On the other end of the phone, a woman with a heavy Asian accent asked me if I was the Rick who wrote Nexus Graphica for Sf Site.

"Um.. yeah. Why?"

"We’d like to promote your book."

"What?"

"In your column you feature several of your books."

"Um.. I wrote about those books. I did not write them."

"The X-men is not your book?"

*chuckle* "No. I WRITE about OTHER books."

"Well, you have a book, right?"

"Yes.. but it came out several years ago. Who are you and what do you want?"

"You were targeted by our website because of your quality writing. We would like to promote your book." She went on to tell me she was from Book Whirl and they successfully promote books, though she didn’t offer names of any clients.

The site itself is slick, though makes the common mistake of too much info on the title page, obscuring their message. And the Barnes & Noble and Amazon links near the bottom give the false impression that they are sponsored by the bookstore giants.

From their ABOUT US:

I was not very impressed. You call an author without really knowing what they do? Obviously, I don’t own the X-men and the tiniest bit of research reveals that I’ve never even written the X-men. And I’m suppose to take you seriously?

Then there’s the pricing. While not terrible, their services are way too fragmented– potentially obscuring the actual costs– and the charts offer little indication of what you get for your money.

The site only lists four clients. Is that all they have? And though they apparently focus only on newer writers, you would think if their pr was so good, I would have heard of at least one of them. I am, by reputation, very tied into the book trade. Something somewhere should have come to my attention about one of their authors.

When I asked the their telemarketer where they were located, she told me Iowa. No indication of that on their site.

Reading the fine print reveals that Book Whirl is owned by Yen Chen Support, an Asian business process outsourcing company. I’m sure Yen Chen is a fine company, but nothing on their site lends me to believe they know the first thing about the book industry on any continent. (Though apparently they use Linux, which does give them Brownie points.)

If you are an author looking for some promotional help, you are better of contacting someone like Deep Eight proprietor Matt Staggs. He may not have the whiz bang of Book Whirl, but he knows the biz and understands the various Internet marketing opportunities. Plus, Matt knows who owns the X-men.

"Rick, can I get your email so we can check in with you in a few months?"

"You can get it from the column."

"Um.. where is that?"

"Sf Site. Scroll down and click on Nexus Graphica. The new column went up yesterday."

"I don’t see it. Please tell me your email."

"Forget it. I’m not interested in your services. Don’t contact me again" *CLICK*

I’m poking my head above ground briefly to share my San Antonio Current review of Charlie Huston’s latest crime thriller The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death.

Time to return to my burrow. More geekiness to come…

After posting some new arrivals, I’ll be going to ground for a week or so as I catch up on several looming deadlines.

Y’all be good. I’ll be back soon with some fresh geekiness goodness.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Sanctified and Chicken-Fried: The Portable Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale

Promo copy:

Master of mojo storytelling, spinner of over-the-top yarns of horror, suspense, humor, mystery, science fiction, and even the Old West, Joe R. Lansdale has attracted a wide and enthusiastic following. His genre-defying work has brought him numerous awards, including the Grand Master of Horror from the World Horror Convention, the Edgar Award, the American Horror Award, seven Bram Stoker awards, the British Fantasy Award, Italy’s Grinzane Prize for Literature, as well as Notable Book of the Year recognition twice from the New York Times. Sanctified and Chicken-Fried is the first "true best of Lansdale" anthology. It brings together a unique mix of well-known short stories and excerpts from his acclaimed novels, along with new and previously unpublished material. In this collection of gothic tales that explore the dark and sometimes darkly humorous side of life and death, you’ll meet traveling preachers with sinister agendas, towns lost to time, teenagers out for a good time who get more than they bargain for, and gangsters and strange goings-on at the end of the world. Out of the blender of Lansdale’s imagination spew tall tales about men and mules, hogs and races, that are, in his words, "the equivalent of Aesop meets Flannery O’Connor on a date with William Faulkner, the events recorded by James M. Cain." Whether you’re a long-time fan of Joe R. Lansdale or just discovering his work, this anthology brings you the best of a writer whom the New York Times Book Review has praised for having "a folklorist’s eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur’s sense of pace."

I first blogged about this book back in November ’08 and my thoughts on the matter have not changed one lick.

A Madness of Angels: Or The Resurrection of Matthew Swift by Kate Griffin

Promo copy:

For Matthew Swift, today is not like any other day. It is the day on which he returns to life.

Two years after his untimely death, Matthew Swift finds himself breathing once again, lying in bed in his London home.

