The Leviathan Chronicles

I've never been one for audiobooks or that sort of thing, but this caught my eye...or ear, as it were. The Leviathan Chronicles is an audio sci-fi drama that is up to Chapter 7 at this point. The premise?

A young immortal finds herself swept up in a secret war and must discover why her race is suddenly dying off.

Certainly enough to catch my attention. Hopefully the voice acting and all lives up to the rest of the presentation. The website has an intriguing underwater interface that makes me think of Atlantis and sea monsters. I'll be listening to at least the first few chapters, and if anyone else has enjoyed this series (or not), do let me know your impressions.


I see that smile.

Weird News Weekend

There appears to be a rash of strange crime-related news this week. For starters:

A couple of crooks are overcome with guilt. One escaped from a county jail, but left a rose fashioned out of toilet paper behind, as a way of saying sorry for breaking out. (He was later apprehended and returned to jail.)

Another, this time a burglar, was caught by the homeowner of the place he was trying to rob, and broke down into tears, and even handed over his own cell phone for the victim to call the police with.

And lastly, we have just plain ol' ineptitude, as a 17-year-old inmate, in an attempt to escape a city jail, crashed through the ceiling and into the police chief's office.

Let me know if you see any morals to these stories.


I see that smile.

Word Clouds

If you've ever laid back on a cloudy day and tried to see shapes and images in the floating, fluffy balls of water, you know how much the mind can stretch to fashion sense out of random cotton puffs. But what if you could make a cloud out of your writing?

Wordle is a tool/toy (however you want to look at it) that generates word clouds based on text that you enter. So maybe you have a short story, and you want to see what it looks like all jumbled up and mixed together. You can choose all sorts of different layout options, with font, color, size, etc. And there's a nifty little feature that, depending on how often a word shows up in the text you submit, the larger it will be in the resulting cloud. That way you can see if there are any overly repetitious words in your prose, ones you may not have even thought about.

I'm sure there are other ways to use this. Artistic ventures, a new form of poetry...who knows? Have fun with it, and feel free to link up any word clouds you create in the comments.


I see that smile.

Strange Horizons webzine is trying to raise funds

If you don't know them, Strange Horizons is an nonprofit, free weekly webzine of speculative fiction. Right now, they're trying to raise $6,000 to continue to pay their writers and cover costs for the zine production. Here's the official announcement:

1. Strange Horizons publishes short fiction, poetry, reviews and articles of interest to the speculative fiction community each week on Monday. Once each month we also publish an art gallery spotlighting a different speculative artist.

2. All of our 40+ staff members are volunteers. All the money from the funddrive goes to operating costs of the website, and so that we can pay our contributors professional rates. Yes, that's right. We pay for stories and art for a free web magazine. Pretty awesome!

3. We have some seriously cool book packages and other prizes this year. Everyone who donates will be entered into a prize drawing at the end of the drive.

Seems like they're already about halfway to their financial goal, but if you'd like to help out, you can go here to donate.


I see that smile.

Even established authors can't sell their books

David B. Coe, author of nine (and counting) fantasy novels, tells us what's going on in his head as he is having difficulty getting what he calls "the best book he's ever written" published. Despite his track record, despite his being an established author, he can't even get editors to offer a contract for the thing, and it's driving him a bit crazy.

The big question he asks is, when, after all the rejections, revisions, setbacks and roadblocks, when does he accept that the book just may not be viable at this time and leave it alone? When does he shelve it to work on something else, or does he persevere despite the publishing naysayers? How does he objectively decided whether the story has some fatal flaw that he's just not seeing, or does he wait it out, hoping the subjectivity of the industry shifts his way?

I've experienced part of this, and I mean part because I haven't sold any of my novel manuscripts yet, so I don't know what it's like to be past that and still not get some of my stories accepted. Hopefully I'll reach that point someday. But I do know what it's like to realize a story that I truly love and enjoy just isn't ready yet, even if I don't understand why.

It's hard to take something you had so much fun writing and stick it aside. I still very much believe in the story and the characters. I believe it is a unique plot and can be lots of fun to read. But there are some big issues crippling the tale, and until I take it into major surgery and fix those, I have to give up on sending it around or trying to get it published. And there are other stories that are more polished and structurally sound that I should focus on.

But better to recognize that and back off then to waste even more time and effort. I'll chalk it up to the whole learning experience.

Anyone else gone through this as well?


I see that smile.

10 Ways to Not Get/Keep an Agent

These kinds of lists are important, because you tend to know about 9 out of 10 of the items on them, but there may be 1 important detail lurking in the background that you can benefit from. And when the topic is the soul-wrenching search for an agent, well, why wouldn't you pay attention?

So: 10 Ways to Not Get/Keep an Agent

Here are two bullet points that I'm committing to memory-

4. Writing anything that involves a serial killer that specializes in the killing of literary agents .

and...

6.Returning revisions at light speed.

This second one I could find myself being guilty of. I tend to do spot revisions on a few errors pointed out and forget to consider that similar errors might be hiding throughout the rest of the text. If I took the time to weed them out, and not just in those few paragraphs I got feedback on, it would reduce the need for at least one drafting session.

Are there any points made in this article that surprise you? Enlighten you? Any you've found yourself doing? (And sorry to anyone in the middle of drafting their big, breakout literary agent murder mystery.)


I see that smile.

Fantasy Name Generator

It's funny how deciding the name of a place or person can stop the novel-writing process in its tracks. Their name determines how the reader views them from the first page. You can't very well have a hero running around with the name of Reginald Blooddrinker the Nasty, can you? Nor should your villain be stuck with the moniker of Pureheart the Beloved, unless you really want to confuse people.

Say we're trying to portray someone with a noble heart, courageous demeanor, and the ability to outdo anyone in a pie-eating contest. How can a single name possess all those qualities? Do you name your hero Bob, or Blix-na'fargle? Tough decisions.

Fortunately, there is now a Fantasy Name Generator that will do all the work for you.

Is your character a good guy or bad guy? Monstrous or civilized? Want to add a splash of ancient history and culture?? You have the options all right here.

Plus, if you want to figure out some mystic, esoteric name for, say, a book of wizardry, some epic weapon, or even a string of strange holidays, this generator will whip it all up for you.

Now you never have to ponder this issue for days while your draft lies uncompleted. Just a click of your button will solve all your problems.

So, let's see. A name for my noble, courageous, pie-eating hero. What does the generator give me?

Thundinulb.

Perfect.


I see that smile.

Weird News Weekend

I really think they could have figured out something more important to do with 800 lbs of bronze.

And Is the economy so desperate that crooks have resorted to this?

Actually...

I think this is a better sign of how penny-pinching some people are getting, when they create their wedding dresses out of nothing but toilet paper.

That's it for this weekend. See you when the fun starts on Monday.


I see that smile.

What is a plot?

Nathan Bransford, agent and blogger extraordinaire, has started a discussion on the concept of the plot, and the fact that many people, when trying to describe the plot of their novel, just end up describing the hook or the theme instead. What's the difference?

A hook is the unique part of your story that intrigues the reader and, hopefully, makes them want to keep reading along. A hook might read as:

A boy discovers one of his parents was an angel, while the other was a demon.
A warrior discovers a magic stone.
A woman realizes her dog can talk.

These tell about events, but no real plot. Then there are themes:

A boy discovers what it means to forgive his enemies.
A woman finds true love in the unlikeliest of places.
A man learns revenge isn't worth the cost of his soul.

These tend to be the emotional "messages" within the story. Some might call them the take-away value, or the lesson. But still, they aren't the plot.

So if none of those are real plots, what is?

Nathan describes it with this analogy:

Think of a book like a really big door, preferably one of those Parisian ones that are thick and heavy and last hundreds of years. Here's how it breaks down. Bullet point time!

- The premise is what happens to knock the door ajar. Something sets the protagonist's life out of balance. Preferably something really intriguing or like totally deep man.
- The climax is when the door closes. Maybe the protagonist made it through the door, maybe they didn't make it through the door but learned a really great lesson about door closing, maybe the door chopped them in half.
- The theme is how the person opening the door changes along the way.

What's the plot? The plot is what keeps the door open!! Why can't that person close the door?

So take a look at your query letter, if you have one. Do you have the hook? That's good. Do you tell the theme? That's fine. But is the plot there? Do you give us the open door and let us see what is keeping it stuck open?


I see that smile.

Can games help your writing?

Marie Brennan gives her thoughts on the writer at play, talking about how her experiences with role-playing games, of the dice-rolling variety, have helped her improve as a writer. She says this is because those games force her to think on her feet, adapt to quick changes in a situation, and constantly try to find solutions to an immediate problem for whatever character she is role-playing.

