pantagruel

Sunken Treasure media kit

My Best Internet Acquaintance, Wil Wheaton, has released his Sunken Treasure chapbook out to the general public, and now you can buy a copy of your very own without having to go see him at a convention. You can also get it in PDF format, if you don't want to wait for a hard copy. Buy both, what the hell!

If you haven't yet read any of Wil's work, Sunken Treasure is a great introduction. His writing is authentic, witty, and heartfelt. I've enjoyed watching him hone his skills as a writer on his blog over the last couple of years, and in Sunken Treasure, he's really hit his stride and come into his own voice. It's "This American Life" for geeks. I've urged quite a few friends to go and read his blog, and now I'm strongly suggesting you all check out his book to get a feel for what his longer books are like.

If you'd like to promote the book by passing out flyers, as it happens, I've also done a media kit for Sunken Treasure. How about that? When Wil asked me if I was down to do a media kit for Sunken Treasure, my answer was HELLS YEAH! I believe in supporting the members of the Creative Geek tribe as best I can, and this is a great way to do it. You can get the media kit right here, from me, until such time as it goes up at Monolith Press.

A small banner (180x50px):

A large banner (480x400px):

And a nifty flyer (8.5 x 11):

I based the designs off the cover design by Matt Brooker.

Support your fellow creative geeks and help get the word out about Wil's work!

Technorati Tags: books, design, geek, studio, work

Happiest Audiobook of Our Lives

Wil Wheaton's latest book, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, is now out as an audiobook. If you've not had the chance to go and hear Wil read his stories live, this is the next best thing. "Blue Light Special" was great on the page, but when Wil read it, he performed it and took it to a new level of awesomeness. I laughed so hard, I had to make my save vs. Accidentally Spitting Beer on Wil's Wife roll (I managed, just, with a 13).

For only $19.72, you, too, can laugh that hard. I highly recommend it if you have an epic commute, because Wil's audiobooks are so good, they even make the 405 in rush hour bearable. A bold statement, I know, but I'm standing behind it.

(Oh, and I might've had something to do with the banners and flyers for the audiobook's media kit, which should be up shortly at the Monolith press site. There seems to be some demand for a CD insert with art, so I'll be doing that as well, if you'd like to have something to go with a burned copy you're giving as a gift. Stay tuned.)

Technorati Tags: books, design, gamer, geek, traffic

Yep, it's your books

Remember my post, 'It's not you, it's your books'? I'm not the only one who thinks this way:

BBC NEWS | UK | Education | Many lie over books 'to impress':
Nearly half of all men and one-third of women have lied about what they have read to try to impress friends or potential partners, a survey suggests.

Just remember, kids: if you're going to lie about which books you've read, you should probably be familiar with the works. And admitting you've never made it through the Western canon will score you more points than lying. At least, with me.

Technorati Tags: books, yikes

my neil gaiman sketch, let me show you it

Done at tonight's (well, last night's, now) reading of The Graveyard Book, in almost total darkness:

Not being able to actually see what I was drawing made this a little difficult, but all things considered, I think it came out rather well.

Sleep is threatening to bash me over the head now unless I cave into it.

[EDIT: Oh, alright, Nathalie, I'll post the other one, just for you.]

Technorati Tags: art, books, inspiration, neil gaiman

swoon

You know, any day you get an email from your favorite author, it's an awesome day.

It's an even more awesome day when the email gives you his blessing to paint one of his poems, because he likes your art.

And if he signs it, 'love'?

Then you swoon.

I'll be on the fainting couch if you need me.

Technorati Tags: art, books, poetry

your wordle for the day

Technorati Tags: art, books

book expo

I had so much fun at Book Expo on Friday, I don't know where to start. And I also don't know how to even tell the story without sounding like a name-dropping ass -- so I'll just list the highlights:

• Mark Smylie giving me the complete set of his Artesia graphic novels for the low price of gas money;
• Talking with Jeff Smith about what a nice person Colleen Doran is;
• Spotting Wil Wheaton across the hall as he was walking with a man who turned out to be John Scalzi;
• Slash being yards away from me as he signed books;
• Sherman Alexie doing a drawing in my copy of "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian", because I gave him a drawing;
• Having the man I was chatting with at the bar turn out to be Marty Davis, who taught at Watts when I was there, and spending the next couple of hours geeking out about art;
• And finally meeting Neil Gaiman in person, and discovering I had inadvertently given him something related to Chapter 5 of The Graveyard Book.

Hrm. I probably still sound like an ass. So many wonderfully kind, brilliant, and talented men were there that I thought I might faint or swoon at several points during the day. And sadly, I took pictures of myself with none of them at all. But here's two very small and quick sketches I did as studies of Neil, during the breakfast panel:

I didn't think to take a photo of the one good sketch I did in ink, before I gave it to him. Damn.

Still, an awesome day, despite the lack of photographic evidence of its awesomeness.

Technorati Tags: books, geek, inspiration, neil gaiman

Get out of your own way

My fellow Creative Geek tribe member, Wil Wheaton, wrote a post yesterday about luck and writing. Because I am all about keeping other people from having to suffer through grad school in writing, I added my 2¢:

…Your note ought to be branded on every hopeful writer going into an MFA program. I'd add this to the advice for writers: Get out of your own way.

