Monthly ArchiveMarch 2012



Events 29 Mar 2012 01:59 pm

MOD in Seattle this weekend!

Ryan and David will both be at the Emerald City Comicon this weekend in Seattle! We’ll have books, patches and death card sets, as well as our special embosser if you bring a book from home. We’ll also have a limited number of Volume 2 Samplers to give away, and will of course be performing on-the-spot death prediction tests for free.

Also at the convention, and happy to sign your books, will be artists Scott Campbell, Danielle Corsetto, Aaron Diaz, Christopher Hastings, Ramón Pérez, Kris Straub, Shannon Wheeler, and maybe more I can’t remember!

ECCC also features open tabletop gaming, and if I can figure out how to run a game of Hitman on a Budget on Sunday, I may do so! Stop by the TopatoCo booth (#202) or watch my Twitter for updates on that.

OTHER UPCOMING APPEARANCES:

Matt Bennardo and Katie Sekelsky will have books available at the Pittsburgh Comicon April 20-22 and at Sci-Fi In The Valley (Ebensburg, PA) May 18-20.

David, Ryan, and many of the artists will be at the Calgary Comics Expo April 27-29, and the Toronto Comic Arts Festival May 5-6!

Events 22 Mar 2012 06:31 pm

Special sneak peek of a Volume 2 story at FOGcon!

Liz Argall, one of our Machine of Death Vol 2 writers, was asked to do a reading at FOGcon later this month and has chosen to read from the story she wrote for us. That means that those of you lucky enough to attend the reading will get to hear part of a truly amazing story from Vol 2.

When and Where: FOGcon will take place March 30 – April 1 at the Walnut Creek Marriott in Walnut Creek, California. As you might guess from the name, FOGcon is held in the San Francisco/Oakland area. So if you’re nearby, think about stopping by to hear Liz read! The reading itself will be at 8pm on Friday, March 30, in the Santa Rosa Room. The same reading will also feature Vylar Kaftan and Christine Yant.

What: The story that Liz will be reading from is called “BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA DELIVERED BY SPOUSE”, which will be published in the next volume of Machine of  Death. Liz’s story takes the Machine of Death premise very seriously and explores the consequences of feeling trapped by fate — as well as positive responses to some seemingly hopeless circumstances. Set in modern day Australia, this is a wonderfully written story with vivid, naturalistic characters you won’t soon forget.

Liz has this to say about her story:

There are a lot of cliches about Australia, so it feels awkward to write about sometimes, even though I spent a bit of time growing up in the bush.  This story was inspired by the land of my childhood — the bittersweet grief and love and helplessness of caring for country in drought. It was inspired by the strength and courage of colleagues and residents of Toora women’s refuge – working at a women’s refuge was my first job out of college.

It was also inspired by the memory of a woman whose name I cannot remember. During our training we were told the story of an incredible woman in the UK who left her abusive husband and started talking about it, back when nobody spoke about such things. She did all sorts of amazing things, founding refuges, public speaking, survivor support… I wish I could remember her name, so I could make this story in her memory… thus far the internet has not yielded a name.

Who: In case you’re not familiar with Liz’s work already, you can find out more at her website. We’re really thrilled that Liz chose this story to read at FOGcon, and we can’t wait to share it (and more than thirty other stories!) with everybody when Vol 2 is published later this year. if you’re able to attend the reading, we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Some more about Liz:

Liz’s work has been published in a range of journals and anthologies including The Pedestal Magazine, Pseudopod and Strange Horizons. Her previous incarnations include circus manager, refuge worker, research officer for the Order of Australia Awards, and extensive work in the not-for-profit sector. These days she is a freelance writer, and is an occasional artists’ model.

Updates 08 Mar 2012 09:48 pm

Spanish edition of MOD Vol. 1

This came in the mail today! Hot on the heels of the Italian edition, it’s the Spanish edition: La Máquina de la Muerte, published by Ediciones B. (It’s available on Amazon.com and Amazon.es now.)

The Spanish publishers elected to use the frontispiece illustration by Katie Sekelsky for the cover! (Katie also sells a print of this illustration.)

It’s even got a nice little spot gloss on the title. (Click any of these images for bigger versions.)

Interestingly, this edition does away with our editors’ preface and the Dinosaur Comic at the beginning. They start with the in-world introduction and then launch right into the stories themselves.

It looks really neat! Good work, Spaniards.

Podcast Episodes 08 Mar 2012 08:19 pm

Podcast 30: WHILE TRYING TO SAVE ANOTHER, by Daliso Chaponda

“WHILE TRYING TO SAVE ANOTHER,” by Daliso Chaponda.
Read by Iké Amadi. (41 min)

“My name is Reverend Shamus Brooker and I have two hundred and seventy days left. I’m going to be hit by a car.”

“I am Annabel, cancer, four hundred and ten days.”

“Nqobile. I’m the record holder. Some cunt’s going to shoot me in the head in forty-nine days.”

Timothy got up. “One hundred and one here; just like the Dalmatians. I’m going to die in a fire while trying to save another.”

“What?” Isma exclaimed.  

“What’s wrong?” asked the Reverend.

She spoke slowly; she was visibly trembling. “I’m going to die in one hundred and one days as well. In a fire.”

Download the MP3 Subscribe on iTunes
Direct podcast feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/machineofpodcast

Daliso Chaponda is a Malawian stand-up comedian and writer currently based in the UK. He writes fiction on trains as he travels to stand-up gigs. Said fiction is often dark and depressing to compensate for the vacuousness of his night-job. He has been shortlisted for the Carl Brandon Society Award, Northwest Breakthrough Comedian Award, and so on. He likes strawberries.

Iké Amadi is a professional voice-over artist based in Los Angeles. In his free time he is a passionate and horrible video game bowler. He also hopes one day to meet Donald Glover.

In the book, “WHILE TRYING TO SAVE ANOTHER” is illustrated by Dylan Meconis. This podcast episode was edited by Matthew Schwartz.