Tag Archives: Myke Cole

The Tinker’s Packs: Signed Books, a New Poster, and a Game With Bast

Okay. For those of you waiting for news. I have news about that news. Meta-news, if you will.

The news-about-news is that I’ll be able to post up what I want to show you at the end of the week. Friday or Saturday. That will be my next blog.

And just so nobody’s hopes and dreams are crushed. It’s not going to be an announcement about the release of The Doors of Stone. But it will be an announcement about a book.

Is that vague enough for you?

Since I’ve got to hold off on that news, here’s something completely different for today…

*     *     *

As many of you already know, we run an online store called The Tinker’s Packs where you can buy…. well… kind of a whole bunch of stuff: Foreign editions of a lot of different fantasy books, t-shirts, jewelry, and hard-to-find copies of my books.

(Just so you know, all the money we make in the store goes to Worldbuilders.)

Last year, we tried a little experiment. In October, we put some signed books from other authors up in the store. New books that had just hit the shelves. It was a new thing for us, and we weren’t sure people would be interested.

They sold out in about a couple of hours.

Then in November, we tried it again. More new books signed by the authors.

Those sold out in just a couple hours too.

So we’ve decided to make this a regular thing. We’ll put up 3-4 new signed books in the store every month. You get to find out about new books, people get to add some cool signed copies of the books to their libraries, and Worldbuilders makes some money.

Everybody wins.

The only weak link in this plan is the name. I’ve been struggling to find a cool one, if we’re going to make this a regular thing. The best we’ve been able to come up with so far is “Library Builders.”

If y’all could come up with a better name, I’d welcome it. We’ll take suggestions down in the comments. If someone knocks it out of the park, they will be lavishly rewarded and promoted to minion first class, with all the privileges that entails.

Okay. Here’s what we’re adding to the store today. And remember, the books tend to sell fast, so if you want them, jump on them fast.

BreachZone - Bookplate

Here we’ve got the third book in the Shadow Ops series, and has been awesomely received so far. All the copies we have come with signed bookplates from Myke. Even cooler, one of the copies will come with one of the Challenge Coins Myke had printed as a special promo for his book. It was packaged in at random, so it’ll  be a surprise for everyone involved who gets it.

If you want one, get it before it’s gone.

Shibboleth

This is the sequel to The Twelve Fingered Boy. (My review on Goodreads, if you’re interested.) These are lovely first-edition hardcover copies, all signed by the author.

You can grab them over here.

SandersonBlogImage

This massive tome is the second in the Stormlight Archive series. Aside from putting Wise Man’s Fear to shame in word count, it hit #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.

If you don’t have your copy yet, why not buy it from us, and put some money toward a good cause at the same time?

  • New Boss Monster Promo Cards

Some of you might remember the folks over at Boss Monster from last year when they created a special promo card for Kvothe. They printed 200 of them, and we sold practically all of them at Gencon. The few we brought back and put in the store got snapped up really quickly.

This year, they’ve done two more promo cards exclusively for us. Both of them are versions of Bast.

Bastas_-_Epic_Thief

(Click to Embiggen.)

It’s a fun game that the crew here has really enjoyed.

If you’ve never played, you can pick up both the game *and* the two promo cards.

BossMonsterSet

Or, if you already have the game, and you’re just looking to fill out your sets, you have the option of buying  just the cards, whether you want just one or both together.

There aren’t many copies of the Epic Hero Bastas, so if you want one, you should probably grab it soon…

  • “Calling” Poster

calling-compressed

I’m pretty open about the fact that I have a profile on Deviantart where I skulk about, looking at fanart.

A while back, I found this lovely depiction of Kvothe and asked the artist (Beth, who has a great portfolio) if we could use it for Worldbuilders. Much to my surprise, she graciously donated the rights for us to make some posters. We’ve got 200 of them in the store signed and numbered.

That’s all for now. I’ll be seeing some of you in Chicago soon.

Fondly,

pat

Posted in The Tinker's Packs | By Pat107 Responses

Signed Books from Awesome Authors

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This is a Worldbuilders blog.

First, some news: Pat hasn’t mentioned it yet on the blog, but he’s had a baby. So we (the Worldbuilders team) are going to put together a blog or two for him because he’s trying to take care of Sarah, Oot, and the newest edition to the family. Codename: Cutie Snoo.

Now, on to the blog:

Authors are always some of our coolest donors.  The books are always signed, and the authors are always amazingly helpful and willing to participate in fun ways.  Our stretch goals this year are evidence of that.

So be sure to say thank you to everyone who donated if you get the chance.  Let’s check these out…

  • Auction: A set of Inda books: Inda, The Fox, King’s Shield, Treason’s Shore, and Banner of Damned. All first editions, signed and doodled by Sherwood Smith.  Also includes tapestry hand stitched by Sherwood Smith.

Inda Series with tapestry 2

Last year, Sherwood Smith took the time to draw the map from the Inda series, along with donating the full set of books.  This year she outshone even that, by hand-stitching a tapestry to send along with the books, all of which are intricately doodled first printings.

Sherwood's Doodles

(Click to embiggen)

These are truly one of a kind prizes, which Sherwood put a lot of time into.  We’ve put them into an auction so that someone who truly loves them for how special they are can have them.  If you’re that someone, go over here to bid.

