Get two (snap!), two (snap!) two books at once!

                                          

I’m giving away ten copies of The Ship Looking for God on Goodreads. Winners also get a copy of  The Ship to Look for God because, well, can’t have one without the other. 

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Dover ComiCon 2015.

 

One word summary: Wow.

I mean, wow. Just wow. The little town of Dover, Delaware, a place familiar to we Air Force types who’ve traversed the nearby base at one time or another, had themselves a fine little Comicon. Gotta say, this was one of the best ‘cons of any kind I’d attended in quite the while.

Could have something to do with the place I stayed the night:

The State Street Inn. Check out my room:

and the rest of the place:

Feral cats and two of the best hosts in America, Michael and Yvonne Hall:

After a whirlpool tub soak and Yvonne’s downright dangerous breakfast, I headed over to set up at the Dover Public Library:

Nice. They even have their own derelicts.

Incidentally, Tj O’Connor, a man with piano wire in his watch, was here somewhere. At least, that’s the rumor.

The room in which we vendor types were to set up:

Hmm. Bit tight. And hot. I was beginning to develop a sense of foreboding, especially after I managed to set up at the wrong table and had to move (that’s on me. I suck at directions) and ended up dumping my table all over the floor in the process (that’s also on me. I’m clumsy). But, soldier on, ’cause, you know, still had a whirlpool-tub-and-dangerous-breakfast buzz.

The neighbors:

Still no Tj. Wonder where he could be?

Anyways, my final set up:

Yep, bit of an overlap with the neighbors. As I said, tight. And hot. And sense of foreboding on the rise.

Then, they opened the doors:

The place was MOBBED. From about 0930 to 1830, a constant stream of ComiKazis, never the same face twice, unrelenting, a tide of Marvelites and DCistas and Animeniacs. Even Loki showed up:

Ghost Rider:

No flaming skull. Would be a short-lived costume.

Get a minion. Take over the world.

Beautiful.

Beautiful and tough.

War Machine. Not Iron Man. Got it?

This is the granddaughter and great-grandson of Vince Alascia, one of the first Captain America artists of the Golden Age and a Charleton Comics guy. In the presence of royalty.

Dark Elf pirates. It’s a thing.

Scout Regiment keeping us all safe.

Still no Tj. I wonder what he was doing?

Place was so packed, I managed to get exactly five minutes away from the table for necessary biological functions. Not complaining. It was great. Kudos to Kerri Hollyday and the rest of the Dover Library staff for putting on a Ritz of a show.

I am definitely going back next year.

With, or without, Tj.

 

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In Case You Hadn’t Noticed…

             

…both these Ebook titles remain 1.99. Helping you to stay informed, I am.

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Never Leaving the House. Except to go to Alamo.

 

So, I watched a few clips from ComiCon 2015 (San Diego, of course) and here’s what’s coming:

1. The Punisher is joining Daredevil. And the Gladiator returns, as The Gladiator. And Elektra show up. Elektra.

Oh, my God.

2. The Deadpool Movie. I am so touching myself.

3. Suicide Squad. I am no fan of DC Comics, but this! This!

4. Into the Badlands. Bad. Ass.

And that’s just the top four. Here’s others:

1. Batman vs Superman. Again, DC, and it’s Superman so what are we talking here, about a two minute movie? Oh no, not at all. And, may I say, Wonder Woman? A real kick-ass Wonder Woman?

2. Supergirl. Am I kidding you? No. This looks excellent.

So, here’s my schedule: eat, movie, TV, sleep. For the rest of my life.

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Free Beer!

At the Michigan J. Frog show. Not here.

But tomorrow, 13 Jul 15, these books are free. At Amazon:

1. The Ship to Look for God

2. The Last Man in the World Explains All

3. The Moonlight in Genevieve’s Eyes

Remember, a beer lasts ten minutes (or thirty seconds, depending on your mood.). A book lasts forever.

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But Wait! There’s More!

Yeah, yeah, I know, nothing but shameless promotion these last couple of posts. But, at least the covers are pretty.

Here’s one:

and another:

So, why these two covers?

Glad you asked: along with The Ship to Look for God, both collections are free on July 13. It’s like a Ginzu Knives promotion, but no one loses a finger (well, a couple of people lose a lot more than that, but you’ll have to read the stories to find out what).

