Category Archives: Charity

November 22, 2015 · 8:18 am

12 hours to go in Worldbuilders eBay critique auction

As is now usual, I’m extraordinarily pleased and humbled with how generously folks have been bidding for a critique from me. As of this posting, there’s just 12 hours left to bid, with the proceeds going to Worldbuilders and, ultimately, to benefit Heifer International. So if you’re thinking of bidding, get on it — here’s the link. And be sure to check out the other Worldbuilders auctions as well or, if the bidding gets to much for your wallet, you can enter the WriMos for Worldbuilders drawing for a critique with just a $10 donation.

Update: The auction is closed, with a winning bid of more than $460, which is amazing and humbling and just…wow. Thank you, winning bidder! And the WriMos deal is still ongoing, so please consider donating.

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November 19, 2015 · 6:45 pm

Interview with Geeky Giving about…geeky giving. Duh.

A quick note: I’ve been interviewed by Geeky Giving about why I’m helping out with their fundraiser for the Barrow Neurological Institute. The short answer is, of course, that they asked. To read the longer one, and the rest of the interview, click here.

The Geeky Giving team is also doing its first giveaway next week, so be sure to check their site for all the cool details. As for my still-untitled story, it’s coming along nicely. We’re talking neurologically-linked computer systems, aerial combat, nanotechnology and possibly aliens. Because aliens, dammit. I’m super excited for it.

All the Geeky Giving short stories will be available early next year in bundled monthly installments, written by a spectacular group of writers. Well worth your donations, you guys. Also, I’ve heard rumors — mere rumors, mind you — of happenings around Phoenix Comicon next spring. Barrow is in Arizona after all. It makes sense.

Check out Geeky Giving, and please consider donating. Tell your friends. Tell everyone. Let’s make this a fantastic fundraiser.

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November 17, 2015 · 5:45 pm

Update on stuff and sundry things

I think I’ve exhausted myself of any and all Weighty Topics I care to address on the blog these days. (Note: There are many, many Weighty Topics to discuss in the world, generally speaking. What I choose to talk about here is an exceedingly thin slice of that.) So I figured I’d give you some updates on what’s going on with writing and such. The fun stuff.

First off, MJ-12: Inception remains with editor Cory Allyn in his Maine editing bunker. No word if there’s a moose involved. I haven’t received any emails with “WTF were you thinking” as the subject line, so I’m encouraged. The nice thing is, we’re still months away from release — building in some lag-time between The Venusian Gambit and MJ-12: Inception was a smart thing to do. Whatever I need to do, it won’t be a scramble to get it done. This is a good thing.

We’ve been doing some metadata and catalog stuff in the meantime, the kind of stuff you’ll see on Amazon pages, in publisher catalogs or on the back of ARCs. There’s also bits and pieces of business ponderings, and some neat opportunities to preview the first MAJESTIC-12 novel this spring, even beyond the planned build-out of MJ-12.net. More on that when it’s ready.

I’m also writing my short story for Geeky Giving, which is due in January but I’m hoping to finish by Christmas, if only to have the holidays off. Plus, Cory will emerge from the bunker any minute now with edits, and I wouldn’t mind having this story done before tackling the novel, lest I mix my neuroscience with my espionage.

And finally, there’s five days left on the Worldbuilders critique auction. Right now, that critique of 25,000 of your words is a steal. It won’t be cheap forever, since these things tend to ramp up at the end, but I imagine it’ll still be more reasonably priced than Pat Rothfuss’ critique, largely because I am not Pat Rothfuss. (However, I’m apparently pretty good at critiquing, if the kind words of past bidders are any indication.)

Remember, if you get priced out of the auction, you can still chip in $10 or more and be entered to win a critique by me, and others, as part of the WriMos for Worldbuilders lottery.

And that’s all I got. Family’s fine, day job is busy as usual leading up to the holidays. I clean the chicken coop on weekends and putter around with words when I can. It’s all good.