Now I've never had much experience with the dice side of games, but I have had quite a bit of involvement with various computer role-playing games. Some might argue for a wide gulf between these two, but I believe that, in at least a small way, playing a wide range of games, even on the computer, has clued me in to a few important elements I can translate to my writing.

Mainly, I've come to recognize that the most satisfying games are the ones where my emotions get involved. Where I am forced to choose between sacrificing characters that I have come to enjoy, who have true personality and don't just come from the usual warrior/wizard/thief cut-outs. If it has a depth of story to it is going to far out-match any other game that is solely based on whiz-bang graphics. Finding that same emotional attachment in a novel or short story is just as critical.

Also, a story is often more satisfying when it goes in directions not dictated by the clever plot, but the characters. Their personal choices are more important than the "coolness" of the world around them, or the snazziness of the magic they might wield. The gaming community has come to recognize this as they have been offering more and more games with branching choices and logic, letting the player determine what path they'll take to get to the end, and even providing numerous endings based on the player's choices.

It reminds me of the choose-your-own-adventure books, and I wonder if those will ever return in an adult format that might give the reader some unique control over how the plot plays out. Who knows? With the continuing growth in popularity of the eBook, it isn't illogical to think that someday an author might write a virtual novel that has different paths and endings the reader can choose as they flip through the pages.

Would you want that much control over a story you hadn't written? Could you see that becoming a popular form of future entertainment?


I see that smile.

Lucienne Diver talks about Query Letter Do's and Dont's

Lucienne Diver, until recently an agent at Spectrum Literary Agency, and now part of The Knight Agency, has updated her list of Do's and Don'ts for writing query letters.

http://varkat.livejournal.com/21728.html

A few points worth nothing:

-Arrogance is a turn off. Do not suppose that your first novel will break all sales records and become a blockbuster movie.

-Check an agency's website for submission guidelines and then follow them!

-Allow humor to show through, but don’t try to get too cutesy with your queries.

-Don’t try to rush the agent/editor along with a line like “I look forward to your speedy response.” Rejection takes much less time than a careful read.

She also mentions a little etiquette:

-Do mention if it's a simultaneous submission. At the query letter stage this is expected, but at the partial or full manuscript stage, the status should definitely be disclosed. It's good manners and can hurt your chances with an agent if we find out later what we should have known up front. In addition, if you sign with an agent, do the other agents looking at your work the courtesy of letting them know right away so they don't spend their limited time reading something that's no longer available.

And in closing, reminds us that:

-All this aside, remember that an agent is looking for good material. One of the most exciting things about our job is finding new talent. The above aren't meant to be discouraging but simply to give you the best chance of standing out in the right


Now if you'll pardon me, I need to go delete that Knock-Knock joke from all my query letters.


I see that smile.

Afterworld, The story for now

A while back, you may have seen my post about Afterworld, a science fiction project that combined online storytelling, CGI animation and an interactive website that furthered the characters and plot with a forum, virtual journal, and Wordwall.

Well, the story has reached the end of its first season, with 130 episodes in all spanning the protagonist's journey from New York to Seattle. The setting? A world in which no AC/DC-based technology works anymore, and 99% of the population disappeared overnight in a mysterious event.

Russell Shoemaker is the hero of the story, and in his quest to return home and discover the fate of his wife and child, he encounters numerous mini-societies rebuilding themselves after the fall of civilization. Along the way, he also gets drawn into the mystery and conspiracy behind the fall, experiencing strange, potentially supernatural phenomena, and eventually becoming a central figure in determining the path this post-singularity world will take.

I found the story incredibly engaging. The producers do a great job of ending each episode with some sort of hook to make you want to watch the next one. And since each episode is just a few minutes long, it's like eating Pringles. You can't stop with one, and before you know it, you're moving on to the next location, the next mystery.

They also do a great job of introducing unique characters for Russell to interact with along the way, including a homeless man who acts as something of a guardian angel, a potentially psychic young boy, and an addled professor who believes the world is merging with the reality of several science fiction novels he once wrote.

For the sake of time, the story does sometimes gloss over key points that might leave you wondering exactly how the characters got out of a predicament so quickly, or whether a certain person would experience such a quick change of heart, but overall, Afterworld is a unique storytelling project that is worth watching. The ending also promises another journey to follow, with even more adventure and higher stakes.


I see that smile.

Shimmer Art Issue got reviewed

A little behind the curve of awareness, but I found this review by The Fix, a short fiction review site, that went over the Art Issue, where my story, Even Songbirds Are Kept in Cages was included.

