARC of Stardust to the cause. Unfortunately, mail was delayed because of the holidays, so we couldn’t use the book until….

2009: Stardust for the People.

So we had this book. This beautiful book. This beautiful, *rare* book. And I was having a hard time deciding how best to use it. I knew we could auction it off and raise at least a thousand dollars, maybe a couple thousand, but that didn’t seem right somehow.

So I decided to put it into the lottery, where anyone who donated to Heifer International on our team page would have a chance at winning it. That seemed fair to me, more egalitarian.

But then something strange happened. At the end of the fundraiser the person who won the book gave it back to us. Their one stipulation is that we auction it off next year, so it will bring in more money for Heifer. So….

2010: Stardust on the Auction Block.

During year three of Worldbuilders, we auctioned off all manner of things. And, as the previous winner requested, we put Gaiman’s Stardust ARC up on eBay too.

After some fierce bidding it sold for over $2500 to a lovely guy named Dan. There were many high-fives in Worldbuilders central. We were sad to see the book go, but $2500 bucks buys a lot of goats.

But when I e-mailed Dan to arrange shipping, he said he wanted to donate the book back to Worldbuilders.

I asked Dan if he was sure. He said he was sure. I asked Dan how he got to be so cool, and he said he was inspired by the story of how last year’s winner re-donated the book.

But most of the credit, he said, should go to his mom. She always made a point of donating to charity even though she never had a lot of money. Not only that, but she was a dyed-in-the-wool geek like the rest of us: she read fantasy and sci-fi, she played Infocom games…

From everything I’ve heard, she sounds like my kind of lady.

Dan told me she had passed away recently, and that most of the money he inherited from her went into buying this book. He thinks she would be proud and happy to know that the money will go to helping as many people as possible through Heifer.

Dan also said that he was a big Gaiman fan, and that he hoped that this whole exchange didn’t give Gaiman a complex because nobody would keep his book….

His only stipulation was that we put the book back into the lottery next year, so anyone can win it….

2011: Stardust Full Circle.

We put the ARC back into the lottery with much cheering. After picking the prizes, I called the winner, Maayan, to set up shipping (because you don’t want something like this to be a surprise on a doorstep).

Maayan tells me no.  She wants it back in the fundraiser. It’s sort of a thing now.

I send her a box of books as a “Thanks for being cool” present.

And Stardust goes back on the shelf…

2012: Stardust as Statistical Anomaly.

In 2012, we put Stardust back in the lottery again. Mostly because I like the idea of this amazingly cool prize being something anyone can win.

At the end of the fundraiser, we run our numbers. We cross-reference our list of prizes with our list of winners.

Amanda ran through the house yelling, after she checked it three times.

When I’m told, I look at the assistant holding the handful of papers with grim, fatherly disapproval, telling them in the gentlest of terms that they’ve fucked up and are obviously using last year’s spreadsheets.

But no. The truth is, Maayan won it *again*. For the second year in row.

This is bizarre math, people. This is like Heart-of-Gold level improbability.

I called her. She was shocked, amused, and flustered. So we sent her the book.

And she sent us back a picture.

IMGP0664

Here’s what she had to say:

I was really extremely surprised to win the Stardust ARC two years ago, because I don’t think I’ve ever won any kind of online contest before. I was actually sitting in a hot tub on a ski trip to Colorado when Pat called, and my friends got to watch me make the craziest faces while on the phone. A few weeks later, Neil Gaiman sent me a little card with a picture he had drawn in it, which was so nice of him.

When Pat called me this year to say that I had won again, I’m pretty sure my first words were, “No, I did not!” Surprised doesn’t begin to describe it. If I win again this year, I’m going to start to be suspicious of your randomization algorithm.

Worldbuilders is such a great fundraiser, and Heifer International is an outstanding organization. I’m thrilled to take part. Thank you to Pat Rothfuss for putting it together, and thank you to all of the authors and artists who donate the prizes! I’ve enjoyed reading the fruits of your generosity.

That’s right, Maayan sent it back to us again.

