Balticon is Nigh

Good ol' Balticon is nearly here. This is something I've wanted to attend for some time and since the announcement of Siglerfest I have been anxiously awaiting Balticon 45. The only hitch I've found in this ordeal is that going to cons is expensive when doing it solo. This is something many already know, I'm sure, but the pains of being a college student makes it difficult indeed to shell out all that money for four days of awesomeness. It's not to say that I won't be going because of money, that is far from the case, but somehow I have managed to not find someone to room with through the wonderful social media means on the interwebs. The hotel room is by far the most expensive part of this whole trip and for some reason it just clicked in my mind to try using this as a means to get that illusive roomie for the weekend.

I've had my room reserved for some time now so I'm not asking to join in with someone who already has a room reservation, though I wouldn't object to that since I can cancel my reservation, but should there be anyone out there still looking for a room then we should hook up. I'll even wear pants in the room and I promise to engage in no more than two human sacrifices to the destroyer of worlds while there.

Let's get to Balticon a little cheaper.

The Ascension has Begun

It's finally here. Can you believe it? I'm having trouble with it and it's not even my project. October 27th. The official print release of J.C. Hutchins' thriller novel 7th Son: Descent is upon us. This has been something I have been looking forward to for quite some time.

Hutchins isn't the first podcast novelist, or internet pirate radio broadcaster as Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff puts it, to publish a novel. But by-golley it's the one I have been looking forward to the longest. Sure I love my Scott Sigler novels and content. Mur Lafferty, well she does look nice today I'm sure, is very entertaining and knowledgeable. Grammar Girl finally got her release today. (Coincidence? I think not). Christiana Ellis, James Melzer, Phil Rossi, and P.G. Holyfield's novel is soon to be released as well, the list goes on and on when it comes to novelist with enough creative ambition to go the extra mile when the system told them to go away.

These brilliant and creative minds by-passed the traditional method and did something no publisher thought possible.

They gave us their works for free. That's right.

FREE!

And what did we do to repay them for all their hard work? We ate it up. We followed their progress and supported them as best we could. We even bought their swag when it was available. Now their hard work is finally paying off and they don't have to depend on an archaic system to get their work devoured. They give it directly to us, no strings attached. We don't even have to buy it. They give it to us no matter what. All the blood, sweat, and tears, the hard work and time, it's finally starting to pay off for the pioneers of a creative digital market.

Stop by and check out their work. It's worth it.