Contagious: Scott Sigler does it again!

Do you like Sci-fi? How about horror? 

If you like either then you will almost certainly love 'Contagious'. And if you like both then you will want to add Contagious to your collection. I first heard of Scott Sigler last year via Buffy: Between the Lines and Tabz. B:BtL had information on their website about this author who was giving away free downloads of their book before the print release and, on a whim, I downloaded the PDF of 'Infected'.  After I had read a couple of chapters I ordered the book - I wanted to see it in print and have the pleasure of dreading to turn the next page!

Follow up to Infected

Contagious carries on where Infected ends, and we find out more about the deadly triangles and where they have come from, and what they are capable of. One of the effective and joyous aspects of Scott's writing is the way he uses scientific principles to underscore the story. For me there was a real thrill in reading and imagining the terrible twists in function that the infection undergoes. The vivid descriptions put you right in the action and no splatter or gout is wasted. As with 'Infected', the pace is breath-taking and I read 'Contagious' in little over a day. You'll want to know how it all turns out! And it was a great reward for finishing the first draft of my novel - thank you Scott!

Try before you buy

Maybe I haven't convinced you that you should buy Contagious. Fair enough. How about if you sampled it for yourself? Because not only is Mr Sigler a formidable writer he is also a highly successful podcaster, and you can listen to the first chapters for free, read by the Future Dark Overlord (tm) himself. You can download that and more of his work from his website. Scott is also on Twitter and writes a regular column for AMC, delving into the underbelly of horror in all it's gory.

Podcasting Your Novel: Publishing's Next Wave? Plus more Erotic Zoe...

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Dr Horrible, The Guild and Contagious

I'm sure you know this already but just in case... 

The Dr Horrible DVD is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com. And the great news is that there have been so many pre-orders already that the price has been reduced twice and is now $9.99. Please use this link to Amazon.com because if you do, Joss and co get a referral fee. You will also be able to view the original trailer and a sneaky-peek of the extras in the form of Neil Patrick Harris talking about Dr Horrible. And the even better news is that the CD is also available for pre-order at Amazon.com. Looks like it's going to be a Horrible Christmas...

The Guild Season 2 finishes filming

...very soon. As Felicia said in her recent interview (!) they are five days of filming to finish up Season 2. They have up to Episode 7 in the bag already and now they are completing the season. they started yesterday and they have had some special visitors to the set. Cricket Lee, who kindly gave us the great interview after she went to the Dr Horrible/The Guild Whedonopolis Halloween event, and Edgar Garcia, the 'Edgar of all trades' who is also Webmaster for WatchTheGuild.com and Felicia's website. Cricket is going to be an extra and hopefully we are going to see Edgar on the screen as well. With any luck, we will hear more from Cricket soon!

Soma, from the WatchTheGuild.com Community site, set up a group campaigning for Edgar to be on The Guild. Felicia has said how important Edgar is a number of times (although don't spread that around - his ego doesn't need to get any bigger) so this is a brilliant example of how doing something good can be rewarded. Not that Edgar asked for a reward, but it gives you a warm feeling to know that people appreciate what you do. I may have teared up when I realised he was going to be there...yes, I am soppy, so sue me!

News from the set

Well one thing is certain - no spoilers are going to be posted around! This is for two reasons: Felicia has said that she doesn't want any spoilers released and no-one wants to upset Felicia (remember my Kim Evey interview? You don't want to get on the wrong side of Felicia...). Seriously, though, I am very happy about this and I'm sure that the reason we haven't heard any rumours are that people respect what Felicia is doing and do not want to ruin it. In this cynical world that's a great thing. But we do know that Sandeep had an action-packed day yesterday. And we also know that Felicia, generous soul that she is, has passed her cold on. You might say she was Contagious...