Thanks so much, Maayan. We’re glad you at least got to touch the book that seems so desperate to meet you.

And without further ado, we’re putting it back in the lottery.

  • A numbered, limited edition ARC of Stardust in its own slipcase. Signed by Neil Gaiman.

Stardust (6)

Not much remains to be said here. It’s a beautiful book with its own slipcase. Numbered 28 out of 250. Signed by Gaiman.

If you donate to Heifer International on our team page, you have a chance of winning not only this book, but hundreds upon hundreds of other books donated by other authors, publishers, collectors and fans.

If you’d like to see some of the auctions we’re running, you can head over to our eBay page.

If you’d like more details about Worldbuilders itself, you can hit our Website, or read my blog.

You can also see all the items in the lottery here.

Stay warm everyone,

pat

Also posted in cool things, Stardust ARC, Worldbuilders 2013 | By Pat61 Responses

Name of the Wind Kickstarter: Final Days and the Coolest. News. Ever.

Honestly folks, I don’t even know where to begin today. I’ve got a lot of cool news to share about the Kickstarter.

And this is legitimately cool news. Not bullshit cool news that I just made up so I could pimp the project one last time before it closes in less than two days.

devi-colored

(Click to Embiggen Devi)

Because it *is* over in less than two days. Be warned.

Note: Please stay tuned to the end. Or skip directly down there. We have stunning news at the end of the blog.

  • We Crushed Everything

In the last blog I wrote about this project, I mentioned that if our Kickstarter hit 160K we would be the highest funded card-based Kickstarter ever.

The next day y’all stomped in to the tune of about 70,000 dollars, blowing past that goal and every other stretch goal we’d planned out.

In celebration, Shane drew a picture of me as a sort of great Krakken-bearded beast.

8bfc4f37d96d96c6fbd507a7959386a2_large

Because everyone loved it so much, we made the art available as magnet and t-shirt add-ons.

We currently stand at 440,000 dollars. Almost three times the previous record. The video of me singing will be forthcoming.

  • More Jots

I added 100 more jots to the kickstarter, doubling the previous levels.

I mention this early in the blog so those you can hopefully go and grab some before they’re all gone again.

Jot-ty1-02

Here’s a picture of the finished product, complete with the maker’s mark. Rest assured, more jots will be available in the future. Both in the Tinker’s Packs, and as a Worldbuilders fundraiser toward the end of the year.

  • Better Gaff Cards

Here’s the thing: all poker decks come with 2 gaff cards. They’re pretty useless. They usually have the rules for poker or some advertizement.

Shane and I came up with the idea of replacing them with something cool. We set stretch goals, then burned right through them….

So now we’re having:

1. A Lorren Gaff card that people can use as a bookmark. (Image forthcoming.)

2. A Willem Gaff card that you can use as a replacement card in your deck in case one of the cards is damaged.

All the Limited and Unlimited decks will have these Gaff cards included free.

We do this because we love you.

  • Signed Lorren Bookplates

Using the Lorren card art, Shane is going to make me a bookplate. My very first bookplate ever.

There’s only two ways of getting this bookplate.

1. You can add one to your order for five bucks. (Up to three.)

2. You get one for free if your order is $135 or more.

That’s it. Those are the only two ways to get them.

Would I love to include these bookplates with every order? Yes. But as it is, please understand that I’m going to be signing, like, 3000 of them. If I gave one away with every order, I’d be signing them for *days.*

That said, we have a stretch goal set at 450K. If we hit that, I’ll give one to everyone who buys in for 100 bucks or more.

  • Marked Cards

Or, as I like to think of it, the Taborlin deck.

I’ve always wanted a deck of marked cards. So I asked Shane if we could do one. And he said yes. And so we are…

You can add a marked deck to any Kickstarter pledge for 15 bucks. And they have a different back from the others.

tabback[3]

(I love the imagery here.)

Now here’s the thing: am I creating a deck of cards for cheaters?

No. I’m making a marked deck of cards. Because I think it’s cool.

