Weekend With Character

Happy Friday! I'm still writing madly on Alien Research, but there's a lot going on, so I just had to take a moment to tell you all about it. That's right, 'cause I'm a giver, me.

Speaking of giving, head over to Ex Libris where there's a brand new interview with Kitty and Company where they discuss the series' mosts and bests, so far, along with a chance to win Alien Tango. (Why? One word: 'Gators.) You'll even discover the song Martini thinks best describes his life. You all will, undoubtedly, be able to guess Kitty's song without trying hard. Ex Libris is having a big blogoversary bash, and there's lots of other awesome stuff to win while you're over there, so don't miss out and enter to win everything!

Next, check out what KD Did It Takes on Books thought of Alien in the Family. Then see what A Buckeye Girl Reads thought of A Cup of Joe by Anita Ensal (yes, that's moi). Finish up with a stop over at Barren Island Books where author Paige Daniels (NOT moi) shares which books, and other things, she'd want with her on the proverbial desert island.

Last, but not least, The Brainpan is pimping my speaking skills. If you would like moi to come out and run the yap wherever you may be, check this out.

In Person Reminders:
The Poisoned Pen: Wednesday, May 8, 7:00-8:30pm, Scottsdale, AZ
BOOK SIGNING for Alien in the House (and any/all the other bookie wookies, too). NOTE: This is my only scheduled signing in AZ in the month of May outside of Phoenix Comicon.

Mysterious Galaxy 20th Birthday Bash: Saturday, May 11, 10am-5pm, San Diego, CA
BOOK SIGNING for Alien in the House (and any/all the other bookie wookies, too). LOTS of authors attending this event! NOTE: This is my only scheduled signing in CA in the month of May.

Phoenix Comicon: May 23-26, Phoenix, AZ

Arizona Dreamin': May 31-June 2, Chandler, AZ
20 authors will be at this event, focused solely on readers and why we love them!

San Diego Comic-Con: July 17-21, San Diego, CA

DarkCon 2014/Gini Con: January 16-19, 2014 (Gini Con Jan. 19th), Mesa, AZ
I'm the Local Author Guest of Honor AND they're making special programming around all my worlds. SO, for those of you who've asked for Gini Con, it's time. MAKE YOUR PLANS NOW to attend this coming January...it's gonna be huge.

That's it for today! As with this week, next week and the week after, are going to be very busy, with me in Heavy Duty Writing Panic Mode (TM), so while you won't hear much from me, know that I lurves you all. So, enjoy the weekend, have wonderful weeks ahead, and let's be readers out there! Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Recap Winning

I'm ba-ack...after the awesome Tucson Festival of Books, where I got to see so many awesome Members of the Alien Collective in Very Good Standing. But before the recap, we have some business to get to. The business of WINNING.

We have our winner of the Christopher Baldwin giveaway. So, the lucky winner of Spacetrawler #1 is:

Root

NOTE TO OUR WINNER: You have until Thursday, March 21st to respond via email to gini@ginikoch.com with full name and physical address. If the winner does not reply by the 21st, the Gods of Random will snatch back the prize and demand a new sacrifice.

Speaking of which, the first winner of the Erin Kellison giveaway did NOT check in (shame, shame, the Gods of Random withdrew your name). So the newly minted winner is:

Betty Hamilton
  
NOTE TO OUR WINNER: You have until Thursday, March 21st to respond via email to gini@ginikoch.com with full name, email address, book selected, and requested e-format. If the winner does not reply by the 21st, the Gods of Random will snatch back the prize and demand a new sacrifice.

One of the Members of the Alien Collective in Very Good Standing, the velvet-voiced Bob Mutascio gave me a lovely shout-out during his last At The Show show on Killradio. Check it out and guess which song he dedicated to moi! Then check out what KD Did It thought of Alien Tango.