News from the Sigler

And as if to help me with linking this eclectic post together, Scott Sigler has posted Episode 1 of 'Contagious' as a podcast today. Contagious is the follow-up to the supremely horrible 'Infected'. And by that I mean that 'Infected' was gory, suspenseful and full of horror. Contagious is due for release on December but, as with 'Infected', Scott is giving it all away, bit by delicious bit. But you'll be buying the book. Believe me, you'll be buying the book! Mr Sigler is a very fluffy bunny of a person (he loves people referring to him like that) and gets his kicks knowing that he is doing good works. Which is the only explanation that works when you consider that he is giving it all away on his site this Christmas! Yes, you can make your own deliciously spine-tingly gifts  courtesy of the Future Dark Overlord (tm). Get your arts-and-crafts hats on because here is all you need to create a DVD for your friends containing over 50 hours of unabridged audiobooks in MP3 format:

• EARTHCORE
• ANCESTOR
• THE ROOKIE
• NOCTURNAL Episodes 1-5
• BLOODCAST SEASON #1

How cool is that?! Go to his website and there are instructions and even a DVD insert and label designs (yes, you need to supply your own gluestick and blank DVDs, don't be a cheapskate!).

Friday? Already?! Another week gone....

Dang I'm so behind, I'm going have to resort to Plan 9

It's not from Outer Space but it might as well be. This is a post of last resort. The Mashable open web awards are up at the moment so I'm going to see if this post can be so sucky it wins the 'most p*sspoor attempt at making up for lost blogtime - ever!' I'm very hopeful.

What's the what?

This is my list of things I think you would want to know about that have, are or will happen (-ed, -ing). It's not even the full list but then, if it was, I might not win that fictitious Mashable award. That's a 'lose-lose' situation we can all enjoy! Also, I have put links in where I could (be bothered) but in some cases you might have to do some more work yourself. Again, it's all about keeping you guessing. Feel free to complain in the comments section (for all the good it will do you). At this stage it's all about getting this post done so I can enjoy the rest of my Friday.

Strike TV - a new force in Internet Video

• Born out of the Writer's Strike last year - check it out for some great new webseries.
  

Dr Horrible

• Soundtrack is on offer this week at $5 from Amazon.com
  
• Dr Horrible was one of Time's best inventions for this year (yes, this was over a week ago)
  
• New teeshirts are available from Jinx
  
• And don't forget to nominate your favourite Evil League of Evil applications!

The Guild

• Season 2 starts on November 25th (woot!)
  
• New teeshirts will be available from Jinx on Monday and you can get Season 1 DVD there, too.
  
• First trailers for Season 2 should be out next week
  
• I have 3 up-coming posts on Whedonage about The Guild which include interviews withVincent Caro (Bladezz), Kim Evey (producer of The Guild and creator/star of Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show) and *gasp* a video interview with Feliciaherself. You will get a chance to submit a question for Felicia so when it's published I'll let you know.
  

NaNoWriMo

Ever wanted to write a book? How about a novel - in a month? That's the simple premise of NaNoWriMo. If you know someone doing it encourage them all you can because it's a punishing schedule. I'm not doing it BUT I am doing something else. The first 11 chapters of my first novel are completed and I have a schedule which says the first draft is to be completed by Christmas. Which is why my blogging in waaaay down. SO if you want to encourage me, too, feel free. A simple 'Get on with it!' will suffice.

Scott Sigler

Is a Podcaster, writer and professional curmudgeon. Last week he offered me a beer. This week he played a cruel trick on all Whedon fans - and you have to be sure he is laughing as we tie ourselves in knots. That probably needs a little more explanation:

• On his AMC blog Scott asked for nominations for the baddest monster hunter of all time. And the funny guy that he is, he's pitted Buffy against River Tam in the week 1 face-off. Apparently there can be only one...it's ok, we will have our revenge.
  
• In other news, his follow-up to the (ok, it was excellent) Infected is out on 30th December which you can pre-order. And in honour of this he is doing a book tour. And one of the places is Seattle. And if I manage to get there (with perhaps a friend or two) I might get a beer.
  
• And the screenwriter has been announced for the Infected screenplay.

Firefly: Between the Lines?

• The Buffy: Between the Lines studio has a special edition - Firefly! It takes place between the Firefly episodes “Jaynestown” and “Out of Gas” and is well worth a listen.

Ma, I've done my homework, can I go play (have a beer) now?

