July Ends; the Madness Continues

It's been an exhausting 58% of a year so far. Exhausting, but productive. I wrapped up the first draft of the sixth book in the Citadel of the Last Gathering a few days ago - SIXTH. That's three novels this year alone: a personal best.

Don't expect much more between now and the end of December, because I've still got to get the third book prepped for release this fall (we're targeting October), and I want to start going over books four through six. Plus we've got Mainlining Christmas to think about, and we're considering moving to a bigger place.

Busy, busy, busy.

What else is up? Well, speaking of Mainlining Christmas and quotes from Frosty specials, we just finished up a month of Christmas in July over at the holiday-themed blog. Check it out if you haven't been following along.

Since my last update, I saw Star Trek Beyond, a movie I far underestimated from its trailer. This did a fantastic job blending the new films with the series they're based on - it was an absolute joy to watch. I go into more depth over at The Middle Room, if you're interested.

Beyond that, I've been making the most of the summer toy-collecting season, when clearance is at its best and new toys are coming out constantly. Among my favorite acquisitions is this trio of Barbie figures paying homage to Classic Trek.

These are showing up at Toys R Us, if you're interested, at $35/each. That's not cheap, but it's a fraction of what you'll pay for high-end figures.

Religious Artifacts

If you live in Seattle and have the time, I highly recommend you swing by the EMP Museum before their Star Trek special exhibit closes. The collection is drawn from every iteration of Trek - every series is represented, as are most of the movies. It's mesmerizing. If the Vatican threw open the doors to their archives, I'm guessing this is what it would feel like.

On top of that, there's a special exhibit on "Wearable Art" taken from a New Zealand-based competition. If that sounds dull to you, you're likely making the same mistake I made and are forgetting that WETA is based in New Zealand.

Awesome.

Amazing.

Bad ass.

It feels like you're walking through an exhibit drawn from the greatest nightmares. There's an eight minute video presentation there that's worth every second: sort of a carnival of these costumes in motion.

Let's see... what's else is going on? I was quite happy with the new Ghostbusters movie. We can quibble over details, but this has the potential to mean as much to the next generation of geeks as the original meant to mine. Hell, McKinnon's character swipes the award for all-time best Ghostbuster right out of Murray's hands.

As always, there's a full review up on The Middle Room if you want the long version.

Also, just a reminder but my wife and I are running a special July edition of the holidays over at Mainlining Christmas. We took the Christ out of Christmas and left him on an abandoned island in July. Honestly, I think he's probably happier there anyway. Click the link to learn more about Christmas specials set in the summer than you probably ever wanted.

I think that's about it for news. I'll check in again when I've got more to say.

Fiction: Upgrade

Upgrade

The shop smelled like an old toaster that had been deep-fried in motor oil. Wes Rothold could hardly maneuver the tight packed isles of used circuit boards, gyros, mechanical arms, and fishbowls filled with artificial eyes. Wes wasn’t much, yet: scrawny, pale. Had a tattoo under his left eye, kind of a maroon star. His left hand was a gorgeous Meletech Robotic Mesh that he had owned since he was fourteen. He had put his hand into the kitchen disposal five years earlier: only way to get his parents to buy him a cybernetic one.

Wes was still ninety-percent meat, but it had come time to change that. He had a job now, his own place, his own money. It was time to upgrade.