Linkies for October

It's time for Linkies! That means it's time to share some cool stuff from people I know, and some I don't.

For anyone in the North West or looking to make an awesome trip to Canada, There are a VERY few tickets left for IFCON in Victoria BC October 31-November 1. Get them qucik, this is going to be a shockingly amazing con. http://www.ifconvictoria.com/

Harley Quinn gets her own comic series! This looks to be pretty awesome. No doubt DC is upping their Harley game in preparation for Suicide Squad. http://cosmiccomicslv.com/latest-news/harley-quinn-gets-her-own-series/

Need steampunk/Victorian/justawesomestuff? Shop at the awesome Frenzy Universe! http://frenzyuniverse.com/index.html

The steampunk TV show, Steampunk'd, ends on Wednesday! See who wins on GSN this Wednesday. http://www.gsntv.com/show/steampunkd/

Need more steampunk? Of course you do! Check out the awesome cosplayer Steamunk Boba Fett: http://steampunkbobafett.tumblr.com/

An upper cut for cancer

Dear friends,
I wanted you all to be aware of something very important to me. A friend of mine Anne-Marie Edens De Witt (from Fireside Games) is fighting cancer and she's doing amazing! My forever-sisters, the Frenzy Gals, (Frenzy Universe) are heading up a campaign to help Anne-Marie raise money to pay for the out of pocket expenses which is up past the $10,000 range.

Originally, the campaign was to pay for an expensive treatment that is possibly more effective and as I understand it more comfortable. So basically it's worth every penny. Now, Anne-Marie is doing super well with the current treatment and she posted a few days ago that half the tumor is gone! Amazing news!

Still, there are massive out of pocket expenses that go along with cancer and the campaign rolls on at full steam ahead. So, with that, if you could find it in your hearts to donate anything at all, here is the giveforward website where you can help Anne-Marie out. They're at 75% of their goal and just need a little more to get there!

Want to buy something original and amazing that will go toward helping Anne-Marie? Check out the shockingly cool etsy site where a huge group of artists and craftspeople are donating their goods to help the cause.

Also, find and like the campaign on Facebook here. You'll get all the latest updates there.
Thank you all for reading this!
~Nick

Wild Wild West Con

From the second I took off from Nashville to the moment I left Arizona I had these Murder By Death lyrics running through my head from the song, Until Morale Improves, The Beatings Will Continue, "I walked the road, from Tucson to San Antonio. The smell of blood on my breath." Yeah, I probably only had stuck in my thoughts because Tucson was the location of Wild Wild West Con, a wonderful new steampunk con that took place at the ultra amazing Old Tucson Studios. (over 300 movies have been shot there. Tombstone, The Quick and The Dead, Winchester 73, Three Amigos, Etc...)


Anyway, it was awesome! The location was super cool. Everything in the town was totally western and yes they had beer in the saloon. So, yeah, guess where I was popping in every now and then?

Some rad highlights. Steam Powered Giraffe. Seriously, they caught me off guard doing a song called Honey Bee... Amazing voices and an amazing show. I'm just bummed I didn't get to see more. I'll definitely catch them at The World Steam Expo in May. Here we are with them after their performance outside of The Inn.





I did a super fun reading at The Baroness' Tea Party in the saloon in front of about 150 people with Cherie Priest, Elizabeth Darvill, O.M. Grey and David Lee Summers. Here we all are posing together outside the author vending area at The Inn, then me reading in the massive saloon.






We also hung out quite a bit with the wonderful Frenzy Gals from The Frenzy Universe who are some of my favorite people in the world. I know I pimp them all the time but seriously, if you haven't been to their website, its really amazing. Check them out here: Frenzy Universe

We had awesome neighbors in the vending area too. The writer and an actor from the steampnk web series Mantecoza were there showing their trailer and giving swg from the show away. Super fun people and the series looks so fun. Look out Sci-Fi Channel! Check out the trailer here!

I also attended Elizabeth Darvill's adult only reading late on Saturday night which was also super fun and totally different for any con I've ever been to. It was such a success that it's going to probably be a regular thing at future cons. I highly recommend it. I tried to get pictures but the mood lighting was too dark for my ghetto camera.


I've been to a lot of first time steampunk cons and this was a blast. I'm absolutely going back next year.