  • A set of the UK editions of The Iron Druid Chronicles: Hounded, Hexed, Hammered, Tricked, Trapped, and Hunted. Signed by Kevin Hearne.

Iron Druid All

Kevin’s part in the Thank You Video last year may have been the office favorite, if only for his enthusiastic use of a flagon.  Most of the staff have read at least the first few novels in the Chronicles, and not a one has been disappointed.

“Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles has grown from strength to strength since its publication in 2011. Kevin’s writing style along with his characterization has made him the darling of urban fantasy readers all over the world.” – Fantasy Book Critic

Rig standing

This YA novel won the 2012 Young Writers Prize. It’s an up and comer, and doing pretty well for itself.

It’s also written by a long time fan.  Some of you who have been around for a while may recognize the author – our very own Captain Joe, winner of the previous photo contest and all-around awesome person.

“[The Rig] is a non-stop thrill ride from beginning to end, and as the first book in a series it left me wanting more come the final page. Even better, it did this without finishing on a massive cliffhanger – the story comes to a satisfying conclusion, but the door is wide open for the next installment.” – The Book Zone

  • Auction: Set of first-edition Black Jewels Novels: The Shadow Queen, Shalador’s Lady, Tangled Webs, and an ARC of Murder of Crows from The Others Series. Signed by Anne Bishop

Black Jewels standing

This is a great set of novels, all of which are first editions, and the ARC included won’t be published until March 2014.

If you want the sneak peek, be sure to go bid on this.

  • Copies of Marking Time.  Signed by April White, with signed boomarks.

Marking Time standing

It’s always nice when an author adds that extra little something, and these bookmarks are a nice touch to add to these books. This is the first book in a trilogy about a 17-year-old grafitti artist who finds herself sent back in time to fraternize with a bunch of immortals.

CarniePunk lying

We had some of these sent by Kevin Hearne last year, but Rachel Caine took the time to send us a few more.  The authors signed by their stories, and the collection itself is really worth sitting down with.

“The alternating currents of horror and fantasy that course through this volume ensure that readers of several genre tastes will find stories to their liking.” – Publishers Weekly

  • Set of the Ruby’s Song series:  The Creative Fire and The Diamond Deep. Signed by Brenda Cooper.

Rubys Song covers

“An intriguing protagonist, a well thought out setting, and… a fascinating story. I most definitely want to read the second volume of Ruby’s Song.” – SF Signal

Brenda Cooper is one of the authors offering a critique of your manuscript over on eBay.  It’s cool of her to do that, and even cooler that she kicked these books into the fundraiser, for anyone to grab by donating over at the Team Page.

  • Auction: Set of the Ruby’s Song series:  The Creative Fire and The Diamond Deep. Signed by Brenda Cooper.

Rubys Song Standing

Since Brenda was so generous, we were able to throw one set up as an auction.  Head over and bid if you need to be sure you get it.

Breach Zone standing

Hopefully Myke is recovering well from the incident with the straight razor.  He managed to send this ARC of his next book to us beforehand, though, so at least you can get that, even if he doesn’t make a full recovery.

“The best ride that military fantasy has to offer.” – Mark Lawrence, author of Emperor of Thorns

Breach Zone Signature

As an added  bonus, Myke included a second ARC and challenge coin for us to auction off.  The cool thing is that this book doesn’t come out until the end of January 2014, so even though the lottery winner won’t have it before then, whoever wins this auction will.

If you want to be that person, head over to the auction and bid.

Cry Of Justice standing

“An interesting, evocative tale. A powerful story of rebuilding and finding oneself when the world has gone topsy-turvy. Brutal and harsh at times, Pratt creates a real, hard, dirty world that is somehow still fantastical and full of magic and mystery.” – Front Street

Memory of Light 1

This beautiful, lettered edition of A Memory of Light was given to us by Brandon Sanderson.  It’s still unopened, and it’s looming over everyone in the office.

If you want to get your hands on it, we’ve got it up for auction over here.

  • Set of  the Wool Series.  Each book signed by Hugh Howey.

Wool standing

Wool was originally released as a series of novellas (its sequel, Shift, was released the same way). Here it is in its five separate volumes, each one signed by author Hugh Howey. Technically, this is a cool ARC of the Wool Omnibus.  It was actually donated by Dubray Books, then mailed to Hugh Howey to sign and mail along to us, so that’s extra cool.

“This story is terrific. I was completely immersed, watching Howey slowly paint a picture of a society gone wrong through the eyes and discovery of some truly compelling characters.” – Boing Boing

Redwood lying

“Murder, magic, and the transformative power of music are just a few of the things touched on in this vivid historical fantasy novel about two dreamers, an Irish-Seminole man and a hoodoo queen, who leave their backwoods Georgia home for the bright lights of Chicago at the beginning of the 20th century.” – Locus

  • Auction: Dust jacket and doodled rough draft page of upcoming Mirror Sight of the Green Rider series.  Signed by Kristen Britain.

Kristens Manuscript Signature

This is really cool.  Kristen’s novel, Mirror Sight, won’t be out until May 2014, but she’s donated a signed dust jacket, as well as a page of her hand-written draft.  We’re auctioning it off, in the hopes that someone who really loves these books gets it.

