Michael R. Underwood — Speculative Fictionero
geek
Friday Morning Round-Up
011 months ago
The release week whirlwind continues! I’ll try to round up some of the greatest hits here for folk that haven’t been glued to their Twitter streams (you know, sane and normal people living their lives and not obsessing over their first book release, natch.)
Geekomancy now has several reviews across the eTailersphere, including this one from Publishing Iconoclast, Evil Wylie:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R34154ARB58LFY/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B007SNRRP8&nodeID=133140011&store=digital-text
For any readers out there — the more reviews the book the has, the easier it is for readers to know if they’re likely to enjoy the book. So if you’ve read Geekomancy and feel like reviewing it on BN.com, Amazon, iBooks, Google, Goodreads, etc., I would be very appreciative.
I also had the chance to guest blog at the journal of Mary Robinette Kowal, talking about My Favorite Bit in Geekomancy:
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/my-favorite-bit-mike-underwood-talks-about-geekomancy/
The Reading Room has an exclusive on sampling the third chapter of Geekomancy. This means you can now read three chapters of Geeky Goodness to see if the book is going to be up your alley.
http://www.thereadingroom.com/geekomancy/bp/5746247
The novel has been hanging out in some pretty sweet positions on the sales rankings, which I hope will continue to help with exposure.
And, speaking of exposure, here’s a special ‘Mike’s Vicarious San Diego Comic-Con Awesome’ glimpse of Geekomancy at the convention. I may not be there, by my book is!:
#Geekomancy101
011 months ago
In order to keep the great excitement around Geekomancy rolling, I’m rolling out a fun Twitter meme called #Geekomancy101.
Step one will be figuring out our stats and class levels.
The first thing you do in almost any RPG is figure out the character’s stats. Ree Reyes, my lead in Geekomancy, has stat blocks and class levels she assigns to herself and her friends. I’m inviting people to make up their own stat blocks and classes for themselves — life-like accuracy takes a back-seat to hilarity.
These stats are done ala Dungeons & Dragons, so 3 is human minimum, 18 is human maximum, and 10-11 are average.
Example:
In the book, Ree stats herself:
Strength 10 Dexterity 14 Stamina 12 Will 17 IQ 16 Charisma 15 — Geek 7 / Barista 3 / Screenwriter 2 / Gamer Girl 2.
and her friend, Sandra Wilson:
Strength 15 Dexterity 13 Stamina 13 Will 12 IQ 17 Charisma 13 — Geek 3 / Scholar 3 / Dancer 1 / Teacher 1 / Waitress 1 / Chef 1 / Professional 1
In this vein, I’d stat myself like this:
Strength 11 Dexterity 15 Stamina 12 Will 15 IQ 16 Charisma 14 – Geek 6 / Scholar 3 / Bookseller 3 / Fencer 2 / Novelist 1
Join in the fun and use #geekomancy101 so I can keep track!
Geekomancy is here!
011 months ago
by Michael R. Underwood
in geek
The day has finally come! The Pre-orders have delivered, digital Ninja Santa eBook Couriers depositing the novel in people’s eReaders overnight.
Pocket Star has also created a very sharp-looking page featuring Geekomancy and the limited-time price of $1.99: http://pages.simonandschuster.com/pocketstar/featured
In other news: I have a guest post up at All Things Urban Fantasy, along with a giveaway of the eBook (I will also sign a picture of the cover — the closest thing to a ‘signed eBook’ that seems to be available right now):
http://allthingsuf.com/2012/07/mike-underwood-on-the-genre-heritage-of-geekomacy.html
My friend and marvelous Historical YA Paranormal Romance author Leanna Hieber has given me a lovely blurb on Goodreads:
Geeks rejoice! This is your new favorite book. A frakking clever, funny, engaging novel that toes a surprisingly perfect line between meta and unabashedly delightful storytelling. There is a reference for everyone and even the unwashed masses of non-geeks can enjoy it and hopefully learn a thing or two about being awesome.” – Leanna Renee Hieber, award winning, nationally bestselling author
I am also interviewed on WFIU for the show Artworks, in an episode on comics and comic culture here — but a recording will be available if you can’t listen at 7pm on the 10th (just 10 minutes from this post!).