Here's what they had to say about it.

"“Even Songbirds Are Kept in Cages” by Josh Vogt, one of two non-art inspired stories in this issue. An unnamed first-person narrator recounts how his father buys a “mockingbird lady,” part bird and part human woman, and locks her up in the attic to sing for the family. The narrator, a young boy with a kind heart, determines to free her, despite his fear of his father and his concerns over what became of his mother.

The relationship between missing mother and forbidding father is actually the main weak point of “Even Songbirds Are Kept in Cages.” Contradictory hints are dropped, and the narrator’s father never quite gels as a character. The narrator, his brother, and the mockingbird lady, on the other hand, are all vividly written, and the narrator’s relationship with the mockingbird lady is affecting. He comes up with an interesting plan to free her, and the ending of the piece indicates he might have freed his family from the weight of their past as well. That part of the resolution might be stronger if that past weren’t quite so vague."

The full review can be read here.


I see that smile.

Weird News Weekend

This man is soon going to be mistaken for loose change.

A real, live unicorn has been discovered in a nature preserve in Tuscany.

And...

This is one of those indicators that a game fad has gone too far.

What will next weekend hold for us in the realm of weird?


I see that smile.

Movie preview- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

This could be an interesting movie. The question with these book-to-movie adaptations is how much will they mangle the plot for the sake of cinema? How much will they pad the original story for drama and angst. Or will this be worth seeing?

The plot of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is simple (sorta). Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the story is of Benjamin Button who is born as an old man, his mind fully intact, his body feeble and withered. As the years go by, Benjamin ages backwards, growing younger, while everyone around him grows older. He lives life in a peculiar manner, moving back through the various stages of experience and mental maturity in reverse of everyone around him, yet at the same time showing how life mirrors itself at either extremes of age and youth.

What affect does this odd life have on his parents? Those he loves? How does he make and keep friends when the gulf of age widens between them?

It's a very short book (almost a short story, really), and easily read in one or two commutes to work (if you ride the bus like I do). Or you could sneak it in during the stoplights. I don't think reading the book is going to spoil the movie at all. But will the movie spoil the book for folks? We'll have to wait and see.


I see that smile.

Building the Pitch Paragraph

Agent Kristin Nelson has a couple posts up about how to build and evaluate a novel's pitch paragraph. You know, that summary thing you tend to see on the back cover that gives you a glimpse of the plot. And once you are able to do this, you can understand what makes such a paragraph the most effective, and so can create your own with these elements in mind so, if you query an agent or do a pitch session at a conference, you'll be likelier to snag their attention.

She's put an example up and broken it down into three parts that you can then apply to your own work.

Step One: Find the plot Catalyst

Step Two: Identify what method is being used to build the paragraphs in the cover copy?

• Back story?
• Other plot elements?
• Character?
• Combo?

Step Three: Analyze the copy as a whole.
How many sentences is it? What elements make up each individual paragraph? What seemed effective and why?

Try analyzing a few books from your shelves and see if you can get familiar with what makes them effective (or not) copy. Then see if you can build your own paragraph. How can you stick these steps to your own work? Does it help narrow your focus enough?


I see that smile.

Odd Hours- Book Review

Dean Koontz recently came out with Odd Hours, the fourth book in his Odd Thomas series, which I have been a great fan of all along. And if you missed them, don't forget to check out the four-part webisodes he released a couple weeks ago- Odd Passenger.

So what are my thoughts about his latest? Well, it's his expected style, mixing humor and common people (though perhaps with uncommon skills) being place into extraordinary circumstances. His tension grips as strongly as ever, and the stakes escalate higher than they have ever been.

After the events at the monastery in the last book, Odd, and a ghostly dog named Boo, have taken up residence at Magic Beach, a small, quiet town where Odd hopes to blend in and relax.

But, as always, his unexpected gift for seeing dead people and other strange visions manifests itself. Odd starts having dreams of an apocalyptic nature, as well as a strange, pregnant woman who possesses an unnatural sense of wisdom and knowledge despite her young age. After running into this exact woman and protecting her from deadly forces, Odd is drawn into a horrific plot which, as it is revealed, will have consequences reaching far beyond this little beachside town.

Odd's ability to see the dead and departed spirits actually doesn't come into as huge a play here as it has in past books. In fact, he goes out of his way at one point to make sure he doesn't get near any potential spirits so they won't distract him. There is one main instance where it gets involved in the plot, but otherwise, the focus here is more on the apocalyptic vision he keeps experiencing and how to defuse it.