Except that it’s no longer his bed, or his home. And the last time this sorcerer was seen alive, an unknown assailant had gouged a hole so deep in his chest that his death was irrefutable…despite his body never being found.

He doesn’t have long to mull over his resurrection though, or the changes that have been wrought upon him. His only concern now is vengeance. Vengeance upon his monstrous killer and vengeance upon the one who brought him back.

About the Author
Kate Griffin is the name under which Carnegie Medal-nominated author Catherine Webb, writes fantasy novels for adults. An acclaimed author of young adult books under her own name, Catherine’s amazing debut, Mirror Dreams, was written when she was only 14 years old, and garnered comparisons with Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman. She read History at the London School of Economics, and is now studying at RADA. A Madness of Angels is her first adult fantasy novel.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

The Exterminating Angel

Promo copy:

A group of bourgeois cosmopolitans are invited to a mansion for dinner and inexplicably find themselves unable to leave, in Luis Buñuel’s daring masterpiece The Exterminating Angel. Made just one year after his international sensation Viridiana, this is a furthering of Buñuel’s wicked takedown of the rituals and dependencies of the frivolous upper classes, full of eerie and hilarious absurdity.

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:

New, restored high-definition digital transfer

The Last Script: Remembering Luis Buñuel, a 2008 documentary featuring Jean-Claude Carrière and Jean Luis Buñuel

New interviews with filmmaker Arturo Ripstein and actress Silvia Pinal

Theatrical trailer

New and improved English subtitle translation

PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar Marsha Kinder and a reprinted interview with Buñuel

Simon of the Desert

Promo copy:

Simon of the Desert is Luis Buñuel’s wicked and wild take on the life of devoted ascetic Saint Simeon Stylites, who waited atop a pillar surrounded by a barren landscape for six years, six months, and six days, in order to prove his devotion to God. Yet the devil, in the figure of the beautiful Silvia Pinal, huddles below, trying to tempt him down. A skeptic s vision of human conviction, Buñuel’s short and sweet satire is one of the master filmmaker’s most renowned works of surrealism.

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
[list]New, restored high-definition digital transfer

A Mexican Buñuel (1995), 50-minute documentary by Emilio Maillé

New interview with actress Silvia Pinal

New and improved English subtitle translation

PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Wood and a reprinted interview with Buñuel

Inside Moves

Promo copy

The Academy Award® nominated film (Best Supporting Actress Diane Scarwid, TV’s Pushing Daisies) Inside Moves makes its long-awaited DVD debut this February from Lionsgate. Directed by Richard Donner (Superman), the film was based on the Todd Walton novel of the same name. Praised by the New York Times as "a well-acted movie…parts of it are so effectively offbeat, that it rises above…just as surely as its characters triumph over their troubles,"

Inside Moves follows Roary (John Savage, The Deer Hunter), a young man who has been partially crippled after a failed suicide attempt. Depressed, Roary begins spending a lot of time at a neighborhood bar full of interesting misfits. When Jerry the bartender (David Morse, Emmy® nominee HBO’s John Adams) suddenly finds himself playing basketball for the Golden State Warriors, Roary and the rest of the bar regulars hope his success will provide a lift to their sagging spirits.

The Inside Moves DVD contains special features that include audio commentary with Donner and writer Brian Helgeland, a making-of featurette, interviews with Walton, Donner and screenwriter Barry Levinson and a stills gallery of Donner’s original shooting script.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

The End League Volume 1: Ballad Of Big Nothing
Written by Rick Remender Art by Mat Broome and Eric Canete

Promo copy:

A thematic merging of The Lord of the Rings and Watchmen, The End League follows a cast of the last remaining super men and women as they embark on a desperate and perilous journey through a world dominated by evil, in hopes of locating the one remaining artifact that can save humanity – the Hammer of Thor.

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son
Written by Dean Koontz & Kevin J. Anderson Adapted by Chuck Dixon Art by Brett Booth

Promo copy:

In the nineteenth century, Dr. Victor Frankenstein brought his notorious creation to life, but a horrible turn of events forced him to abandon it and slip away from the public eye. Two centuries later, a serial killer is on the loose in New Orleans, gruesomely salvaging body parts from each of his victims, as if trying to assemble a perfect human being.

Detective Carson O’Connor is cool, cynical, and every bit as tough as she looks. Her partner, Michael Maddison, would back her up all the way to Hell itself–and that just may be where their new case leads. For as they investigate the strange killings, O’Connor and Madison find themselves drawn into a weird underworld of deception and secrets where a man named Victor Helios has created an entire race of perfectly engineered people who are meant to take humankind’s place one day. But something is happening to some of Helios’s creations, and it may be that this bizarre serial killer is the least of the detectives’ worries.