Yes. Yes I can. It's scribbled and barely legible but I've finished. I hope you all have a good weekend!

Podcasters FTW!

Here's the first of a few posts over the next couple of days - enjoy!

Metamor City: high-action, sci-fi futureworld

I love the idea of Podcasts and I listen to them whenever I can. A little while ago @etherius, a Twitter friend from the early days of me using Twitter, put out a call asking for people to do the introductions for his sumptuous Podcast, Metamor City. I answered that call and you can hear me doing the introduction to MCP 028 - MAKING THE CUT: Chapter 19. There is lots of information about the world Chris has created on the website and it's well worth checking out.

One of these days I will ask Chris Lester if he will do an interview and he will say yes and then everyone will know about the fantastic world he has created. If you read this blog then there is a very good chance that Metamor City will be the Podcast you are looking for – highly recommended! @etherius is a generous and interesting Twitterer so check him out.

Buffy: Between the Lines – so much to squee about!

Tabz and crew seem to have been in creative-overdrive these last few weeks so if you haven’t been over to the B:BtL website recently now is the time to do so! Season 2 is well under way, scripts and commentaries are available,  and they even had a spooky Halloween minisode this week. You can also vote for B:BtL on the Podcast Awards - every day until Nov 6^th.  Tabz has her own Twitter account and so does B:BtL - well worth following  and don't forget to vote!

 

Young Junius – Seth Harwood’s gritty thriller

Another star in the Podcasting firmament is Seth Harwood. If you like crime thrillers with a twist then you should make your way to his website asap. And if you like to be sent threatening emails by sexy FBI laydeez then I would definitely sign up and get onto the forums quick-smart, or else! Seth is another great Tweeter so why not follow him.

Scott Sigler

Actually, Scott will have to wait his turn. Too much to say about him for this post so you’ll have to wait to find out. But I will say he offered to buy me a beer today…

So much to tell, so little time...

It's the 1st November, let's start the month well!

I have a big backlog of mini-posts and snippets for you. The list is now so long that I have 2 choices. Either just list them with links so you can pick out the ones of interest yourself or just do a series of short blogs. Decisions, decisions!

I suppose you will just have to wait until the next post to find out what I decided, but as a teaser here are some of the topics: new independent book publisher, new internet video channel, Dr Horrible, The Guild, Kim Evey, Vincent Caro, GTCMS, NaNoWriMo, Dr Who, Buffy: Between the Lines, Metamor City, Scott Sigler, Seth Harwood...

Competition Winner! Plus - stats!

Without further ado, I'm pleased to announce... 

That there is a winner to the Evil WorldofHiglet competition to identify the DVDs and book on Evil WorldofHiglet's printer. These are the items in order (left to right):

Battlestar Galactica Season 3

Infected by Scott Sigler

Angel Season 2

The Guild Season 1

Done The Impossible - The Fans' Tale of Firefly and Serenity

In the end there were several entries that were correct so I had to number them all and apply the 'random number generator' to them. 

What's that - you want a name?

Ok, well the lucky winner is Lisa T! I've already sent the Application Form to Lisa and once I get that back I'll be working on a special episode - I've already got some ideas :) Lisa T is also the voice of Cordelia in Buffy: Between the Lines Season 2 and has a podcast/blog. SoCongratulations to Lisa T and a huge THANK YOU to everyone who took part in the Competition. 

Some quick stats - and more thanks

Between the 8 videos in the Evil WorldofHiglet Application Processing there has been over 12,500 views, so thank you everyone who has watched, commented and favourited them. There have even been some video responses which are well worth having a look at. We are working on a musical episode or two, too, which should be fun. I've not heard from Felicia yet, but she only got back from Blizzcon today. I mean, what's the worst that can happen?

Dr Horrible auction, PAX, DragonCon and general awesomeness

Conventions. I need to go to one. 