If you’d like to bid on it, head over here and do so.

  • Set of The Shadow Campaigns: The Thousand Names and an ARC of The Forbidden Library. Signed by Django Wexler.

Wexler Set standing

The Forbidden Library will be published in April 2014, so whoever is lucky enough to win this one in the lottery will get a nice early read.

“There’s been some serious buzz building for this book, and that buzz should only grow once people get their hands on it. …[The Thousand Names is] sure to hit the spot for fans of military-themed epic fantasy.” – Tor.com

  • Set of Miserere: An Autumn Tale and Manifesto: UF anthology. Signed by Teresa Frohock.

Frohock Set standing

“Teresa Frohock’s debut novel, Miserere: An Autumn Tale, is one of the most grossly under-read novels of the last few years…. Filled with show me now and tell me later prose, it was one of the finest debuts of 2011 and remains a novel that I remember details from nearly three years later.” – Tor.com

  • Limited edition copy of Lest our Passage Be Forgotten & Other Stories.  Signed by Bradley P. Beaulieu.

Beaulieu Lest Our - standing

Bradley Beaulieu is a fellow Wisconsinite, and recently also became a DAW author. Plus, he’s a regular contributor to Worldbuilders, including both a tuckerization and critique up for auction right now.

When he sent this book, which is limited edition with only 100 copies in print, we were only too happy to accept.  And because we love you, it’s in the lottery, for anyone who donates on the Team Page to win.

  • Limited edition set of  The Lays of Anuskaya novels: The Winds of Khalakovo, The Straits of Galahesh, and The Flames of Shadam Khoreh.  Signed by Bradley P. Beaulieu.

Lays of Anuskya standing

All three of these are also limited editions, with only 100 printed, again generously sent by Bradley Beaulieu, and again in the lottery.

  • Auction: UK edition of The Great Bazaar and Brayan’s Gold. Signed by Peter V. Brett.

Great Bazaar Standing

Peter V. Brett has also been a big contributor to Worldbuilders for years, even before he agreed to shave Myke Cole’s head.  A few years before she started working here, Amanda won a first edition copy of his first novel from the lottery.

This is extra cool, because it’s a collection of two different novellas Peter had published by Subterranean Press, both of which are sold out now. This edition was published in the UK.  It’s not exactly easy to grab in the states, so we’ve put it up for auction. Head over and bid if it tickles your fancy…

  • Set of The Demon Cycle novels: The Warded Man, The Desert Spear, and Daylight War.  Signed by Peter V Brett.

Demon Cycle standing

For those of you who haven’t read Peter’s books, we think you should.  We’re putting the full set of his novels into the lottery.  Warded Man and Daylight War are both first editions.

To boot, Warded Man has both its original dust jacket, and the new one they printed so it would match the rest of the novels.  They did the same thing with Name of the Wind, so you know all the cool authors are doing it.

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Heads up: all of the auctions for cameos and critiques are ending this Sunday, so make sure to go over to our eBay page to keep an eye on them.

Keep up with the fundraiser on the blog, and get details about how to win thousands of lovely books donated by authors and publishers.

Want to see what sorts of things you can win in the lottery?  Head over to the Lottery Library page to see everything we’ve posted so far.

Posted in Worldbuilders 2013 | By Amanda7 Responses

Stretch Goals 2013 – $25k and $50k

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 This is a Worldbuilders blog.

This year’s fundraiser has taken off amazingly fast, breaking all the records we’ve had in the past.

For example, this year we raised more money in our first week than we did in the entire first year we ran worldbuilders, back in 2008.

Needless to say, this gives me a big warm fuzzy.

Another perk is that we’re hitting our stretch goals faster than ever before. So today we’re going to share a few of those:

  • $25,000 – Peter V. Brett shaves Myke Cole’s head.

This year, we wanted to make more of our stretch goals more whimsical and fun. And as you can see just from the title, Myke Cole and Peter V. Brett started us off on the right foot.

Here’s the thing. When Myke sent in his idea, I laughed my ass off and said it sounded great….

… but I had no idea they were planning to use a straight razor.

The first I heard about it was on Twitter:

Twitter convo

And this is true. Any of you who have read my blog for any amount of time know I regularly make bad decisions in the pursuit of science, mischief, or entertainment. My attempts to distil coffee, for example. Or the time I accidentally burned a pentagram onto the carpet of the house I was renting….

Anyway, the point is, I’m the person you should be talking *out* of doing something, I’m not used to it being the other way around.

But back when I used to shave, I shaved with a straight razor. I have a few very pale, slender scars from those days that I could show you if not for the beard. It’s *hard* shaving with a straight razor, and if Peter was going to try for the first time ever on Myke….

I caved. I called Peter on the phone.

But he didn’t pick up. And I knew why. This had obviously already gone terribly wrong. Peter couldn’t pick up because he had to use both of his hands to stanch the blood that was even now gushing from Myke’s head.

I left a truly incomprehensible voicemail message that was broken up with bouts of panicked/hysterical laughter. Imagine what the Joker would sound like if he drunk dialed Batman. My voicemail was like that.

Peter called me back about three minutes later. The conversation went roughly like this.

Me: Are you guys seriously using a straight razor?

Peter: Oh yeah. I went out and bought one just for this.