And now, back to the Tucson Festival of Books. It was cold, rainy, and windy, but it was still a fantastic weekend. I got to hang with awesome authors like Marsheila Rockwell, Christopher Baldwin, Erin Quinn, Erin Kellison, Jeff Mariotte, Kris Tualla, Jennifer Ashley, and tons more! I got to panel with the ever-wonderful Nancy Holder -- twice! -- as well as the excellent Jennifer Roberson, Ed Hoornaert, and Chris Marie Green. And, thanks to the wonderful Eric Penney Haury, I got to meet Ted Danson in person. And, let me just say that not only is he gracious, he's even more handsome in person than he looks onscreen. (As in, I've recast Richard White in my mind. For reals. FOR REALS.)

Many thanks to all the Alien Collective who came by the Arizona Dreamin' booth, to my signings at the Mysterious Galaxy and Poisoned Pen booths, to Nicole from The Book Pushers () for the goody bag, and especially Hal and Dee Astell who brought me the newest cool addition to my awesome sparkly pink hat collection! Pics are on Facebook for those who want to see the hat as modeled by the Travel Poof.

And now, it's time to get Alien Research done. Because it's due, um, soon. Really soon. Scary soon. SO, if you don't hear from me too much for the rest of the month, it's because, well, the Awesome Editor would like to actually get this book in hand, and I have a long, long way to go before I sleep.

So, enjoy the coming weekend, beware the Ides of March, and let's be readers out there! Peace out, my li'l gangstas and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Weekending

Happy Friday! As my Hook Me Up! subscribers already know, it's a short and sweet one today! I know, what were the odds?

First off, another reminder to enter to win a free book from comics author and artist Christopher Baldwin, right here at the Blah, Blah, Blah Blog. Click the link or just scroll down a little and get your entry in today!

For those who won goodies in the Tidy My Office contest, your packages will go out next week, once I'm home from Tucson Festival of Books. I tried to get them ready and out before leaving but it was that or, you know, packing clothes and books and such, and for some reason, the clothes and books won. I know, I know, I need to work on my priorities.

Last but not least, this should have come out yesterday, because I have a winner to announce. But since I leave for the Festival in a few hours, we all know this means that I'm not done packing yet. I had a ton of things I had to do in order to safely get out of Dodge, and the day just basically slipped away from me.

But I'm here now! So all's good, right? Right! Especially all good for the winner of any ebook of her choice from the fabulous Erin Kellison who is: 

Erin (no joke) 

NOTE TO OUR WINNER: You have until Tuesday, March 12th to respond via email to gini@ginikoch.com with full name, email address, book selected, and requested e-format. If the winner does not reply by the 12th, the Gods of Random will snatch back the prize and demand a new sacrifice.

Now, it's back to the packing for me. And then the driving, the booth setting up, the panels and yap running, the book signings, and the repacking and unpacking and repacking and the driving home. I know, it's ALL glamor all the time. I plan to fit some fun in there somewhere, too, of course.

See some of you at the Festival. Hope all of you have wonderful weekends, and let's be readers out there! Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Spotlight: Christopher Baldwin

As promised, we have another treat for you today -- fun, funny and talented author and comics creator Christopher Baldwin is in da house!

For those of you who may not know him, Chistopher writes and draws comics, novels, and plays. Published (self and otherwise) works include Bruno, Little Dee, Spacetrawler, and regular pieces for MAD Magazine. He's been written up in the Washington Post, Wired Magazine, IO9, Salon Magazine, UK Daily Telegraph, Newsbytes, and even appeared on NPR.

Catch all his webcomics Spacetrawler, on Mondays and Wednesdays; Little Dee M-Sat; and Bruno M-Sat; his joint foodie blog, Cookrookery; and his online store for regular doses of the funny.

GK: He is WAY FAMOUS, gang, so be good and pretend we behave ourselves on a regular basis, at least until it's your turn to ask questions. Then? Go for it. So, Christopher, it's great to have you here with us today. Let's roll right in. What prompted you to become a writer? Was it voices in your head, a burning desire to tell a story, or just too creative for your own bad self?
CB: The spark came from a love of reading and of humor. My mother read to my siblings and I, and we were often at the library getting books or audiobooks. Being a solitary child, I had lots of daydreaming hours to make up stories, and since I was bored in school, it gave me lots of free time to write and doodle them down.

Also, both my parents worked at a tofu factory. Not only did this instill in me a deep appreciation for dark humor, but also, like Dorothy on back in Kansas, I knew I needed to get the hell out of there.