Now you could use this deck of cards for evil if you wanted. But that’s your choice. You can use a screwdriver to kill someone if you wanted. That’s not necessarily what a screwdriver is for.

I like to think of this as the Taborlin deck because it will be *awesome* for card tricks.

Also, I’d get together with my friends and have a night of poker where everyone *tries* to cheat. Where it is effectively, *fair* to cheat. We would also probably drink whiskey and pretend to be cowboys of some sort.

Because I am seven years old inside, apparently.

In this deck, the gaff cards won’t be Wil and Lorren. They’ll contain the details of the marked-card cypher.

  • International shipping on the poker sets

Because several of you asked for this in the comments, we’ve added that as a special donation tier. (The rest of you can add the box sets as a simple add-on.)

541d706d0a2f5bc9a1ca85a7d8946817_large

The international shipping is expensive, but that’s because those high-quality clay chips are *heavy* and we’re going to be packaging them very, very carefully.

  • Guest appearances by Neil Gaiman and Felicia Day

Neil and Felicia graciously allowed us to use their likenesses for our two jokers: Elodin and Auri.

We listed these as stretch goals and met them less than a day later.

Reactions were divided. Some people made a vast ululating *squee* noise. Others said something along the lines of, “Boo! I want to see the *real* Auri and Elodin!”

So I just want to clarify things. We aren’t just going to draw Gaiman as Elodin, as if he were doing some sort of cosplay. That would be lame.

(Actually, that would be kinda awesome….)

But no. That’s not what’s going on here at all.

First off, the main reason Shane and I thought of Neil and Felicia is because they both possess certain characteristics we feel are very appropriate to Elodin and Auri.

Hell, I did an interview with Felicia on my blog back in 2008. Back before she was FELICIA DAY. While we were chatting, I asked which part she’d pick if she could play anyone in The Name of the Wind movie. She said, “My dream role would be Auri. I like playing damaged goods….”

And I thought, Yeah. I could totally see that. She has a whimsy about her that would be perfect….

Does that mean Auri is going to have red hair like Felicia? No. Obviously not. Auri will have Auri’s hair. But her expression and face will be influenced by Felicia’s because it works for the character.

It’s the same way we brought Jim Butcher in as everyone’s favorite Jackass:

amsam1

(God. I want to slap him so much….)

It doesn’t really look too much like Jim, but if you know it’s there, you can spot it.

Gaiman is a similar good fit for Elodin. Trust me about this. Neil and Felicia are perfect for my two wise fools.

  • Superhero Team-Up

Almost exactly 24 hours ago, I did a video conference with Shane and Erik, the folks behind Albino Dragon. We were going to plan our strategies for the final days of the kickstarter. Plan stretch goals. Talk strategy.

But before we could get into that, Shane said, “We’d like to give 5% of Albino Dragon to Worldbuilders.”

“Sorry?” I said.

“We’d like to give 5% of Albino Dragon to Worldbuilders.”

And then I just kinda sat there. I knew what he’d said, but I didn’t quite believe he’d said it.

So I asked. “Do you mean you’d like to give Worldbuilders a piece of the profit from this project? More than we already negotiated?”

No, he said. Then he explained again.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

Shane and Erik have built this company themselves with their time and energy, with their blood and sweat and money.

And they want to give a piece of it to Worldbuilders.

We couldn’t mention it on the kickstarter itself, of course. Because kickstarter projects can’t be directly associated with charities.

But yes, they were serious.

“And if we hit 500,000 before the end of the kickstarter,” Erik said. “We’d like to give you another 5%.”

It’s not often that I’m caught completely flat-footed and at a loss for words. But I was, I honestly was.

Eventually I kinda pulled myself together. “That’s really amazingly generous of you guys,” I said. “It’s amazingly kind of you. I’m so flattered, and I’m floored, and I’m stupefied. It’s one of the most ridiculously generous things anyone has ever offered me, and I don’t know how to respond.”

