The Doubleclicks at PAX 2014 - complete show

No big news on the book front today, but sit tight--there will hopefully be something this coming week. In the meantime, if you missed the live stream of The Doubleclicks' Friday night Pax show, it's up on YouTube, so I'll stick it up here so you can watch away. It's not their smoothest performance, but they were still as fun as ever. (Content warning: One bad word during the last song.)

Cover design revealed!

By now, you should have seen Willow's wonderful cover art for the first Monkey Queen book, and if you haven't, scroll down already! But a book cover needs a little bit more than just that, and that's why I turned to Keri Knutson at Alchemy Book Covers. Thanks to her (and Willow), here's what you'll find on the cover when the e-book comes out!

Find more of Keri's design work at http://www.alchemybookcovers.com/ ! And see more of Willow's art at http://willow-san.deviantart.com/ !

The Doubleclicks!

No Monkey Queen related anything today; we've got several balls in the air, and we're waiting for them to come down while hoping they don't turn into flaming chainsaws on the way. However, we do have something we wanted to mention, if only because it'll help us remember on Friday.

I (where did this "we" stuff come from?) have of late become a big fan of The Doubleclicks, the Portland band which consists of sisters Angela and Aubrey Webber. They write, as they might put it, sweet, snarky songs about dinosaurs, Mr. Darcy, ennui, geek girls and more dinosaurs. They are awesome.

This weekend is Pax, the big gaming convention in Seattle. The Doubleclicks will be doing a live show there Friday, as in August 29, as in tomorrow as I write this, at 9:30 PM Pacific time (or "why am I up this late?" Eastern time). It'll be streaming at http://www.twitch.tv/pax and you should watch it, because if you're a fan you know how great their live shows are and if you're not, you just might be by the time they're done. I'll be watching, assuming those flaming chainsaws don't catch up to me...

Sneak Preview: Chapter One!

As we get closer to the publication date (September 19!), I thought it would be time to give you hardy souls who are dropping by a look at what all the fuss will hopefully be about. So, below the cut, is Chapter One of the first Monkey Queen adventure, Of Introductions And Abductions!

Cover art!

Okay, I slacked off update-wise this weekend, but that's because I wanted to wait until this was done, and it is! It's not the final cover, but here, for the first time, is Willow's completed cover art for the first Monkey Queen book! (Art © 2014 by Willow; used by permission.) If you like this, then say nice things in the comments, and see more of her work at willow-san.deviantart.com !

And tune in tomorrow for more Big Stuff! Really.

notes for Saturday

Two things as we continue the wait for the next Big News.

One, comments are always welcome! I'm not sure how Blogger moderates them, but I'll see them one way or another, so let me know what you think about anything you see here.

And two, if any of those comments spoil tonight's new Doctor Who episode, I will be very, very disappointed.

Well, crap.

I just heard that MythBusters has dumped the B-team of Kari, Grant and Tory, and will be going with just Adam and Jamie from now on. Pardon me while I try not to swear.

I do like Jamie and Adam, but I can pinpoint the exact moment I became a fan of the show. It was when Kari, Grant and Tori were testing if a car would be thrown through the air when exposed to the exhaust of a jet engine. They had the car towed remotely behind the jet with the engine running, and it was literally lifted off the ground, flung through the air, pieces flying off...

And the three of them were jumping up and down like giddy fourth-graders, cheering and laughing. They were having FUN. And that's when I realized that fun was contagious, and it was something I hadn't found in a lot of TV lately, and I've been a fan ever since.

I wish them all the best and nothing but. And to whatever suit -- and that means Adam and Jamie too if they were a part of it -- who had them cut from the show: Bite me.

Nothing to announce announcement!

Yeah, I got nothing tonight. But you should watch this penguin video. Because penguins.

Cover artist announcement!

I promised you a big announcement on Sunday, and I'm following through with it. (Unlike that one time when I promised to blow the lid off the "jumbo shrimp paradox". Sorry. The NSA is still harassing me about that one.)

I'm pleased to announce that the cover art for Of Introductions And Abductions, the first Monkey Queen book, will be provided by Willow! I discovered her work on DeviantArt, and you can see her gallery at http://willow-san.deviantart.com/ .

Here's a sneak peek at her inked pencils for the cover:

Art (c) 2014 by Willow, used with permission.

Publication date!

I promised you big news this weekend, and here it is: I'm pleased to announce that Of Introductions and Abductions, the first book in the Adventures of the Monkey Queen series, will be published on Amazon September 19, 2014!

(This will be the e-book debut, for Kindle devices and Kindle software for your mobile device of choice. It'll be launching on other e-book vendors, including iTunes, Kobo and Nook from Barnes and Noble, shortly thereafter. A print version should be available through Amazon in early October.)

But don't touch that dial--more big news Sunday!

For the First Time in Nearly Forever...

I know, I haven't been posting too much. Well, hold on to your hats and toupees, because things are changing. Watch this space! Good things will be announced this weekend! Until then, even if I couldn't get them to do a cameo in the book, here's a selfie of me chillin' with my friends...