GK: You know, a part of me really wants to believe that tofu factory story... So! What was the first book or piece that you wrote and why? Is it published, being shopped, on the shelf waiting for you to get back to it, or in a heap of ashes at the bottom of the fireplace?
CB: I started writing stories and comics in elementary school, but what I consider to be my first serious work was a full-length play in iambic-pentameter I wrote my senior year in high school. I knew then that my writing was sorely undeveloped, but that I could capture the emotion of being a teen -- then edit it when I was older, more skilled, and out of touch.
    
I may decide to invent a time machine and go back and strangle my younger self instead of doing this. Have you ever tried to line-edit iambic pentameter? Stupid teenagers. 

GK: I can honestly say that I never tried to get overly fancy with my early efforts and I would pass on that particular form of line editing. But I applaud your younger self for being slightly insane. Speaking of insane, give us a funny story about writing your latest release. It’s okay if your funny story involves a nervous breakdown as the deadline loomed, btw. I like to relate to my guests.

CB: My latest release was the book #2 of Spacetrawler. My online-store-order-fulfillment people didn't want to handle advance sales, but I chose to do it anyway. For about a week, my girlfriend would come home from work every day and sigh at me, hiding behind my carefully stacked skyscrapers of books, frantically stuffing padded envelopes.

GK: I know what massive amounts of swag I'm bringing with us to Tucson Festival of Books -- I can't make any comment about your Fulfillment Center. So, other than that, what’s your most and least favorite things about being an author?
CB: My most favorite is that I get to sit around and make things up, my other favorite thing is knowing I've brought some laughter and delight into people lives, my other favorite thing is meeting other writers and talking to them about writing, my other favorite thing is putting my characters through the ringer, and... um. Right. Least Favorite things. Hm. Figuring out my taxes maybe? Really, I can barely express how much I love my job. Want to know MORE favorite things?

GK: Let's not talk about taxes, let's talk about one of my favorite things -- you. What’s one fact about you that someone who didn’t know you well or hasn’t read this blog wouldn’t know? Make it juicy -- my readers expect.
CB: Do you want the name of the ailment or the ointment?
GK: Both, and suggested applications and treatment methods.
CB: Kidding. Okay, um, I'm always curious about experiences from people's lives that are different than my own. One was to wonder what SOME women go through regarding body hair, and so I shaved myself bald, both my pits and down there, when I was in college. I've had the deepest sympathy ever since, and also feel I can confidently describe the experience of stubble growing back -- that isn't on one's face.

GK: You're the man. Crazy, but the man. So, can we get an excerpt, then?
CB: Sure, This is from Spacetrawler Book 2.

  

GK: Awesome! Now, how's about a giveaway? 

CB: Absolutely! 

GK: Ask for anything, gang, he's totally agreeable!

CB: Actually, I'm agreeable to giving away a free copy of Spacetrawler #1, open internationally.  It's a sci-fi humorous serialized full-color comic, heavy on character, light on its feet, wide in its scope and thin when it's living off a diet of Limbic Fizzlers and Furryite Burgers. Premise: six humans are shanghaied to save the galaxy, probably the worst plan of action EVER. 

GK: It's hilarious. And one of you will win it! Just answer this question to be entered to win: If you were shanghaied to save the galaxy, who (up to 5 others) would you want with you and, if you're feeling chatty, why them? 

Contest will run through Wednesday, March 13th. Winner will be announced Thursday, March 14th. Winner will have until Monday, March 18th to respond via email to gini@ginikoch.com with full name and mailing address. If the winner does not reply by the 18th, the Gods of Random will snatch back the prize and demand a new sacrifice.

It's Another Winning Day!

Hope everyone's had a good start to the week and all's going well. I'm girding my loins (what DOES that actually mean, anyway?) and prepping for this weekend, aka the Tucson Festival of Books. I'm all over the place, so don't miss your chance to see the me, hear the yap, and get bookie wookies signed! Yes, I will be the one in the pink, sparkly cowgirl hat. Yes, that actually does make me impossible to miss.