From the masterly pen of New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz–and featuring an adaptation by legendary comic book writer Chuck Dixon and gorgeous illustrations by acclaimed artist Brett Booth–Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son is a story filled with fast-paced action, gripping horror, and thrilling adventure.

Eclipso: The Music of the Spheres
Written by Matthew Sturges Art by Steven Jorge Segovia and Chad Hardin

Promo copy:

Since the beginning of time, Eclipso, the evil embodiment of God’s wrath, has attempted to control the universe by possessing beings and feeding off their darkest desires.

In this collection, Eclipso returns, taking possession of the Atom’s murderous ex-wife, Jean Loring, before striking out at the rest of the DC Universe. And when the demented entity sets its sights on former host Dr. Bruce Gordon, Eclipso’s true plans for universal domination are revealed and only the Spectre can take him down!

Pigeons From Hell
Written by Joe R. Lansdale Art by Nathan Fox

Promo copy:

Master horror storyteller Joe R. Lansdale throws his scathing wit and wild, otherworldly creations into the mix as he brings Robert E. Howard’s classic tale of dark revenge to the present . . . and into the unwilling lives of the Blassenville mansion heirs, twin sisters Claire and Janet. When Griswell fled the Blassenville estate those many years ago, he couldn’t have imagined the grotesque horrors that would eclipse the ones he saw then – but they’re here! With more than twenty books to his credit, Joe R. Lansdale is an acclaimed storyteller. He’s been called "an immense talent" by Booklist; "a born storyteller" by Robert Bloch; and The New York Times Book Review declares he has "a folklorist’s eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur’s sense of pace." He’s won a ton of awards, including five Bram Stoker horror awards, a British Fantasy Award, the American Mystery Award, the Horror Critics Award, the "Shot in the Dark" International Crime Writer’s award, the Booklist Editor’s Award, the Critic’s Choice Award, and a New York Times Notable Book award.

Howard! Lansdale! Two great tastes that go great together!

While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I’m taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Click on images for full sized versions.

Beginning sometime in the late 90s, filmmaker Tim Harrison under the thinly veiled nom-de-plume Harrison! began publishing his mini-comic Monkey’s Paw. Issue #2 was a 17" x 11" sheet printed on both sides and folded into fourths. The mini offered, among four other strips, a two page story which while not using names ridicules a well know Austinite who produces a very famous and influential geek site.

"The Comic They Didn’t Want Me to Do!" p. 1

"The Comic They Didn’t Want Me to Do!" p. 2

As was trendy in the 90s, Harrison included an essay blasting the mainstream for disrepecting comics. He also admonishes the comic creators themselves suggesting that "the majority of comics put out in the last one hundred years is CRAP." His solution? Concentrate more on story and less on guys beating each other up.

"Johnny Tourette" from Monkey’s Paw #2

Harrison’s Aw, Shaddup! ran for several years in the Austin American Statesman.

While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I’m taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Click on images for full sized versions.

Titbit 5 (1992) proudly promised "choice morsels for cerebral appetites." This small, slim ‘zine offered poetry and art by Amanda Duckworth, Lance Myers, Mark Portier, Ruben Soriano and others.

Art by Lance Myers

Art by Ruben Soriano

In another example of movie studio ignorance, the much-ballyhooed, long awaited Vikings vs. alien saga Outlander is opening, Jan 23 in select theaters nationwide including three Texas cities: Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio but NOT AUSTIN!!! Of those four, which city do you think a movie like this would do the best in?

It just screams Alamo Drafthouse!

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

House of Mystery Vol. 01: Room and Boredom Written by Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham Art by Luca Rossi, Ross Campbell, Sean Murphy, Zachary Baldus, Steve Rolston and Jill Thompson Cover by Sam Weber

Promo copy:
"This is the next Vertigo pillar to watch!" — Wizard

Welcome to the House of Mystery! Filled with peculiar, otherworldly characters from all walks of life, this series from Matthew Sturges (JACK OF FABLES) and Bill Willingham (FABLES) focuses on five people trapped in the reality-warping House of Mystery, a supernatural bar where tales are the legal tender and only the finest storytellers are patrons! But how – and why – they’re stuck inside is all just a little piece of the puzzle in this first volume, which collects issues #1-5 of the all-new acclaimed series and special bonus material.

Download issue #1

Dragon in Chains by Daniel Fox

Promo copy:

From award-winning author Daniel Fox comes a ravishingly written epic of revolution and romance set in a world where magic is found in stone and in water, in dragons and in men–and in the chains that bind them.