Next Up:
I'm taking some time off from traveling for a few months but I will be at The Artifice Club's Clockwork Carnival with Elizabeth Darvill in Decatur, GA on April 16th vending and having a blast with the Atlanta Steampunk crew.

Steamcon II - Seattle, WA

Steamcon II was hyped to be one of the biggest steampunk events of the year and guess what... it was. The entire thing was run with clockwork precision, (Sorry, had to get that in.) and there were more activities than you could shake a steam rifle at... Ok I'll stop. The place was packed full of panels. There's no way you could actually see them all but that's the beauty of it. You'll never be bored. There's something for everyone all of the time. There were dozens of bands, some of the most amazing vendors ever and once again great great people.

As for me, I was on five panels all of which went really well. Another great thing is that next year Steamcon will be held in one hotel and yes... there will be official party rooms.

This blog is going to read like a thank you list. Why? Well, once again my friends from all over the country are the best people in the world. So, I'd like to thank my agent, my lawyer, my producer, my driver, my butler... Oops, wrong speech,

ZOVA Books
My new publisher ZOVA Books was awesome enough to fly their entire staff up to Steamcon in support of me and to partisipate in a ton of really amazing panels. There's not enough thank yous I can put here to fully show my appreciation. How cool is that? Really... That never happens but with this new up and coming publishing house there are no limits or boundries. Guys and gals at ZOVA, you rule! Check out their site HERE.

Elizabeth Darvill
Multi-kick ass steampunk/paranormal/romance author that puts the energizer bunny to shame with everything she does. With two books already out, Elizabeth has three more books coming out with Harlequin in 2011. If you get a chance to see her on a panel... well, I'll just say it's not to be missed. She's also the founder and originator of the newest and freshest sub-genre of steampunk... Coffeepunk. If you haven't heard of it, you will soon enough. Check out her website HERE and follow her on Facebook HERE.

The Frenzy Gals
The Frenzy Gals are some of the hardest working women on the scene. This year alone they've been to events from New Jersey, to Ohio, to Indianapolis, and all the way to Seattle. (That's just naming a few. What makes the Frenzy Gals and their company Frenzy Universe so amazing (Besides being the best people ever) is that they have some of the most inovative and best products on the market. It's a close guarded secret where they get their items and a lot of them they make themselves, which is absolutely amazing. I know I talk about them a lot here but that's because they are undeniable as awesome people and creatives. Also, these ladies were awesome enough to drag my books up to the con for me... somehow they set the gold standard for coolness even higher every time I see them. So, go forth! I'm giving you the key to finish all your Christmas shopping with The Frenzy Universe HERE.

Kevin Steil (The Airship Ambasador)
What can I say about Kevin? Simply an amazing fellow in every way. This gent is the organizer, webmaster, interview king, unbelievably nice guy and steampunk scene emperor. He does everything. Blogs, news, interviews, reviews... this list could go on forever. I had an awesome interview with Kevin at the Marriott and I have to say he's top notch all the way. Check out the Airship Ambasador for ALL steampunk news and happenings HERE.

Ed Erdelac
We sat next to amazing author and awesome guy Ed Erdelac, who has a trilogy of Westerns about a Hasidic Mystic that fights lovecraftian monsters and ghosts. Can you say awesome?! Not only is Ed a great guy but he has a hell of story. Wow, I'm full of unintentional puns today. Also, Ed almost sold out of his books at Steamcon... I think he had only 4 left. Go Ed Go! Check out his work HERE.

Martin and Diana Vick
The organizers of Steamcon... Need I say more? Somehow they always have a smile on their faces and a fire in their bellies to run an amazing con. It doesn't matter when you see them, they are always super nice and ready to take on any challenge. Huge huge huge kudos and thanks to these two that are truly the heartbeat of the steampunk scene in the US.

Joseph Vourteque
I met Joseph for the first time (Well, officially I think) here at Steamcon II. We might have met before but my memory is quite fuzzy at times. Anyway, Joseph is an up and coming steampunk, Coupland-esque writer that is all over the scene in every way. Music, writing, fashion.. youi name it , he's there and he's awesome at it. Check out his many endeavors HERE.

Cherie Priest
What does one say about Cherie Priest. She's awesome, she's the nicest person you'll meet and oh yeah, she's talented as hell. We only got to chat for a few minutes at Steamcon, well, she was kind of busy... Anyway, if you haven't checked her out, you need to... like right now. Her new book Dreadnought is out now and seriously, if you haven't read it, there is a little piece of life that your missing out on. Give yourself that little happy piece of life back HERE.

