#CyberMonday 2017: Give the Gift of Books this Christmas

As I've done every year, this is just a list to make your shopping lives easier -- for Black Friday, or for the upcoming Cyber Monday. Because giving the gift of books is always a good thing.

You might want to try some of these items below. I've even reviewed a few of them.

In short: give the gift of books to people you care about. They're cheaper than iPods. Heh.

As with last year, I will start with suggesting my own novels. Not even all of my own novels, just some of them. The newest ones, for starters.

To start with, there's the Dragon Award nominated Love at First Bite series.  Because everyone loves this novel. Is it because it's romance? It is because it's vampires? Urban Fantasy? A little YA-ish? A little Christian-fic?

I have no idea.

But if you're new here, it's about a boy meeting a girl.  One of them is a homicidal monster. The other's just a vampire. It has Vatican Ninjas, and holy water burning vampires, and sunlight killing unholy monsters AND NONE OF THE VAMPIRES SPARKLE, DAMNIT.

Ahem. Anyway.

For the record, we mustn't forget the Set to Kill. Which is basically taking Sad Puppies Bite Back, and taking it to a whole new level of insane. It's another part of the Murder Con Series, including It Was Only On Stun!

Basically, take insane security agent who is a "mundane" at an SF convention

Drop him head first into the culture.

Drop the bodies to the floor.

Hilarity ensues.

Codename: Winterborn .... the "other" novel, also strangely well reviewed. Genre: character-driven scifi espionage. While on a mission to the Islamic Republic of France, Lt. Kevin Anderson's team is betrayed by the politicians who sent them. As the only survivor, Anderson must stop the senators involved before the next team is slaughtered on the altar of political greed. He's certain he won't survive, but he will make this sacrifice, for his Codename is Winterborn.

 I recommend this for all fans of Baen novels -- like John Ringo, David Weber, and even your straight up thriller writers, like Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, et al.

There is, of course, the sequel: Codename: UnSub, which only just came out.

For those of you who might think that distopias aren't dark enough, I bring you....

Dystopias plus a superpowered serial killer.

Yes. Because I like making things even harder than they already are.

Buahahaha.

Anyway....

Several of the following books you may have seen before.

Torchship / Torchship Pilot by Karl Gallagher: For anyone who really wanted Firefly to be good, this should be your cup of tea. Heck, for fans of: Firefly, David Weber, early David Weber, and people who would be really entertained by protagonists in an SF novel doing their calculations by slide rule.

Iron Chamber of Memory - For adults only, really...or any mature 12 year old, like I was. I don't care in what format you buy it, but you owe it to yourself to buy at least one copy for yourself, though I recommend buying half a dozen, just so you can immediately hand out copies to your friends.
Review here

The Big Sheep - Perfect for anyone who likes SF mysteries, mild dystopias, and Terry Pratchett. As far as I'm concerned, if Rob Kroese wants to keep putting out books about Erasmus Keane for the rest of his life, I'll happily use him as a substitute for Sir Terry Pratchett. (Review Here)

Chasing Freedom -- for anyone who sees the USA falling to fascism, but also sees some small hope in our future. A Dystopia that doesn't make you want to slit your wrists. Yay. (Review here)

Murder in The Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes -- if you've been reading my blog for a long time, you know that I loved this one, and I can't possibly recommend it enough.... and then there's The Watson Chronicles, which is even better.  The only books I will recommend over my own, and I'm told my books are pretty awesome, so, yeah...

The Book of Helen -- dang, this was a kickass little novel.  The West Wing meets the Trojan war, this novel goes beyond the "they all lived strangely ever after" of Helen of Troy, and follows the rest of her life after she came home from Troy.  Yes, Helen did have an "after Troy."  You know the mythology, and now, this is the rest of the story.

Black Tide Rising -- For those people who hate zombies ... you can like this, at the very least.

[Review here]Ordinance 93:  I've reviewed this book (on Amazon), I've interviewed this author back when Examiner.com still existed. Ordinance 93 is a thriller that sort-of centers around abortion, but is mostly a fun chase novel. I'd actually like the next one to come up.

Infinite Space, Infinite God II .... a Catholic scifi-anthology, so, yeah...fun.

