Monthly Archives: January 2014

January 31, 2014 · 5:30 pm

NFL: Super Bowl XLVIII pick

I work in New York City, and let me tell you, folks are very excited about the city hosting Super Bowl XLVIII. And by excited, I mean completely blase about it. Because, darn it, we’re New Yorkers. Even if we haven’t been-there-done-that, we sure act like it. And besides, it’s not like Peyton Manning or Richard Sherman are walking down Broadway posing for pictures every day. We have bad knock-off Elmos and Statues of Liberty for that.

Besides, technically New Jersey is hosting the game. New York is just the window dressing. As it should be — nothing can distract from the fact that, whatever the venue and the weather, this is going to be one heck of a game.

The Denver Broncos have a record-setting offense with a future Hall of Famer at quarterback, and they’ll be going up against the league’s top-rated defense. That right there is pretty cool. On the flip side, the Seattle Seahawks have themselves a pretty good offense too, and they’ll face Denver’s pretty good defense.

I admit, my loyalties are torn on this one. Peyton Manning is just fantastic. Plus, he’s an upstanding guy who works his butt off to be as excellent as he is. Seeing him win a second Super Bowl just cements his legacy as one of the best — if not the best — quarterback to ever play the game. Plus, I don’t want to see this face, because it scares me:

Seriously. I’m weighed down by crushing ennui and heartbreak just looking at him. (And let’s just take a moment to recognize that it took three years for me to post my first .gif on this blog.)

On the other hand, I used to live in Seattle once upon a time, when I was with AP covering Microsoft and Amazon. I even interviewed Lou Pinella once as a fill-in for a vacationing sports writer. It’s a great sports town, and they deserve to win the big one. Plus, if that defense can actually stifle Manning, then they seriously have a shot.

If I were voting with my heart, I’d pick Seattle. Manning still has another season to pick up that trophy and ride off into the sunset, whereas Seattle hasn’t proven it’s consistent enough to return to the playoffs over and over again. I want them to seize the moment, run with it, and have an awesome parade through downtown Seattle, right past Pike Place Market and the hammer guy in front of the art museum. I want Pearl Jam and The Presidents of the United States of America (interviewed them once, too!) playing at the CLink for the celebration. I want the Spoonman himself keeping time and Paul Allen doing a happy dance.

But stopping Manning is a tall order, and he has been en fuego all season. I mean, seriously, he broke all the single-season records this year. At age 37. Plus, if any of his teammates let him down at any point in the game, he will show that face and drive laser-eyes through their hearts.

So if my heart’s with Seattle, my head says: Broncos. Either way, I’m making pulled pork with homemade BBQ sauce and I’ll probably crack open a Westmalle dubbel to go with it. So it’s all good.

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January 28, 2014 · 6:00 pm

The Enceladus Crisis heading out to reviewers

Given that The Enceladus Crisis is just my second novel, it might not be accurate to say that it’s always a little daunting to send out those first books to reviewers. But it sure feels like it.

Print previews of the new book in the Daedalus series have been mailed, and I’ve begun sending out electronic files to reviewers. I’m excited about the direction the new book takes in the evolution of the Known Worlds, and I think it’s a pretty good read. (I also had a pair of beta readers concur on this, so that’s comforting.)

But sure, it’s a little daunting to hold up your work and say, “OK, gang. JUDGE ME.” I suppose that’s normal and probably healthy. If I think I’ve actually written the Great American SF/F Novel, then chances are I probably haven’t.

By the way, I’m still sending those electronic files out, so if you haven’t gotten one yet and you want to review it — and, admittedly, you have something of an audience on your blog or site or publication — do let me know and I’ll get one out to you. Bear in mind that it’s a preview version; there are still copyedits to come!

The cover also looks very different from the placeholder you see on this page. We’re still finalizing the details, but the art is just fantastic. I’ll have more on the image and the artist as we get closer to the book’s May 6 launch.

While you wait for the new book to come out, it’s worth noting that the Audible audiobook version of my novella, The Gravity of the Affair, comes out this Friday. And it’s cheap, too — just $2.99! You can pre-order it here. And the ebook version is already available wherever fine ebooks are sold.

