Enter to win an ARC of Zomburbia on GoodReads

This is just a screen cap, Bucky. To enter, click the link below.

My publisher, Kensington, are giving away a number of ARCs of Zomburbia on Goodreads. The contest is open now until the 31st of August. Unfortunately, it's only open to people in the US and Canada. Sorry about that, rest of the world...

For those of you in North America however, go to it!

What sort of day was it?

It was the sort of day where only one thing will make me feel better: looking at photos of female cosplayers!*

You are welcome.

If memory serves, the contents of this site are safe for work.

I wish someone had told me this a long time ago...

Uncle Ira Glass reveals the ugly truth. If you are engaged in any kind of creative endeavor, then you will spend a lot of your time making shit. And you have to go through that shitty phase before you get to the point where you are creating good stuff. Stuff of which you can be proud. Ira will tell you the long version. This is worth listening to:

How Ink is Made

This is a gorgeous little promo film produced by The Printing Ink Company. Their president and Chief Ink Maker, Peter Welfare, walks us through the steps required to produce printing ink.

This is basically porn for people interested in printing. You are welcome.

From the Land of Ice and Snow

You owe it to yourself to listen to this. NPR's "All Songs Considered" posted this song of their show a week or two ago and I forgot to write about it until just this moment. The song, "Hey Hey What Can I Do", is from an album of Led Zepplin covers called From the Land of Ice and Snow. The album is being released by Jealous Butcher Records and it features bands from Portland the Northwest, which means that I have several friends and people I know on the record. If this song is any indication, this record is going to make me very happy when it shows up in the mail.

I remember when I was a teenager, Led Zepplin was a big deal at my high school but, like so many things that were popular then, I rejected them out of hand. I dismissed them as just a blues band. I was, of course a jerk. They may have been a blues band, but they were a good, maybe even a great blues band. And I know now how difficult it is to be a good anything. Good blues band, good pop band, filmmaker, writer, artist--anything. I think I now have a healthy appreciation for their music.

Back to From the Land of Ice and Snow, I would encourage you to listen to the following song and, if you like it, pre-order the record. Thirty-three songs for a paltry $15, available from Jealous Butcher Records.

Quixotic

I have been thinking a lot about digital comics. That is, making digital comics. A little more than a year ago I was gearing up to take one of two paths. I thought that I would either do what was necessary to create and sustain an online comics anthology. Four stories with four different artists. Or I would go to grad school and work toward an MFA. Well, I got accepted to one of the best creative programs in the country so I decided to put the digital comics idea on hold for a while.

But now I'm wondering if it would be possible to do something a bit more limited in scope. What about doing a single story that would update once a week. Say, four-to-six pages every week with a few skip weeks built in. I'd need to find an artist who could handle that production load. And who wouldn't mind working free for a while. The way I see it, one could post free weekly updates and then either try and attract a publisher once enough material was extant, or one could try and self publish. Or, hell, maybe even use a direct-to-print service like Lulu.

Others have done it. Warren Ellis has been writing FreakAngels for a few years now. Though, to be fair, he's fucking Warren Ellis, and I am not (it should be mentioned that it was a post on Ellis's site that made me start to once again consider this ill-considered path). Let's see, the guys over at Penny Arcade do it, R. Stevens does it with his Diesel Sweeties. And those are just the few that come to mind, I know there are others doing it, too. So why not me and whatever poor schmuch who decides to hitch his wagon to my nonexistent star?

Tempting, right? But wait, we could also share copyright and any profits this project would generate. That's something, too, right?

I know this requires more thought, but I feel like the bare bones are there. And I know that I've been threatening this for a couple of years now, but I really do feel like the next comics project I work on will be published to the web. It feels like the right thing to do.

William Gibson speaks clever

I found this this morning on BoingBoing.net, an interview with one of my favorite living writers, William Gibson. Hell, he may be my very favorite living writer. In this lengthy interview, he talks about his newest book, Zero History, the importance of objects in his fiction, and lots lots more. Anyone interested in SF specifically, or writing in general should read this one.

Designed to make you happy

OK Go have a particular talent with music videos, which are an artform I've largely ignored since MTV stopped playing them on a regular basis. But, I've recently discovered that YouTube is the new MTV except that you get to program the channels yourself.

Anyway, OK Go's videos: they have been, since the band's 2002 video for "A Million Ways", been fun, quirky, inventive, and unlike anything I've ever seen. Each one can be described that way. What they lack in special effects bombast, they make for in originality.

Below is their latest, "White Knuckles". Enjoy.

And you can see more of their videos on their YouTube page.

Josh does BART

A buddy of mine, modern-day raconteur Josh Ellingson, was commissioned by the Bay Area Rapid Transit to produce posters to that both celebrate BART and enhance the physical appearance of their stations. Josh nailed the commission. You can see some of his designs at the BART blog. And please check out more of Josh's work on his personal site, JoshEllingson.com.