One thing I've noticed about luck and work is that my luck tends to happen when I'm getting out of my own way, and just doing the work I need to do. I can spend months working poorly, where my inner demons are doing my painting and my writing, while still churning out great amounts of work -- and not get any lucky breaks at all. It's frustrating, and hard, and I hate that place. But when I can shut down my ego, and just focus on doing what I need to do, and keeping my inner demons where they belong -- then not only does my work go more smoothly and flow, but all kinds of crazy luck comes my way.

There's the technical side of writing, where you learn your craft. And then there's the emotional side of writing: the bit that doesn't get taught, unless you're very lucky and find a strong teacher. That one's always been the side few people talk about, because it requires being vulnerable and admitting one's fears. Much riskier than dealing with direct vs. indirect objects, for sure.

Most people learn the technical side of writing first, and then discover they're hamstrung, because then the emotional side they never knew about comes out and kicks their ass. …

I'm reposting it here, because it's worth saying again. Get out of your own way, and remember to focus on the technical and emotional aspects of your craft, whatever that might be. You might have some of the best training out there, but get absolutely flattened when it comes time to create something new, if you're not also prepared to deal with the issues that surface when you try to create.

I suppose I'm also reposting it, because it's something I wasn't taught. In fact, the driving reason behind this blog is to pass on the things I wish someone had told me when I was just a fledgling creative person. My life would've been so much easier. Thinking back to all the mistakes I've made that I could've not done if I'd only known, makes me wince. So much wasted energy and time that could've been better spent making good art.

For reasons that I will probably never know, many creative people try to hoard information like this. That baffles me. Why wouldn't you want to help out other members of your tribe? It's hard enough being a creative person (and especially a Creative Geek) in a world better suited to… well, suits; we should be helping each other out when we can. An odd corollary -- a lot of creative people who are at the top of their game are amazingly willing to help out those just starting out. It's the ones who aren't particularly good who are stingy. Funny, that.

While I'm certainly not at the top of my professions (yet) -- learn from my mistakes, folks. And get out of your own way.

[And by the way, how awesome is it when someone you think is awesome, thinks something you wrote is massively awesome? It's pretty fucking awesome, that's what.]

Technorati Tags: advice, art, artist, books, design, designing

the one where I meet wil wheaton

Yesterday, J. and I went down to the Stone brewery, home of Arrogant Bastard Ale, where we planned to drink a lot of great beer, and listen to Wil Wheaton read from his new book, The Happiest Days of our Lives. (You can read Wil's version of the day here.)

Wil's blogging and writing about his creative struggles had really hit home with me. His pals, the Voice of Self-Doubt and Prove to Everyone could be cousins to my own creative demons, Still Not Good Enough and Who Do You Think You're Kidding. It's been incredibly encouraging to see him find his own voice and niche as a creative person, so I'd been looking forward to getting out and supporting him at a reading for ages, and that this particular reading involved beer was an extra bonus.

I wished I'd thought to bring my Canon, but all I had on me was my phone and sketchbook. Damn.

Wil read "blue light special," one of my favorite pieces of his. That story takes me back to my own trips to K-mart, in the Star Wars aisle with my little sister, trying to find a cool action figure. I sketched while he read. For the last couple of days, I'd been trying to think of what cool thing I could bring Wil, and thought about maybe doing a painting of him and his wife -- but the only photo on his site of the two of them was in Halloween kit, as zombies -- that might not go over so hot. So I had it in my head that I'd do sketches during the reading, then give them to Wil if they turned out well. (They didn't actually turn out well [god, he's animated when he reads! Awesome for watching, not so awesome for quick sketching], and only two were salvageable in the end.

Wil taking questions after the reading. As you can see, it was very laid-back.

After he read, Wil took questions; my favorite answer was his story of how he and his wife met. I realized as he was telling it, that the woman sitting right in front of me who I'd been sketching, was his wife. I hurriedly added some more details, trying to flesh the sketch out. )

After the questions, we queued up to make a small line to get our books signed. The women around me started talking about how they'd had massive teenage crushes on Wil, and asked me if I also once had one.

'Er, sorry, no,' I said. I hadn't been a big Trek fan as a kid, and am not an especially huge one now -- but when surrounded by Trekkies wasn't the time or place to admit it. Instead, I just said, 'I actually really like Wil's writing.' I was surprised when the woman ahead of me in line told Wil that he formed the template for every man she'd ever loved. Dude. His response: a deadpan, 'I'm sorry.'

Now, I've met a lot of writers, and the ones who are big enough to be celebrities have all been… well, I'll be politic and say, 'disappointing.' So I was feeling a bit of trepidation. Just because someone has a cool writing persona doesn't mean that they're someone I'd want to spend time with, I've learned. But when my turn came, and I introduced myself to Wil, I discovered that he is just as cool as his writing: genuine, funny, and warm. He surprised me by recognizing me and thanking me; we chatted a bit about writing and art. I told him about having wanted to bring him a cool painting of him and Anne, but they both totally jumped on the zombie portrait idea. Okay then! Zombies it is.