On another note, I’m excited to see that reviews for The Daedalus Incident are still trickling in. Caleb Flanagan of the site 20four12 listed Daedalus as one of his top-ten reads of the year, and now follows that up with a full review:

“Is The Daedalus Incident doing something new and different? Yes, I very much think it is. It’s a well-crafted blend of fantasy and science fiction that roars through the pages and keeps you gripped until the very end.”

Click here for the entire review. Thanks, Caleb!

Finally, if you want a shot at winning signed copies of both Daedalus and Enceladus, then it would be really awesome if you supported my 5k run fundraiser for African elephants. Everyone who donates $10 will be entered to win both books. It’s a good cause, and there’s good karma for you. Plus books. And I’ll be sweating it out for a half-hour, which has it’s own entertainment value. So go for it!

#SFWApro

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January 22, 2014 · 12:30 pm

Support my 5k-run fundraiser for African elephants and win books!

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that I ran my very first 5k race on New Year’s Day — and that I managed to run the entire way. This is no small thing, as I’m not a small person. Fueled by this success and the accompanying hubris, I’m joining with my wife Kate and our daughter Anna to do another one on April 26: A fundraiser for the Wildlife Conservation Society to help African elephants.

Since I have this blog, I thought I’d throw it out there to try to gin up support — and to sweeten the deal, I’ll be giving away signed copies of both my books, The Daedalus Incident and The Enceladus Crisis, to one lucky donor.

Here’s how it works: Go to my fundraising page and pledge money. If you pledge $10 or more, I’ll enter you for a chance to win the books. After the race on 4/26, I’ll choose an donor at random as the winner, and I’ll even personalize them for you if you like.

This is important: If you do indeed pledge $10 or more, please drop me an email at mikemartinezbooks@gmail.com letting me know you did so — and make sure your name matches the name you listed as a donor on the fundraising page so I can confirm it. That’ll also help me reach out to you after the race so I can tell you you’ve won.

Both books will run you at least $30 with shipping, and my scribble inside might be worth a few cents on top of that, so this is a good deal. Plus, you’re helping the Wildlife Conservation Society preserve and protect African elephants and their habitats, so there’s good karma coming your way regardless of whether you win or not.

And finally, you’ll can sit back and smile with the knowledge that I’ll be spending a fine Saturday morning huffing and puffing 3.1 miles. I can only hope it’s all downhill.

Thanks for the support!

#SFWApro

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January 21, 2014 · 5:00 pm

Steampunk without steam? It’s possible.

A lot of folks have said The Daedalus Incident has a very steampunk vibe — even though there’s no steam to be found, and it’s set several decades before most traditional steampunk stories.

That got BuzzFeed’s Sean Fagan thinking: Can you have steampunk without the steam? Today on BuzzFeed, I answered in the affirmative.

There’s a certain zeitgeist to steampunk stories, even if there’s no actual steam-powered contraptions to be had, and I detailed ten of them up at BuzzFeed. Check out the story and let me know what you think!

#SFWApro

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January 19, 2014 · 3:00 pm

The Gravity of the Affair audiobook coming Jan. 31. Pre-order now!

Good news for audiophiles! The audiobook of the e-novella The Gravity of the Affair will be released Friday, Jan. 31 on Audible.com. And it’s available for pre-order now at the (very affordable) price of $2.99.

Very excited to see that Bernard Sotero Clark, one of the two narrators of The Daedalus Incident audiobook, will be narrating Gravity as well. He did a great job voicing the 1779 sections of Daedalus, and I really hope he and Kristin Kalbli will come back for The Enceladus Crisis this spring. (Kristin narrated the 2132 sections of Daedalus, creating a real vocal distinction for the two settings. It was awesome.)

Gravity is currently available in e-book for $2.99 (or less) on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBookstore, and Google Play. Pick it up now, then read along with Bernard in a few weeks!

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January 17, 2014 · 5:30 pm

NFL: Championship weekend picks

The big prize this weekend: A ticket to the Garden State!

Oh, and the Super Bowl. Honestly, I don’t think the players, or the fans, really care where the big game is held, so long as their team gets to go. It could be held on Alderaan for all they care, so long as the game ends and the trophy is hoisted before the Death Star arrives.

