Jared AxelrodWriter of Adventure

The main irony of blogging is that if you’re busy doing things, you don’t have time to write about them on your website. Which is too bad, really. The past 3 PDF covers for Playing For Keeps have been some of my best work:

Click on the art to go to the respective PDFs.

Mur and I are also auctioning off the original art of #1 for Child’s Play. 100% of all the money goes directly to the charity, which, to be honest, gives me a wonderful little halo feeling. Four hours into the auction, it had topped $100, which has effectively added a pair of wings and a harp.

Let me repeat that. The artwork is currently going for over $100.

That’s over 62 lbs of pennies. $100 was my “ridiculous number” that I suggested setting the “Buy It Now” option at. And now look.

Still got 6 days to go, but even if it doesn’t increase, I’ll peg this one as a success.

New Playing For Keeps chapter came out yesterday, which means a new PDF ready for download, which means new art. Mur’s character Clever Jack was to be the focus, and he’s a great character to draw. His logo, which you can see on his sleeve there, is my favorite of the series so far–so much so, I’ve already ordered the shirt. Mur wanted something that didn’t look like a traditional hero logo, and I think that was pulled off. Plus, shoulder logos look cool. That’s just science.

Today, The Voice of Free Planet X is two years old.

Join me as we look back on this venerable institution that we call the Voice of Free Planet X, from it’s noteworthy beginning in ancient Greece, to the life-changing power it has today. It is journey only podcasting can provide.

With special guests:

Christiana Ellis of Nina Kimberly the Merciless and Space Casey.

Dr. John Cmar of saintnickanuck.com

Chris Miller of podiobooks.com

Jason Adams of Random Signal and This Day In Alternate History

Paul Fischer of the A.D.D. Cast and the Balticon Podcast

Podcasting’s Rich Sigfrit of Requiem of the Outcast and half the content of the internet at any given time

Mur Lafferty of the Heaven series, Playing For Keeps and the other half of the content on the internet at any given time.

Wax cylinder recording of “Groundhog Day” provided by cyberbee.com

Our theme was written and performed by Russel Collins of www.clockworkaudio.net

NaNoWriMo started yesterday, for those keeping track. I’m a big supporter of National Novel Writing Month–there are worse ways to spend your November than writing a novel–and was a little disappointed when it became abundantly clear that I wouldn’t have the time to commit to it this year. Luckily, my friends behind last year’s popular NaNoWriMo support podcast NanoMonkeys decided they’d do it again this year and asked for help, and I was more than happy to provide some encouraging episodes.

My first went up today, Zen and the Art of the Speeding Bullet. This was actually the first lesson I learned when I first did NaNoWriMo, and it’s a philosophy I still subscribe to, even when not trying to write seven pages a day for thirty days.

The first episode of Mur Lafferty’s podiobook PLAYING FOR KEEPS is now available for download. Go download it if you like good things, like superheroes and heroines with no patience for superheroics.

Mur’s also making a PDF of each audio chapter available, which is one of those ideas that is so awesome that I’m surprised no one’s done it before. Are we entering a new era of the Victorian chapbook? If we are, I can’t think of better novel to start us out on that road. This may be something I have to stea–uh, borrow, Mur.

You may notice, as you’re about to dig into said PDF, that it features a lovely comic-style cover by yours truly, with beautiful graphic accents by JC Hutchins and Natalie Metzger. It looks something like the image below, only bigger, brighter, and more capable of giving you joy. Click on the link below to download your own copy.

Jared art and Mur words? There’s no reason not to download this puppy!