Greater Treasures -- Imagine the Maltese Falcon with dragons. Nuff said.

Stealing Jenny, by Ellen Gable: After 5 miscarriages, Jenny is about to have a pregnancy come to full term... until a psychotic woman kidnaps her and chains her in her basement with the intention of taking the child for her own. I liked this one.

Amy Lynn and Amy Lynn: Golden Angel.  Just buy them. Read them. The first one could be dark YA.  The second ... yeah, for adults only. One's a solid novel, the second one is a solid thriller. Just go with me on this one, okay?

Night Machines by Kia Heavey .... this one was interesting.  Almost Doctor Who-ish by way of Rod Serling.

And, of course, there is an endless list of books I can recommend, which happen to be a different tab at the top of the page -- includes Flynn, Ringo, Weber, Thor, etc, etc.

Tears of Paradox, by Daniella Bova, reviewed here

End of the road, by Amy Bennett: This looks like a fun one, a straight up, old fashioned murder mystery...Yes, I know I haven't read it yet, but I've been busy...

By the Hands of Men, Book One: The Old World.

Also, here's everything I suggested for the Dragon Awards in 2016

And here's everything nominated for a Dragon Award in 2016.

And everything I talked about for a Dragon Award in 2017.

And everything NOMINATED for a Dragon in 2017.

That should cover a fairly wide net.

If you have something you'd like to suggest for gifting opportunities, please feel free to mention it below.

You can also click one of the above tabs for suggested books.

Good luck with shopping, everyone.

Sad Puppies 5 suggestions

EDIT: FOR THE READING BEREFT -- APPARENTLY, THE USUAL CROWD AT FILE 770 CAN'T READ -- I MUST PUT IN AN EVEN BIGGER NOTE HERE. I'M NOT IN CHARGE OF SP5. THE FOLLOWING IS, IN PART, A GUIDE FOR MY RECOLLECTION, SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THOSE WHO WILL BE VOTING,  AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO GUIDE MY VOTING. APPARENTLY, SOME PEOPLE ARE TOO STUPID TO HAVE FIGURED THIS OUT FROM THE BELOW. THAT IS ALL.

Happy new  year. Time to start considering what should be done for Sad Puppies 5.

Yup,  you didn't forget, did you? We only have a few scant months to start getting together nominations for The Dragon Awards.

If you care about The Hugos, yeah,  that too. Though I suspect that's more Rabid Puppies than come to my blog.

I'm not sure about the Hugos, but I think I'll take a Dragon Award, thanks.

First things first. I'm going to put this initial list in a format similar to the Hugos  ..... for now. This is for two reasons: one,  I don't know how SP5 will be laid out, so the Hugo format is easiest.

Second reason?  If there are Rabids who stop here, they still care about the Hugos. So this will serve the dual purpose of catering to them. I'll do a separate list for a Dragon Award version. But the SP5 list is up first, mostly because the potential nominees are locked, as they go by calender year. Now that the scurge of 2016 has passed, let the games begin

To start with, remember that the rules of this game say that you can nominate 5 items per category. Though to be honest, I prefer the Dragon Award version, that nominates by genre. SP5 Might as well, we'll have to see.

THIS LIST WILL BE UP FOR REVIEW LATER ON. Why? Because I still have books left over from last year that aren't read yet (there are books from THREE years ago that aren't read yet) and there are some where I didn't remember the original publication date. I'm compiling this in December, while I'm sick, so we'll see how this goes.

If you are one of the authors mentioned here and you actually DO give a flying f*** about the Hugos, comment, I'll edit and note it

Best novel

Again, I'm going to have to treat this with the same restrictions as the Hugos.

1. John C. Wright's Iron Chamber of Memory. Please read the review, then buy the novel. IN THIS CASE, then vote in the Hugos. Why this case?  1) This blew away everything else I read last year, really. And (2) it does mean something to John, so if it were in my power, I wouldn't deny him that joy for all the world. Iron Chamber should win a Hugo, if there's any justice left. But there is no justice left in the Hugos,  so I'll keep going with SP5 nominees.

