Category Archives: videos

Storm

Hello everybody.

Right now I’m writing like a motherfucker, putting finishing touches on a story I’ve owed someone for more than a year, so I can jump back into working on book three.

If you’re the curious sort, the title of the story (the *working* title, I should say, as I just came up with it last night) is “The Weight of Her Desire.”

I’m not sure it’s the proper title for this particular story. But even if I don’t end up using it, I think it’s a damn fine title. I’m proud of it. Titles are hard for me, because I’m very particular. And I’m not very good at throwing up my hands and saying, “Yeah, whatever. That’s good enough, I suppose….”

Since I don’t have much interesting else to say today, I thought I’d share something cool I ran into months ago. A video that instantly ignited my love for Tim Minchin, a comedian I didn’t know existed before.

Now, given that this is what I think of as content-heavy art, I feel like I need to make a statement about my position in regard to the content.

Do I agree with everything Minchin says here?

No. But I agree with about 90% of it. Maybe 85%.

That said, 85% agreement is really pretty good with me, as I am a cussed individual, and contrary.

So. Given that I dearly love that 85-90% in which we overlap, I’m willing to let the rest slide good naturedly.

And, given that I adore his artistry, his words, his comedic timing, and his biting vitriol, I figured I’d share this with y’all with the hope that it improves your day…

Yours in wasteful and ridiculous excess,

pat

Also posted in cool things, holding forth | By Pat48 Responses

Warm Fuzzies

Today we’re going to take a little break from the day-to-day business of Worldbuilders. We’ve had a busy couple weeks here.

We’ve still got a few auctions going on that you might want to take a peek at. But we won’t be launching any new ones until January. Worldbuilders runs until January 18th, so we still have plenty of time.

We’re not pausing the fundraiser so much as we’re slowing it down a bit. This is a busy time for everyone, and we don’t want to have to compete for your attention. This time of year folks are traveling and hosting. There are parties and winter blizzards. Plus a lot of folks are dealing with post-traumatic stress now that finals are over.

I’m talking about my fellow teachers, of course.

So today I’m just going to share some e-mails that have made me smile over the last couple weeks.

Pat,

Merry Christmas from Dubai! I just wanted to say hello, and let you know that what you are doing for Worldbuilders is amazing and inspirational. Given all the depressing news as of late, your efforts, and those of everyone involved, have been a real pick-me-up this season.

Brett

I hear you Brett. Every year Worldbuilders renews my faith in humanity a little. It also reminds me how delightfully generous the geek community can be. It’s nice to be reminded of how many cool people are out there, willing to give a little to make the world a better place.

Let’s have a picture while we’re at it. If we’re handing out warm fuzzies, there’s no sense being stingy…

(Pow. There you go. Right in the feels.)

This is what it’s all about folks. A dad being able to give milk to his little girl. That’s what we’re doing.

Huzzah.

*      *      *

A lot of times people write me to tell me of the experiences they’ve had with Worldbuilders. This e-mail was particularly interesting….

Heya Pat,

I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know about a way that your fundraiser has had an impact on the world other than in the obvious ways….

This holiday season, I’ve told my family that instead of gifts, I’d much rather they donated to Worldbuilders on my behalf. So I’ve found myself explaining what Worldbuilders is, and, by extension, what Heifer International does.

And you know what? Everyone loves it. My tree-hugging hippie relatives love it because it’s eco-savvy, sustainable, and helps people in need. My straight-laced conservative relatives like it because it encourages hard work and self-reliance. It doesn’t hurt that donations are tax deductible too…

Over the holidays, it’s been really nice to have something that we all can agree on, no matter what our particular political affiliations might be. That’s rare these days.

J.

 Some the conversions take a little longer than others, though….

Last night my husband and I were going over our list of people we still need to buy stuff for…

Him: Crap! We still need to get gifts for your whole family!
Me: No we don’t. I decided to donate to Heifer International in their name. I got them a goat.
Him: Wait, what? A goat?
Me: Yes, well they don’t actually get a goat. I donated a goat in their name.
Him: So you got them a goat that you aren’t going to to give them?
Me: (exasperated) Yes, it goes to a family in need!
Him: Can we not get a goat for my brother too? I feel he deserves to not get a goat for Christmas.
Me: I think you are missing the point…

 But unsurprisingly, my favorite stories are how parents and kids end up participating in the fundraiser together….

Yo Pat,

I know that this time a year, more than any, you’re SUPER busy with Worldbuilders and other such Pat-y (?) things. Like writing. Or staring at the fantasy pin-up calendar. Whatever.

I had to write you ESPECIALLY at this time of year, though. To thank you for creating Worldbuilders. Sure, sure.. there are tons of other charities out there and, even if you hadn’t created this awesome thing, I could feel good about spending my money in a few other equally kick-ass places. But being able to set my daughter on my lap and show her that we can give a flock of chicks or a goat to a family in need somewhere else has been priceless.

That daughter is 12 now. And donating to Worldbuilders this time a year has become a tradition. The kid makes it her Christmas present to the grandparents by donating in their name. Dude. So thank you. For creating a space that gives me the opportunity to teach my kid what giving really means. What compassion truly is. And, HELLO – for mom to have a chance at winning some pretty kickass geek-swag, too.

Salude

The swag is a pretty sweet bonus in the deal. I’ve actually kicked in $120 bucks on the team page (enough for a goat) hoping I might win some of the books we’ve got up for grabs this year.

We also have a video that someone created to help promote Worldbuilders. If the style looks familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen his work on Sword and Laser.

Isn’t that the best? I think I’m going to send him a little something in the mail…

Last but not least, I’d like to take a moment to thank you all for the help you’ve given to Worldbuilders so far.

Thank you.

Authors: thanks for sending in books, to say nothing you who also donate your time and talent, too.

Readers: thanks for donating on our Team Heifer Page, thanks for buying stuff from the Tinkers Packs, and bidding on our auctions.

Thanks for spreading the word to your family and friends. Thanks for blogging and tweeting about us. Thanks for writing stories for your local papers.

Thanks for letting our sponsors know that you appreciate their donations. Without them, Worldbuilders wouldn’t amount to much.

I’ll stop there.

If you happen to have a warm-fuzzy worldbuilders story of your own, feel free to share it in the comments below. This is the perfect time for it. Tis the season, and all of that…

Fondly,

pat

Also posted in fanmail, Warm Fuzzies, Worldbuilders 2012 | By Pat28 Responses

A little video….

We’re on the cusp of black Friday as I write this, a day I intend to spend not spending. If you follow me.

Rather than throw more books at y’all right now, when you’re still soppy with triptophan and being bombarded with advertizing from all other sides, I thought I’d share a little video I did last year that explains what Heifer International is all about.

If you’re curious. A goat costs about 120 bucks.

Also, here’s a link to the Worldbuilders team page. Y’know. Just in case you’re interested….

Hope y’all had a good Thanksgiving. Or for those of you not in the US, a good Thursday…

Best,

pat

Also posted in Worldbuilders 2012 | By Pat8 Responses

Episode 4: The Play’s the Thing

Here’s this month’s episode of StoryBoard, for those of you who haven’t caught it yet. Episode 4: The Play’s the Thing.

This month we broke with tradition in several ways. We pre-recorded the show in order to avoid election night bandwidth issues, and we invited four guests instead of the regular three.

Both experiments were a qualified success. Shooting the show earlier in the day allowed us to bring in parents and east-coasters Peter V. Brett, Myke ColeSaladin Ahmed, and Naomi Novick. We also managed to avoid running into election coverage by scheduling a week before the election.

The downside is that there was a *tiny* little hurricane going on during our hangout. I don’t think that helped our connectivity very much. We lost a few of our guests for a couple minutes here and there, but since all the authors involved were experienced speakers and tabletop RPGers, none of them were thrown too far off their game.