Myke: [In the background. Laughing.] Pat! Is that you? Send help!

Me: So you’ve really never used one before?

Peter: I watched a five minute video.

Myke: [In the background] You watched thirty seconds of a video.

Peter: I skipped some the boring bits. It seems pretty simple. You just go against the grain of the hair….

Myke: [In the background] I think he’s been drinking.

In the end, all I could do was beg them to be careful. Partly because they were in New York and I was in Wisconsin, but also because they obviously really wanted to do this.

And also because I can’t start being the voice of reason at this point in my life. It’s just too late for me.

So:

My pleading

They kept posting up pictures through the whole process, while I did the twitter equivalent of watching with my hands in front of my face, peeking between my fingers….

Ward head

And honestly, I wouldn’t have stopped them if I could. Because they’re my kind of crazy.

Friar_Myke4

No_Sense_Crying

Ooopsie

They took video of the whole thing, but it’s going to take a while to splice it all together in a pleasing way. Rest assured that as soon as it’s ready, we’ll share it around.

(Suggestions for the soundtrack should go into the comments.)

  • $50,000 – Paul and Storm Lyrically Mock Patrick Rothfuss

As many of you know, I did a couple shows with the fabulous lyrical duo Paul and Storm early in November. In our brief stint on the road, I like to think we bonded a little. Over the long hours on the road, we learned and shared and grew closer together.

We also discussed the following song….

I’m going to let it speak for itself. The tune might sound familiar, but trust me it’s a different version than the one you’ve heard before.

Suffice to say that when I heard it, I laughed my ass off.

If you know about Paul and Storm, I’m guessing you’ve already heard about their awesome Kickstarter project that’s ending in just a couple days. But you might not know that I’m writing up a short anecdote about our time on the road for inclusion in their PaulandStormonomicon stretch goal.

If you *don’t* know about Paul and Storm, and you got a chuckle out of the song up above, you might want to check them out. And if you’re looking for a good place to start, might I casually suggest their amazingly innuendo-laden-yet-playful 5th album: Ball Pit?

More stretch goals are coming folks. We have some *amazing* stuff lined up.

So stay tuned, and thanks for spreading the word…

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Want to learn more about Worldbuilders? You can check out our shiny new website here. Or you can get all the details about this year’s fundraiser on my blog.

There are a bunch of cool auctions up right now, as well, some of which haven’t even been blogged about yet.  If you want to get in early, be sure to check the Worldbuilders eBay page.

Posted in Acts of Whimsy, Beautiful Games, music, My checkered past, Worldbuilders 2013 | By Pat20 Responses

Games and Geekery

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This is a Worldbuilders blog.

Today’s blog consists of some awesome  games of all sorts.  Cards, role playing, and table top.  Games for kids, games for adults, and games for people who don’t fit well into those sort of categories.  And because they’re a little specialized, we’re going to offer almost all of them up as auctions for the people who really really want them.

But as some of you may have seen, we just had a sale go on over at The Tinker’s Packs, and it was extremely well received.  And since we have a few other things that people might be interested in, we thought we’d throw some up there as well.

Bring it on:

  • The Store: Dice bags of various types, and an awesome game bundle.

Dice Bags and Game Bundle

Sometimes, you just need to be a little bit cooler than all of your friends.  Here we are offering you three ways to do that.

We have eight hand-knit dice bags from Nerdbaby Creations for you to bring to your weekly game of Pathfinder.  Jennifer even pledged a percentage of her Etsy sales to Worldbuilders last month, so we wish that all her modifiers be positive.

If aluminum is more your thing, we have two chainmaille dice bags from Chainmaille by Joy for you to bring to your weekly LARP.  These are really quite impressive, and since we’ve only got two, you should jump on them before they’re gone.

And then we have a sweet game bundle (worth over $125) that we’re selling so that you still have table top games to play the other five nights a week.  It doesn’t matter who’s playing, either.

The bundle contains three games from Albino Dragon: Genegrafter, Dragon Whisperer and Ace of Spies, all card-and-token hybrids with a few spins on game play that keep things interesting.  Then for the little folk, there’s Gamewright’s Sleeping Queens, a combination memory/strategy game that’s geared toward kids but way too fun for the adults to pass up. Finally, there’s Sentinels of the Multiverse from Greater Than Games, which Amanda would self-administer intravenously if she could.

AuthorDnD

Last year we auctioned off a chance to play D&D with a bunch of awesome authors at ConFusion. We had an awesome time, so when Peter V. Brett asked me if we wanted to auction off another seat for Worldbuilders, I was more than happy to accept. I can’t make it this year, which sucks for me, because it’s always a great time.

This year’s awesome author-players will be Kelley Armstrong, Cherie Priest, Myke Cole, Wesley Chu, and Sam Sykes. Peter V. Brett and Howard Tayler will DM the game, which will be filmed and edited for release on youtube again.

Legendary ConFusion will be held January 17-19, 2014 at the Doubletree Hotel Detroit/Dearborn. The game will take place on the 18th from 9am to noon, and books, dice and other supplies and refreshments will be provided.  However, please keep in mind that this auction is just for a seat at the table.  You’ll still have to arrange your own transportation, hotel accommodation and admission to the con.

If you want to get in on the action, make sure to check out the auction and bid.