As for me... Next up.
I'll be signing at Hastings in Clarksville, TN this Saturday and Barnes & Noble in Myurfreesboro, TN on Sunday. Come out, say hi and pick up your holiday presents! This will kick off my December Tennessee tour. So far I'm only deviating for the Atlanta Comic Con in early December so if you are just about anywhere in Tennessee, I'll be all around in the next month.

In the meantime...
Pick up Thomas Riley Here
Pick up The e-version of Thomas Riley Here

FREE STUFF
We're giving away Sky Pirate patches to everyone that posts a review for Thomas Riley on Amazon.com. Just let us know your address and which review is yours and voila... we'll send you a patch.

Gencon

Gencon was honestly a last minute thing. I'd heard of it for a while now but I never grasped how big it really was. Thirty thousand gamers and pop culture fanatics descend on Indianapolis for not only "the best four days in gaming" but also the largest four days in gaming in the world. While attending Origins with the Frenzy Universe we were told over and over again that we simply have to attend Gencon.


At the last moment there we were, off to Gencon.

First off this con is much like a mini San Diego Comic Con but with a much heavier focus on gaming. Seriously, if you're into games especially table top and RPG, this is the place for you. Most of the time, the isles are packed with people where moving is difficult. If you have agoraphobia or Enochlophobia well, you might want to stay home. I arrived on Wednesday night and by 9AM the next day we were off and running at the booth. Once again the amazing ladies at Frenzy Universe had me at their booth. They're kindness and help means so much to me. I could say thank you a million times to them and it wouldn't be close to enough. The coolest part is that you'll never have a bad experience with Frenzy Universe. They're bent on providing the best shopping experience and best products out there. If you don't know already, I highly recommend them. In fact my favorite outfit came from them! Sorry if I talk about them all the time but they're seriously that awesome.

So what can I say? Even for an author, Gencon was amazing!I debuted the brand new Dreams of Steam Anthology from Kerlak Publishing which my story, Engine 316 is included. All my copies sold out by mid day on Saturday. I was 6 copies away from selling out of Thomas Riley as well. Super good con and wonderful people as usual.


In addition to the Frenzy Gals, I got to spend time with wonderful romantic steampunk author Elizabeth Darvill, Fantasy author Stephen Zimmer and Horror author Michael West.


Four day cons are a tough gig but they're also fun as can be. Gencon this year came with another bonus as I was interviewed for Dragon Talk Radio by Jon Klement on the first night of the con. Take a listen to the hour long radio show HERE


Ok, ready for fun pictures?

Here's an awesome working dog that allowed them to put goggles on him. He really would have sat there all day. Awesome dog!


Wil Wheaton loves a good hug.


So this guy walks by the table and starts freaking out. I wasn't sure why until he informed me that his name was Thomas Riley. Too Fun!



Felicia Day


This group always finds me at cons and I love them for it. Especially since they dress up differently each time.


Weird but awesome. On my way home I passed this. Who wouldn't want a pirate ship as a playhouse?


Next Up:
I'll be in Memphis TN this Saturday signing Thomas Riley at Hastings at 2PM, then I'll be signing at Books-A-Million in Souithaven MS on Sunday at 2PM. If you come and mention this, I'll give you a high five.

Origins Columbus OH

Sorry, this is a late post about a con that happened the last weekend of June. I got caught up in preparations and travel to CONvergence and didn't have time to properly report on Origins.

My last minute move to Origins was facilitated by the wonderful ladies at Frenzy Universe. This may seem a bit like a Frenzy Universe commercial but that's ok because they are that awesome. I'll explain later.

I've never been to a primarily gaming conference before and I've never been to Columbus, OH before either so off I went. Let me tell you gaming cons are long. Four days of vending is a really long time. The Frenzy Gals gave me a section of their booth which was absolutely perfect. I was on a corner and hopefully helped draw people in to the area. Does this sound like I'm complaining? I promise I'm not at all. The entire con was really great. I met a whole new demographic of people and sold quite a lot of books!

The Frenzy Gals and I made it extra fun by gathering people at the booth for a candy toss and then a Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament for all that attended. It's actually a pretty amazing sight to see 60 people all playing Rock-Paper-Scissors at the same time. We were also assited by musician Kara Markley. Here we are posing infront of the TR banner. Check out her band/modeling facebook here.


