I really enjoyed putting together the Awesome blog last Friday, so I thought I’d put another one together this week. There’s always something awesome going on somewhere on the net, so I shall do my best to hunt down the awesome each week and share it with you. This week’s awesome is jam-packed with greatness, so buckle up and keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle.
Let’s start off with Mur Lafferty. Where there is Mur, there is bound to be awesome, and this week is no different. On Wednesday, August 19th, 2009, Mur’s podcast I Should Be Writing celebrated it’s fourth birthday. Happy Fourth Birthday, ISBW! You’ve come a long way and have been an inspiration for thousands of writers and podcasters all over the world! At the time I cooked this up, Mur was working on putting something special together in honor of the day, so check out the site, I Should Be Writing, and don’t forget to congratulate Ms. Lafferty on another awesome achievement!
Dan Rabarts puts together a post every two weeks or so over on his blog, The Podagogue, recapping the last fortnight in Podcast fiction. This weeks in the Podagogue, Rabarts talks about Parsec Awards finalists, Mark Jefferey’s interview with Evo Terra of Podiobooks, Starla Hutchton’s new audio drama, The Dreamer’s Thread and much, much more.
Speaking of The Dreamer’s Thread, this is another awesome project you won’t want to miss out on. Hutchton compiled some amazing podcast and authorial talent to provide voices for the characters in the Dreamer’s thread, including: Mur Lafferty, Christiana Ellis, Cheyenne Wright, Philippa Ballantine, yours truly and several other folks. The first episode is fantastic! You won’t want to miss this urban fantasy adventure about a tattoo artist who discovers she is not only has a very powerful connection to the dream world, but that she holds sway over the dreams of all mankind.
Apex Book Company is giving away official Harlan County memorabilia, including posters signed by Harlan County author, Mari Adkins, post cards, T-shirts and a Harlan County, KY documentary dvd. You can win this cool stuff by helping spread the word about the contest on your blog, facebook, twitter and more.
Update on the Strange Horizons 2009 Fund Drive… This is truly awesome, so I wanted to share, but last Friday, Hugo-Award-winning author John Scalzi and his wife offered to match every donation up to $500 received on Friday, August 14th. By Saturday morning, the zine had surpassed their fundraising goal by almost $5000, and the now stand proudly just around $13,000 in donations. That is amazing. The even cooler thing is, they are still running the fund drive and encouraging donations, so you can get in on the donation action and support a worthwhile new media/literary cause in the meantime. You know you want to.
Podcaster and author, J.C. Hutchins made his hometown local paper this week, which is truly every writer’s dream come true. All those punks who teased you as a kid eating total crow while they wipe the axle grease on their sandwich at lunch time to read over the article. Last week, Hutchins was on NPR’s Weekend Edition, talking about Personal Effects: Dark Art. Congratulations on the NPR interview, and on showing the people of your hometown what for, Hutch!
Jeremy C. Shipp is preparing for the release of his new novel, Cursed, and so he is literaly popping up like a yard gnome all over the net right now. Interviews, articles, spotlights, he’s everywhere, which is pretty darn cool! This week, Whispers of the Muse has a great interview and author spotlight on Shipp that you won’t want to miss.
Last, but not least, is another pretty neat contest. Carloyn Rubenstein is giving away an Amazon Kindle to four lucky Tweeters who tweet the #perseverance hashtag between now and Friday, August 21st. I want a Kindle… don’t you?
Well, that about wraps it up this week. Tons of Awesome, was it not? Not sure what I’ll have next week in Awesome, as it’s time for the big vacation. Not gonna be on the net much, so Next Week in Awesome may be postponed until the following week.
