After losing the first round of DABWAHA by a mere 12 votes, I need something cheerful today! 
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
Back from ALA, and had a blast! More on that later, once I’ve unpacked and figured out which bag I left my brain in.
For now, I had two links two share from my Google Reader feed, before Google permanently retires that service.
1. The Mary Sue has the First Clip of The Legend of Korra, Book Two. ::Bounce::
2. This made me smile. It was built by True Dimensions, whose Flickr page has some other nifty builds as well.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
For anyone who’s interested, I updated yesterday’s blog post with information on Mr. Dark’s clients and their work.
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And now on to something more important: the trailer for next year’s LEGO movie, at http://youtu.be/lPnY2NjSjrg
To be honest, I’m not sure what to think yet. It’s nice to finally see Superman and Batman in the same movie, and there are a few jokes in the trailer that made me grin. There’s some good voice talent and potential here.I don’t think this first trailer gives us enough information to really judge. I hope they don’t go too silly or cheesy with it, but we’ll see…
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
www.jimchines.com will be down for a little while tonight while sff.net updates the WordPress installation for their users. I’ve also killed a few plugins that weren’t really necessary, and I’m hoping that will eliminate the occasional FastCGI Error message folks have reported. It’s certainly sped things up on the admin. interface.
Also, have a LEGO Castle Grayskull, just because. This was built by Fraslund, and you should definitely click through to see the rest. I think I even spotted the Sorceress up there…
Alice Finch built Hogwarts out of LEGO. To minifig scale. With scenes from the various books/movies.
The whole thing uses close to half a million bricks, and took twelve months to put together.
There were other things I wanted to blog about, but instead I’m just going to stare at the full photoset for a while…
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
Saturday, I took the kids to the LEGO Kids Fest in Novi. Purely for them, you understand. I was just being a good father, dutifully spending four and a half hours in a convention center full of models and hands-on displays and games and more. Because that’s just the kind of Dad I am!
It also gave me the chance to teach some Vital Life Lessons, like the proper technique for staking LEGO vampires.
We got to see the Important Cultural and Historical Figures of Our Time.
My son Jackson found a new role model.
And then there was this glimpse of Child Heaven…
All in all, a most Educational Experience for everyone.
I’ve got a few more pics, and larger versions of these, on my Flickr site.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
Our internet is fixed! Just in time for me to leave the state tomorrow morning for Worldcon. I’m reposting my schedule here, mostly so I can find it this weekend when I manage to confuse myself.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone! If you’re a regular reader/commenter, please say hi if you have a moment! (And if your real name doesn’t match your online handle, please throw me a bone and tell me who you are. I can barely remember my own name at these things.)
I’ll probably be posting random Worldcon-related miscellany on Twitter, and maybe Facebook.
Other things while I’m thinking about it…
Anton Strout’s book Alchemystic [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] comes out September 25. He and Penguin are donating $2 per preorder, up to $3000, to Worldbuilders. Details are on Pat Rothfuss’ blog.
Morgan Keyes has a new book out called Darkbeast [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], which sounds like a lot of fun. I’m hoping to have a guest blog post from her soon.
Finally, LEGO: The Piece of Resistance is a live-action and CGI LEGO movie, currently in development. It’s just been announced that they’ll be turning Morgan Freeman and Elizabeth Banks into minifigs for the film. The movie will also have Superman and Batman sharing the screen. (In minifig form, naturally.) I believe this is the point where I say SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
In some ways, yesterday reminds me of my wedding. There was a lot of preparation and work, and it seemed like time was simultaneously slowing to a crawl and rushing past as the day approached. And then it was here in a blur of noise and excitement, surrounded by friends and loved ones. Lots of happiness and celebration (and yes, maybe even some dancing). Then you blink and it’s all over.
Here are just some of the things that happened yesterday…
I am delighted and excited and energized and utterly drained. So I’m going to close by posting something utterly unrelated to libriomancy. Even though Isaac Vainio would totally get a kick out of it.
This is a working LEGO model of the Curiosity Rover, which touched down safely on Mars earlier this week. It was built by Doug Moran and Will Gorman. (Thanks to The Mary Sue for the link.)