http://indianapublicmedia.org/artworks/12-26/
And as of this post, GEEKOMANCY is #2,137 in the Paid Kindle store, and #44 in both of these categories:
- Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Contemporary
- Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Fantasy > Contemporary
Thank you everyone, for making this launch day a huge success!
Geekomancy mention in Sword & Laser
011 months ago
Geekomancy makes a guest appearance on the fabulous Sword & Laser video show, during the Calendar segment of episode 7.
Linkage! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHW8kzc1dmg&feature=g-all-u
If you don’t want to watch the whole episode (you should watch it anyway), you can see the novel at 15:45.
And now back to the happy author dance.
Podcast Interview at Once & Future Podcast
011 months ago
Anton Strout, gentleman and scholar and host of the Once & Future Podcast, has posted his latest episode, where he and I talk about Geekomancy, our shared love of GenCon, why he and Patrick Rothfuss should fight like Pokemon in the writing arena, and much more.
http://blog.antonstrout.com/2012/07/05/of-podcast-ep-38–michael-r-underwood.aspx
It was a blast talking with Anton, and I learned a lot about how to arrange my thoughts when doing author interviews on the phone and how that’s different than in person or via email.
Enjoy!
Tor.com Excerpt and OMG Physical ARCs
011 months ago
by Michael R. Underwood
in geek
I have two pieces of business to share, and they are both awesome.
Tor.com, the website and blog for genre fiction powerhouse Tor Books, has posted Chapter Two of Geekomancy to help spread the word:
http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/07/geekomancy-excerpt
And secondly, this Tuesday I got a box from Simon & Schuster containing an awesome surprise:
Actual dead-tree copies of Geekomancy! These are simple tape-bound copies, and are even more basic than normal paper ARCs, but it’s a book! A real, paper book with my cover and my name on it and my novel inside on pages I can turn and smell and that I can hug and hold up like a power-up in Zelda!
I’m a little excited, as you might be able to tell.
This means I can give a copy to my parents, keep one on hand to refer to while writing Celebromancy, and still have a few left to do other cool things with (I got 10 copies). My editor has another 30 or so, which he’s taking to San Diego Comic-Con to try to pass out to appropriate VIPs to help get more exposure.
Dear Felicia Day, Wil Wheaton, Team Unicorn, Team Sword & Laser, and anyone from Mutant Enemy — Please visit the Simon & Schuster booth at SDCC and talk to Adam. He has something fun for you. 
“The Power of Nostalgia” Interviewed at Hollywood Jane
011 months ago
My friend, screenwriter and Hollywood insider Megan Christopher interviewed me about Geekomancy for her blog. While you’re there, you should check out her delightful web series “Quest for Comic-Con.”
http://meganchristopher.net/the-power-of-nostalgia-interview-with-the-author-of-geekomancy/
Geekomancy Bookstore Events
011 months ago
I’m very happy to have three bookstore events scheduled so far, where I’ll be doing readings, signings, trivia contests, and more.
“But Mike, this is an eBook? How will you sign copies for people?” you might ask. I know I did. But I think I’ve got a pretty good solution cooked up. My tablet lets me take snapshots of pictures and then draw on them with a stylus, so I can create images of the Geekomancy cover, sign them to readers, and then send them by email. It’s not quite the same as a signed paper book, but I think it’s pretty cool. I have also made up book plates (aka business cards), which I can sign with a sharpie. I will also sign other things, as requested (character sheets, RPG books, T-Shirts, etc.) because hey, why not?