2. Marina Fontaine, Chasing Freedom. Why? Because it was one of the best scifi works I'd read last year. And Marina made a dystopia I could read, enjoy, finish, and not want to slit my wrists over. That's a major accomplishment. Words can't even express how good you have to be to pull that off. Please read the review, then buy the novel.

3. Robert Kroese, The Big Sheep. I really did enjoy this book. It's another one that made a dystopia readable. The mystery, he characters, the world building, all of them were stellar. And yes, for those who really care, I know, it's published by MacMillan, which also owns Tor books. If I were you, I wouldn't hold that against Robert.  Please read the review, then buy the novel.

4. Declan Finn -- Yes, I published three eligible novels this year. Funny enough, they're within the time frame for the Dragon Award as well .... which, come to think of it, I have Vox Day to thank for that. But, yes, I have Codename: UnSub and Murphy's Law of Vampires that can be nominated for a SP5 best novel. Huh. Throwing my hat into the ring is just padding the list.

5. No Award. Yes. Really. I got nothing. I can't recall anything that I'd really submit (more on that below). I haven't read a Terry Goodkind in years (I'm saving them for when they stop ending with "To be Continued"). There are no Jim Butcher books out this year.

Notable books for consideration:
Karina Fabian's Discovery.  I read an earlier draft of this book many, many years ago (five years ago, to be precise), and I have yet to read the latest edition. But if the editing cleaned up the problems I remember, this is easily in slot #4 .... yes, slot #4, bumping me down a slot.

Brian Niemeier -- because he was up against The Martian last year, and that's hardly fair. Brian came out with two books last year, Souldancer and The Secret Kings. Read them, enjoy, and flip a coin as to which one you vote for. If Brian has a preference, I'll edit it and add his pick. It's "Notable" ONLY because I haven't read them yet. And I'd want to read Nethereal first .... which means by the time I get to them, the whole series will be out.

NOTE: Yes, I had considered John Ringo's books from last year, but I think Ringo would rather burn his books than let them be nominated for a Hugo -- though I'll have to see if he cares about Sad Puppies, he may not mind that. So ... perhaps Black Tide Rising, or Grunge, or Sinners? Larry may care about SP5 if they preclude a Hugo nomination, so expect to see Son of the Black Sword, which also came out last year, but I would rather nominate another Monster Hunter book.

Best related

Set to Kill -- I've made no secret about my ambition to make people pissed off about this one. If I were to have a serious horse in the Hugos, it would be here. I would want this just to see people's heads explode. If we're talking Hugos, yeah, shoot for best related in Rabid Puppies (Attn: Vox Day).

However, we're talking SAD Puppies, and Sarah mentioned adding genre categories, specifically mentioning mysteries.

Insert big freaking grin here. If that happens, count me in on this one.

If it doesn't happen ... well, throw this into the ring with Rabid Puppies, see who gets pissed off.

Best Novella

Marina Fontaine, The Product -- Yeah. Sorry. That's about all I can think of off hand that would really fit. I'm sure more will come to me when my brain reboots.

Best Short Story

Pick something from Black Tide Rising .... though I would recommend Kacy Ezell's story.

Now, I'm certain that there is a slew of short stories from Lou Antonelli, and Brad Torgersen, and even John C. Wright. Just don't ask me to remember them.

EDIT: Lou has been kind enough to comment what came out last year.

1. “Captain of the Clouds” – Aurora Wolf, January 2016

2“Higher Powers” – Sci-Phi Journal, February 2016


3. “The Milky Way Dance Hall” – Decision Points anthology. May 2016

4. “Lone Star, Lost Star” – Fiction on the Web, July 31, 2016

5. “The Yellow Flag” – Sci-Phi Journal, August 2016

6. “And He Threw His Hands Up in the Air” – Siren’s Call, No. 28 August 2016

7. “Time Like a Rope” – Silver Blade magazine, October 2016

8. "Three Twilight Zone Variations on a High School Reunion" - 3rd Spectral Book of Horror Stories, Oct. 31, 2016

9. “If You Were a Dinah Shore, My Love” – Gallery of Curiosities podcast, Dec. 26, 2016
My preference would be to include this,  This is golden from the get-go ... though it might be considered a short form Drama presentation. I'm not certain.

Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form

Captain America: Civil War.