Did I mention that this month our focus was storytelling in roleplaying?

Here it is….

Share and Enjoy…

Also posted in gaming, Geek and Sundry, geeking out, the craft of writing, The Story Board, video games | By Pat14 Responses

Epic D&D….

So for those of you with power out there on the East Coast, here’s something that might take your minds off things for half an hour or so.

For the rest of you, it will provide a welcome break from political ads.

Last year at Confusion, Peter V. Brett had the brilliant idea that since a bunch of fantasy authors were all getting together in one place, and since we all played D&D back in the day, we should get together, and, well, be huge *HUGE* geeks for an afternoon.

And when I say “we,” what I really mean is Peter V. Brett, Joe Abercrombie, Myke Cole, Scott Lynch, Elizabeth BearSaladin Ahmed, Jay Lake, and Jim C. Hines. And me.

So we rocked it old school. We busted out the AD&D rules, rolled up some second level characters, and played Keep on the Borderlands.

All I can say is that I’m glad that someone rolled a camera on the event. Myke Cole and Saladin Ahmed acted as Co-GM’s and did a brilliant job of herding the sackful of cats guiding me and my fellow authors through the game.

Since then, we’ve had all the footage edited down and tidied up by my friend Erin. Here’s what we ended up with. The cinematography isn’t anything special, but the video itself really turned out amazingly funny. If you’ve ever role played, or if you have any interest in seeing authors descend to the pits of geekery, you should really take a look….

The fact that we finally got this video up and running gave me the inspiration for this month’s Storyboard, where we’re going to talk about Storytelling in RPG’s. (That’s foreshadowing, BTW.)

Some of the other authors have done their own write-ups of this event, and I don’t have much to add to this except to say that every single thing they say in there is absolutely true.

Brent Weeks

Myke Cole

Joe Abercrombie

More soon,

pat

Also posted in gaming, geeking out, the craft of writing, The Story Board | By Pat26 Responses

Video, Verse, and Veritas. (Or Verbosity, if you prefer.)

Today we have a video that tickled me more than just a little bit.

Figuratively, of course.

Also, I did an interview on SF Podcast that was a lot of fun. I had a bunch of caffeine right beforehand, so I was a chatty, chatty bitch.

So you can check that out if you like. If you’re into things that are fun….

Share and enjoy,

pat

Also posted in Interviews, podcasts, reviews, Surreal enthusiasm, the craft of writing | By Pat14 Responses

And the Winner is….

Many of you already know that my editor, Betsy Wollheim, was nominated for the Hugo Award  this year. If for no other reason than I talked about it on the blog a couple times.

Guess what happened this Sunday night?

She won.

Thanks to everyone who voted for her, spread the word, or even quietly rooted for her from the sidelines.

The only downside? I wasn’t at the award ceremony. Because I’m an idiot.

You see, I *was* at Worldcon, and I assumed the Hugo Awards were going to be on Saturday night. So when Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub invited me out to Seattle to be on Kris and Scott’s Scott and Kris show on Sunday night, I said, “Sure.”

So while my editor was winning her Hugo. I was in Seattle, catching the tail end of PAX and doing…. well… this:

More details about the show, and a transcript of the Kris’s fanfic are here.

And I’m not saying the show wasn’t fun. Because obviously it was.

And I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy getting to meet Johnathan Coulton out at PAX, because I did. I super did. And I found out he’s read my books, which gives me a happy.

And I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy being in Seattle, visiting the Geek Chic headquarters, having a great signing at the University Bookstore, and having some amazing Thai food.

I’m just saying I wish I could have been there to see the look on Betsy’s face.

More blogs are coming. Big announcements. Cool news.

Stay tuned.

pat

 

Also posted in awards, cool news, fanfic | By Pat28 Responses
  • RSS info

  • Visit Worldbuilders!

  • Our Store

  • Previous Posts

  • Archives



  • Bookmark this Blog!

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