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November 13, 2015 · 5:30 pm

Worldbuilders auctions are live! Bid on a critique by me or enter to win another.

It’s Worldbuilders time! And once again, I’m privileged to be a part of it. This year, I’m helping out by offering not one, but two critiques of your writing — and with two different ways to win.

The first is the standard eBay auction, and here’s my auction page. The critique will be open for bidding until Sunday, Nov. 22 at 8:18 p.m. EST. I’ve raised over $1,000 via eBay auctions for Worldbuilders over the past two years, and I know all those generous scribes out there will make for another strong showing this year.

But hey, those auctions can get expensive, man. Thankfully, Worldbuilders has partnered with NaNoWriMo to give you another option. Surf on over to the WriMos for Worldbuilders page and donate whatever you can. Each $10 donation earns you one entry into a lottery for all kinds of books and other prizes — and critiques by me, author Joshua Palmatier and agent Jennifer Azantian. This particular effort is running until Monday, Dec. 14, after which they’ll draw the winners.

Which ever way you go about it, the result is the same: I’ll critique up to 25,000 words of your speculative fiction writing, and give you feedback. In the past, that’s meant commentary throughout your Word file, along with a separate written critique. And since folks are being awesome and generous with their money here, I’m quite willing to answer follow-up questions via e-mail. I really want to make sure you get your money’s worth, people.

I would also point you to all the other auctions Worldbuilders is running— there’s some fantastic swag in there that would make awesome holiday gifts, as well as other critiques and even a full manuscript copyedit by SF/F copy guru Richard Shealy, aka Shecky. (Shecky is awesome.) And there’s the Tinker’s Packs, officially licensed merchandise from Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicle which you can straight-up buy without bidding.

All of this is in support of Heifer International, which is working to end hunger and poverty by helping folks create sustainable agriculture and small business around the world. It’s amazing what these folks can do with just a few bucks — and with your help, we’re gonna give ’em a whole lot of bucks.

And while I’m here, let’s give a huge thank-you to Pat, Maria and all the other folks who make Worldbuilders so great.

I hope you’ll think about contributing, whether it’s my critiques or anything else up for bid. Every bit counts. Thanks, gang.

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November 10, 2015 · 5:47 pm

Some upcoming charity stuff I hope you’ll check out

This holiday season, think of the geeks in your life and donate!

This holiday season, think of the geeks in your life and donate!

There’s a lot of good things that happen when you become an author — you get to see your book in bookstores, you get lovely emails from fans, and of course there’s the advance and royalty checks. For me, the opportunity to leverage this whole author gig for charity ranks right up there, and I have a couple things coming up that I hope you’ll consider.

First off, I’ll be doing critiques as part of the Worldbuilders auctions, which should be coming up later this week or early next. This is my third year running with Worldbuilders, Patrick Rothfuss’ non-profit organization that benefits Heifer International. The deal with the critiques is that we put them up on eBay, you bid, and I read the auction winner’s writing and offer up ideas, suggestions and edits. This year, I’m doing two critiques, so if you miss the one, you could still have a shot at the other.

Then there’s Geeky Giving, a very cool effort to raise money for the Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona so the researchers there can continue the fight against Parkinson’s, brain tumors, Alzheimer’s, ALS and traumatic brain injuries. Starting early next year, Geeky Giving is offering up $5 bundles of original short fiction each month for six months, and then putting out an anthology on top of that. I’m contributing an original short story to the effort, alongside such awesome scribes as Karina Cooper, Mary Robinette Kowal and Cat Rambo, among others.

My original story is untitled at the moment, but it’s well underway and is probably the hardest “hard science fiction” I’ve ever written. In the spirit of the Barrow folks, it’s focused on the brain, no less. And flying. There may be nanotech. I’m actually really excited about it, because it’s turning out to be one of the better things I’ve written. I really hope you’ll consider donating to read it. I mean, you’ve spent just as much on a latte. I’m much more entertaining than a latte. Right? RIGHT?