I think the playoffs did their job, winnowing down the field to the four best teams in football. I can’t argue against any of these teams being worthy of the big show. And the games themselves — like most of the playoff games this season — promise to be as exciting as the Doctor Who Christmas special. Maybe even more.

On with the picks!

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January 16, 2014 · 6:00 pm

American Trappist ale is now a real thing

Real Trappist beers — made by European Trappist monasteries — are some of the best in the world, hands down. Even as a writer, I don’t have enough superlatives in my wordsmith toolbox to do them justice.

And now we’re getting authentic Trappist ale made right here in the U.S.

The brothers of St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Mass., are going to brew and sell beer. And it’s not just any beer. They went to Belgium to learn the trade, and they won the (literal and figurative) blessings of their European peers. They don’t give out that “Authentic Trappist” label lightly, and the American monks had to offer up a taste-test for approval. But Spencer Trappist Ale passed, and the brewery is up and running. Check out the brewery site, as well as the abbey’s site (which has some cool Gregorian chant going on.)

I like this for a couple of reasons. First, Trappist beer is excellent. If I were to take on the world’s finest sommelier in a beer vs. wine smackdown, I’d bring Trappist beer. Only a few non-Trappist breweries in the world get close. I’ve had beers from six different monasteries, and while they’re all a bit different, they’re all excellent.

Second, the proceeds go to a good cause. The St. Joseph monks are going to fix up their abbey and pay the bills, of course, and the rest goes toward helping the community and other charitable efforts. You really can’t argue with that. The brothers are also pretty big on sustainability and the environment, too.

For now, Spencer Trappist Ale’s distribution is only going to be in Massachusetts, but they brothers say they’ll expand their efforts as they ramp things up — they only tapped their first keg at the abbey on New Year’s Day, after all. (I’m going to get my hands on some soon as I can, naturally. And I’m totally buying a chalice, too. Chalices are cool.)

As a beer fan, I’m obviously excited. And much respect to the monks as well; it’s not an easy life. But at least they have good beer on hand.

Brew on, brothers!

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January 12, 2014 · 2:48 pm

The Hobbit: The (mostly pleasant) Desolation of Smaug

Last year, I did a post about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which to this day still gets regular hits on this here blog. I’ve no idea why, since I’m not going to go into the business of movie reviewing; I have enough side jobs as is. But last night, with the kid at a sleepover, my wife Kate and I indulged in a night at the movies, and since we’d heard good things about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, we thought we’d give it a whirl. And since there’s precedent, I thought I’d write about it.

Short verdict: Mostly pleasant. Which means it’s an upgrade from the first one.

Long verdict: There was a fair amount to like about this movie, alongside a few glaring faults. The Hobbit as a whole is still leagues away from the masterful The Lord of the Rings films, but at least this second film had more pluses than minuses.

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January 10, 2014 · 6:30 pm

NFL: Divisional round picks

That was some weekend, huh? Three games that could’ve gone either way, with thrilling endings…and the fourth proving that the Bengals remain the Bengals, much in the way you could count on an Imperial Stormtrooper to consistently miss his target.

The weekend also proved that, despite a pretty good regular season record, my NFL picks remain highly fallible. If you were foolish enough to place any credence in these, well…my 1-3 record serves you right. I’m an author, not a bookie, Jim. (Though, really, my faith in the Bengals getting over the hump was the only true whiff last week.)

So what do we have now? Another great weekend of football with good teams and excellent matchups. This means, of course, that like a Stormtrooper, I’ll miss more than I hit. But then, it’s not like I’m putting money down on these.

On with the picks!

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January 9, 2014 · 5:00 pm

The Enceladus Crisis ARCs have arrived!

Just look at them. SO VERY, VERY PRETTY.

(My editor Cory says to excuse the mess on his desk. I won’t ask about the “firearms record” thing in the upper right, except to note that I’m working really hard on book 3, I swear!)

And yes, that’s a new cover. Not sure if it’s the final, but the art is fantastic. A book about sailing ships in space should have, you know, sailing ships in space on the cover.

I’ll be receiving two of these babies. I only need one. Thus, you may see something soon on how you — yes, you! — might have a shot at the other.

The Enceladus Crisis comes out May 6. Are you stoked? I’m stoked.

#SFWApro