BayCon, trailers and a free e-book

BayCon was last weekend in Santa Clara (read San Jose), CA. It had some competition this year in the form of two more local conventions of a similar nature, which definitely had an impact on attendance. I've never seen the dealers room so small, either.

The panels, though long (90 mins. a piece!), were great. I moderated two on Friday and sat on two more on Sunday. I brought my fiancé, Kevin, this year. He's by far a mundane, but this was his first convention. We went easy on him. ;) We both had loads of fun with my con friends old and new alike. The dance on Saturday night was uber lame, but I guess if you're 20-something and LIKE to jump up and down and flap your arms to techno, it was passable. I couldn't tell you as I couldn't stand hangin' in for more than two songs. I gave the masquerade a miss as well, opting instead to go off the reservation for dinner with buddies Bob Brown, Irene Radford, Jeff Lemkin, Dan Pietrasik (Yes, he won my flash contest, and no, it wasn't fixed. I wasn't the judge, remember?) and newbie writer Arley, who is astoundingly prolific and charming. Then we hung out in the lobby bar with Dani Kollin and a flock of new friends.

The parties, probably because of the aforementioned low attendance were also lame. We just cruised the party floor Friday and Saturday keeping our ears open for good conversation but finding none, alas.

I did meet Shahid of Phoenix Picks in the dealers room. Now he's not just some dude. Very nice man. I enjoyed chatting with him. Which brings us to his June picks. He also gave me the first two issues of the new mag, Galaxy's Edge edited by Mike Resnick. Mike's history of science fiction magazines at the beginning of the first issue is very entertaining. I'll review the mag in the next couple of weeks here.

Phoenix Pick's free e-book for June is L. Neil Smith's The Crystal Empire.
Use coupon code 9991642, which will be good from June 2nd-June 30.

About the book:
Earth is ruled by three mighty empires: The Saracen-Jewish Empire led by
the Caliph of Rome, the Mughal-Arab Empire, ferocious in its determination
to destroy its neighbor, and the great Sino-Aztec's Crystal Empire, led by
a living God.

Little is known about the Crystal Empire, which spans most of western
America. But it is the most powerful force surviving on Earth and its
might is unchallenged.

One man, however, will change that. Sedrich Sedrichsohn, a legendary
fallen fighter, has a chance at redemption and nothing will stand in his
way to reclaim his life and his purpose, even if he must fight the Sun-God
himself.

 The last episode of the first season of The Minister of Chance is here! Let me entice you with the following trailer.



I'd love to give you a review of the new Star Trek movie, but I was at BayCon all weekend and still haven't seen it. And, besides, you probably have. Instead, here's a trailer for a Will Smith (and son, Jaden) SF flick coming out this Friday.

So Much Science Fiction and Fantasy to See and Hear!

The fourth episode of The Minister of Chance has been released! See the trailer now!


As soon as you hear ep 4, you'll want more. Here's how to make it happen sooner.

Mike Resnick is the editor of a new, free online SF/F magazine for Phoenix Pick's. The bimonthly magazine, Galaxy's Edge, launched on March 1. The inaugural issue includes  stories, columns, SF book reviews and more. Epub, Mobi and PDF versions will be available for download at a nominal fee and a print edition is available from many online stores, including Barnes and Noble and Amazon.


Phoenix Pick’s free ebook for March is Grandmaster Robert Silverberg’s Starborne. The coupon code (good through March 31) is 9991828 and the link can be found in the online catalogue page at PPickings.com.

Here's some new trailers. This first one looks like modern-day Godzilla.


Not much to see on this one, but I guess it's another first contact flick.


These folks are looking for Zero G Coupling Experts?  I'm not going to touch that one. I guess I already did, huh?

The Minister Makes the Shortlist!

Gonna start by tooting my horn. Ownership has its privileges. It IS my blog after all. I just had a rewrite request. Mind you, I happened to have only ONE story out there circulating and this was the first place I submitted it. :) There's an ego boost! Those are great stats. Imagine what I could accomplish if I got off my lazy butt and sent the rest of the stories out and churned out more.

Graphic by Radio Static/Lee Sullivan

Just got an email this week from my favorite folks at my favorite sci-fi audio drama. The Minister of Chance has been shortlisted for Best Online Only Audio Drama in the BBC Audio Drama Awards and episode four is in the editing stage. 






This month's free e-book from Phoenix Picks is Paul Cook's The Aljeandra Variation.

The coupon code for January (good through January 31) is 9991465. Enter it at www.PPickings.com on their catalog page.



About the book:  Nicholas Tehada is a dreamer having his dreams harvested by Mnemos Nine—a computer used in a top-secret government project. But where do the dreams end and reality begin? And what is the ultimategoal of Project Foresee?
 

