I never wrote these!

But I wish I had!

The first appears to be a French sci-fi novel from the 1970s entitled "Galactic Guerillas," which is totally a book I could get behind. I want a copy, pretty much NOW. let me know if you've got one kicking around in the basement... n'est-ce pas?

http://www.noosfere.com/icarus/livres/niourf.asp?numlivre=661

Thanks to my Goodreads page for tipping me off about it (and for giving me credit for writing it, which I didn't, as I was about 13 years old at the time... but hey, I'll take the credit for it.)

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/57843.David_Maine

POSTSCRIPT: While looking for cover images of Guerillero Galactique, what should I come across but a 1982 book by the same author called Invasion Cosmique. Gosh, I wish I spoke French better so I could understand what this title meant...

No Sleep Till (or even in) Brooklyn!

Ladies and gentlemen, for your consideration I present to The Mast, a guitars 'n' drums duo featuring lovely vocals and slamming percussion. The record is out on June 21, and this is representative of the duo's sound. Enjoy.

Maine = Vacationland

As promised, here are a few shots from our recent meandering in the Pacific northwest, starting with a view of the Cascade Mountains (I think) from the 500-foot-tall observation deck of the Space Needle. Yes, we went there, although it took a couple of tries, and yes, I even bought a T-shirt. But it's a really cool T-shirt.

We then headed south to portland, stopping along the way in Tacoma, WA to see the totally cool Museum of Glass and the Dale Chihuly-decorated Bridge of Glass:

And finally, in Portland we enjoyed the roses where we could find them, and also the wonky local design sense, like the storefront of our favorite restaurant. (Southpark Seafood--well worth a visit if you ever get the chance...)

Yes, I have sold my soul to the Devil of short attention spans.

That's right: I am now on Twitter.

in a blatant attempt to market myself, I have joined this thing that I don't really understand. But that's okay, as long as you understand it. So, go ahead and join me, or friend me, or follow me, or whatever it is you do to me on Twitter, and I promise to try and come up with clever things to say about myself several times per day. Oy.

And don't forget about Goodreads.com, where you can become my pal and receive timely updates about upcoming books and so forth. I actually prefer Goodreads to these other things like Facebook and Twitter. It's possible that I have said this before, however.

Back from vacation

So, Seattle was fun, but Portland OR is pretty much the city I would create if I had my way. Coffee shops, breweries, CD shops, a beautiful river, lots of greenery and (ahem) rain--okay, maybe a little more rain than my design might call for--and of course Powell's City of Books, where I got lost for about an hour, collected a stack of stuff I wanted to get, then got overwhelmed before returning the books one by one to the shelves and leaving with nothing. It was great! No, really, it was.

Also great was seeing Uzee's cousins and aunt for several days. They drove down from Vancouver (the one in Canada) and we all hung out and acted really serious most of the time. No, we didn't do that last bit. But we did hang out.

Uzee and I caught a couple of concerts: Iron and Wine and The Decemberists, who were playing an outdoor concert in scenic but frigid Bend, OR. They were good--too much new stuff, what can you do--but the revelation of the evening were opening act Rodrigo y Gabriela. Here's a video, but they're even more electrfying live. And I'll find some pictures from the trip. Stay tuned.

Revisions completed, manuscript turned in...

...now it's off for some R & R in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR. These are two places I've never been, but look forward to exploring.

I'll be back in early June and will be strategizing with my World Domination Team about how best to proceed with the eBook (see below if you haven't been around here much lately). I'm hugely stoked. If you'd like to keep up with quick-moving developments, please contact me either through Facebook or Goodreads.com (a great site) and we'll become pals. I don't say no to anybody!

A reminder: as of right now, launch date fot The Gamble of the Godless looks to be early-to-mid June. That roaring sound you're hearing? Ahh, that's the buzz, the buzz...

Also: if you know people who are fantasy/sci-fi readers who are looking for something fresh to devour this summer... send 'em over to me on FB or GR, and I'll happily become pals with them too.