This book also takes a more violent turn in Odd's character, one that he certainly doesn't welcome, but finds inescapable. Readers who might have enjoyed his more pacifist approach to problems in previous books may be disappointed in this, but I felt it was a natural part of his character's evolution, plus a necessity in the kind of people and situations he was dealing with. Can't talk your way out of everything.

We are left with a lot more questions at the end here, and even a few clues that Odd could potentially have a future run-in with a character from another one of Koontz's series- Chris Snow. I think it'd be fascinating to see those two come together in one book, as their stories have shared similar themes of the nature of humanity, humility, the power of love, and similar ideas Koontz imbues his characters with. Whether Koontz is just teasing us, or if that is his eventual plan, I guess we'll have to wait and see. This story is definitely a huge setup for a much larger plot arc than I had thought Koontz would pursue with Odd, but I am looking forward to seeing what comes next. And whether Chris and Odd meet up later on, I'd recommend the Chris Snow books as well, Fear Nothing and Seize the Night. That way, you've read both a good set of stories, and filled yourself in on that character's adventures just in case they do collide.

One thing did get a little frustrating. The character Odd pledges himself to protect gets a little annoying as she speaks so enigmatically all the time. I don't know how Odd puts up with it, but I wanted a few straight answers as to who she was and what she was about, but in the end, we're left with as much uncertainty as we began with. I know this is a setup for the next story, but man, I did get tired of some of the obvious dodges she makes when asked questions, even if it is explained that she really may not know more than she does at this point.

Overall, a great read from Koontz that I'd recommend to everyone. Let me know if you read it and have any other thoughts.


I see that smile.

Anyone want their own severed dragon head?

It's going up for auction tonight. Don't miss out.


Yet another beautiful piece of artistry by http://www.alexcf.com/blog/

And yes, I know beauty is a relative term here, considering it involves a severed head.

But the potential uses are endless. Serve it with cranberry sauce for next Thanksgiving. Put it in the bed of your mortal enemy, in place of a horse head. Take it in for show and tell and let the class know how it ate Fluffy before you dispatched it with a butter knife.

You are limited only by your imagination.


I see that smile.

Post-survival

Well, we didn't get eaten by bears (or grues) and it turned out to be a great weekend up in the mountains. Though our early start on Saturday was hindered by two flat tires, we finally made it up and ended up doing most of a 12 mile hike that day, camping out for the night, and then finishing it up on Sunday before coming back down and seeing the family for a b-day dinner.

A few pictures are up below. The blog will resume its usual programming tomorrow.

I see that smile.

Gone backpacking

And camping for the night. Should be back Sunday for a birthday dinner with the folks.

Here's to hoping we don't get eaten by a grue...I mean bear.


See you on the flipside.

The rules of query writing (and when they are broken)

For anyone who has ever been frustrated by the query writing process, you should head on over to literary agent Nathan Bransford's blog. Aside from being a long-time fighter for strong queries that don't start with rhetorical questions, Bransford recently posted his thoughts on why certain queries, even when they break "the rules" an agent sets down, can still be accepted and even lead to offers.

http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2008/06/query-points-system-and-rulebreaking.html

He rates aspects of a query on a scale, and these are the most important factors whenever he reads:

- Professionalism (appearance of query, spelling of name, personalization, absence of strange pictures)
- Book Idea (presentation of hook, marketability, writing style/quality, resonance with me)
- Qualifications (writing credits, celebrity status)

So if you don't write a wonderful query, you misspell the agent's name and so on, but you have a smashing story idea, chances are the query will get read. I know I've always feared that if I get one thing wrong or out of place, it automatically sticks me in the reject pile. But the hope that an agent might give it the benefit of the doubt helps take a little of the stress off.

As he says, with this in mind, don't just toss the rules out the window. Try and follow an agent's guidelines, try to stay professional, because doing these things will help keep the door propped open wider. At the same time, don't freak out over making the letter "perfect," for fear of having it thrown into an incinerator otherwise.


I see that smile.

The hardest part to remember

I am not a runner. Nor am I a morning person. I prefer to sleep in until noon and stay up until 3am. I prefer to work out with my martial arts, rather than loping around the block to end up right where I started.

Yet for the past couple of weeks, and especially the last few mornings, I've gotten up with my wife before 6am and gone running. Why? Well, partly to encourage her own drive to stay healthy, but also because I know it's better for me as well. Get's the metabolism churning bright and early (or gray and early, since it rained this morning). Gives me a better start to the day with energy levels high.