Doctor Strange:

Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent.  Oh yeah. This is going to be hilarious. This is only an audio book, so I think it works for a dramatic presentation. Now, in suggesting this, I know, obviously, that Larry wouldn't stand for this as a nomination for the Hugos, I'm certain about this, so if you're interested in the Hugos, DO NOT NOMINATE LARRY ... but I'm also a trouble maker, and this work was funny as hell. I would put this up for an SP 5 nomination ... and a Hugo, but not for Larry. Why? Because if Larry Correia doesn't want the Hugo for it, can we give it to Adam Baldwin? I'd consider flying over to Helsinki to see him give THAT acceptance speech.

Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form

Daredevil, Season 2 -- One Batch, Two batch.

No, seriously, did you people see this episode? This was powerful and heartbreaking, and the best treatment of Frank Castle, The Punisher, that I have ever seen. I don't care if you never watch another episode of Daredevil, watch this episode. Jon Bernthal carries this entire episode, and even most of the series.

After that ... Sorry, I binged on iZombie, and couldn't tell you what came out when without a cheat sheet. Something for Luke Cage? I haven't finished that one, so I couldn't tell you what episode would be best offhand.

Best Editor – Long Form (Rabid Puppies)

..... Huh. Yeah. Never mind. This is here just for the Rabids. Because if SP5 turns out to be all about the books, SP5 will probably not even have this section. If that's the case, assume this will be the Rabid lineup

Toni Weisskopf – Baen
Jim Mintz – Baen
Tony Daniel – Baen
Vox Day, Castalia House, if only because he did Iron Chamber of Memory

Best Fancast

Geek Gab
The Catholic Geek
Superversive Roundtable

Yes, three ... all that I've been on ... don't judge me. I'm happy when I manage to make my own podcast, don't start asking me to start hunting down other people's podcasts. I don't have the time lately.

But yeah, this is as best as I can figure until Sarah has up the rest of the rules and regulations.


Do you have suggestions? Please, but all means, leave them here. Like with SP4, leave a title, an author, and a reason why it should be in SP5. If you think it's worth a Hugo, or a Dragon ... I'll suggest that this is a different conversation. 

 

#BlackFriday, 2016

Black Friday is coming, and we must be prepared. This is just a list to make your shopping lives easier -- for Black Friday, or for the upcoming Cyber Monday.

You might want to try some of these items below. I've even reviewed a few of them.

In short: give the gift of books to people you care about. They're cheaper than iPods. Heh.

As with last year, I will start with suggesting my own novels. Not even all of my own novels, just some of them. The newest ones, for starters.

To start with, there's Honor At Stake.  Because everyone loves this novel. Is it because it's romance? It is because it's vampires? Urban Fantasy? A little YA-ish? A little Christian-fic?

I have no idea.

But if you're new here, it's about a boy meeting a girl.  One of them is a homicidal monster. The other's just a vampire. It has Vatican Ninjas, and holy water burning vampires, and sunlight killing unholy monsters AND NONE OF THE VAMPIRES SPARKLE, DAMNIT.

Ahem. Anyway.

People like it. We have over fifty Amazon reviews. And almost everyone likes it. Even people I don't know like it. I'm not sure why, but there you go.

If you were a fan of Honor at Stake, I have no choice but to recommend the next book in the series...

Yes, yes, Murphy's Law of Vampires. This is the point where I answered everyone's problem of a weak final villain from Honor at Stake ... and then gave them everything they asked for and more. Bad guys? Why, yes, I can make you a bad guy. BWAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAAHA

Ahem.

Anyway.

For the record, we mustn't forget the newcomer Set to Kill. Which is basically taking Sad Puppies Bite Back, and taking it to a whole new level of insane. It's another part of the Murder Con Series, including It Was Only On Stun!

Basically, take insane security agent who is a "mundane" at an SF convention

Drop him head first into the culture.

Drop the bodies to the floor.

Hilarity ensues.

Codename: Winterborn .... the "other" novel, also strangely well reviewed. Genre: character-driven scifi espionage. While on a mission to the Islamic Republic of France, Lt. Kevin Anderson's team is betrayed by the politicians who sent them. As the only survivor, Anderson must stop the senators involved before the next team is slaughtered on the altar of political greed. He's certain he won't survive, but he will make this sacrifice, for his Codename is Winterborn.