Then I paused and took a deep breath. “But maybe you want to think this over. Chat about it. Make sure it’s something you really want to do. We can talk about it some more tomorrow.”

And they kinda laughed at me. They explained that they’d already thought it over and talked about it. Which is why they were making me the offer now.

I nodded for a while kinda absentmindedly, getting my head together.

“If you let me tell this story on my blog,” I said. “Me and my people will blow the fucking roof off the last two days of this kickstarter. We will bring thunder and fury to your very door. We will shake the earth.”

They said they were okay with that.

So. Here is our 500K stretch goal.

500k

Now. Let’s be honest here. Are Shane and Erik being generous? Absolutely.

Are they being perfect, saintlike altruists? No. They’re clever folks. Really amazingly clever. Because with a single piece of outside-the-box thinking and startling generosity, they’ve brought me onto their team. I’m going to *so* many projects with them in the future. So many.

And you know what? I’m fine with that. Because they do awesome work.

This is the best sort of cleverness. The sort of cleverness where everyone is awesome, and everyone wins.

Now I’m not asking y’all to rush over and join the kickstarter. If you’ve already signed up, I’m not asking you to run over and increase your order.

But if you were thinking of picking up some of the new add-ons anyway…. Well, you can make that purchase knowing that an even larger portion of the money is going to a good cause.

And if you have a friend that loves NOTW, and you wanted to buy them an deck of cards as early Christmas present…. Well, you can rest assured that not only will that deck be as awesome as I can make it, but that the money is going directly to the artists. To the company they themselves own.

And if you wanted to twitter about this. Or talk about it on your blog. Or drop a link to this blog on facebook….

Well, I’d take that as a kindness. Because we have less than two days left.

And I’d really like to show Shane and Erik that they’ve made a good choice here.

Later space cowboys,

pat

P.S. If you have any questions about the kickstarter. You can ask them in the comments here. I’ll answer the ones I can. But tomorrow’s a busy day, and I’m flying out to Ohio for a convention.

So if some of the more kickstarter-savvy among you can help out with some answers too, I’d really appreciate it.

Also posted in being awesome, calling on the legions, cool news, Felicia Day, Jim Butcher | By Pat137 Responses

A Paean for Gaiman or What I Learned Reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane

So Neil Gaiman has a new book coming out in June. It’s called The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

I mention this for those of you who live deep in the wilderness or high atop some craggy mountain. (I’m assuming you access my blog with the help of some sort of friendly pigeon, or by using a type of prana-bindu meditation.)

I assume everyone except a complete eremite knows this book is coming out. Because generally speaking, I’m pretty clueless, and I’ve known about it for over half a year.

That means for half a year I have *craved* this book. I have desired it with a sort of grim, white-knuckled intensity that is normally the purview of sociopaths and teenage boys.

The worst part was that I knew Advance Reading Copies existed somewhere, but I didn’t know who I could schmooze to get one. You see, I’m at that point in my career where I know how publishing works, but I’m not exactly sure if it’s entirely cool to… say… contact Neil’s publisher and just ask for an ARC.

Trapped between my powerful desires and my own uselessness, eventually I did the modern equivalent of crying out the name of my beloved to the unfeeling sky, which is to say that I whined about it on goodreads.

Surprisingly, this helped a bit. I got it off my chest and was able to move on with my life.

Then, months later, when I’d almost manged to forget about it, something arrived in the mail:

full book

And on the back cover….

Back coverWait. Wait for it….

It gives me a tingle

Y’know, I feel like I should try to be cool about this. I am a professional author after all, have been for years. That means in some odd way I’m a colleague of Gaiman’s. Part of me feels that, as a professional, I should feign some sort of nonchalance about getting this book.

But it’s just not true. I am the furthest thing from nonchalance. I am brim-full of chalance. Overflowing with it.

The truth is, when I opened the envelope and saw this book, my heart actually beat faster. I was filled with a giddy joy. For a couple days, I carried it around with me. I showed it to my friends, filling them with rage and despair.

The truth is, I’m not a grown up. Underneath all of this, I’m still the same kid who used to spend all his allowance at Waldenbooks.