If the video isn’t showing up, you can view it on YouTube.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
As you might have gathered from Wednesday’s post, most of my energy is going into book-related stuff right now, including…
So while I try to find my brain, enjoy this impressive LEGO recreation of the battle at Helm’s Deep, by Daniel Z. Click the pic for more shots of this set.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
The Fundraiser for Rape Crisis Centers raised more than $500 in the first 24 hours, which is wonderful! Our next goal is $750, at which point a book by Anton Strout gets added to the prizes. Thank you to everyone who’s donated and spread the word so far!
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I’ll be doing a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) tomorrow, April 13, starting at 7:00 p.m. CST. Having read some of the AMAs they’ve done with other authors, I expect this to be fun.
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ARCs of Libriomancer have been spotted in the wild! Cranking up the authorial anxiety in 3…2…1…
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A blog post by author Adrienne Kress: How to Write Female Characters (or as I like to call them, Characters).
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Finally, because I haven’t done anything LEGO in a while, have a LEGO Game Boy. That’s also a Transformer. With a LEGO Tetris cartridge. That transforms into a bird, Laserbeak-style. Oh, just click the pic and check it out! This was built by Baron von Brunk.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
My son has been sick this week, so it’s all been a bit of a blur of schedule-juggling and trying to keep him quiet and resting (because when the medicine kicks in, he feels better, so he promptly runs around … which stirs up the asthma/congestion nastiness). On the upside, I’ve now watched approximately six trillion episodes of the Wild Kratts, and can tell you how an owl’s fringed feathers allow it to swoop down silently, or how the basilisk lizard’s toes are fringed to help it run across water.
Yeah, fringe is in these days.
So anyway, all I’ve got this morning are some links.
Patrick Stewart talks about growing up with an abusive father and the dangers of slashing support to domestic violence shelters and services.
“My mother had no escape route. There were no refuges she could run to; no helplines to call; no advocates to speak out for her. No one came to help, even though everyone knew what was happening behind our closed doors. The small houses in our road were close together, and every Monday morning I walked to school with a bowed head, praying that I wouldn’t run into a neighbour who had heard the weekend’s rows.”
China Mieville on racism and what is and isn’t “censorship.”
“Indeed, an astoundingly small proportion of arguments ‘for free speech’ & ‘against censorship’ or ‘banning’ are, in fact, about free speech, censorship or banning. It is depressing to have to point out, yet again, that there is a distinction between having the legal right to say something & having the moral right not to be held accountable for what you say.”
Finally, a collection of LEGO optical illusions, by Brixe63.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
A friend asked me about how I balance writing, blogging, family, and everything else in my schedule. In part, I do this by trying to prepare blog posts over the weekend. But then you get weekends where there’s an ice cream/dodge ball event for my son, then a day-and-a-half karate workshop, and then the joys of pushing our minivan out of a snowy ditch. (Everyone’s fine, and the van is undamaged.)
So instead of the book review or the guest blog post or anything else I had planned, y’all get a few bullet points instead, ’cause that’s all the brain I had left.
Finally, have some LEGO Quiddich. This set was part of Brickvention in Melbourne. It was built by Jennie Sasson, and the photo is by Shannon Ocean. Click the pic for a larger view, or here for a second shot of the match (with thestrals!)
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
Multiple things making me cranky today, so here, have a LEGO Saturn V rocket, built by Ryan McNaught.
This thing is almost nineteen feet tall, made of approximately 120,000 bricks. Click on the picture for the full photoset.
I’ve posted a lot of LEGO stuff here, but this is one of my favorites. It’s such an awesome and loving tribute to the real thing.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
ETA: I’ve added links to YouTube for anyone having trouble seeing the embedded videos.
1) Via tor.com, clips of various Muppets trying out for the role of Yoda. Kermit’s bit is my favorite. (Direct link.)
2) For some reason, this next one makes me think of Seanan McGuire. From Paul at http://sariel.pl/ comes a working LEGO chainsaw. Okay, I don’t know whether this would actually hold up against zombie velociraptors, but it’s still extremely cool. (Direct link.)