Yes, I still haven't managed to get myself in gear to attend a Con this year. Even October's V-Con, Vancouver's Sci-fi, Fantasy and Gaming Con looks doubtful because of scheduling for me. I didn't get to San Diego's Comic Con, but I talked about it here and on Whedonage because the schedule included so many great people. Now Kids Need To Read have put up an awesome new Dr Horrible/Comic Con auction item: 

"4200 enthusiastic fans attended the Doctor Horrible panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July, but only 100 were lucky enough to get into the autograph session that followed. Call it “crazy random happenstance,” but one of those fortunate few was a Kids Need to Read officer, who has graciously offered this rare collectible for our auction. The item is an 8×10 Lobby Card for the series and boasts a stellar set of autographs – Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Joss Whedon, Felicia Day, Jed Whedon, Zack Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen!"

Wow! This is one rare collector's item. Dr Horrible has smashed expectations and the iTunes box office, so this is sure to be the ultimate prize for fans...

DragonCon - things to see and do

This weekend is DragonCon and Twitterland is abuzz with people making their preparations. The Buffy: Between the Lines crew is going to be performing B:BtL live at 2.30PM on Saturday, 30th August. Then, on Sunday, they will be performing the first officially sanctioned fan-production of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog in full costume! 

Scott Sigler, podcaster and writer of one of my favourite books this year, 'Infected', will be there on Saturday. 'Contagious', the follow-up to 'Infected', is being released in time for Christmas, so here's your chance to go and ask Scott how much he's been enjoying getting these edits done. Really. He won't mind telling you one bit.

On Saturday there is also a screening of The Guild and 7.00PM arranged by a 'Guild Champion', Jamie Chambers. There will be signed copies of the DVD available and Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh will be attempting a live chat intro to the screening. They aren't there in person because...

PAX - things to see and do

This weekend also see the Penny Arcade Expo happen in Seattle. Now Seattle is only a 2 hour drive away from me. Think about it. That's not far. But fate has conspired to ensure that there is no way on God's green earth that I can get there this weekend. Which is really a huge pity for me because Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh (Codex an Zaboo, the ill-fated couple in The Guild. Hehe, I've never thought of/described them as that before...!) will both be there. On Friday at 9 pm there is a screening of The Guild Season 1 and they will both be there - the first time they have attended a live screening! There will be a Q&A and they will signing and selling DVDs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, too. A great opportunity to meet the stars. No. I'm not bitter. But if you do go please post your pics and stories!

Buffy: Between the Lines gets video, Scott Sigler gets read

Buffy: Between the Lines – now on YouTube!
In a great twist of fanfic begetting it’s own loyal and dedicated fans, some fans of Buffy: Between the Lines have posted videos on YouTube. B:BtL is an audiodrama with no pictures, but great dialogue, effects and mood-aplenty. Now fans have added their own images. The results are pretty amazing and go to show that if you produce high-quality work you will garner devoted and talented fans.

Background Download
Remember, some time ago, I told you about how you could download Scott Sigler’s book ‘Infected’ free from the web? I did the download thing and started to read. It was gripping, suspenseful and leaden with horrors-to-come. And then my PC crashed. Despite many hours, swearing and sweating the PC refused to respond to my tech-charms and so, with some regret, I had to take it to the repair shop. This is a hard pill to swallow for a geek. I was lucky that in the meantime the Orbis books arrived, so I was able to still enjoy some high-quality reading courtesy of P J Haarsma. I loved ‘Virus on Orbis 1’ (as you will see in my review).

PC: Dead, not Infected
The bad news came back from the repair shop. PC, RIP (no, it wasn't a virus). Hard drive – could possibly be revived and so it was, but minus ‘Infected’. I could have gone to Scott Sigler’s website and waited for the chapters to be uploaded but that would mean waiting! I ordered the book and it arrived at the weekend. I put it off as long as possible but I picked it up on Sunday evening. Yikes, where did the time go? 100 pages gone in a flash. On Monday I have to get some work done. But there’s only 100 pages left and it’s so good and I’ve got to know what happens next and is he really going to do that and that doesn’t sound very hopeful for her and…well, it was for purely practical reasons that I decided to finish reading. Plus, I had to know how it would end!

