by john | Oct 5, 2012 | Appearances, Real Life, Travel
I’m here. I know, I start a lot of posts that way, don’t I? I haven’t been on here in a while because I’ve been swamped in my new obsession, Magic:The Gathering. And I’ve been using that to distract me from some other issues, namely dismal book sales numbers for the past six weeks. Things have been bad since the middle of August and I’m hoping they pick up, otherwise I’m looking for a McJob to fill the gap come the first of the year. That wouldn’t necessarily be the worst thing in the world, but it wouldn’t be a whole lot of fun, either.
But on the bright side, the Omnibus is out, in print and on Kindle. It will be hitting the Nook and all other ebook formats soon, just waiting for it to get processed. You can order it from Amazon here, or if you’re going to be in the Big Apple next weekend, come by Booth #2167 at the Javits Center and say hi. I’ll be up there with my friend Tamsin for NY Comic Con. This is my first time hitting that show, and I’m very excited. And a little terrified.
I’ve been teaching workshops each weekend on writing and publishing, and that’s been a lot of fun. My classes are getting larger and larger enrollment, and that’s good, since I get paid on a tuition split :). The classes have been getting favorable reviews, too, so if you’re in the Charlotte area, come on out and spend a Saturday morning with me! Tomorrow I’m teaching marketing and self-promotion for writers. And now I’ve got to get back to writing the outline for that class, so I gotta boogie.
by john | Aug 10, 2012 | Appearances, Business of publishing, Real Life, Vampires
Still pushing for the finish line on Black Knight revisions. Also up to my ass reading submissions for The Big Bad, and learning a new respect for editors the world over. So far my co-editor and I have picked five or six stories out of fifty or so to go into the anthology, but there’s still a LOT of reading to do. I’m bouncing between reading stuff for my critique group, reading submissions, and revising Knight Moves right now, so no progress has been made on any new work. I plan to be done with critique group stuff and Knight Moves this week, so then I can focus on reading subs and writing new words between now and Dragon Con.
Speaking of Dragon Con, that’s rushing toward us faster and faster, and I’m so far from ready it’s ridiculous. Last week at Charlotte Comicon I sold out of Back in Black and Knight Moves, and I’m not going to re-order those until the new versions are ready from Bell Bridge. I have about two dozen copies of Hard Day’s Knight that I’ll take with me, and once those are gone, they’re gone forever. I need to order a few more copies of Headshot, Genesis and Bump in the Night, but I’m not sure exactly how many to order yet. And I have to do new bookmarks and postcards. My publisher is doing Black Knight Chronicles bookmarks, so I need some to promote my other stuff. I was thinking one for Bubba & The Chosen and one for my YA work. That seems to make the most sense, to me at least.
I have plenty of t-shirts for Dragon, so at least I don’t need to order any more of those. But I definitely need to get a new episode of Literate Liquors out to y’all this week. It’s technically AJ Hartley’s turn in the hot seat, but since Richard Kadrey has a new book out next week, he might get moved ahead in the queue. Or I could get off my ass and edit both of them, what a concept!
And I still wanna go see Batman. Maybe for my birthday. Yeah, my birthday is next Tuesday. Y’all can click here to give me presents! I don’t really expect my blog readers to give me presents, but it’s awesome if you want to (thanks!) and it never hurts to ask. Besides, as I near the big 4-0 I find myself even less shy about asking for shit that I want.
But here’s something you want – the cover for the Black Knight Omnibus. I love it, I think it captures a darker feel, but still got some funny stuff going on.
by john | Jul 24, 2012 | Real Life
I’ll give you my LibertyCon 25 wrap-up later in the week. It was way better than I expected, I had a great time and met some great folks. But I want to talk briefly about what happened last week in Aurora.
I’m not going to talk about guns, or gun control. For the first time in recorded history, I agree with a statement from the NRA, that this is not the time to make statements for political gain or to advance an agenda. This is a time to mourn, a time to reflect, a time to honor the heroes, a time to heal our wounded, and a time to burn these days into our memories.
Because we are all Aurora. This was not simply an attack at a movie theatre. This was an attack on fandom. These are our people. These are the people who were lined up to be there first. To be with fellow fans.
These are the same type of folks that went to Harry Potter release parties. The same type of folks that camped out for the Firefly Reunion panel at ComiCon. The same type of folks that line up an hour before Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are supposed to start signing just so they can get their Lucifer’s Hammer autographed.