P1050258

During the 2013 Worldcon/Lone Star Con 3 in San Antonio, Texas, members of the Reddit Fantasy community carried this polished steel helm around to various authors and industry people and had them sign it. This thing is covered in signatures. They threw in a couple microfiber polishing cloths and a Lone Star Con program. They even included a handy list where the signers could write their name for easy identification. Think of the list as a key to the puzzle.

They even snagged a picture of Martin trying it on after he signed it.

Martin

They have more photos of the goings on if you’re interested.

To bid, head over here to the auction.

All the Game Bundles

There’s three auctions to choose from.  I’ve linked the titles to their respective auctions if you’re feeling clickish.

Game Salute Bundle: Sunrise City, Zombie Ninja Pirates, Collateral Damage, Alien Frontiers Factions: Faction Pack #1, and Alien Frontiers Factions: Upgrade Pack.

This is a bundle with room for future expansion. Three games you can play right now, plus three expansion packs for the popular (and now sadly out of print) Alien Frontiers. Don’t worry, though–their Kickstarter was a success and the 4th edition of Alien Frontiers is currently available for preorder. Based on the reviews of the 3rd edition, it will be awesome. Awesome.

Five Games from AEG: Trains, Guildhall, Agent Hunter, Maximum Throwdown, and Straw. There isn’t one single dud in this bundle. All five games get great reviews and together they have a broad appeal.  If you’re not in the mood for a more involved strategy game like Trains or Guildhall, Straw is quick and lighthearted. If you feel like messing up your opponents, Maximum Throwdown’s got your back. You won’t be bored, that’s for sure.

Awesome 9 Game bundle: This auction is exactly what the title suggests, 9 awesome games in one go. You get the 8-bit style, classic video game inspired Boss Monster from Brotherwise Games and one of a small pool of strategic wine making games (seriously, there is more than one, but this one is the best), Viticulture from Stonemaier Games.

There’s also the cooperative adventure board game Legends of Andor from Fantasy Flight Games, three Albino Dragon games (Genegrafter, Dragon Whisperer and Ace of Spies), and three games from AEG (Guildhall: Job Faire, Maximum Throwdown and Straw).

Some of these games are available in The Tinker’s Packs game bundle, most are not, and all of them are worth checking out.

Starcraft-Veronica-Books

If your tastes run less board-game-ish and more swag-ish, there’s another trio of auctions (again, each auction is linked to their title).  Speaking of swag, I recently found out it’s an acronym. Seriously.  The word “swag” stands for “Stuff We All Get”–like tee shirts, coffee mugs, and other standard souvenirs. This sort of etymology gives me little shivers.

Solar backpack from Techzilla’s own Veronica Belmont:  Veronica sent a solar backpack full of fun goodies she knew you’d like, including:

Revision3 branded solar backpack with charging tips for iPhone 4 and most Android phones
Fitbit Zip Activity Tracker (poking out of the front pocket, there)
Sword and Laser white fitted women’s tee shirt (Size: Medium)
Gibson Guitars men’s tee shirt (Size: Large)
Gibson Guitars black knit beanie with embroidered logo (Size: head)
Monster Inspiration headphones with changeable Apple/Android ControlTalk cables.
The 4-Hour Chef by Timothy Ferris (Hardcover)
The 2013 Literary Pin-Up Calendar

The auction has more detailed writeups of this stuff, but you get the idea. It’s a sweet batch of stuff lovingly compiled by an awesome woman.

Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty signed by the Blizzard development team: Classic space strategy. You know the drill–it’s Starcraft 2 with its expansive universe, online multiplayer and rich community, but with a box signed by everyone responsible for making this game awesome. If you’re a fan of the franchise, treat yourself to an autographed copy and unlimited bragging rights.

Ultimate History of Video Games & Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures: These two books were chosen by Game of Books creator Aaron Stanton as his favorite books on video games. The Ultimate History of Video Games by Steven L. Kent is a fascinating look inside the video game industry that starts with Pong and runs all the way through the current game industry. Aaron says, “For a time, a good 50% of all my most amusing game-related anecdotes came from this one book. I’ve read it several times.”

The Guide to Classic Graphic Adventure Games by Kurt Kalata is a reference tome for all games texty and adventuresome. It has interviews with the developers and concise illustrated writeups of a ton of graphic adventure games like Sam & Max, Maniac Mansion, King’s Quest, Leisure Suit Larry and, of course, Zork. This is more of a book for browsing instead of reading cover-to-cover, but it’s chock full of interesting stuff about classic, old-school games.

  • Auction: Custom Playing Card Deck Designed by Shane Tyree

ShanesDeck

This is a great offer, guys.  Shane Tyree is the artist that brought us Albino Dragon’s Call of Cthulu deck and the Name of the Wind deck. His work can also be found in products from Fantasy Flight Games, Alderac Entertainment Group, Catalyst Game Labs, Wizards of the Coast and more.

Shane is offering up something a really cool to the highest bidder. Shane will draw a unique playing card deck, including custom court cards and card back, for the winner of this auction. The cards will be created digitally, and manufactured through Palaimon cards. Shane will incorporate your feedback into their design, making this a unique piece of functional artwork. If you play cards, collect them, or know someone who does, this would be a great keepsake.