To summarize:

1. Three books are free on 13 Jul. And 13 July only. The aforementioned Ship, The Moonlight, and The Last Man.

2. The Ship Looking for God is now available as a pre-order, for 1.99. Released 14 July.

Think of it: free stories. The first Ship for free. Then the second Ship for almost free…

C’mon, $1.99? You can’t even get one Ginzu knife for that.

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The First Hit of Crack is Free

It’s here.

Well, not quite. The only place it’s immediately available is CreateSpace, but you should hold off because I’m planning a few things.

I’m going to make The Ship to Look for God

free. For just one day. The Ship Looking will be 1.99 for the three days following, then will go to its normal price of $5. BUT, Ship to Look will be permanently reduced to 1.99.

‘Cause, ya know, after one hit of crack, you’re hooked.

I’ve already sent out some ARCs for Ship Looking, and I’m going to do a Goodreads giveaway of both. I’m looking to do all this around 10, 11 July. Just gotta get some things arranged first, so stay tuned.

 

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The Adventures of Gracie the Wander Cat: Fishing with Fredo

Gracie here.

Yes, yes, I know, been awhile. Well, I’ve been busy.

See, summer’s almost here and I have much to do.

Especially since this past winter put me way behind schedule.

So, gotta get to it. The outside work:

And, when it gets too hot, the inside work:

Wait. What did you ask? What about…who? Russell?

Russell, Russell…oh, yeah.

Him.

He’s uh…on vacation. Yeah. Vacation.

Anyways, I AM busy doing things, like whipping the new scratching post into shape:

Check it out. It’s even got a break room.

A secure one, thank God, so I can get away from this:

Traumatizing.

Wait…

…did you ask about Russell again?

Look. He’s on vacation. He went…fishing. Yeah, fishing. I saw him off myself.

So, stop asking. Just. Stop.

 

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Before and After

The backyard in February:

After a little bit of work, the backyard now:

The garden. Eggplant, tomato, pepper, pumpkins (which just showed up uninvited), spaghetti squash, cucumbers, strawberries, cantaloupes, watermelons, gourds, and even hops:

Son approves:

as does Gracie:

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Awe. Some. Con.

I went to AwesomeCon 2015 because I’d never been to a reaaally big con as a vender (vendor, whatever) and, well, you only live once. As far as we know.

I showed up on Thursday, a day before the official opening, to set up, which was great. If you’ve ever had the joy of trying to reach a venue in DC during rush hour on the morning of the event, you know just how great. They even had volunteers unload my truck and cart everything over to my table. Nice.

The con was held in a place big enough to store two or three aircraft carriers:

and was a bit empty on Thursday:

That changed over the next few days:

Place got mobbed. This was my set-up:

right across from this guy:

That’s Ron Wilson. Freakin’ Ron Wilson, Marvel royalty, member of the Bullpen.

While I was genuflecting, another guy showed up:

Scott Edelman.  Freakin’ Scott Edelman, Marvel royalty and another member of the Bullpen. He was on a panel and heard that Ron Wilson was on the floor so stopped by to reminisce. I geeked out:

That was not my only Brush with Greatness. I was hanging out a bit with the guys from MOLDS. They invited me to tag along while they did a podcast with Brian O’Halloran. I schmoozed with O’Halloran’s minion whole this was going on, and had fleeting contact with Ming Chen and Walter Flanagan in the process. Yes, I genuflected.

The 501st was there in Force (get it? get it?), under the command of their Empress, Anna Mitchell:

They are throwing CapitolCon in a few weeks. You didn’t know that? The Trekkies do:

That’s Abby, who was Countess Zorro and Frederica Kruger in previous cons.

Lambert and Ash from the Nostromo:

That’s Claudia and…crap, I forgot his name…who are also attendees of previous cons. Your name is Claudia, right?

Cast members from the web series Starship Farragut. Except the woman in the middle. She’s not.

Carbonite, when you need to protect your computer and Millennium Falcon pilots:

Lego Avengers:

Ladies, please don’t do this:

Instead, please do this:

Captain Britain:

Captain America:

Captainess America:

Hawkeye:

Wolverine and Storm:

Storm on her day off:

Another Storm. Or, wait, the White Witch. No, it’s Storm:

Pizazz:

Yes, she is.

Me and Mario down by the schoolyard:

The Lizard:

who became:

and then became:

Obviously, a chameleon.

Kids, eat your vegetables, And your brains:

so you can grow up to be Ezio:

or a Space Marine:

Gossamer:

So, despite some weirdness:

a great time was had. Even old enemies were reconciled:

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