 I recommend this for all fans of Baen novels -- like John Ringo, David Weber, and even your straight up thriller writers, like Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, et al.

There is, of course, the sequel: Codename: UnSub, which only just came out.

For those of you who might think that distopias aren't dark enough, I bring you....

Dystopias plus a superpowered serial killer.

Yes. Because I like making things even harder than they already are.

Buahahaha.

Anyway....

Oh, yes, we have a mailing list now. Free stuff if you sign up. Also an opportunity for selling ARCs, and whatever else I can come up with

Sign up for my mailing list! Emails may include Vatican Ninjas, explosions, holy water, throat punches, magic, serial killers, vampires, midgets, Pope, pre-release notices, book deals, and did I mention, explosions. No they won't explode in your in-box...I don't think.

* indicates required

Email Address *

Signed copies and gift sets can be ordered here. Order early so they arrive on time for Christmas. Order two of everything, and you should have something for everyone on your list.

Several of the following books you may have seen before.

Iron Chamber of Memory - For adults only, really...or any mature 12 year old, like I was. I don't care in what format you buy it, but you owe it to yourself to buy at least one copy for yourself, though I recommend buying half a dozen, just so you can immediately hand out copies to your friends.
Review here

The Big Sheep - Perfect for anyone who likes SF mysteries, mild dystopias, and Terry Pratchett. As far as I'm concerned, if Rob Kroese wants to keep putting out books about Erasmus Keane for the rest of his life, I'll happily use him as a substitute for Practhett.
(Review Here)

Chasing Freedom -- for anyone who sees the USA falling to fascism, but also sees some small hope in our future. A Dystopia that doesn't make you want to slit your wrists. Yay
(Review here)

Black Tide Rising -- For those people who hate zombies ... you can like 

[Review here]

Murder in The Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes -- if you've been reading my blog for a long time, you know that I loved this one, and I can't possibly recommend it enough.... and then there's The Watson Chronicles, which is even better.  The only books I will recommend over my own, and I'm told my books are pretty awesome, so, yeah...

The Book of Helen -- dang, this was a kickass little novel.  The West Wing meets the Trojan war, this novel goes beyond the "they all lived strangely ever after" of Helen of Troy, and follows the rest of her life after she came home from Troy.  Yes, Helen did have an "after Troy."  You know the mythology, and now, this is the rest of the story.

Ordinance 93:  I've reviewed this book (on Amazon), I've interviewed this author back when Examiner.com still existed. Ordinance 93 is a thriller that sort-of centers around abortion, but is mostly a fun chase novel. I'd actually like the next one to come up.

Infinite Space, Infinite God II .... a Catholic scifi-anthology, so, yeah...fun.

Greater Treasures -- Imagine the Maltese Falcon with dragons. Nuff said.

Stealing Jenny, by Ellen Gable: After 5 miscarriages, Jenny is about to have a pregnancy come to full term... until a psychotic woman kidnaps her and chains her in her basement with the intention of taking the child for her own. I liked this one.

Amy Lynn and Amy Lynn: Golden Angel.  Just buy them. Read them. The first one could be dark YA.  The second ... yeah, for adults only. One's a solid novel, the second one is a solid thriller. Just go with me on this one, okay?

Night Machines by Kia Heavey .... this one was interesting.  Almost Doctor Who-ish by way of Rod Serling.

And, of course, there is an endless list of books I can recommend, which happen to be a different tab at the top of the page -- includes Flynn, Ringo, Weber, Thor, etc, etc.

Tears of Paradox, by Daniella Bova, reviewed here

End of the road, by Amy Bennett: This looks like a fun one, a straight up, old fashioned murder mystery...Yes, I know I haven't read it yet, but I've been busy...

By the Hands of Men, Book One: The Old World.

Also, here's everything I suggested for the Dragon Awards.

And here's everything nominated for a Dragon Award.

That should cover a fairly wide net.

If you have something you'd like to suggest for gifting opportunities, please feel free to mention it below.

You can also click one of the above tabs for suggested books.

Good luck with shopping, everyone.