Cheers! I'm off to the Space Needle and the Experience Museum. Wish me luck.

No Kindle? NO PROBLEM.

As mentioned in my last post, my forthcoming epic fantasy novel The Gamble of the Godless is coming out this May/June as an eBook exclusive, available at places like Amazon and B&N.com and the Apple store. Now, I don't have an e-reader--a Kindle or anything like it--and it occurred to me to wonder whether I'd even be able to read my own eBook. Turns out that's not a problem.

All these readers have free programs that can be downloaded and put onto your desktop or laptop. It takes about three minutes and bingo, instant Kindle.

Here's what you do:

Decide whether you want Kindle from Amazon, Nook from B&N, or whatever. you can go to www.download.com and search for "eBooks on PC" or something similar and you'll get a slew of options. Probably the easiest thing is just to go to Amazon, B&N or Apple.

Download the program and install it. This took me about two minutes and is about as tough as downloading a song.

Once you have the program, you'll need to register it with whomever you're going to be getting downloads from (in my case, Amazon). That's another 20 seconds, provided you already have an account. if you don't, it will take a minute or two.

So after that, you can download stuff, including the free sample chapters from just about every book online (including a three of mine, and Uzee's latest).

Here's a screenshot of what you get when you install the program and click it open. You get a couple free books when you install the program, and I've added a few samples.

Click on the book you want and you'll get something like this:

This is the beginning of Fallen. You can modify the font size and brightness, and after a few seconds the bars across top and bottom go away, so it starts looking like a book:But if you want, you can modfy the words per line, so it stretches across your screen in something like magazine format (and I've dimmed the brightness a little too):
Anyway, if you've been curious about eBooking it but haven't wanted to splurge on $100 plus, this might be an easy stopgap. Plus, it'll allow me to read The Gamble of the Godless...

Hey, be my pal on Facebook and keep up with fast-breaking developments...

Greetings Earthlings, there are some fairly exciting developments happening round this ways these days... including the upcoming publication of my fifth "serious" novel, An Age of Madness, sometime in 2012 (details forthcoming). In addition to that, however, is the imminent release of a eBook exclusive version of my epic fantasy novel, The Gamble of the Godless. This is a mighty tome I wrote back in 1995-96, then revised, then follwed up with a couple other sequels (making a trilogy) which actually landed me my first literary agent, a fellow in Chicago named Michael Steinberg.

Alas, Michael was unable to place the books, and we subsequently parted ways. But when The Preservationist was released in 2004, I dusted off the fantasy trilogy and found it pretty good. My current agent, Scott, loved it also, and has been trying to place it ever since. Which brings us to...

The E-BOOK EXCLUSIVE release, which is tentatively planned for sometime in late May. Yep, that's about a month from now (things happen fast in the e-world). There are still some bumps to iron out, and we need someone to paint a, like, cover, so it may get pushed back till midsummer. But stay tuned! This is a wildly exciting development for me, and it might even be a harbinger of change in the publishing paradigm in general, so let's see what happens.

The Gamble of the Godless will be available for download on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and elsewhere (like the Apple store). You'll need some kind of e-player to read it, obviously, but I understand that there are also programs that allow you to read these things on an ordinary computer or laptop as well. If the sales are decent, we'll release the two sequels as well, and if they're really decent, we might even end up with a traditional publisher making a bid... we'll have to see what happens.

Anyway, to keep up with developments, which are happening quickly, I urge you to friend me on Facebook, as I suspect I'll be updating that page often as news comes in. I'll still post updates here too, of course (including the cover image once I get it), but I suspect FB will be more immediate.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100001054731276

I guess I should go proofread this thing now, hey?

More Sahara Desert "blues"

This stuff just keeps coming... and it's amazing.

Bombino is new to me, but he rocks, and you can sign up for a free download of this song on his page at Bandcamp. You can listen to the rest of the album, too, including some bonus live tracks. Here's the link to his album: http://bombino.bandcamp.com/album/agadez

And here's the video (don't worry, the talking stops after 20 seconds or so).