Oh, and in both cases, I’m hoping to offer up signed copies of the Daedalus trilogy for donors or bidders if the books get shipped out to me in time. In the case of Geeky Giving, there may very well be an ARC of MJ-12: Inception involved if schedules align. We’ll see.

There’ll be more details over the next several days/weeks/months, but I wanted to throw this out there now because the holidays are coming and money’s gonna get tight fast. (Speaking of, the Worldbuilders’ auctions invariably feature awesome geeky things you could give to your geeky loved ones this season. Just saying.) So if you can spare some of that holiday cash for the auctions and stories and whatnot, you’ll be helping a whole lot of people who need it, and that’s the kind of karma everyone could use.

Thanks, y’all.

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September 14, 2015 · 5:15 pm

Donate to help refugees and win a signed Daedalus trilogy

Kevin Hearne is good people. Seriously, he’s the absolute best. He writes absolutely fantastic books, he’s the Tacopope of the Holy Taco Church, and he always seems to bring joy wherever he goes. No, really. Hang with him some time. Real, honest-to-God joy seems to follow in his wake.

This is probably why his effort to help with the European refugee crisis has attracted so many authors, including myself. Kevin goes forth, we help. It’s what we do.

So here’s the deal. Donate to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, or to the Worldbuilders effort to fund the Mercy Corps, helpfully linked right here. Then send Kevin an e-mail (kevin at kevinhearne dot com, but with all the appropriate formatting) telling him that you did so, and boom — you’re entered to win books. There are a ton up for grabs, including all three of mine — The Daedalus Incident, The Enceladus Crisis and The Venusian Gambit, each signed by me.

In addition to my books, there are tomes from such upstanding people as Stephen Blackmoore, ML Brennan, Peter V. Brett, Beth Cato, Adam Christopher, Myke Cole, Harry Connolly, Karina Cooper, Delilah S. Dawson, Leanna Renee Hieber, C.A. Higgins, Jason M. Hough, Mario Kloos, Brian McClellan, Nicole Peeler, Andrea Philips, Jay Posey, Alan Smale, Michael J. Sullivan, Jaye Wells and Chuck Wendig.

I mean, wow. That’s a lot of books from a lot of great authors.

Now, technically and legally, you don’t have to donate to win. You can just e-mail Kevin. But seriously, it would be exceptionally good karma if you did. Folks out there need your help. Be good to one another. Help out.

Kevin’s gonna be doing this until Sunday, Sept. 20, and picking winners on Monday, Sept. 21. Please donate, and let Kevin know. Thanks.

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May 18, 2015 · 5:45 pm

New interview at SFFWorld, and what’s next at the Qwillery (with giveaway!)

TVG-cover-finalCouple of new items came out today in the parade of all things having to do with The Venusian Gambit.

Over at SFFWorld, Dag Rambraut interviewed me about the series, publishing and writing — there was a great question about sensibility in writing that particularly caught my attention. When I first started, I tended to err on the side of characters making sensible decisions. While characters should, of course, behave according to their personalities and internal logic, the demands of the story often call for a bit more mayhem. Striking that balance is one of many things I’ve learned to do. Check out the full interview here.

And over at the Qwillery, I wrote a guest post on wrapping up the Daedalus series, and what might be next. I’ve had a few folks remark that they’re sad the series is over — which, really, warms my black writer’s heart to no small degree — but for me, it’s kind of been over now for a few months. So I got to riff a bit on what that means, and what’s next. Here’s the post; my thanks to Sally and the gang for having me on.

Speaking of the Qwillery, they’re giving away a signed copy of The Enceladus Crisis as part of that post; you have until May 28 to enter, so get clicking!