CLFA Book Bomb, October 2016

The Conservative Libertarian Fiction Alliance is doing their monthly book bomb. These are JUST the books I know of in particular, or the authors in particular.  These are not all of them. The total list is right here.

Enjoy.

New Releases

Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland (The Books of Unexpected Enlightenment Book 3) by L. Jagi Lamplighter
Third Book of Unexpected Enlightenment: It’s Halloween at the Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts, and Rachel Griffin is stirring up the dead! (See “$1.99 or Less” category below to get Book 1 – currently FREE.)

Dragonblood: A Collection of Short Stories by Sarah A. Hoyt
From the trenches of WWI where the Red Baron just can’t help turning into a dragon, to the desert sands of a future world where humans have become something else, from a coffee shop between worlds where magicians gather, to a place where your worst nightmare can love you, let Dragon Blood take you on a series of fantastic adventures.

Discovery by Karina Fabian
Humanity’s first contact with beings from beyond the solar system is bound to unlock the mystery of life in the universe, but the crew have their own secrets; hidden fears, desires, horrible sins – and a mission to kill.

Sad Puppies Bite Back by Declan Finn

Based on a true story, then completely twisted.

Days of Future Past – Part 1: Past Tense by John Van Stry
Paul’s instructor just got drafted by some mystical goddess to help save a world. As for Paul? Well, he’s really not supposed to be there, and if he thought he was having a bad day before all of this, it just got worse, a lot worse. He’s now on a one way trip, forced to help a man who despises him while at the mercy of the world’s biggest trickster.

Van Ripplewink: You Can’t Go Home Again by Paul Clayton
48 years dead, seventeen year old Van Ripplewink wakes in a dark, muddy field…

$1.99 or Less (October 17 & 18)*

The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin (Books of Unexpected Enlightenment Book 1) by L. Jagi Lamplighter FREE!

Curiosity may kill a cat, but nothing stops Rachel Griffin! “Fringe meets Narnia at Hogwarts”

The Catholic Geek: Discovery with Karina Fabian 09/18

The Catholic Geek: Discovery with Karina Fabian 09/18 by We Built That Network | Books Podcasts:



Author Karina Fabian will join us as part of the book tour for her latest novel, Discovery, featuring her famous rescue nuns. Yes, that's right, we have NUNS! IN! SSSSSPPPPPPAAAAAACCCCEEEE!!!!!


By day, Karina is a mild-mannered reviewer of business software and services for TopTenReviews.com. After hours, she's a psychic intent on saving the world; a snarky dragon who thinks he saves the world all-too regularly, a zombie exterminator who just wants her world clear of undead vermin, and Catholic religious sisters whose callings have taken them off our world. Needless to say, her imagination is vast, her stories legion, and her brain crowded. When she's not converting her wild tales to stories, she's enjoying time with her husband, Rob, their four kids, and their two dogs.

And, while you're listening to that, you might want to check out my Sad Puppy and Dragon Award Nominated Novel Honor at Stake by clicking this link.

And ... enjoy.

6 Years. and 800 Blogs later, Still alive

When I started this blog five years ago, it was to drum up publicity for A Pius Man: A Holy Thriller, book one of what would become The Pius Trilogy

After a while, it was the only way to sell my books.

Then I went rogue from my agent, and did the entire Pius trilogy myself. Books two and three came out in 2014.

Now, six years since we have started, and 800 blog posts later, I guess we should be looking back and asking: what the hell are we still doing here?  Especially now that the Puppies have taken over the blog?

You'd think that this would be something obvious.  Look above, under the giant blog banner. You'd think I don't get much clearer than that.

But, when I posted one of my Sad Puppies Bite Back posts over in the comments of a blog called File 770, I was met with some ... interesting replies in the comments. Including derision, people who thought that SPBB was about threatening the anti-Puppies, and people who wondered what the site was even about.

And people wonder why I don't read comments on most websites. The term "cesspool of stupid" comes to mind. Who allows these people out in public? There should be a license to be on the internet some days.

Not that I'm cynical or anything.

But, it did occur to me that there would be some people confused about what this site's common thread was, considering we've veered so wildly from the original point of glorified marketing.