Being in Columbus was also great because I got to visit my friends Laura and Scott at the Rivet Gallery. They were awesome as usual and took me out to the Surly Girl Saloon which I totally dug because of their quirky food and wonderfully varied beer selection. Speaking of friends, I was surprised when old friend from the band days and bad ass artist, Jacob Walker showed up at my table. So it was super great to catch up with him over a few beers as well. If you're into gaming I met some nifty game makers Justin and Anne Marie from Fireside Games who were there selling and nominated for an Origins Award for their game Castle Panic.
Also, you have to love the fandom and random kookiness... Me with the doctors. I guess I looked like I needed medical help.


So Origins was a huge success and I hope I can go back next year as it was a blast all the way through. I'm going to take the rest of this paragraph to fill you in about the Frenzy Universe. First off this company has the coolest, quirkiest and most unique steampunk and Victorian clothes, accessories, novelties, and artifacts that I've seen in a long time. Secondly, the women that run it are amazing people in every way. They're kind, straight shooting and a lot of fun. I encourage you to check out their website HERE. If you'd rather see them in person, I'll be at Gencon in Indianapolis with them the first weekend of August.
I have to give a bunch of love to everyone at Geek Details as well. I met the owners in St. Louis and they've been such fun friends. Check out their site for handmade geeky goodnes. I ended up buying a lot of prints from them.
Here are "I Love Thomas Riley" Buttons they made as a surprise and below is the owner, Amanda with her son.



I can't leave you with out this little gem. I was going to the bar when I saw a strange sight. Well, it may not be a strange sight for some cons but this was unexpected nd funny. Click on the picture of the hotel hallway below and look closely. I guess someone had too much to drink.

Scaling Mountains & Dodging Rock Slides

Printers Row Chicago
This weekend I'll be signing in Chicago, IL (as if there's really another Chicago)at the Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Festival. For the majority of the time I'll be at the Echelon Press tent, which is TENT FF. So come see me. This will be the biggest book festival all year and I'm quite excited to be a part of it. I'll also be guest signing at The Olde Town Books table TABLE #176 on Saturday from Noon-2:00 and Sunday 4:00-6:00.

The Almost Famous Book Faire
For those located in a more central area of America, next week, June 19th, I'll be signing at The Almost Famous Book Faire in Elizabethtown KY. The Faire is located in the Towne Mall from Noon-7:00PM. The extra fun part about this is I'll be assisted by Miss Kentucky 2010, Kindra Clark. So come see us. We promise it'll be fun.

The Kindle
Kindle sales are going pretty well. But as always pretty well is never good enough. So I'll take a brief moment to direct you to the Thomas Riley Amazon Kindle site. It only costs $2.99 so if you have a Kindle check this out. Thomas Riley Kindle Page

The Nook
Yep, It's available for the Barnes & Noble Nook as well. I've only met one person with a Nook before but they seem pretty darn nifty. So if you have a Nook, I'd like to hear from you and see what you think. While you're at it tell me how Thomas Riley looks on it. Thomas Riley Nook Page

Twitter Contest
Copy and paste the Tweet below into your Twitter or Facebook status. Two winners will be chosen by a random number generator when the contest ends on Thursday June 10 11:59PM. First prize wins a pair of Swiss Airship Goggles generously supplied by the lovely ladies at Frenzy Universe. Frenzy Universe is a great place to shop for quality and unique steampunk/Victorian clothes, accessories and goodies on the web and judging by the buzz about them at The World Steam Expo, they were definitely one of the busiest booths at the Conference. Second Prize wins a $10 gift card from Amazon.com.

Copy and paste the following line into your Twitter or Facebook:
RT @SirThomasRiley on Amazon http://tiny.cc/4uiwx for a chance to win steampunk goggles from @frenzygals http://www.frenzyuniverse.com/

And...
There's a myriad of crazy things developing, much of which I can't talk about at the moment but be sure that you will be the first to know if they develop correctly. Needless to say these things can be quite nerve racking. With that vague and cryptic ending I leave you with... The mysterious beer face:

The World Steam Expo

I travel a lot. Every place I go I have no idea what to expect. One hundred people, one thousand, five thousand... I just don't know. My latest expedition had me journeying to Dearborn Michigan for The World Steam Expo, another first time steampunk conference. The trip was really easy. I'm even getting to the point where turbulence doesn't affect me. There was a time when it bothered me but now it's not a big deal.

