I made a graphic with (as best as I could manage) the titles of all 1,958 submissions to Machine of Death Volume 2. The bigger the text, the more common the title among the submissions.

Here’s a closer look:

Here’s a PDF (10MB) for an even closer look! Can you find yours?

The coolest thing about seeing all the titles laid out like this is the feeling of world that it evokes — knowing that these are all stories; that each title, no matter how strange, has an explanation, a set of characters for whom those few words mean everything… it’s incredible. It’s like looking at a map of a country you’ve never been to, and using the names of landmarks to imagine what it must be like. It feels real. And you are to thank for that.

The graphic is also available as a handsome poster print.

The MOD philosophy, so far as I’m concerned, is “don’t worry about it — just make things that are interesting.” SO FAR SO GOOD.

My favorite recent example are our Death Prediction Card Sets! There are several different themed sets, good for all sorts of different things. Our Card Games Rulebook is a good place to start!

Our diligent game testers have also been weighing in with feedback on the Game Forum — where we invite your feedback as well — and they’ve also been suggesting new and interesting games to play.

So I’d like to invite you to another game testing event, tomorrow afternoon, to try out some of the new games! Saturday, October 15, from 1pm till 3 or so, in West Los Angeles. And free pizza too!

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP in the comments and I’ll send you directions. If you came last time and would like to come again, you’re welcome to! We’ll be playing mostly different games this time around.

Look at all these happy people that came to the last game testing events!

JUST LOOK AT THEM

THEY

COULD BE YOU

“CANCER,” by David Malki !
Read by the author. (34 min)

James had seen the brightly-colored flyer in the mailbox, but hadn’t given it much thought and had thrown it away with the supermarket coupons. So he was surprised to see it later, rescued from the trash can, its glossy color beaming from the fridge beneath a smiley-face magnet.
He plucked it down and had already begun to crumple it when Mom stopped him.

“Doesn’t that look fun?” Mom said. “We’re going to the one next week.”

In garish red and yellow, the flyer announced that You, Too, could “Defeat the Machine!” A colorful cartoon hammer smashed a predictor box, starbursts flying out zanily. A beaming man in a tie beckoned to his new best friend, You. Bright blue type advertised an (800) number. Seats for the seminar were limited.

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

David Malki ! is the author of the comic strip “Wondermark”, a gag strip created entirely from 19th-Century woodcuts and engravings, AKA a collaboration with the dead. In 2009, the Wondermark collection Beards of our Forefathers was nominated for the Eisner Award — the highest honor in comics — for “Best Humor Publication.” It’s possible that this was a clerical error. His voice can also be heard on the podcast Tweet Me Harder.

In the book, “CANCER” is illustrated by Danielle Corsetto. This podcast episode was edited by Matt Schwartz.

The October 2011 issue of The Believer features an extensive and fascinating review of Machine of Death, exploring the way that the machines in the book use language, in a very human and un-machinelike way, to toy with the humans themselves. The Believer doesn’t post their reviews online, so I won’t reprint it here, but here’s a taste. If you happen to see the October issue on the newsstand, pick it up for its great interview with Steve Carell, or adaptation of the Victorian adventure tradition to the exploration of a shopping mall, and read the MOD review while you’re at it!

The stately great egret watches and waits patiently... But also flies far to find new places to fish. There's a metaphor here somewhere.

October is upon us, and that means that our deadlines for decisions about which stories will be included in Machine of Death are fast approaching.

Just a refresher: We received almost TWO THOUSAND submissions for this book, totalling MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of words. We’re reading as fast as we can, but we’re going to need everybody to be patient a little while longer yet.

We still plan to make our final selections this month, but we’ll probably be doing it right at the October 31 deadline. So set your expectations to hear some news at the end of October. Artists: It may take somewhat longer for us to notify you, as we’ll have to match illustrators with specific stories.

Also, I hate to say this, but it’s already clear that there are going to be lots of strong stories we can’t include in the book. Not only do we have three times as many stories to pick from this time, but the pool we have to pick from is much more diverse and of very high quality. We have some really tough decisions ahead of us to whittle this field down to 30 – 35 finalists.

Thanks to everyone who participated. On the behalf of all of us, however, I want to thank everybody who took the time to write a story for Machine of Death. By the time we finish reading all the submissions for Volume 2, we’ll have read over 2,600 stories about a machine that predicts how people die on the basis of a blood test.

Most folks would think that means we’ll have read 2,600 stories about the same thing. But, with your incredible creativity, you’ve proven that perception dead wrong. These stories aren’t all about the same thing. They’re about all different kinds of things, and it’s a honor to be able to read them. If nothing else, you all have proven that there are at least a few thousand ways to turn an idea into a story. Thanks for letting us be a part of that!

And what else have you been up to? Back in July, I gave you all the mission of keeping your creativity flowing and participating in other creative projects. (See the last paragraph in this blog post.) It’s been two and a half months now… So how are you all doing with that mission?

Personally, I’ve been submitting stories to other magazines and anthologies. These are the first submissions I’ve made in several years, and even though the most likely result is rejection (unfortunately, that’s always the most likely result), it feels good to know that I’m trying. My new goal is to always have at least one story under consideration somewhere.

David and Ryan have been up to some amazing creative stuff recently as well. We don’t like to clutter this blog with other stuff we’re working on, but following any of us on Twitter is a good way to keep up to date or even to ask any of us what’s up. The links are over in the right hand column. (Those Twitter accounts are definitely not all self-promotion. We try to be funny and informative, too!)

But this is the time for some self-promotion from you guys. Let us know in the comments how you’ve been keeping yourself busy while you wait until October 31 too. Whether you have some good news about stories that will be published or self-published elsewhere, or whether you’ve simply set goals for yourself in terms of productivity and creativity. Either way, tell us what’s going on!

And if you haven’t been doing anything since submitting to Machine of Death, I hope you’ll start! There are lots and lots of ways to be creative, but it does take at least a little effort to get the ball rolling!

Here’s a bit of fun:

Hi!

About a month ago I woke up on a friend’s couch after a big night out – we were having an afterparty for a roller derby bout we played in, and the place was serving this drink called a TVR, which I’d never heard of before. It’s Tequila Vodka Redbull, and it is pretty well guarunteed to make any event more energetic. Anyway I woke up in the wrong team uniform, with a business card down my top, what was (probably) cake dried in my hair, a phone number with the words “If lost please call” written across my chest, and this pin braided into my fringe. Apparently I bought it at an all night games parlour after losing badly at air hockey and declaring the need to buy the winner a trophy. Then, I’m told, I won it back while playing pool and hitting a passer-by in the head with the white ball. By accident, I mean.

Anyway, I love the book and am looking forward to the next one. Enjoy my trophy!

This creature sure looks happy, despite having more eyes than teeth!

The letter included a postscript that read:

PS There’s also a drawing of my hand on the back. I’m trying to learn how to draw but so far hands are the only thing I can manage.

In my experience, hands are very difficult to draw, so if you are good at them then you’ve already got a leg up!

Take it easy on the TVRs. I know someone who woke up knowing how she was going to die, and her life was never the same.

More pictures on our Flickr page! More reader mail blog posts here! Or, send us something yourself!