So, what's it all about?

It's about stories. How do you create them? How do you shape them?  How do you assemble dreams when the world is so busy trying to stomp on them and take them away from you? That's why I dissect political opinions of Superheroes, or examine bad comic book storylines, or try to predict where things are going.  That's why I look at faith in fiction, to see just how much of the writer goes into the story, and how much should go into the story.  This blog will also address the Catholic faith in particular because, well, I'm Catholic -- it's part of me, and who I am, and part of my stories, so it comes with the package.

But, as fiction is not just about how a story is made, but also about the process of selling it. That's why I look at women in fiction, or the politics of publishing, etc.

Also ... it's about marketing. I'm not dead yet and I'm still writing and publishing books. I have a publisher now, and I'm not afraid to use them.

(Honor At Stake, now #2 suggestion for best novel for Sad Puppies 4 -- subtle plug, subtle plug).

That's why I allowed my brain to be taken over by a parody universe that won't leave me alone. I mean, it's not like I can make money on Sad Puppies Bite Back yet, despite how popular it is.

Okay, I may not be able to make money on it at this point. May. Not.  Why not?  Because I use the real names of real people, like George RR Martin, and Scalzi, and the Haydens, David Gerrold, Moshe Feder, and additional psychos.

Yes, they're parody -- and boy, are these guys a parody -- but there are also lawyers, and you don't need to have a leg to stand on to file a lawsuit. And while I would probably win any lawsuit, and any countersuit, the legal fees would probably kill me before we got to the countersuit phase.

However, there might be a few ways in order to rub the serial numbers off of this. Only if I scrub really, really hard. If you've looked at Set to Kill, you probably have a good idea of what I can do for Sad Puppies Bite Back, if I work at it.

And, of course, now that Sad Puppies Bite back is up for two different Hugo awards? I should at least consider publishing it.

If it gets a Hugo Nomination? It's more than likely I will publish it. Why? Because it would be a Hugo nominated work, and I don't think anyone would want to draw attention to the fact that they are so thin-skinned, they can't take a joke.

But, one disaster at a time, folks. One disaster at a time.

However, even if I can't sell it, Sad Puppies Bite Back has brought hundreds of people to my blog, and has improved my sales a lot. It won't get me into the big money territory, but it's a lot more than I've been getting.

It's also gotten me some interesting friends along the way, which is an improvement for an introvert like me.

So, to the trolls who lurk under the bridge at File 770, that's what the blog is about.

As for all you newcomers who want a laugh, or want a book recommendation, or some music to listen to as you pen your destruction of an alien civilization, or comic book trivia, or just want to look into the brain of a deeply deranged writer, welcome, my friends, to The Pius Geek.

The party is just warming up.

Because of this mischegas that is my life, I've made some great friends, like Sarah Hoyt,  Ann Margaret Lewis, Karina Fabian, Daniella Bova, Daria Anne DiGiovanni, Margot St. Aubin, Dawn Witzke, and Matt Bowman, the Novel Ninja.

I've read some awesome books, like Amy Lynn, Ordinance 93, The Watson Chronicles, the Book of Helen, Stealing Jenny, and a whole slough of others. Slew? Slough? Oh, you get the idea.

Kia

And these people.  Wow.

Heck, due to Kia Heavey, I have a new model for Manana Shushurin, now that the previous model is far, far too respectable to be associated with the likes of me.  She was before, but I guess she finally figured that out. :)  Kia is an author, and I recommend her books. Heck, I have.

Ann and Karina have been responsible for dragging me into the Catholic Writer's Guild. And if they weren't (it's been so long, they may not have), they're a large chunk of the reason I've stayed.

There's the CLFA, and that's also a long story.

Margot was largely responsible for the gun shop visit of 2014, and accompanied me to the first Catholic Writers Guild conference that I was a guest at.

I've lost some good friends.  One of my first beta readers for A Pius Man died before it was published. The first artist for the site, with whom I was acquaintances since college, and I drifted apart.

This blog caught me one of my best friends, author Rebekah Hendershot, and we managed to burn that bridge, with each other still on it. Heck, we burned that bridge so thoroughly, I think I've completely edited her out of the history of the website, with perhaps one exception.