3) Finally, Doctor Who LEGO, from infinitepi. (With a cute little Dalek and an autographed TARDIS, no less!) I totally need to try to build this one. Just need to figure out where/how they got the Police Box sign.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
Thanks to everyone who entered the contest to win two Laura Anne Gilman hardcovers and a bonus stuffed meerkat!
I used random.org, which selected mtlawson as the winner. He answered my rather silly question with the following:
When the weremeerkat revolution comes, the werehyenas will be first against the wall!
Congratulations! I’ve forwarded your contact information to Laura Anne so she can hook you up with your loot.
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I’ll be at ConClave in Romulus, Michigan this weekend, along with GoH Seanan McGuire, local author Saladin Ahmed, and many more. My panel schedule looks like so:
Friday, 6:30 - 8:00 — The Death of the American Author
(I’m a little perplexed by the title, but it’s about the future of books and publishing.)
Friday, 8:00 - 9:30 — Self-promotion and Networking
Saturday, 3:30 - 5:00 — Writing Groups
Sunday, 10:00 - 11:30 — When Should a Series End?
Sunday, 11:30 - 1:00 — Emma Peel Would Be Proud (Talking about strong female characters)
All of my panels are in Ballroom 5. I don’t have a reading, and I don’t see an autographing spot, so feel free to stop me between panels or wherever if you’ve got something you’d like me to sign. Or just to say hi, ’cause that’s always nice too.
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Finally, some of you might be familiar with a little series called Lord of the Rings. Well, OneLug has recreated the Last March of the Ents in LEGO, and it is sweet. Click the pic for the full set, and believe me, you want to click through to see some of the details.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
I see some new people have started following the blog. Welcome! Feel free to say hi and introduce yourself. Or not if you prefer. It’s all good.
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Tehani Wessely invited me to do a guest blog post on indie publishing over at the Fablecroft site. That post is now live. Click on over to see me go off on a tangent, trying to figure out exactly what indie means anymore…
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I’ll be at the Kerrytown Book Fest on Sunday. I’m joining David Arnsdorf, Steven Piziks, David Erik Nelson, and Carrie Harris at 3:00 in the main tent for the “Science Fiction Voices” discussion, and I’ll be signing books immediately afterward.
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Contest winners! My thanks to everyone who entered the book giveaway on my various sites. I threw all of the entries into the randominator and selected Leslie and viorica8957. Both of you should have received e-mails with details. Congratulations!
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Finally, because I’m out of other things to blog about, have a LEGO Kraken vs. Jack Sparrow, by Lego.Skrytsson. Click here or on the pic for the full set, which depicts that final sequence from the movie.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
Want!
Click the pic for additional photos of Ewok in Disguise’s creation. And since they were kind enough to post instructions, I might actually see if I can scrounge/buy the parts to build this one!
Think that’s cool? Fine Clonier took it a step further, and built one that lights up.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
You know what this world needs? A LEGO dragon that breathes fire. Akama1_lego has taken care of that need. Full photoset is here, or you can click the pic for more. There’s also a YouTube video of the dragon in action, if you’re interested.
Yeah, that’s all I’ve got for today. Have a great weekend, all!
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
Working on a deadline to get a submission package polished up and mailed off, so today I’m doing bullet-point blogging.
Finally, check out this LEGO Sandcrawler by marshal-banana. Built of more than 10,000 pieces, this thing weighs about 20 kilograms, and includes 22 different lights and nine motors. There’s a YouTube video if you want to see it in action.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
The Snow Queen’s Shadow [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] comes out in exactly five weeks, and I’m delighted that the first review spotted in the wild is a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Be aware that the review does contain a small spoiler.
We’re recovering from a power outage here, so I don’t have much prepared for the blog. So instead, here are a few highlights from losing electricity…
The only other random news I’ve got is that Kitemaster and Other Stories will also include a sample from Libriomancer, for those who want a sneek peek at my current project.
So … um … have a picture of this Halo Master Chief costume, by Benny Brickster. Not bad, eh? Especially when you consider that, except for the visor, it’s built entirely out of LEGO. Click the pic for the full photoset.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
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