Ahh, the good old days... when writers wrote.

Here's an interesting article by Anjum Hasan written for Tehelka, an Indian magazine, in which she ponders the (relatively) recent development of authors as public figures. Specifically, she refers to the expectation that writers will make themselves available to read their work aloud--performing it, essentially. It seems many readers love this kind of thing, as it allows them to... I'm not sure what. Interact with the writer in a way that just reading the book doesn't allow? Maybe. Some writers like it too, I guess. Good for them! Others, ahem, see it as a chore. I've been told I read well (shucks), but put me firmly in the "I'd really rather just have you read the book" camp.

But too bad! Public performance is, for all intents and purposes, part of the job description these days. And here I thought writers just sat around and wrote books all day? Silly me.

To quote from the article:

"I’m not against readings — there is often no better reality check than standing before a roomful of people and trying to draw them in. And if they do listen (they don’t always, despite appearances), then the ensuing adrenaline rush is surely one of the rare highs of a writer’s life. What worries me is the assumption that writing is easily translatable into public utterance, that one writes precisely in order to go out there and give one’s spiel, that one ought to at all times be ready to reinforce, explain, paraphrase, annotate, justify, or ( just by being in the public gaze) remind the world of what one has said in print. [Emphasis mine.] Judging from the requests that pour into my inbox to address students, launch books and publishing houses, be in public conversation with other writers, conduct workshops, judge competitions, be interviewed, and, of course, read from and talk about my own work, the writer today is public property. Of course, we behave like public property. We announce our publications on our blogs, dissect our work in interviews, smile for the cameras, tweet about… well… everything, travel for launches and book signings. I don’t know of many writers who shun this kind of publicity out of shyness or on principle. I’ve heard of reclusive writers but I personally only know one. So where does that leave us? In danger of imagining writerly existence as a wholly public enterprise when most of us should, in fact, stay silent."

There's more, and it's interesting, so take a look if you're so inclined:

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main49.asp?filename=hub230411SILENCE.asp

Meanwhile, rumor has it that I have a new book coming out sometime next year, and when it does, will I be doing readings? Of course I will. And counting myself lucky, to boot. We can dream about the good old days, I guess, but they seem to be well and truly passed...

The Warlocks: Hurricane Heart Attack

A little tax weekend tune for you, to shake the IRS blues away. This is from a few years ago, great song. Added bonus: the singer looks like Snape from the Harry Potter movies. Extra added bonus: the most indulgent rock luxury ever conceived--two drummers!

Look, it's the history of science fiction!

Courtesy of a clever artist named Ward Shelley, here's an easy-to-absorb (sort of) pictorial representation of the literature of the fantastic, from prehistoric/preliterate days right up the present second: Okay it's kinda hard to see here. Go here for a much better view: http://www.wardshelley.com/ From there you can click on various tabs to enlarge...

Well, they're 2/3 right.

I will be the Distinguished Visiting Writer at the University if Hawai'i at Manoa for the fall semester of 2011. Emphasis, please, on the "Distinguished." I'll be teaching a couple of workshop classes and generally making myself noticed, for better or for worse. If you're in the area, feel free to drop by my office (presuming, of course, that I get an office; not really sure how this works) and say howdy. Now if you'll excuse me, my Distinguished Self needs to go do things like read about red wines and, I don't know, change the oil on the Rolls-Royce, or something...

Wonky maps, part 1.

So our pals over a BigThink.com have started some new potentially fun thing called Cartographic Curioities, which basically amounts to "cool maps." here's one for ya... A mao of the USA in which each state is renamed in honor of the country to which it most closely matches its GDP. A fun idea, and one with a more serious point to make, in terms of the relative disparity betwee, say, Texas (which = Canada) and, ahem, Hawaii (which = Nigeria). And isn't it great how Minnesota = Norway? Something poetic going on there. For a fuller explanation of the map, plus some reasons why a quick glance is in fact somewhat misleading, go to: http://bigthink.com/ideas/21182?utm_source=Big+Think+Weekly+Newsletter+Subscribers&utm_campaign=9e6b34a357-Strange_Maps_Weekly_Newsletter_Promotion_4_7_2011&utm_medium=email

If this recurring feature is as cool as I think it could be, I may be pointing out some fun maps from time to time (hence the "part 1" in the heading above).