The World Steam Expo was held in The enormous Hyatt hotel and instantly I saw a line of neo-Vitorians dressed to the max waiting to get registered. I bolted up to the room then to the exhibitor room where I was super happy to be placed next to the wonderful ladies from Frenzy Universe. By the way, they had to be one of the most popular booths at the con. Congrats ladies! On my opposite side was the t-shirt company Ardvark Tees. We instantly bonded being that they were from the Nashville area as well. Note that I've been really lucky for the most part at all the con's I've attended with wonderful neighbors. The only exception would be the one guy that crashed into my stand-up banner basically permanently wrecking it. No he didn't offer any assistance with repairing it.
Frenzy Gals!


Aardvark Reps Ariel and Angel


I digress. Friday was a blockbuster day sales wise. I've never had such a big first day at a con. Over half the books I brought were sold in the first five hours! From there I've noticed that after vending I need some decompression time so I usually head to the bar to have a couple and talk with fellow con goers. On the first night the Chairs of Steamcon invited me over to have drinks and good conversation. Before I started traveling I'll admit that I was a bit nervous about meeting steampunk people. I guess I thought that I would encounter a lot of clique-ish people that were unwilling to be accepting of a new author. Like most of my assumptions, I was wrong. I can't tell you how awesome everyone has been over the last six months and this con was no different.
This young lady reminded me of Ann Read from Thomas Riley.


By the end of the day Saturday I was sold out of books and began taking orders (with free shipping of course) for con attendees. Even without books on hand I managed to tie my con record for sales. (Do the happy dance!) Unfortunately I didn't get to see any panels but I did get to see some bands play. Abney Park, The Men that will not be blamed for nothing, The Extraordinary Contraptions and Tartanic. I also was fortunate enough to meet Bethany Greenier author of Sings With Stars. Also met Caitlin Montgomery, an up and coming writer with an amazing steampunk story in the works. Very cool.
Me with Caitlin AKA Kristabella


So I'll say what I always say because it's the truth. Amazing con, amazing people, good times by all. Next weekend, I'll be in Chicago for the overwhelmingly wonderful Printers Row Lit Fest sponsored by the Chicago Tribune. 100,000 people here I come. If you're close to Chi-town come see me. I'll be in Tent FF.

Steamposium

The first annual Steamposium Conference was held in St. Louis two weeks ago. I was lucky enough to be a guest at the con and I have to tell you, it was a blast.

Like many cons, Steamposium is organized to help raise awareness and money for a charity. This particular one raises money for Cystic Fibrosis. Being the first one ever, Steamposium was a small con based solely around steampunk culture. Everyone was great. The vendors, the attendees and I saw some really amazing costumes and personas.

I did a panel on Friday night and I had no idea until I got there that I was scheduled. A bit panicked, I basically told the crowd a little about the book then I thought it would be fun to ask them questions that I'd heard at other cons about steampunk and see what they thought. It turned into a really fun discussion ranging from literature, to movies, to the popularity of the culture/genre. I'll tell ya, it was really nice that everyone participated because I had no idea what to expect. Through that panel and the people that came by the booth I have to say I made some really great new friends.

As the charity goes I contributed a book as well as auctioning off a character in a short story that I was writing. "The Baron Bon Bar" won that... so look for him to appear in an upcoming short story. (More on that soon.)


My new airship friends together on a time bending adventure.

So included in this wonderful little con was a Victorian Poker tournament and salon games, Formal Victorian ball, live music from 3 Pints Gone as well as a wonderful salon performance from a sting trio. (Watch a bit here. Great stuff!) While I didn't get to go to the city museum, I still had a blast.

3 Pints Gone


Couple at the formal ball.

Got to reconnect with writer extraordinaire Elizabeth Donald as well as meet a ton of new friends. The Frenzy Gals have a wonderful website with steampunk goodness all over it. See it HERE. Oh! I had a brief interview which is now on You Tube HERE. It's so strange to see myself at work.


Me with the Frenzy Gals.

Look for a new blog in the next few days about my last insane weekend in Knoxville, Montgomery and Nashville... I'm totally exhausted. Also new notes: I've submitted stories to Kerlak Publishing's Steampunk Anthology (Engine 316) & to Steampunk Tales Issue #8 (Double Crossed At Gray Raven Mill).