I still grumble when I wake up. My body protests as we head out the door, and my legs are usually shrieking, "What the crap are you doing to us?" But what I've noticed, and what I try to remember each time we get up, is that after a few minutes, it doesn't feel so bad anymore. I'm awake, I'm alert, and I'm running without feeling like I'm going to blow a lung out a nostril. When I'm done, sure I'm a little tired and my legs burn a bit, but it feels worth it. Like I'm actually running a little faster and with less effort each time I do it. If only I could remember the end feeling before I begin.

The same with writing. It many times feels like the mental equivalent of running (or at least jogging) along through the story. But often those first few steps, or few minutes, or few pages, are the hardest of all. You aren't stretched out. The inspiration isn't flowing. Everything feels gangly or clunky.

Yet the longer you keep at it, the easier it becomes, at least in my experience. You find your stride. Your pacing gets better. Transitions are smoother. And the end result is totally worth the effort, no matter how sweaty your keyboard gets.

If only we could start out knowing how we're going to feel by the end. The sense of accomplishment. The enjoyment of the story. The fun of revision (I realize I don't speak for everyone on that). It would make starting out all the easier.


I see that smile.

Luckiest plane crash, ever

If you're ever going to go down in a plane crash, this is the way to do it. Of course, the entire incident wasn't escaped without casualty, but think about how it could've played out with just a regular passenger plane.

Yet another example of events in life that if you wrote it into fiction, no one would believe it.

At what point in your mind, as you are reading a story, do you stop accepting the various coincidences and lucky/unlucky circumstances the author keeps throwing your way? Important people bumping into each other on the street. Someone being in the right place at the perfect angle to witness a crucial clue. A song on the radio trigger repressed memories. When does something become unbelievable for you, or too much a stretch of logic?


I see that smile.

Control the plot of the future

This could be an interesting or frustrating experiment. It all depends on you.

In the summer of 2010, the SciFi Channel is going to release an online roleplaying game that will directly relate to a current television series. Whoever plays the game, and the course that characters and events take in that game, are supposedly going to affect what happens in the television show as well. Sort of a choose-your-own-adventure plot, but guided by the questings and killings and whatever else the game involves of thousands of players and fans.

No one really knows what the story is going to be about, other than being a few decades down the road, plus involving some sort of alien invasion.

I'm wondering how much of a delay between the game and the show there'll be. How much time will actors and the show writers have to adapt to whatever changes the fans make in the game? And will there be some idiots who go in and try to muck around in the game world, just to screw up the show? Make people fail on a big quest or kill off some important characters? Will that even be possible, or will the game be relegated to affecting tiny factors, like a character's hair cut, or the kind of laser gun they use?

It'll be interesting to see as it develops. Who knows? I may even give the game a try.


I see that smile.

Another way to promote your book

If, as we talked about in an earlier post, claiming divine inspiration doesn't get copies flying off the shelves, this author presents another textbook way to get even major news networks to mention the upcoming publication.

Step 1. Rent a small plane (also, please know how to fly it, or get someone to do it for you).

Step 2. Take bags full of cash up in the plane with you.

Step 3. Dump said cash out over a soccer field and let people run around willy-nilly trying to catch it.

Step 4. Repeat until broke (optional)

Oddly enough, the book being promoted is by Indonesian author Tung Desem Waringin, and is titled Marketing Revolution. I'm really quite curious what kind of marketing department would go for tactics that literally require throwing money away.

Total money tossed out? About $10,000. Not quite an Oprah-level stunt, but hey, we're talking about the book, aren't we?


I see that smile.

Weird News Weekend

Have you noticed there's been a lot in the news lately about UFO's? Now that sort of thing has come pretty close to home for me. There's a Denver man, Jeff Peckman, who is arguing for the city council to open an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission to deal with future alien encounters.

Some of his argument is backed by a video shot by a Nebraska man named Romanek, who has claimed more than 100 encounters with aliens, and now has claimed to have captured a three minute video of an E.T. peeking into his home.

A picture from this video can be seen here, plus click through the rest to see Peckman and other famous alien pictures from the past.

And in more serious, weird news, a young man in Germany triggered a rash of UFO sighting reports when he proposed marriage to his girlfriend by sending up 50 paper lanterns into the night sky.

(Or was he really signalling his home planet, and the marriage proposal was the coverup story once the police arrived? We may never know...)


I see that smile.