My new Internet obsession

I've mentioned Miss Allison Weiss on FaceBook and Twitter a few times, but I thought I should bring my obsession (okay, let's just call it a crush) up to a wider audience. Weiss is a singer/songwriter who is a wizard at self-promotion. She's on every social networking site available and even raised money to record her new album by tapping her Internet audience. Also, I have a soft spot for cute, smart girls in glasses (just ask my wife). You can listen to all of her albums on her web site and download her live album for free as well. I'd recommend you to do all of those things.

Here's one of the many videos Miss Weiss has uploaded to her YouTube channel:

Quotes on comics

Another post poached from my other, now defunct, site:

Apparently I only have the strength to occasionally show up here and point to something of interest I found on the Internet. So be it for the time being, I guess. Someday I'll get enough sleep and have the energy to make real posts. Someday.

For now, I stumbled upon the site Quotes on Comics, which is exactly what you might imagine. Here's one of my favorites, and one that resonates for some reason:

"Breaking into comics is like breaking into a high-tech military compound. The first thing they do after discovering you got in is go seal up your entrance so no one can ever break in that way again."

Devin Grayson

Oddly compelling

This is a repost from my now-defunct website:

This sort of this is usually not my bag at all, but I find something oddly compelling about this video. A re-working of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" done by a band called Pamplamoose. It's cute and catchy and I've been singing it over and over again for a few days.

"All the single ladies... all the single ladies... all the single ladies... all the single ladies..."

See. I was doing it again!

You can see more of their videos on youtube and learn more about the band on their myspace page.

UPDATE: Pamplamoose's latest video is a collaboration with Ben Folds and Nick Hornby. You can see it on their YouTube page. Just follow the link above.

We've moved

I've created a personal website, one component of which is a blog. Therefor, this blog is going to go dark. I'll leave it up for those who make there way here from old links, google searches, etc, but all new posts will be at adamgallardo.com. I've also archived all old entries from this blog at that site.

While you're there, you can look at information about my books and short stories, read my life story, see sexy pictures of me and more.*

So won't you please join me?

*On advice of legal counsel, all sexy photos have been removed.

Dalton at DHP

Dalton, the eight-page short story written by yours truly, drawn by Todd Demong and colored by Marta Ziemnicka, went live on the Myspace/Dark Horse Presents site today. I would encourage you all to go there and to read the story.

If you like it, please leave a comment. If you don't, please keep it to yourself. Thanks!

Me, and my writing, on facebook

Have you heard of the facebook.com? All of the kids think it's pretty great. I hear them all the time talking about the great stuff you can find on there. Well, I've decided to make myself one of those things. I've created a group for my comics writing there, so if you have an account, you should definitely become a member of my group. Simply follow this link to join in on all the fun!*

*No fun is actually guaranteed.

Giveaway

Over on her awesome blog, Karen Healey is giving away a copy of 100 Girls. Go here:

Karen's awesome blog

Follow the instructions and cross your fingers! The contest ends in 24 hours, so get cracking.

Astute readers may recognize Karen's name. I first met her after she reviewed the book and made several very cogent points about it. I told her as much, after which she asked to interview me. Our conversation has been ongoing ever since. Karen writes for the Girls Read Comics column for Girl-Wonder.org. In addition to this, she is currently writing her PhD thesis about an aspect of comics that is way over my head. And, because she doesn't sleep ever, Karen has her first YA novel, Guardian of the Dead, coming out next year. Basically we shall all be bowing down before her within the next few years. I for one welcome our new New Zealander masters.

Seriously, she's the real deal. Would she be giving away such a terrific book if she weren't?

Following up on my last post which discussed, in part at least, Japanese cinema: please bear witness to maybe the greatest movie trailer of all time.

There is absolutely no way the film can live up to the awesomeness of the trailer, but I'm willing and ready to be proven wrong.

Listen:

Through the wonders of the Internet, I figured out how to make a version of my 2008 mix CD that you, the visitor to my blog, could listen to. Or to which you could listen, if you want to be all grammatical. Using the site 8tracks.com, I threw this little number together. Give 'er a whirl and see what you think!

And a note: if you listen to this more than once, the 8tracks software randomizes tracks. That is all.

Speak No Evil

Update: Elan Trinidad just wrote to let me know that this comic has been nominated for an Eisner award for digital comic. Congratulations, Elan! And may I say what a wonderful eye I have for talent.


This is a page from a bizarre and bizarrely touching piece of comics from Elan’ Rodger Trinidad called Speak No Evil. I suggest you read it. I think you'll like it. This and other works can be found at Mr Trinidad's Theory of Everything Comics website (which is a name I wish I'd thought of).

I am constantly finding reasons to be enamored with Miss Kate Beaton.