It’s only for individual purposes, so it won’t be distributed commercially.  You should probably go bid on it while you still can.

(P.S. If you’re as much of a fan of Shane’s work as I am, I’m guessing you’ll be excited to hear that he’s doing another Cthulhu-themed kickstarter: Call Of Cuthulu: The Writhing Dark. Not only will there be a new deck of playing cards, but he’s doing a set of Tarot cards too. I heard a rumor that a certain beardy fantasy author will be appearing as the Emperor in that deck…

If you are interested, be warned, there’s just four days left to his kickstarter.)

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Okay, that’s it for now.

This is shaping up to be a pretty awesome year for Worldbuilders, guys.  I hope you’re as excited as I am.

To be eligible to win any of the cool books and prizes in the lottery, head over to our Team Heifer page and donate.

Remember, you can see everything we’ve got in the lottery so far over at the Lottery Library, and hear about on what’s going on in Worldbuilders HQ on the Worldbuilders website.

If you want to watch these auctions and more, keep an eye on our eBay seller page.  We post new auctions every Thursday so there’ll be something new for you soon…

Posted in Worldbuilders 2013 | By Pat10 Responses

Signed Books from Awesome Authors

 

This is a Worldbuilders Blog.

Okay. Before we look at today’s books, I’m going to tell a little story. Because that’s what I do.

The truth is, yesterday I was right on the edge of burning out on the fundraiser. I was running on about two hours of sleep, worried about the holidays, and stressed because I’m behind on about fifty different things.

I don’t talk about it a lot, but it takes a lot of frantic behind-the-scenes juggling to make Worldbuilders happen, and even with the great team that helps run things, it can get a little overwhelming at times.

So there I was, exhausted, trudging through an interview I’m doing with Fantasy Lit about the fundraiser, the calendar, and what Heifer International is all about, when I draw a blank, and can’t remember if a flock of chicks costs 20 bucks, or 30.

So I wander over to Heifer’s website, into the “Gift Catalog” section, and I see that they’ve added stuff since I’ve been there last time. You can still give money for goats and baby ducks, but now I see “The Gift of Clean Water – $300.”

I click on it, and I see this picture.

And I just start to cry.

Now I’d like to claim it’s because I was worn down and low on sleep. But that wouldn’t be the truth. Ever since Oot was born, I’ve become incredibly soppy, and I cry the drop of a hat whenever I’m confronted with stories about kids.

My mom used to be like that. We’d see a telephone commercial where a kid calls home for Christmas, and she’d get all weepy. I’d roll my eyes at her and say, “It’s a *phone* commercial, mom.” And she’d laugh, saying, “You don’t know what it’s like.”

Now I know what it’s like.

I mean, look at that kid. He’s like, “Yeah! Clean water! This is AWESOME!”

And you know what? It is awesome. It’s the best thing I’ve seen all day.

There’s something else I haven’t seen on Heifer’s page: “Family Farm Care Package – $72.”

So I click on it.

The description reads:

“This gift will help a struggling family boost the productivity of their farm and increase their income. Training in soil conservation, irrigation and marketing will be combined with seeds, saplings or livestock so smallholder farmers around the world can transform their failing farms into dependable livelihoods”

I probably spent half an hour wandering around the Heifer site, looking at pictures. Afterwards, I didn’t feel burned out at all. I felt excited about getting back into the fundraiser.

So I figured I’d share some of the pictures with you. Just to remind you what we’re *really* doing here. When you donate on the Worldbuilder’s Team Page, you’re not just signing up to win some cool books. You’re making the world a better place.

And if you’re wondering, a flock of baby chicks is only $20.

Ah fuck. I’m crying again.

Let’s look at today’s books so I can get control of myself, okay?

*     *     *

Today we’ve got another batch of books donated directly from the authors themselves.

I love it when authors send us books, because they always show up signed. And sometimes, as we can see below, they show up signed PLUS…

  • A first edition copy of The Night Circus. Signed and doodled by Erin Morgenstern.

I’ve never met Erin personally, but she was cool enough to send along some first-edition hardcovers of her bestselling debut novel: The Night Circus. What’s more, she clearly cares about the cause because she took the time to doodle a little kitten sitting on the text of the copyright page, stars doodled all over the place, plus her beautiful signature and a rubber stamp of the circus tent.  It’s awesome.

“Erin Morgenstern has created the circus I have always longed for and she has populated it with dueling love-struck magicians, precocious kittens, hyper-elegant displays of beauty and complicated clocks. This is a marvelous book.” – Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife

  • Auction: A first edition copy of The Night Circus. Signed by Erin Morgenstern. Includes pen drawings and a rubber stamp from the author.

Because Erin was nice enough to send us a couple of these, we figured we’d put one up in an auction, too.

“Brilliantly detailed worldbuilding and complicated characters makes this an engrossing read.” –Laura Anne Gilman

“You know you’ve always wanted to read about an angry vampire slicing other vampires in half with a katana. Don’t deny it. –  Heather Watson

  • A hardcover copy of Wheel of the Infinite. Signed by Martha Wells.

“The vividly imagined Celestial Empire’s peril is made all the more dramatic by the characters’ sarcastic, reasonable conversations, and by their very human responses to inhuman dangers; there is real reading pleasure here.” – Publishers Weekly

  • A set of The Cloud Roads and The Serpent Sea. Signed by Martha Wells.