J. had returned with beer, so we milled about aimlessly while I drank, chatted to Anne, chatted to some other extremely nice people who came with Wil whose names were obliterated by beer, and took photos of the second woman who'd been madly in love with Wil as a teenager. Then we decided to sober up and have some food, so we walked up to the patio and ordered food, and watched the crowd from the reading trickle out. And took photos of ourselves:

As J and I were waiting for the check so we could go to the Stone store and get ourselves some growlers, I felt a couple of light taps on my shoulder, and looked up. It was Wil, who'd come by to tell me how much he looked forward to seeing what I did with the zombie painting. That was so unexpectedly cool of him to come by and chat some more, when he didn't have to; he could've easily walked right past us and left.

Then everyone converged on the Stone store, got growlers, and headed home, after an awesome day.

Further proving how cool he is -- Wil totally threw the goat in our photo:

Technorati Tags: gamer, geek, inspiration

It's Not You, It's Your Books

From the New York Times: "It's Not You, It's Your Books," an essay about how a partner's reading habits can be a deal-breaker.

'Brainy women are probably more sensitive to literary deal breakers than are brainy men. (Rare is the guy who’d throw a pretty girl out of bed for revealing her imperfect taste in books.) After all, women read more, especially when it comes to fiction. “It’s really great if you find a guy that reads, period,” said Beverly West, an author of “Bibliotherapy: The Girl’s Guide to Books for Every Phase of Our Lives.” Jessa Crispin, a blogger at the literary site Bookslut.com, agrees. “Most of my friends and men in my life are nonreaders,” she said, but “now that you mention it, if I went over to a man’s house and there were those books about life’s lessons learned from dogs, I would probably keep my clothes on.” '

Ooh, am I ever guilty of this.

It's not so much that I can't stand to be around people whose personal canon consists of Mercedes Lackey and Dan Brown -- it's that one's taste in reading tends to be a great shorthand for compatibility in backgrounds, education, intellectual curiosity, and sense of humor. Not that a man would have to be well-read, just open to reading new things; one of my favorite things to do is to read books, then talk about the books with people close to me. Once I figured out that that's pretty much all a English degree consists of (well, that and endless writing), I was sold.

The few men in my literature and writing classes were in hot demand, let me tell you. My first boyfriend at college was a water polo player and an English major, who wrote me poems. (Eric, if you're reading this… call me.) That set the bar pretty high for future boyfriends. Men who previously just seemed 'nice' to me have skyrocketed in my esteem upon discovering that they've read If On A Winter's Night A Traveler (with bonus points for admitting they didn't quite understand it completely). But if a man I was interested in didn't laugh at Wodehouse, any spark I once felt for him would evaporate. As much as I hate to admit it, I have an unofficial, vague sorting system:

-10 : functionally illiterate. You will never see me naked.
-9 : requires memos to be written in bullet points. We probably work together, and you're a manager.
-8 : thinks Ayn Rand hung the moon. Don't touch me, not even if I'm on fire.
-7 : thinks Dan Brown is a fantastic writer. Go read Foucault's Pendulum, then talk to me again.
-6 : pretends to have read obscure books in order to impress me. Go try that on someone who went to community college.
-5 : can't understand what's so great about Shakespeare. Nothing can come of nothing.
-4 : thinks Umberto Eco ripped off Dan Brown. I'll have to resist throttling you.
-3 : laments that Robert Jordan died before he could complete his epic series of books. Have you ever seen a woman naked without a computer screen between you?
-2 : only reads billboards, road signs, and stock tickers. We also probably work together, and you're in accounts.
-1 : reads USA Today/Newsweek/Time. That's great… if you're in junior high.
0 : reads the Los Angeles Times. We can be friends.
+1 : reads the New York Times. We go on coffee dates that end up going nowhere.
+2 : reads the New Yorker. We probably have lunch together occasionally.
+3 : prone to ranting about how Goethe isn't translated very well in English. We have lovely conversations over beer.
+4 : understands that the main themes of The Lord of the Rings are death and loss. I married, then divorced you.
+5 : has read most of the western canon and knows who Harold Bloom is. You're a fellow English major!
+6 : can teach most of the western canon. You are either my mother, or one of my old professors. If the latter: I still won't sleep with you.
+7 : gave Finnegan's Wake a go, but are man enough to admit needing the annotated Norton Critical Edition to make sense of it. We're good friends.
+8 : are a writer. We probably dated and parted on good terms, and are close friends. Bonus points for writing me love poems.
+9 : are a published writer. I probably have a slight crush on you.
+10 : are Neil Gaiman. You make me swoon.

On the other hand, I suppose it can work in some cases. My mother, who has more books than I do (and that's no small feat), and taught English for years, married a wonderful man whose reading runs to "Concrete Monthly" and "Table Saws and You," something which mystifies me to this day. But when he sat down and watched the television adaptation of Jeeves and Wooster, and laughed out loud, I saw her method. Good choice, mom.

Technorati Tags: books, neil gaiman, dating