Yeah. When things go badly, they go badly.

This blog has gotten me some of the best things in my life, and has taken away a few.  It's been a bumpy ride, almost from day one.

Along the way, I've shared with you how I invest myself in my work, dissected my life to show you how it enters my writing, given you the story of everything that has been important in my life. You folks know when I'm single, when I'm hurting, and when I'm going to lose myself in video games.

Mandy

I've shared my wonder at emerging technology, my irritation at politics and the comic book industry, my love of reading and even the music du jour.

I'd like to thank you all for putting up with me that long. I never thought I was that interesting.  This blog has lasted has still longer than some relationships I've had.

And now, I have an almost constant readership of over 4000 people a month, give or take a few hundred.

Now if only you would all buy The Pius Trilogy, Honor at Stake and Codename Winterborn....

Yes, I'm joking.  But you can't blame a guy for trying, can you? :)

Looking back on some of the strangeness, these are the all-time top blogs ever read on this site as of this minute.

1) Who would Captain America vote for? An election special:
This one is still on top. Odd though, huh?  Written back for the Presidential election of 2012, I was fed up with politics, and thought it much more amusing to speculate on what comic book characters would vote for who. I still like it better than most modern politics.  The hits on this one used to equal an entire month of viewership on the blog....

But then #2 happened.

2) Sad Puppies Bite Back.
The first journey down the rabbit hole. Yes. It was a one-shot that spiraled so far out of control, I really don't see the end of it. But people are still coming to the blog just to read them.  I'd publish these, but I'd really like to avoid being sued by David Gerrold or John Scalzi, or any of the other Puppy Kickers.

This is where it started, with Larry and Brad and Sarah.  And from what I've found? All of them I've SWATted found it funny.  Who knew?

3) Sex, DC Comics, and ... wtf?
Yup, it's still here. Right after the dawn of DC's New 52 Universes in 2011, the comics had gone into a sideways spiral of strange. I think this had something to do with sex being in the title.

4) This one is also still here.  Waaaay back in 2010, I ripped apart all of the Disasters to Marvel At: A Comic Discussion, with every stupid decision that Marvel comics had made for the previous 5 years.  Sadly, some of those decisions are still going strong.

5) Sad Puppies Bite Back (Part two)
This is where things start going really odd. And I probably should have seen it coming that things were going to really go sideways ... "sideways" as in "The Puppies have taken over my blog."  I think part one got suggestions of nominating this for a "Best related" award from the Hugos.

6) Cry Havoc! And Let Slip the Puppies of War!
This was after the Entertainment Weekly's libelous article about Sad Puppies, written and published without talking to anyone within Sad Puppies. At all. Yes, really.  Believe it or not, in retrospect, this was not what got me really into the Sad Puppies bandwagon. That was when someone decided to go after Brad Torgersen's wife. Then, then I had a meltdown, and decided someone needed a stern talking to.

7) Puppies Come to WorldCon  (SPBB III)
This was going to be The End. Period. Dot. Final. The last straw. The Puppies were going to come to the Hugos, and it would have to end there. Why? Because there would be nothing left for me to write until the Hugos came out. It was a perfect out, right? Right?

8) Snarky Theology 4: "Things that go boink in the night."
Yeah, this one is still here.  From the Easter of 2011, it's still on the top ten list. I can't get rid of the damn thing. I had tried to play nice and explain my faith, and tenets of Catholicism to the average person.  That ended in disaster and a flame war, and a few other things going wrong along the way.

But, once again, Sex scores well on the site.

This is still freaking strange for a blog all about Catholic thrillers.

9) Sad Puppies Bite Back XI: Puppies with Teeth

Yeah ... I'm not sure what part brings people to this chapter of SPBB than any of the others. Is it SWATting Jim Butcher or Peter Grant? Shadowdancer? Having a final reckoning with Andrew Marston?

Yeah. I have no idea.

10) And a surprising newcomer, a post I only published about three weeks ago: #SadPuppies ask -- who's rabid? It was a brief look at some of the psychosis among Puppy Kickers ... maybe Puppy Kickers adjacent ... and John C. Wright, Vox Day, and File 770 linked to it.

This is going to be an interesting year.