I was surrounded by fandom all weekend, and I was thrilled to be with my people. But my heart hurt as well for my people in Colorado that were dead and bleeding. MY people, motherfucker. So yeah, I was angry, too. I still am. I’m angry that something as innocent and quintessentially American as going to the movies was attacked by some batshit crazy sonofabitch with a bunch of ammo and an axe to grind. I’m angry that the next time I see a guy cosplaying an Umbrella Corp. soldier, that I’m going to be a little cautious. That the next time I see any militaristic cosplay the first thing that pops into my head will be “copycat” and I’ll look for my weapons and the exit. That pisses me off, that one cowardly fuckbag with bad hair dye can touch me from thousands of miles away, and corrupt something that I love.
But then I look for something better in all this. And I find it. I find Stephanie Davies, who saved her friend’s life and wouldn’t leave her side even though it might have cost her life. I find Matt McQuinn, who gave his life to shield his girlfriend from gunfire. I find Christian Bale, who spent today in the hospital in Colorado visiting the victims of the shooting. This was a terrible, terrible tragedy. The cost to fandom everywhere is incredible. I’m still angry. I’m still concerned about security at the next major event. But then I remember that I am surrounded by fans. And fantasy and science fiction fans are the best in the world. These are the most giving, most caring people I’ve ever known. And I know that we will take care of our own.
This week I will weep for Colorado. But I also know that there are heroes in all of us, and sometimes it takes the darkest night to bring them out.
The following people lost their lives last weekend. Never forget. I won’t.
Jonathan Blunk
Alexander J. Bolk
Jesse Childress
Gordon Cowden
Jessica Ghawl
John Thomas Larimer
Matt McQuinn
Micayla Medek
Veronica Moser-Sullivan
Alex Sullivan
Alex Teves
Rebecca Wingo
by john | Jun 21, 2012 | Real Life
I swiped this from my friend Mud’s Facebook feed. In the immortal words of somebody, that’s some bullshit.
This post is written by Jane of Dear Author and is reproduced in its entirety, as in I copied and pasted the whole thing. I couldn’t have said it better.
The Oatmeal is a satiric cartoon site run by Matthew Inman. About a year ago, he noticed that his content was being uploaded without attribution to a site called “The FunnJunk.” The FunnyJunk is a site that contains user generated content. This means that account holders post things that they like from all over the internet. Maybe a pre-Pinterest sort of site. The Oatmeal writes to the FunnyJunk requesting that the information be removed.
FunnyJunk took down the comics but proceeded to create a mirror image of The Oatmeal’s website. The Oatmeal responded by asking his readers what to do.
The FunnyJunk responded with a call to action to its own users asking them to inundate The Oatmeal’s inbox and facebook page. The FJ’s users responded in droves using their arsenal of retorts such as gay slurs and incoherently misspelled sentences to insult The Oatmeal and his biological predecessors for having the gall to procreate and, I guess, learn how to spell and draw.
According to Ars Technica, after the furor died down, the FJ admin acted somewhat responsibly, possibly realizing that its site could be in jeopardy due to all the copyrighted material illegally reposted there.
When the flame war finally died down, the FunnyJunk admin issued an unsigned note saying, “We’ve been trying for the longest time to prevent users from posting copyrighted content” and “I’m having all content, comics, comments, etc. with the names of your comics in them deleted/banned by tonight… The site barely affords to stay alive as it is and has enough problems.”
The Oatmeal v. FunnyJunk could have died there in November of 2011, only to be a footnote in internet flamewar history. But no.
The FunnyJunk for some reason came into contact with Charles Carreon, Esq., an attorney who came into national prominence during the sex.com domain name lawsuit. Carreon penned a letter on behalf of FJ, threatening The Oatmeal with a lawsuit for the post where The Oatmeal points out that the FJ has copied his website. Carreon, on behalf of FJ, wants the post to be taken down and $20,000 in damages.
The Oatmeal gets a lawyer and responds back with well worded, backed by research, rebuttal. The Oatmeal also goes on to decide to raise money off this ridiculous situation because so many of his readers want to help but the money isn’t going to Inman, instead he raised money for charity. Initially, he only thought to raise $20,000 for charity but the donations came in thick and fast and in the end, Inman raises over $200,000 which is donated to The American Cancer Society and the National Wildlife Federation.
The Oatmeal v. FunnyJunk could have died there on June 12, 2012, only to be a footnote in internet flamewar history and with its own Wikipedia entry. But no.
The situation gains the attention of the mainstream media and Carreon begins to make personal threats. He expresses wonderment and dismay at the internet’s reaction (he calls it bullying) toward his legal demands of Inman and The Oatmeal. He suggests that there might be other legal problems for the Oatmeal such as the fundraiser being violative of IndieGoGo’s term of service.