“Wells merrily ignores genre conventions as she spins an exciting adventure around an alien hero who anyone can identify with.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  • The Wizard HuntersThe Ships of Air, and The Gate of Gods.  Signed by Martha Wells.

“A vastly entertaining and refreshingly different fantasy adventure with a surprisingly satisfying conclusion.” – Locus

“James Calbraith’s writing is reminiscent of a classic, epic fantasy – immersive, and detailed to the letter. The real-world cultures he draws from are incredibly well-researched and truthful, and yet well-balanced with the fantasy elements he sprinkles in between. An intriguing and impressive series.” – Ben Galley

“Durham has created a richly detailed alternate reality leavened with a dollop of magic and populated by complicated personalities grappling with issues of freedom and oppression.” – Publishers Weekly

  • A set of Never Never StoriesMillion Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices.  Signed by Jason Sanford.

“If you’re new to [Sanford’s stories] then this is a very highly recommended collection indeed.” Jim Steel

  • 2 copies of Henry Franks.  Signed by Peter Adam Salomon. Each with a signed promo postcard (leaning against the book).

“Salomon’s Frankenstein homage churns through its often confounding but highly unnerving plot like a slow nightmare–readers won’t be entirely sure they even want to know how it ends. The scenes are clipped, the dialogue spare, and the prose rewards meticulous reading, making this debut the thinking teen’s horror choice of the year.” – Booklist (starred review)

  • A giant set of Black Jewels Books: Tangled Webs, Shalador’s Lady, The Shadow Queen, The Invisible Ring, and Twilight’s Dawn.  Signed by Anne Bishop.

“Bishop will draw you into her world like a spider and never spit you back out — it is like an addiction. I am not a re-reader, but I re-read this book simply because I love her characters and the depth she gives them — along with the mystery she is able to weave around each — leaving you guessing until she’s ready to tell you what she wants you to know.” — SFRevu

  • 3 copies of Bridge of Dreams.  Signed by Anne Bishop.

“With a well-paced mystery, likable characters, and fascinating world building, this is a fun read.” —Booklist

This is a collection of three short stories by Anne Bishop, James Alan Gardner, and Anthony Francis.  So much bang for your buck!

Pat’s Note: This is an ARC for Written in Red, so not only is it a bit of a rarity. But this is a pre-release ARC, which means that if you win this book, you’ll get a chance to read Anne’s newest book before it hits the shelves. Then, if you’re in the mood, you can go taunt people on goodreads about your insider status. 

“[Bishop’s] worlds are so fully realized and three-dimensional, they jump right off the pages.” – Fresh Fiction

  • A set of The Winds of Khalakovo and The Straits of Galahesh.  Signed by Bradley P. Beaulieu.

“Well worth exploring… Beaulieu [depicts] a strange culture [with] a remarkable fantasy/magical reality feel.” – Glen Cook, author of The Black Company

  • A copy of Shadow Ops: Control Point. Signed by Myke Cole.

Despite the fact that Myke is a relative newcomer to the publishing world, he’s made a bit of a splash, with Fantasy Faction listing his next book as one of the 10 most anticipated books of 2013.

I read his this book, his debut novel, about a month ago and really, really enjoyed it. It’s well worth your time. (You can see my full review on Goodreads if you’re interested.)

“Blackhawk Down meets the X-Men, Military Fantasy like you’ve never seen it before!” – Peter V. Brett

  • Auction: A copy of Shadow Ops: Control Point. Signed by Myke Cole.  Comes with a challenge coin.

Those of you who watched the Author D&D video may also recognize Myke’s name. He was the GM, and he did an awesome job wrangling all the other authors.

As a cool promotional item, Myke as donated a Challenge Coin with this book. He describes them thusly: “They’re somewhere between a medal and a shinier, cooler version of business cards.”

To make sure this ends up in the hands of someone that will love it, we’re going to auction it off.

To bid, head over here.

“At over 600 pages, Epic: Legends of Fantasy will definitely get you your money’s worth and the seventeen stories inside will help satisfy your epic fantasy cravings, or possibly leave you wanting more.” – SFF Chat

This anthology includes works from Sanderson, Martin, LeGuin, and tons of other prolific authors.  I snuck my way in there, too.

If you want this multiple-signed copy all to yourself, head over to the auction and bid.

*     *     *

Every 10 dollars you donate on our Team Page gives you the chance to win one of our fabulous prizes, many of which still haven’t been revealed.

All the auctions Worldbuilders is currently running are over here.

Or, if you want to see the other items that have been donated to Worldbuilders, or learn more about the fundraiser itself, you can head over to the main page here.

Posted in mom, Oot, the longest fucking blog ever, Worldbuilders 2012 | By Pat25 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…

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

More Signed Books From Cool Authors

This is a Worldbuilders blog.

So over the last week the fundraiser galloped madly forward to the point where we’re already within spitting distance of 150K. So in addition to seeing the 100K bonus blog later this week, you’ll probably be seeing the 150K pretty soon too. That’s in addition to all the other coolness we already have lined up.

I’m hoping  beyond hope that we might make it all the way to 250K this year. I’d really love be able to say, “We raised a quarter million dollars for Heifer international.”

Okay. Moving on. Today’s books.

