Sturgesia

There’s a new DCU blog called The Source, run by the very charming Alex Segura that should be worth looking at for DC fans. It’s nice to see that my dark overlords at DC are dipping a toe into this whole “Internet” thing.

One of their first posts contains preview pages of RUN!, or I should say, Final Crisis Aftermath: RUN! which is now its official title. This is the mini that I’m doing with Freddie Williams II, who is incredibly awesome and talented. And it’s edited by DC’s Vice-Editor in charge of Kickass Ian Sattler (I don’t know if that’s his actual title, but it should be), who actually contributed a lot of very good ideas to the story. It’s not often that an editor will say to you, “Hey, what if . . .” and instead of cringing you actually find yourself saying, “Wow, that’s a really good idea. I wish I’d thought of that.”

Anyway, have a look at the preview pages — it’s a shame you don’t get the two-page spread in its entirety because it really encapsulates what the whole series is about. If you laughed but at the same time felt slightly guilty about laughing, then you’re the target audience. If you can’t see the fun in seeing kindly nurses getting punched in the face . . . well, let’s just say that’s the classy part of the story.

Next saturday, from 2-3 pm, I’ll be signing copies of Midwinter (and presumably some comic TPB’s as well) at the Barnes and Noble in Round Rock, Texas.

Link to details.

Item: to all of those reading who might have emailed me or phoned in the past month or so (including close family members, old friends, and even a few business acquaintances): I am not ignoring you. Quite the contrary, I lie awake nights thinking what scum I am for not having gotten back to you. I’ve been swamped; a lame excuse, I know, but a true one.

Item: Midwinter is doing pretty well. The reviews have been mostly positive, and even the negative reviews have mostly said things like “I’ll definitely be watching for his next book, though.” Which is kind of like saying, “She’d be pretty if she lost a few pounds,” but there it is.

Item: Speaking of Midwinter, you can now purchase it as an audiobook on Audible.com! Audible’s boneheaded website won’t let me link directly to the book, but if you go there and search for “sturges” it’s the only result. In some way, the audiobook is almost cooler than the actual book, if only because I’ve never heard anyone read aloud something I’ve written. The narrator, Kevin Pariseau, is wonderful, a consummate professional who took the time to call and ask me how to pronounce every single proper noun in the book. So when you listen to it, all the names and places and so forth are pronounced just as they ought to be.

Item: Tor officially announces the release date of first of three volumes which make up the completion of Jordan’s Wheel of Time magnum opus: November 3. If you thought finishing the series was a bit of a slog already, the “first of three” part may come as unwelcome news.

Item: I’ve just started reading Iain M. Banks’s Culture novels, beginning at the beginning with Consider Phlebas. I think I have finally found a successor in my heart to Frank Herbert — does it stay as awesome as it starts?

Zip! Zing!