In other news: I did my taxes today, oy.

In yet other news, Uzee and I are quickly solidifying plans for a trip to Seattle and Portland (OR) this May/June. Rumor has it that we'll be taking in The Decemberists (Hoo-rah!) and Iron and Wine (Yip-pee!) while we're out there. Details forthcoming.

Also, my new book, An Age of Madness--details should soon be forthcoming about that too (fingers crossed, happy thoughts, etc).

Heeeeere's Johnny!

Well, sad to say, my not-ready-for-prime-time, three-and-a-half-minute vid of Johnny Winter shredding "Good Morning Little School Girl" is not uploading. Don't know why not, but whatever. The sound is so-so anyway, and the picture's worse, so you're not really missing anything too massive. (The picture gets a bit less shaky after 45 seconds or so, and then all goes well till about 3:30, at which point I was instructed forcefully to turn the camera off. Sadly, you can't really hear the woman bellowing in my ear, although she sure seemed loud at the time...) But anyway, in the spirit of inclusiveness, here's a YouTube video I dug up of considerably better quality, as Johnny plays on Swedish TV in 1987. Extra fun: the guitar he's playing in this clip is the same one he played last night at Hawaiian Brian's--or if not exactly the same, then very similar. Insider tip: If you're not familiar with JW, run don't walk and find a copy of his take on Jimi's "Red House." Or you could just pick up any of his roughly eight thousand records and feel pretty happy...

Johnny Winter TEARS IT UP in Honolulu

I'll be posting a shaky, homemade video soon... as much as I got, before I was told to put away the camera (!). Last night, Texas guitar legend Johnny Winter showed us what we all already knew: that he can still shred with the best, even sitting down the whole time. Not many concerts come to Hawaii, but this one was pretty fun. Rock on, Johnny.

Pakistan's cricket team has a lot to be proud of

Okay, so they didn't win the World Cup, and in fact flamed out in the semi-final against India... but they put up a good fight and got further than anyone expected going in. nice job, guys, and best of luck in 2015.

And by the way, I want the shirt!

The Jolly Boys!

Mento masters from Jamaica... They're my new sort-of heroes.

Pay attention to Red Hen Press!

Located in sunny Pasadena, California, Red Hen Press is a small publishing company that prints a lot of interesting fiction and poetry. Here's their web site:

http://www.redhen.org/

And one of their better-known books:

http://www.amazon.com/My-Life-Clothes-Summer-Brenner/dp/1597091634/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1298182827&sr=8-2

And a Publishers Weekly article about their poetry publishing:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/45949-red-hen-press-works-to-keep-poetry-relevant.html

So check 'em out. There's a reason I'm talking about Red Hen Press. Sure, they're an interesting looking independent publisher... but there are other reasons, too.

Recent reviews at PopMatters.com

Hey kids, I've been busy lately scrawling book & record reviews at PopMatters.com. It's a great site, and here are some of my thoughts over the past few weeks, starting with some bare-bones rock & roll...

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/135216-tina-sparkle-welcome-to-the-no-fun-house/

For those of you who prefer your musical a trifle more placid, these Benedictine nuns might suit your tastes better:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/135986-the-benedictine-nuns-of-notre-dame-de-lannnonciation-voices/

Here's some highbrow lit that I quite liked:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/135614-bound-by-antonya-nelson/

An unlikely combination of Kore (African harp) and cello that works really well:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/136162-ballake-sissoko-and-vincent-segal-chamber-music/

Eye candy for six-string freaks:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/135296-star-guitars-by-dave-hunter/

Low-fi alterna-rock from small town Washington state:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/135681-solvents-forgive-yr-blood/

And finally, appealing to the lowest common denominator in all of us:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/131714-four-color-fear-by-greg-sadowski-ed/