The internet continues to make fun of FJ and Carreon. Other attorneys make public statements about Carreon’s actions which include statements like “Holy fucking shitballs inside a burning biplane careening toward the Statue of Liberty, Captain! I hope that the reporter merely got the story wrong, because if not, that’s more fucked up than a rhino raping a chinchilla while dressed up in unicorns’ undergarments. ”
The Oatmeal v. FunnyJunk could have died there later on June 12, 2012, only to be a footnote in internet flamewar history, with its own Wikipedia entry, and a few mainstream media mentions. But no.
Charles Carreon’s pride has been wounded. In his delusionary state, he must see that the only way out is to double down on the Jack and the Six (i.e., worse blackjack hand in the deck). He takes the situation to DefCon 5. Last night, Popehat was alerted by another legal watcher that Charles Carreon has filed a lawsuit against The Oatmeal, IndieGoGo, American Cancer Society, and National Wildlife Federation.
He transcended typical internet infamy when he filed a federal lawsuit last Friday in the United Sates District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland. He belonged to the ages the moment he filed that lawsuit not only against Matthew Inman, proprietor of The Oatmeal, but also against IndieGoGo Inc., the company that hosted Inman’s ridiculously effective fundraiser for the National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society.
But that level of censorious litigiousness was not enough for Charles Carreon. He sought something more. And so, on that same Friday, Charles Carreon also sued the National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society, the beneficiaries of Matthew Inman’s fundraiser.
Popehat is a site run by a bunch of lawyers and they are offering Inman pro bono legal work and they are asking the internet the following:
1. Kevin and I have offered pro bono help, and will be recruiting other First Amendment lawyers to offer pro bono help. It’s not just Mr. Inman who needs help. IndyGoGo does to. So do the charities. No doubt the charities already have excellent lawyers, but money that they spend fighting Carreon (whatever the causes of action he brought) is money that they don’t have to fight cancer and help wildlife. That’s an infuriating, evil turn of events.
2. You could still donate through the IndieGoGo program The Oatmeal set up. Or you could donate directly to the American Cancer Society or the National Wildlife Federation. I like animals, and I loved my mother who died at 55 of cancer, but I have no qualms whatsoever about encouraging people to donate to those causes as part of a gesture of defiance and contempt against Charles Carreon and the petulant, amoral, censorious douchebaggery he represents.
3. Spread the word. Tell this story on blogs, forums, and social media. Encourage people to donate as part of a gesture of defiance of Charles Carreon and entitled butthurt censors everywhere. Help the Streisand Effect work.
4. Do not, under any circumstances, direct abusive emails or calls or other communications to Mr. Carreon. That helps him and hurts the good guys. I don’t take his claims of victimhood at face value — not in the least — but such conduct is wrong, and empowers censors.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part IV from Popehat.
Feel free to copy this entire post and repost it (even without attribution) anywhere you can.
by john | Jun 18, 2012 | Real Life
John G. Hartness (JGH) is pleased that JC Penney (JCP) is continuing down the same path of promoting inclusivity and tolerance in their advertisements. In JCP’s June catalog, there is another family-centered ad, but this time with two dads celebrating Father’s Day. BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH
The ad show two men on the floor playing and hugging their two children at home. It read, “First Pals – What makes Dad so cool? He’s the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver – all rolled into one. Or two. Real-life dads Todd Koch and Cooper Smith with their children Claire and Mason.”
It is obvious that JCP would rather take sides than remain neutral in the culture war. JCP has already heard from the other side (www.onemillionmoms.com) so they need to hear from us as well. Our persistence will pay off! We must remain diligent and stand up for tolerance, openness, acceptance and love of all people, regardless of color, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity or anything else that a person is born with and can’t help. We don’t have to accept assholes, though. Assholes suck, no matter what religious shroud they wrap themselves in. My country was founded on freedom from religious persecution, and I have faith that eventually people will yank their heads out of their asses on this matter and stop using religion as a club to beat down other people. I know what Jesus would do about that BS – see: moneylenders in temple. Then he’d turn water into wine and we’d chill. Cause JC was cool like dat.
JGH will continue to support JCP and will try to find one somewhere near his house to shop at as long as they continue to speak out for social justice and equality. If you receive their advertising booklets or catalogs in the mail, JGH recommends that you cheek it out, ’cause your threads are looking a little jacked up. Just sayin’. If they receive an onslaught of orders from people that think there are times when two dads are better than one, or the no dads that far too many babies are raised with in this day and age, they will take notice. Also, you may email, call or use their contact form on their website to tell them “Good on ya!” If you have a store credit card, you really should close that shit, because store cards have suck-ass interest rates and debt is bad and stuff. Be sure to tell them that you are canceling your card because you’re embarking on a new life of fiscal responsibility and that it has nothing to do with them being cool in their advertising.
Obviously this is a parody of the statement issued by One Million Moms about the recent JC Penney mailer. I believe pretty much everything written here, but I use the satirical form for emphasis and to protect me from libel when I call people assholes. It’s kinda what satirists have done for centuries, all the way back to the Fool in ye olde king’s court. Of course, he often got his head chopped off, so maybe that’s not the best example. But you get my point – there was a letter, this is a parody of the letter, but it’s still what I believe. Gay people happen. Deal with it. Don’t be a dick.
(“Don’t be a dick” h/t Wil Wheaton. I don’t think he can copyright that one, but he did kinda corner the market on it, so I’ll give him a little shouty-shout. Hi, Wil!)
by john | Jun 12, 2012 | Real Life
Well, judging by the comments on yesterday’s post and the responses to my Facebook posting, way too damn many of us have been the victim of this same kind of thing. And at 6′ 1″ and 295 lbs., I’m not really the “victim” stereotype. But let’s look at my recent (past ten years) history with crime.
2006 – My wife was held up at gunpoint when a trio of thieves robbed the local community theatre during a performance of A Chorus Line. No, I cannot make that shit up. They got her purse with her car keys and ID, leading to a huge pain in the ass of replacing things, towing cars, calling locksmiths, etc. Because I was in Philadelphia when it happened. Of course.
2010 – My car was broken into in Little Five Points in Atlanta. Bastards took out two windows and made off with my brand-new MacBook Pro, my Canon Rebel XTi digital SLR camera, a bunch of tools, and a bunch of lighting equipment. Minimum replacement cost, $5,000. Insurance doesn’t carry equipment that belongs to your workplace if it’s in your personal vehicle, so I was on the hook for that. Out of pocket – about $2,000.
2011 – My truck was broken into in the parking lot of the Sheraton Suites across from the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta. Window smashed, lock jimmied, all kinds of crap damaged. I was down there for work so my employer paid for the repairs. The cops caught the thieves after they broke into 50 other cars in the same parking garage. Yes, FIFTY. I got all my stuff back. Nothing out of pocket.
2012 – Read yesterday’s post. At this point I’m not sure if it’s going to be worth filing an insurance claim or not. The impact on my premium for the next three years may be such that I’m better off just eating the loss and sharpening the dog’s teeth a little more. So my out of pocket is going to be somewhere from $500 to $2,500. And that’s IF I decide to replace everything. Which is unlikely.
But on the bright side, I got my shit together enough yesterday to get 3,000 words written, even though I stayed up until 1AM to do it. I also went out to Park Road Books and met Kevin Hearne, the author of the fantastic Iron Druid Chronicles. If you haven’t read these, you should totally pick them up. And if you’re in Chapel Hill tonight, he’ll be at FlyLeaf Books. He’s a nice guy, funny as hell and very gracious. I gave him a copy of Hard Day’s Knight since I picked up a bunch of fans last summer when his stuff was released thanks to the Amazon also-bought algorithms.
And a really cool thing happened to me while I was standing in line waiting to get my book signed. I was chatting with a few people, and dude I didn’t know asked me “Are you John Hartness?”
I replied in the affirmative, because I was pretty sure I didn’t owe him money. He then proceeded to pull out a copy of Hard Day’s Knight and get me to sign it. He’d seen on Kevin’s Facebook page that I was going to be at the signing, and he and his wife wanted to meet me! So I signed his book, then he pulled out a Sharpie and had me autograph the back of his Kindle, right under Kevin’s signature! That was a pretty awesome little “rock star” moment for me, the first time I’ve ever been recognized somewhere and had someone ask for my autograph when I wasn’t a con guest or at a dealer’s table somewhere. So I felt downright thrilled about my evening, no matter how crappy a chunk of my day was.
So thanks to Joseph and Mary for making my night!
And thanks to everyone for the words, tweets, emails and texts of support. This burglary has hit Suzy pretty hard, and I hate seeing her scared. That’s the worst thing for me, far worse than losing a few pieces of electronics. But your support really means the world to us. And thanks to everybody who bought a book to help the recovery fund, or donated using the button on yesterday’s post. I really appreciate it.