The Magnificent Minister (of Chance) is BACK!

The Minister of Chance is at it again. I can NEVER say enough good things about this exciting, well-done, audio space-opera series. The characters and settings are limited only by your imagination. The sound effects and acting are superb! If you love Dr. Who, you'll love the Minister, too. If you don't love Dr. Who, well, I guess you'll also not get half my jokes. Use the Google search engine on the right if you haven't read all my reviews of this fabulous series. There are also quite a few interview videos posted here as well.

graphic by Radio Static/Lee Sullivan

The Minister of Chance

starring Julian Wadham,  Jenny Agutter,  Gethin Anthony, Lauren Crace,  Paul Darrow,  Beth Goddard,  Tamsin Greig,  Sylvester McCoy,  Paul McGann

NEWS RELEASE -November 22, 2012

The response to our crowd-funding campaign for Episode 4 of the Minister of Chance was incredible and we were able to greenlight it entirely based on fan support.  However, as you may have already heard if you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, we then had to delay its recording because Lauren Crace, our lovely 'Kitty',  had a baby!  He's very beautiful and we're very excited to be starting recording in a couple of weeks time.

We've used the waiting time to get the Episode 5 script ready for pre-production too  -  and this would be the final one in the first season.  In an attempt to get straight onto that after Ep 4  we are therefore starting the crowd- funding campaign for Episode 5 on 23rd of November and it will run for one month until 23rd December with a host of new perks.

We are always overwhelmed by the support of our fanbase and from so many of you, and we really, really appreciate every posting, every retweet and every Facebook mention.

NEWS RELEASE -December 3, 2012

More exciting casting news for The Minister of Chance: Mad Dogs and Life on Mars star Philip Glenister joins the production for Episode 5!  Philip comes fresh from the National Theatre stage where he has been appearing in the sell-out show THIS HOUSE, which also starred the Minister of Chance's Julian Wadham. Phil is looking forward to the opportunity to play another role opposite his cast-mate. He'll play The Summer King opposite The Minister in an episode which will also include The Hobbit's Jed Brophy as The Pilot.

Episode 4 of the series starts recording this week, financed entirely by its fanbase, and a crowd-funding campaign for Episode 5 is currently underway. Fans can grab a variety of exclusive perks ranging from cast-signed art to limited-edition mugs, caps and tees..

The first three episodes and a prologue for this epic sonic movie are available as a free download from www.ministerofchance.com

Photo by Ian Nolan

Sylvester McCoy
at recording of Episode 3 

Our pals over at Phoenix (www.PPickings.com) have another free ebook for you...
L. Neil Smith’s The Venus Belt. December’s code is  9991305 and will be good through December 31.

The Host released a new trailer. Looks very exciting, but I kept thinking "V". I guess there really are no new plots.

And in the age of Indie Films and Kickstarter crowd-funding, there's always some new flick or the beginnings of one to share. Check it out and let him know what you think.

PROSPECT: Concept Reel from Shep Films on Vimeo.

Bragging rights and zombie nights

It's not science fiction, but it is in a science fiction magazine, and, more importantly, was written by yours truly... Please read my article on Airships at Strange Horizons. If you really appreciate my blog and my writing, show the love and leave a comment there. Thanks so much!!

Airships: Not Just Flying Billboards by Ann Wilkes

Here's the free e-book from Phoenix:

Our free ebook for May is Jack L. Chalker’s ‘The Messiah Choice.’

The coupon code is 9991511 and the will be good from May 2 through May 31. Links for downloading the book (as usual) from our online catalogue at www.PPickings.com

Short Description for the Book:

Sir Robert McKenzie, owner of the Magellan Corporation, dies suddenly in a mysterious and grisly way. His daughter may be next, for a Satanic cult is determined to herald the arrival of the apocalypse.

Greg MacDonald unravels the mystery of the cult, run by scientists with a distorted sense of duty and a computer that may be the Antichrist itself.

I just had two offers to try out sf apps for my phone. I had to tell them both that, alas, my phone is dumb. Tell your friend about the blog and maybe I can one day have a smart phone again. ;) It will be a win-win. I'll tell you about cool new apps for your smart phones. And now that I have spent two hours digging through all of my emails to find the goodies worth posting, it's 10:20 and the rest of the goodies will have to post another day. Sorry. But I have to keep you coming back for more, right?

And where are the zombies, you ask? Well, aside from the fact that I'm starting to look like one from lack of sleep, stay tuned for a zombie game giveaway in the near future.

Finally, just a reminder. Turn your cell phone off before you go to bed. Those spammers like to text you at 2AM. Trust me on this. Where's that sociology book? That will put me to sleep.