The Official Book Launch Party will be on Saturday July 21st, at my friendly local Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Bloomington, IN. I’m very happy that the Bloomington B&N is hosting the launch party, since I used to work at the store, and my time as a barista and bookseller was the start of my career in publishing. I’ll be doing a reading, signing (see above), and hosting a geek trivia contest and a Geeky T-Shirt contest.
I’m also very honored that a couple of my independent bookstore friends will be hosting me for events during my traveling season for work this summer.
Here’s the current list of events!
July 13th, 7:00 PM at CoffeeTree Books in Morehead, KY. Postponed for now. Stay tuned for details.
July 17th, 7:00 PM at McLean and Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey, MI.
July 21st, 6:00 PM at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Bloomington, IN. Facebook page for the event is here.
In Praise of Tabletop
11 year ago
by Michael R. Underwood
in geek
I’ve been enjoying the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel, especially the Sword & Laser video show, but today, I want to talk about the awesome that is Tabletop.
I’ve been a gamer nearly all of my life, but I became a Gamer at the tender age of nine, when classmates at school invited me to play D&D with them. My first character was a Barbarian with a Dune Buggy, and it was all downhill from there.
Like many geeks of my generation, large portions of my teen years were spent in front of dining room tables, consoles, and PCs, playing games of all types: video, board, collectible card, strategy, miniatures, and so on.
Wil Wheaton had a distinctively different upbringing than I did, having been a child star and all, but this thing we have in common: a great love for tabletop games. Wheaton brings this love to Tabletop, a web series where he invites friends and colleagues to hang out and play board games, card games, and strategy games. Wheaton has taken up a role of advocacy for these games, touting their ability to train critical thinking, strategy, teamwork, and to strengthen social connections. But rather than doing it in a Suzanne Somers “Please adopt this hungry d12. Just a quarter a day can help it get the crayons it needs to have clearly defined numbers…” kind of way, more a “this is really fun, let me give you the jist and then we will show you!”
The gameplay shown in Tabletop is intentionally heightened, as the players are clearly ‘ON’ in terms of giving a performance to maximize watchability, but it is usually not a huge stretch from an animated game between good friends.
One of the benefits of the show for me (and I hope many others) is the chance to introduce loved ones to the joy of tabletop games. I’ve bought several of the games featured (at my friendly local game store, of course), and shared them with my girlfriend, who is very gracious about sharing my passions, and whom I hope to turn to the Dork side of the Force (at least a little, if she wants).
I’ve embedded the first episode here to give a sense of the show.
What are some of your favorite tabletop games? Anything you think would be especially good for the show?
Blurb 2: The Geekening
01 year ago
I’m honored to have three blurbs from fellow authors and advance readers of GEEKOMANCY , which we’ll get to use for the initial release of the book (including one on the book’s cover, perchance).
Underwood’s Geek Fu is strong–and he’s not afraid to use it. GEEKOMANCY is fun, fresh and full of geek culture references that will have you LOLing to the very last page. This book is one hundred percent pure awesomesauce and totally FTW.
– Mari Mancusi, award winning author of The Blood Coven Vampire series
Modern, sleek, and whip-smart, GEEKOMANCY is a wonderful blend of geek and pop culture — you’ll find yourself grinning knowingly at least every other page. And Ree is the perfect protagonist to navigate Geekomancy’s world — geek enough to hold her own, yet human enough for me to be deeply invested in her struggles. I can’t wait to read the next one!”
– Cassie Alexander, author of NIGHTSHIFTED
If Buffy hooked up with Doctor Who while on board the Serenity, this book would be their lovechild. In other words, GEEKOMANCY is full of epic win.
– Marie Lu, author of the Legend trilogy
Now back to doing my authorial happy dance. We’re less than one month out from GEEKOMANCY’s release, and I am reaching the stage of excited where it requires deliberate effort to calm down at times. I’m also hard at work on the sequel, so that there can be another adventure with Ree Reyes to share with readers next year.