Was it any good, then?
Do you like horror books? Do you enjoy a bit of self-mutilation? Is the intelligent use of science your thing? Are books that race you along, page after page, of any interest to you? Have I asked enough questions? If you answered yes to any of these then you will love ‘Infected’. I’ve read quite a number of horror books (I have even read Stephen King’s ‘Tommyknockers’ all the way to the end, which deserves some sort of prize). I loved ‘Infected’. It didn’t waste my time. It’s a goodly size (and the cover is great), but you don’t have to wade through words to get to the action. There’s lots of description (maybe more than your stomach needs in places!) and the pacing is great. As someone who has often been told that editing is the key (too many words, dear) it’s been another revelation. And I loved the way the critters communicated, very well done and added a great depth.

What about the triangles, then?
Well, to find out about them, you need to read the book. Or maybe you should go to Mr Sigler’s website and download one of his podcasts and give yourself a sneak peak of the action. Or pick up the first chapter podcast free from Podio. For someone who is a self-proclaimed techtard (not my word!) he has been a prolific podcaster (which surely uses technology of some description). I’m just not sure why he was at a Web 2.0 conference today, if he doesn’t get technology – I think he’s holding out on us and really does understand. Maybe he just finds it easier to let other people do all the tech work….

Joss' Whedon's Journal?
Time management. Gotta get some. Now, I gotta go.

Podcasts, audio dramas and fanfics...

...Where do you get your fix?
I've never really got the 'podcast' thing. For a long time I thought you needed an iPod to 'get' one (yes, I know that makes me sound just, well, stupid, but the truth will out and it was a while ago..). And how do you use them? And are they any good? I've seen links to them but....it just never seemed to be the right time and I had survived pretty well without them.

Podtastic
But I kept seeing the Podcast links. Obviously, Buffy: Between the Lines is covered with them - that is the reason for the site. Then there were links to 'Sending a Wave' (a Firefly/Serenity Podcast) on the Kids Need To Read website, 'Strangely Literal' (for all things Jossverse), 'The Signal' ( an award-winning Firefly/Serenity podcast) and many, many others. Eventually, you just have to give in a give it go.

So, how does one 'use' a Podcast?
It is ridiculously easy to listen to a Podcast. You just press the little 'play' button and off you go. As I'm blogging now I'm listening to Buffy: Between the Lines episode 1, Season 1. So if it doesn't all scan properly blame them. I've listened to it before, a while ago and it really is good. It takes a little while to adjust to the new voices but the story, characterisations and production is great. I wanted to start at the beginning again - ha! - I just got to the bit with the bunnies - I can so see that! Anyway, as I was saying, it's a new 'verse of entertainment and one that I'll be looking into a bit more. You know, with all that spare time I have...

Podcatcher pursuivant
Of course, the easiest thing would be to set iTunes to download and keep all the episodes from all the ones I'm interested in and I can listen to them as leisure. The only problem is, my iTunes has decided not to work/update/do anything at the moment so that's another job to do. Still, there are other 'Podcatchers' so I might investigate one of them.

To fanfic or not to fanfic?
I don't know where you stand on the issue of fanfics. To be honest, I'm not sure where I stand! I used to think they must be all a bit rubbish because how could they possibly compare with the 'real thing'? But I'm having to reconsider my stance. There are a lot of talented people out there producing some very high quality work, and I think the hour of the 'amateur' is at hand. Just as Internet broadcasting (with the likes of YouTube) started with people falling over a lot, bodily functions and swearing, there are now some incredible, original videos available ('The Guild' and the up-coming 'Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' for example). And the same is going with Podcasts and written fanfics.

New fantastic fanfic contest
And in a timely fashion, Buffy: Between the Lines has announced a new fanfic contest. Casting is mostly complete for Season 2 and in the gap between Season 1 and 2 they are running a competition that is open to anyone. There are some basic rules (see the BBTL website). The winner will have their work recorded and receive a signed copy of “Infected” by Scott Sigler, a limited edition SugarShock poster plus other goodies. I'm reading 'Infected' at the moment (the free download, remember, and now available in shops) and it is really, really good. Will I be entering the competition? Sadly, no. What with all those Podcasts to listen to, all the books to read, two blogs to write AND a day job, my time is pretty well booked up. Having said that, sleep is an over-rated pastime....