Finally, for those attending Phoenix Comicon, I wanted to point out that the now-traditional Drinks With Authors is a go. It’s happening Saturday, May 30, at 6 p.m. at the Sheraton in the Valley of the Sun room — which is possibly the best name a room could possibly have. There will be door prizes and raffles (including, perhaps, some books by yours truly), with all proceeds to benefit the Kids Need to Read charity. Come see authors in their natural habitat — i.e. where drinks are served — and help kids get books. No brainer, right?

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May 2, 2015 · 4:00 pm

Just 24 hours to go to bid on signed copies of the Daedalus trilogy

Con Or BustWe’re down to the wire in the Con or Bust charity auction, which wraps up on Sunday, May 3, at 4 p.m. EDT. Thus, as of this writing, you have just 24 hours to bid on a complete Daedalus trilogy, including The Venusian Gambit, all signed by yours truly and shipped to your very door.

This is the first charity gig where I’ve been able to offer all three books, which makes it pretty special to me. And the proceeds of this auction help people of color attend SF/F conventions around the country. People of color are sadly underrepresented at most of the cons I’ve been to — though the bigger the con, the better the representation — and we’re all the better for it when we share what we love with as wide a range of people as possible. So, I’m in, and I hope you are too.

To bid, just put your dollar amount in the comments section of this page. Should you win, the auction administrators will put us together so I can sign your books — personalized if you so choose — and send them out to you.

There’s a heap of other cool stuff up for bid as well, so I urge you to surf through and see what strikes your geeky fancy. In addition, you can donate directly to Con or Bust. Recently, a generous soul has offered to match donations made directly, so good karma on you if you help out that way. Find out more about the donations and match here.

That’s enough blog-reading for now; you have some bidding to do. Go forth, good luck, and thanks in advance for contributing!

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April 20, 2015 · 10:00 am

Con or Bust auctions start today! Bid on a signed Daedalus trilogy!

As promised, this is your reminder that bidding is now open in Con or Bust‘s charity auction. And that one of the auction items is the complete Daedalus trilogy, including the forthcoming The Venusian Gambit, all signed. Heck, let’s even say signed and dedicated if you so choose.

You have until midnight on Sunday, May 3, to get your bids in. We’re starting off at $25, which is a pretty solid discount off the cover price for all three books. So get in there and get your bids placed! And while you’re at it, check out the other items up for auction, too. You may yet see a bid or two from me on some of these. They’re that awesome.

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April 14, 2015 · 5:00 pm

Signed copies of the entire Daedalus trilogy up for auction to benefit Con or Bust

Con Or BustI freakin’ love the fact that this whole author thing allows me to meaningfully contribute to great charities. I’ve helped to raise over a grand for various charities over the past two years, which fills me with warm fuzzy karma. And it’s fantastic to see so many great people donate to awesome causes.

So let’s do it again, shall we?

Con or Bust is a great charity that helps people of color attend SF/F conventions. I think promoting diversity in fandom is very much a worthwhile endeavor, as speculative fiction has historically been about embracing differences and exploring a wide variety of perspectives. We need more of it.

This is my third time participating in the annual Con or Bust auctions, and now that the Daedalus trilogy is finished, I’m proud to offer up signed copies of all three books — The Daedalus Incident, The Enceladus Crisis and The Venusian Gambit — for auction this year.

The auction page is here. Bidding will start at $25, and I hope it goes through the roof. You can start bidding on Monday, April 20; bidding ends Sunday, May 3. Yes, I’ll remind you again when we’re up and running, but it’s never too early to begin saving up your pennies.

And yes, this includes The Venusian Gambit, which is due out May 5. With shipping, you probably won’t get it before the release date, but you’ll probably have the very first signed copy. (Well, one that isn’t an ARC.) That’s gotta be worth a few bucks, right?

Be sure to check out the other Con or Bust auctions as well. There’s a lot of great stuff there, and it’s all for a good cause. Let’s keep making SF/F the kind of welcoming, inclusive community we want it to be.

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