I have a working theory that sci-fi and fantasy authors are among the coolest people around.

As proof of this, here’s a blog full of books donated by the authors themselves. Many of them signed, and with additional promotional items included.

  • Three first edition hardcover copies of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Signed by the author.

Pat’s Note: I’ve already talked about how much I love this book. So I won’t go on and on again.

Except to say that I really loved it. And it’s awesome. And you should read it.

“Triggers memories and emotions embedded in the psyche of a generation…[Cline crafts] a fresh and imaginative world from our old toy box, and finds significance in there among the collectibles.” – Entertainment Weekly

  • Six hardcover copies of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Signed by the author.

“The science-fiction writer John Scalzi has aptly referred to Ready Player One as a “nerdgasm” [and] there can be no better one-word description of this ardent fantasy artifact about fantasy culture…But Mr. Cline is able to incorporate his favorite toys and games into a perfectly accessible narrative.” – Janet Maslin, The New York Times

  • One rare out-of-print first edition hardcover copy of Curse of the Mistwraith: The Wars of Light and Shadow, Vol. 1 by Janny Wurts. With matching laminated bookmark. Signed by the author.

Curse of the Mistwraith continually takes turns that leave the reader excited and lost. But not in a bad way; there are only so many books you can read where you know exactly what will happen before boredom sets in. With Wurts’, you are forever left guessing at the turn of events.” – UK Fantasy Book Review

  • Two hardcover copies of To Ride Hell’s Chasm by Janny Wurts. Signed by the author.

“Janny Wurts writes with astonishing energy… it ought to be illegal for one person to have so much talent.” – Stephen R. Donaldson

  • Two hardcover copies of Eon’s Door by J. G. McKenney. Signed by the author.

“A captivating storyline with a lovely surprise at the end…beautiful imagery, and a great read.” – Sift Book Reviews

“Bear’s ability to create breathtaking variations on ancient themes and make them new and brilliant is, perhaps, unparalleled in the genre.” – Library Journal

This ARC will be published on March 27, 2012.

  • Three copies of The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells. Signed by the author.

“Wells…merrily ignores genre conventions as she spins an exciting adventure around an alien hero who anyone can identify with.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  • One ARC of Shadow Ops: Control Point by Myke Cole. Comes with Supernatural Operations Corps collectible coin. Signed by the author.

Pat’s Note: This is an ARC of a book that won’t be coming out until the end of the month. As an extra bit of  coolness, it comes with a challenge coin created specifically to promote the book.

“Cross The For­ever War with Witch­world, add in the real world mod­ern mil­i­tary of Black Hawk Down, and you get Control Point, the mile-a-minute story of some­one try­ing to find pur­pose in a war he never asked for.” – Jack Camp­bell, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Lost Fleet series

“Moses is a fine writer and is deserving of success, and I think that it will follow. I really enjoyed Moses’s work.” – David Farland, New York Times Bestselling Author

  • One set of Cold Magic and Cold Fire by Kate Elliott. Signed by the author.

Pat’s note: Includes a signed printed pamphlet of Bonus chapter 31.5 which is currently online on Kate’s website or as one of 100 printed pamphlets.

“Elliott has concocted something very special and original here, with elements to tweak sci-fi and fantasy fans of nearly any stripe, from alt history and steampunk aficionados, to lovers of intrigue, romance, and swashbuckling adventure.” – New York Journal of Books

  • One set of the Crossroads Trilogy by Kate Elliott: Sprite Gate, Shadow Gate, Traitors’ Gate. Signed by the author.

“Elliott crafts complex…characters, including strong women who persevere in repressive, non-egalitarian societies. She is equally adept at outlining intricate religions and myths. This promises to be a truly epic fantasy.” – Publishers Weekly

  • One hardcover copy of The Wooden Man: A Twenty Palaces Omnibus by Harry Connolly. Signed by the author.

Pat’s Note: We actually have two copies of this book, but we’ll be auctioning the other one off in a couple weeks. Stay tuned for that.

“Excellent reading…a truly dark and sinister world, delicious tension and suspense, violence so gritty you’ll get something in your eye just reading it.” – Jim Butcher

  • Two copies of Imperium: A Caulborn Novel by Nicholas Olivo. Signed by the author.

“The right amount of Gore, Humor, Love and Good vs Evil.” – Badass Book Reviews

“An aggressively dark, highly original SF-fantasy novel with tight, cutting prose and some of the most inventive world-building I’ve seen in a while.” – FantasyLiterature.com

  • Two copies of The Seventh Tower: The Fall by Garth Nix.

“[Garth Nix is] the coolest read in the playground.” – Amanda Craig

  • One hardcover copy of Abhorsen by Garth Nix. Signed by the author.

“Nix’s storytelling is never less than commanding, and his precision plot stays tightly focused. The icing on the cake, and a mark of a good writer becoming great, is the care taken to make peripheral characters into real people.” – SF Site

*     *     *

Remember, you for every 10 dollars you donate on the Worldbuilders Team Page, you get a chance to win everything here, not to mention the hundreds of other books that have already been donated.

What’s more, if you donate before January 31st of 2012, Worldbuilders will match 50% of your donation.

Spread the word…

Posted in Worldbuilders 2011 | By Pat26 Responses
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