Deposed by a vicious usurper, a young emperor flees with his court to the small island of Taishu. There, with a dwindling army, a manipulative mother, and a resentful population–and his only friend a local fishergirl he takes as a concubine–he prepares for his last stand.

In the mountains of Taishu, a young miner finds a huge piece of jade, the potent mineral whose ingestion can gift the emperor with superhuman attributes. Setting out to deliver the stone to the embattled emperor, Yu Shan finds himself changing into something more than human, something forbidden.

Meanwhile, a great dragon lies beneath the strait that separates Taishu from the mainland, bound by chains that must be constantly renewed by the magic of a community of monks. When the monks are slaughtered by a willful pirate captain, a maimed slave assumes the terrible burden of keeping the dragon subdued. If he should fail, if she should rise free, the result will be slaughter on an unimaginable scale.

Now the prisoner beneath the sea and the men and women above it will shatter old bonds of loyalty and love and forge a common destiny from the ruins of an empire.

Outcast (Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi, Book 1) by Aaron Allston

Promo copy:

THE NEXT CHAPTER IN THE EXTRAORDINARY HISTORY OF THE STAR WARS GALAXY BEGINS HERE. . . .

After a violent civil war and the devastation wrought by the now-fallen Darth Caedus, the Galactic Alliance is in crisis–and in need. From all corners, politicians, power brokers, and military leaders converge on Coruscant for a crucial summit to restore order, negotiate differences, and determine the future of their unified worlds. But even more critical, and far more uncertain, is the future of the Jedi.

In a shocking move, Chief of State Natasi Daala orders the arrest of Luke Skywalker for failing to prevent Jacen Solo’s turn to the dark side and his subsequent reign of terror as a Sith Lord. But it’s only the first blow in an anti-Jedi backlash fueled by a hostile government and suspicious public. When Jedi Knight Valin Horn, scion of a politically influential family, suffers a mysterious psychotic break and becomes a dangerous fugitive, the Jedi become the target of a media-driven witch hunt. Facing conviction on the damning charges, Luke must strike a bargain with the calculating Daala: his freedom in exchange for his exile from Coruscant and from the Jedi Order.

Though forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is determined to keep history from being repeated. With his son, Ben, at his side, Luke sets out to unravel the shocking truth behind Jacen Solo’s corruption and downfall. But the secrets he uncovers among the enigmatic Force mystics of the distant world Dorin may bring his quest–and life as he knows it–to a sudden end. And all the while, another Jedi Knight, consumed by the same madness as Valin Horn, is headed for Coruscant on a fearsome mission that could doom the Jedi Order . . . and devastate the entire galaxy.

Without Warning by John Birmingham

Promo copy:

In Kuwait, American forces are stacked up, locked and loaded for the invasion of Iraq. In Paris, a covert agent, a woman who inhabits a twilight of lies and death, is close to cracking a terrorist cell. And just north of the equator, a forty-foot wood-hulled sailboat, manned by a drug runner, a pirate, and two gun-slinging beauties, is witness to the unspeakable. In one instant, all around the world, for politicians and peasants, from Gaza to Geneva, things will never be the same. A wave of inexplicable energy has slammed into the continental United States.

America, as we know it, is gone. . . .

WITHOUT WARNING

Now U.S. soldiers are fighting a war without command or control. A correspondent records horrors for no one. Washington is gone and the line of succession is in tatters; the functioning remnants of government are in Pearl Harbor, Guantánamo Bay, and one desperate, isolated corner of the Northwest. For the jihadists, it’s Allah’s miracle. For Saddam, it’s a chance to attack. Iran declares war on an America that doesn’t exist–except in the hearts and souls of the men and women who want it to.

In this astounding work of alternate fiction, John Birmingham hurtles us into a scenario that is unimaginable but shatteringly real: a world of financial ruin where a cloud of noxious waste–from America’s burning cities–darkens Europe, while men and women in offices around the globe struggle to make decisions that cannot hold and opportunists unleash their secret demons.

From a slick Texas lawyer who happens to be in the right place at the right time to a hard-working city engineer in Seattle who becomes his terrified city’s only hope, from the cancer-stricken secret agent to a drug runner off the Mexican coast and a U.S. general in Cuba, Without Warning tells a fast, furious story of survival, violence, and a new, soul-shattering reality. The first in an epic trilogy that will leave readers breathless and astounded, Without Warning offers a world without its policeman, its Great Satan, or its savior–as an unknowable future struggles to be born.