But before the weekend we have a lot going on, so let's get to today's installments! First off, the Tidy My office contest is over, and I'll be announcing the winner of the Alexander Outland: Space Pirate marked up galley in just a few moments. I'll also be sharing who won the Honorable Mention prize, so it's two winners today!

Speaking of winning, there's still time to get your entries in to win any ebook from Erin Kellison, so don't miss out -- click the link or scroll down a bit and get your entry in! Contest closes tomorrow, March 6th.

And speaking of tomorrow, in honor of one of my booth mates at the Tucson Festival of Books, who also happens to be a good pal of mine, we'll have the creator of the "Spacetrawler" comic, Christopher Baldwin, as tomorrow's Spotlight guest. And yes, there will be a giveaway. I know! We are just ALL about the winning this week!

Next on the hit parade, check out my latest column, The Ides of Meh, over at It's Comic Book Day. Then hit Larissa's Bookish Life and see who her favorite book duos are -- and they're not necessarily romantic.

Back at the website, don't faint, but we have a new Playlist up, Newsy Stuff has somewhat new news, and to answer a burning question a whole lot of you have asked me recently, YES, there will be more Creation Agent coming, I swears it upon the memory of the Big Fella and Dementia Kitty. (We now know I mean it.) Team Gini also swears that Sightings in the Wild will be updated before Alien in the House releases (but they didn't swear it on anything, so I remain somewhat skeptical...hopeful, but skeptical...).

And now for what many of you have been waiting for...the winner of the marked up galley of Alexander Outland: Space Pirate by moi writing as G.J. Koch is:

Elizabeth Vrabel

Note to our winner: You have until Sunday, March 10th to check in by sending me an email with your name (first and last) and your full mailing address. If I don't hear from you, the Gods of Random will demand a sacrifice and a new winner will be chosen.

And now, for our Honorable Mention Winner. While all participants made me laugh or go awww, and some of you were darned creative in your various answers, this Member of the Alien Collective in Very Good Standing went out of their way to consistently make me snort tea out of my nose through all seven weeks. Said winner will get a choice of one signed and personalized book of any of the 7 offered this week, a totebag with the cover of any of the 7 titles offered this week on it, OR an I Heart the Poofs T-shirt (size 2-1XL). 

So, ratkin, baby, come on down and tell mamma what to send in the Care Package to The Home!

Well, that's it for today, but as we know, there's more on the way. So peace out my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Last Days of Winning Disco

Happy Friday! Well, the weekend is upon us, but before we get to go relax, party, and run a zillion errands, let's do a short and sweet catch up on some things going on all over.

First up, check out a love letter from Martini to Kitty, as envisioned by Julie from My 5 Monkeys over at Vampire Book Club. So cute!

Remember that the Erin Kellison Spotlight interview along with a book giveaway is live right here at the Blah, Blah, Blah Blog (click the link or just scroll down). If you haven't read Erin yet, get entered to win and find a new author. If you have, get entered to win a book of hers you might not have yet. It's a win-win all the way and open to anyone, international included!

Speaking of winning, we're in the last days of the Tidy My Office contest. But, as most of my contests are, this is for Hook Me Up! subscribers only. Not on? Send an email with "Hook Me Up!" in the subject line to gini@ginikoch.com and you'll be added on and get the rules sent right out to you so you can get in on the win!

Speaking of fun, you know I've been talking about Arizona Dreamin'. Well, someone else is talking about it today over at StephsBookRetreat. My half-price tickets are gone, but even at full price of $79 for the weekend, this is a great deal. You'll get to hang with moi, our Spotlight author Erin Kellison, Erin Quinn, Amber Scott, Caris Roane, and 15 other amazing authors. Lots of access, lots of fun, so make your plans to join us now!

For those wanting to see the me before May and June, you're in luck, because Tucson Festival of Books is next weekend (how did it get here so quickly?). Come to the 4th largest book fair in the country and see me, a lot of those Arizona Dreamin' authors, and a ton of other cool and famous authors for a weekend at a book lover's Disneyland.

Well, that's it for today, but as always, more's on the way. So everyone have a wonderful weekend, and let's be readers out there! Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini