Stargate: Universe - Too much is never enough, plus writerly news

(Ming-Na and Jamil Walker Smith at the Stargate: Universe Q&A on the Syfy.com press tour)

Do you have a spare few minutes?
Then you might be interested in my account of the recent Syfy.com press tour, Part 2 - the Stargate: Universe set tour, now up on PinkRaygun.com. It was a heady day and, in my wish to share the whole experience, the article is long. But totally worth it if you've been wondering what the heck we got up to that day. And better yet, there's still my reports from the Caprica, Sanctuary and Alice sets still to come. Admit it - you're excited! :)

More reports?
I was at the Surrey International Writer's Conference 2009 (SiWC2009) last week. Wow - it was intense! I've done the first of those reports on my writer's blog. I've never been to a writer's conference before and I was totally unprepared for it - but in a good way. I never imagined it was going to be half as good as it was. If you are a writer, or hope to be one, I can highly recommend it.

Turning Left at Albuquerque
And don't forget that the audiobook podcast of 'Turning Left at Albuquerque' is continuing on turningleft.podbean.com. We're now up to Omnibus 17. Last week I posted a poll where you can vote on who should play Jason and Andy in the film version. So far Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are out in front with no votes for Zaboo and Vork, or Bladezz and Wade. It's easy to vote, you don't even need to register, so why not have a pop?

Knights of The Guild at Comic-Con: The Panel, Booth and More!

Want to hear the inside story of The Guild at Comic-Con?

The Guild cast signing at Comic-Con 2009 (thanks to Kenny for the pic)

Then you need to head over to The Knights of The Guild (KOTG) website at knightsoftheguild.podbean.com and listen to the latest microcast. Kenny does a great rundown of all his adventures during Comic-Con, and there's lots of juicy tidbits in there! And not only all about the parties, panels and signings, but also what the fans thought. This is the great thing about KOTG - it gives the inside track on all The Guild info and lets the Guildies literally have their say! And it's a great defense against Guild Deficiency Syndrome. There are some familiar names talking about Comic-Con. And if you listen to the end you'll hear me talk about how the pain of not being at Comic-Con was mitigated by following it all on Twitter. And then seeing that video...

Do you want to watch "Do You Want To Date My Avatar?"?

Of COURSE you do! And the good news is that if you have an Xbox you get to see it on 10th August and a week later it will be on MSN Video and elsewhere. As all the Guildies who have seen it will attest - this is a brilliant song and it won't be a surprise if it charts. If you want to share your opinions about Comic-Con and the video you can email KOTG at knightsoftheguild@gmail.com with either written or audio comments (if you have a microphone on your computer you can record a comment and attach it to your message). And congratulations to Kenny for doing the microcast solo - you did a great job. Jenni was apparently MIA but will return! You can also follow KOTG on Twitter - you know it makes sense :)

Another podcast?

And Omnibus 8 (Chapters 36-40) of my novel "Turning Left at Albuquerque" is now up on turningleft.podbean.com. Each omnibus is about 21 mins long and follows the fortunes of Jason, a geek in crisis since losing his job. We've had some great feedback so if you listen and have something to share - let's have it!

Sean Becker speaks out! MORE SHOCKING REVELATIONS

When will the madness end?

After yesterday's frankly shocking revelations about Felicia Day and her high-handed sacking of her faithful minion Sean Becker, he has posted the following video response:

Is this the real Sean Becker?

My sources are split on whether this is the real Sean Becker or not -  clearly this individual believes himself to be so (the YouTube name he posted this under is "iamseanbecker", which is pretty compelling proof). And the Twitterverse is alight with speculation about whether the fickle Ms Day has now withdrawn her previous hardline regarding Mr Becker and, by association, Urkel.

Will we yet see the apparently-famous (to people in the US) Urkel dance?

There is a groundswell of support for Sean and Urkel amongst the fans of The Guild. The pressure must be building on Ms Day to both reinstate the booted Becker and sanction the filming of the cast indulging in the harmless activity of dancing. One can only speculate that Ms Day, perhaps remembering her own shameful dancing past, fears she is not skilled enough to master the complex moves involved. Video evidence suggests this might be the case:

What will Sean do next?

Support by fans of The Guild will only get him so far. Perhaps he could take some time out and contemplate how other people have coping with being dismissed. Perhaps people such as Jason Danovan, the hero of my new novel "Turning Left at Albuquerque" which is currently being serialised as an audiobook at turningleft.podbean.com. Jason is a 37 year old geek and recovering computer games addict made redundant from his job on a cube-farm who applies to University online while drunk. Sean could probably learn a lot from him....

More Shocking Revelations! News just in - Sean Becker ISN'T fired? 

The Twitterverse moves fast and a quick check on @feliciaday's twitter stream reveals this EVEN MORE SHOCKING tweet:

Who are these people spreading rumours? Why are they doing it? Is Sean really fired? Does anyone other than me and Dani care? 

What will happen next?

Who knows what further sensational happenings will occur? @deliciafay is calling for action, and even @egspoony, so often the voice of reason and calm (er...) has been caught up in the maelstrom of tweet and counter-tweet. To paraphrase Bender/Coilette (from Futurama):

 "Hail, hail Felicia, the scandal that some people made up!"

My First Writerly Review!

"Turning Left..." is reviewed in "Always Go Right"

I had the best alert this morning - Google telling me that "Turning Left at Albuquerque" had been typed onto the Interweb somewhere! And sure enough the link took me to a review of the Turning Left podcast.

The sexy librarian

As Karnatos points out, we have known each other for over a year, and that's entirely Felicia Day's fault (so many things are!). We've chatted in The Guild chat, conversed on Friendfeed, caught up via Skype Chat and follow each other on Twitter. When I tweeted I was going to do a podcast of the book Karnatos was interested because he listens to audiobooks on his commute. He is also a blogger of some note on Always Go Right and the subjects he discusses range from The Guild and Whedonverse shows, gamer stuff, Star Wars, Lego, YouTube videos....okay he's a big geek like me! 

Er, what about the librarian thing?

Writing and then podcasting has taken so much of my time recently that I've not been hanging around in my usual haunts or blogging as frequently as I used to. Trying to find an agent and actually working out how I can make a career out of writing is a long process. Part of that process has to be finding ways to promote what I have done. I am really grateful to Karnatos for taking the time to do this review, because it's exactly to sort of thing that will help. I didn't ask him to do it - it's something he has done because he enjoys the podcasts. Knowing that someone enjoys your work so much that they bother to listen to it (more than once!) and then review it is a pretty big boost.

Really - what gives with the sexy librarian?!?

So I hope you'll pop over and read what he has to say. And take a look around while you're over there. There are tons of great articles and probably some things you haven't seen before like  Quake Radio and a staged production of "Once More With Feeling..."

TELL ME ABOUT THE LIBRARIAN!!!

Oh - you wanted to know about the sexy librarian thing? Well....you'll have to ask Karnatos. He's on Twitter and he'll be happy to answer your questions....probably.... :D

Twitter, uStream and Felicia Day

The Guild USTREAM 'End of Season 2' Party

Twitter 202: Trending Topics

If you use Twitter you've probably noticed the 'Trending Topics' list. This picks up the most popular topics on Twitter. Now, the system is flawed but can still do remarkable things.  It picks up the frequently-used words or '# tagged' words on Twitter. And on Tuesday, The Guild (or rather '#theguild') took Twitter by storm.

The Guild Season 2 is now released on Amazon!

To celebrate the actual release on Amazon @theguild announced a Twitter contest on Tuesday that was open to all Guild fans (wherever they are. Actually, it said international entries welcome, but imagine if the @Astro_Mike, apparently from the shuttle Atlantis, had entered? The P&P might have been a bit steep! Then again, we know that he really didn't Twitter from space...). All you had to do was give a fake DVD extra and include the #theguild tag in a tweet - simple - to win some a copy of the DVD plus extras! (NOTE: the competition was only open on Tuesday but more competitions are coming...). And Felicia (@feliciaday) also announced that if #theguild became a Trending Topic she would do a live USTEAM broadcast today (Saturday).

You can order Season 2 using this link (which is The Guild's affiliate link and gives them a little extra money without costing you anything) and it's totally worth it. I can't wait for mine to arrive! Some people received their pre-ordered DVDs on Tuesday (thanks @may_gun!).

Within hours, #theguild was top of Trending Topics

...and there were hundreds of entries to the competition. There was a real buzz around Twitter and it was fun to be a part of spreading the word about The Guild! Even the inevitable spammer couldn't dampen spirits and the lucky winners were selected and announced.

And now - USTREAM!

So this afternoon at 5:00 PM Pacific time Felicia will be live on The Guild USTREAM channel and you can leave questions for her now. Cool, huh? Meet you there!

P.S. - Podcast Audiobook Update

Chapters 1 to 5 of "Turning Left at Albuquerque" are now up at turningleft.podbean.com, and yesterday we put up the first Omnibus so you can listen to the whole story so far in one 26 min episode. We've had some good feedback so far so if you're enjoying it please leave a comment here or at Podbean!

Podcast Mania! Chapter One now live :)

Work *can* be fun!

I've not slept much over the last few days, but I couldn't be happier. Chapter One of my novel "Turning Left at Albuquerque" is now up as a podcast on turningleft.podbean.com. I've been working on it with my wonderful hubby and it's been lots of fun. Years ago we were in a band and spent many long hours in various studios recording. It was a very different experience - we still have the enormous 24-track tapes in the garage from one session (yes - actual tapes!). But the thrill of producing something hasn't faded over time, and I hope you enjoy the results.

Patronage from an unexpected source

And you might notice that the podcast has a sponsor, British Radioweb Entertainment Worldwide. Their spokesperson, Lord Poncenby, has assumed the role of Master of Ceremonies, a role he is more than fit for. 

Knights of The Guild news!

And at the end of Chapter one you will hear a promo for the Knights of The Guild podcast. This is essential listening for any fan of The Guild as it covers news of the cast and crew, interviews and also fan interviews. Last night I was very privileged to be interview by Kenny and Jenni for the forthcoming episode. It was lots of fun! I'll let you know when that episode is up.

Putting it out there

Aside from the work involved in doing something like writing a book or producing a podcast/webseries/art is the risk involved. People might not like it or be indifferent. It might change the way people think about you. For me this podcast is bringing together my online life and my 'real' life. That's a little bit scary. But it's worth it. 

Joining in

If you enjoy the podcast you can comment on the Podbean site, make a comment here, join the Face group or @ me on Twitter. I'd really like to know what you think! Chapter two will be out on Friday 8th May, so not much time to wait to find out what happens to Jason next....!

The Guild plus IFightDragons: four videos and a podcast!

Sometimes the Internet is like a bus...

You wait for ages then four great videos arrive at once! Oh, wait - that's not really like a bus, is it? Unless it's a geek bus...Anyway! This morning on Twitter (I happening to have it open, it's not like I was looking to be distracted - stop judging me!) there was a series of wonderful events, the upshot of which was the watching of four new videos.

New 'Behind the Scenes' videos from The Guild Season 2

@geekyfanboy tweeted this morning that there were two new videos out: 'Meet the Characters' and 'Meet the Extras'. And he should know since he since he edited the 'Meet the Extras' video! They are available from MSN video and Xbox marketplace. Or you could watch them from here:

The Guild Meet the Characters 

The Guild Meet the Extras 

Both are excellent and the 'Extras' video hosts a plethora of familiar names whom you can follow on Twitter: @Crixlee @DerekHousman @ZackFinfrock @Ryon_D @BrettRegister@lawrencedenes @egspoony @Hygena @nikhaiku

A new Guild Fan Vid!

And then Kenny (@geekyfanboy) did it again and linked to a new Fan Vid by Jared Cicon (@JaredCicon) in which he....well watch and find out! It's very funny!

And then...another fan vid, but this time for IFightDragons

My good friend, Dani (@maxsummers), is a dab hand at editing and she has created a fan video for the new Internet sensations IFightDragons (@IFightDragons, naturally enough!). Their brand of guitar-based greatness that is "Heads up, Hearts down" has been wonderfully animated. Enjoy!

And finally - a podcast! Or two....

I'm sure you're already subscribed to the 'Knights of The Guild' podcast (if not - why not?). They have interviews, news and the inside track on all the cast and crew of The Guild. Another great feature is that they interview fans - and I'm going to be interviewed for the next show! I'm really pleased to have been asked and I'm really looking forward to it - thank you for asking me :)

Or two...

And I have some news. Yes, I've not been blogging here much. This is a temporary hiatus because I've been even more super-busy than normal, and I have an announcement. Next Monday I'll be launching  a podcast of my own! Whooo! Seriously - I'm so stoked about this. I've been vigorously editing my book, 'Turning Left at Albuquerque'. I had toyed with the idea of podcasting like Scott Sigler and Sethharwood and all the other great podcaster/writers. So, you'll be able to hear the first five chapters over the next 5 weeks, with an omnibus at the end. The feedback we've had so far has been really good and I hope you'll enjoy it. I've put up a promo on the podcast website. Expect more content there soon! But I wanted to share it (couldn't keep a lid on it anymore!) with you now. So then....Comments? Questions?