The truth is, I love books. I love them beyond all reason and sense. I will not pretend otherwise, and I am not ashamed. I am a geek, and the thought of having a special book signed by one of my absolute favorite authors fills me with a ridiculous and disproportionate amount of joy.

So. I got the book. My fondest wish. My heart’s desire.

You know about the shape of stories. You know where things go after this. Now we gently slide into a sweet and simple ending, an easy ever-after. Right?

No. Oh no. If you think that then you’re forgetting who I am. You’re forgetting who Gaiman is too.

I lack the ability to write a simple story with a simple ending. (I am, even now, telling you a story about a story. I cannot help it.)

And Gaiman’s stories, while they may be sweet, are never merely sweet. And when his stories are simple, they are deceptively so.

So this is the place where the story takes a turn.

*     *     *

Once I had the book, I did not read it.

At first the reason was a simple one. I was in the middle of a book. I can’t stop a book halfway any more than you can stop a sneeze. Neither can I read two books at once. The very idea strikes me as being vaguely obscene.

So I finished the book I was reading.

But still I didn’t read The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

The problem this time was that I was busy, putting in 12-14 hour days. Then I was traveling and didn’t want to risk taking the book. When I returned, I was swamped again, desperately trying to catch up on the work I had missed.

Then I caught up a little bit. Not entirely, but enough to have some breathing room. Enough to read.

Still I didn’t read the book.

Through all of this, the book sat on my desk where I could see it. It was nice having it there. Looking at it made me happy. Sometimes I would reach out and touch it a little bit. Occasionally I would pick it up and turn it over in my hands a little.

Then I would put it back down, unopened and unread.

I didn’t think much about it at first. After all, I was still busy. I would wait until I had enough time to relax and enjoy it….

So it continued to sit by my computer. I would reach out and touch it. Its presence comforted me.

Then, after a couple of days, something occurred to me. This is addict behavior. This is exactly how an experienced drug addict with good coping mechanisms treats their stash. Those of you who have had junkie friends will probably know exactly what I’m talking about…

Once I started thinking about my reading in these terms, the parallels were a little disturbing. I read about 150 novels a year, that’s not counting the comic books I’m increasingly fond of. Not nearly as much reading as I used to do, but it’s still a hell of a lot considering I’m usually working 10-12 hours a day.

I binge read. I read compulsively. I have been known to break plans with others in favor of staying home and reading. When I go too long without reading, I get irritable and depressed. The list goes on and on…. 

It kinda sounds like I’m making a joke here, but I’m really not. While labeling my reading a full-blown addiction would be a little silly (not to mention insulting to folks who struggle with genuine chemical addictions) I actually suspect that I may have an honest-to-god compulsive obsession with reading.

That said, as far as compulsions go, I’m pretty okay with it.

Besides, even if I wanted to fight it at this point, I doubt I could break the habit. The thought fills me with genuine horror. (Which is, of course, another sign of addiction.)

Still, the realization was a little troubling. So, looking for a little comfort, I did what I always do.

I started reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane. The only reason it took two sittings is because the restaurant closed and kicked me out.

(I feel as if I should mention at this point there won’t be any spoilers in this blog. I don’t go in for that sort of thing.)

I will say this. It made me smile. I laughed out loud. I cried. Not because of any particular sad moment, but because sometimes the shape a story makes is like a key turning inside me and I cannot do anything but weep.

Gaiman’s stories do this to me with fair regularity, which is one of the reasons I’m so fond of him. We are not similar writers. Not at all. But I like to think we share a fondness for the shape of stories.

Ultimately, when you tell a friend about a book, there is only one truly meaningful question to answer: “Is this book worth your time?”

So I will simply say, “Yes.”

If you’re curious to hear more, I wax more rhapsodic over here on goodreads.

Later,

pat

P.S. Absolutely worth your time…..

Also posted in a few words you're probably going to have to look up, cool things, love, Stories about stories. | By Pat85 Responses
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