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In 2008, Oliver Mertz and Mike Isenberg came up with the idea for First Law of Mad Science, an affecting and strangely portentous story about a man whose innovative retinal implants a la Google Glass end up having major ramifications on the future of the world and the safety of his family.  Seven years later, the co-writers, along with artist Daniel Lapham, have launched a kickstarter to fund the release of the series’ first collected trade.

A summary from their kickstarter:

Super-scientist George Baker’s newest invention, electronic retinal implants known as “Cyber-Eyes,” are nothing short of amazing.  So amazing, in fact, and so cheap and easy to get, that some 40% of the population has gotten them within their first year on the market. But they aren’t perfect. Far from it. When things start going inexplicably and bizarrely wrong with the original test subjects, George and his family will have to find out why, before the problem spreads and causes worldwide panic. Along the way, they’ll uncover ancient civilizations, corporate conspiracies, sinister cults, other-dimensional creatures, awesome robots, subterranean cities, and Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.

In addition to several interesting backer rewards (including a bombastic night out at the karaoke bars with Isenberg), the Mad Science team has put together a special anthology featuring stories set in the FLOMS universe by industry veterans including Frank Barbiere and Amy Chu:

Science Club Mixtape is an anthology issue set in the cyberpunk meets Lovecraftian horror universe of First Law of Mad Science. Each stand-alone story will build upon that universe and shine a light into some pretty dark corners.

The anthology features stories written and/or illustrated by Shawn Aldridge (GoGetters, Vic Boone), Frank Barbiere (Five Ghosts, Avengers World), Michael S. Bracco (Novo, the Creators), Jason Copland (Pop, Daredevil), Stan Chou (FUBAR, Oxymoron II Anthology), Amy Chu (Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman, Vertigo Quarterly), Anthony Del Col (Kill Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes vs. Harry Houdini), Savanna Ganucheau (Toe Tag Riot), Leland Goodman (Basement Dwellers), Mike Isenberg (First Law of Mad Science, FUBAR), Daniel Lapham (Warhammer 40K, First Law of Mad Science),Conor McCreery (Kill Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes vs. Harry Houdini), Jeff McComsey(FUBAR, Flutter), Oliver Mertz (First Law of Mad Science, FUBAR), Jamie Noguchi (Yellow Peril, The 47 Bronin), Pete Toms (POP, Sacrifice), and Sean Von Gorman (Toe Tag Riot, Pawn Shop). 

The team is seeking $15,000 to fund the project, with the vast amount going towards printing costs.  The dedication they’ve shown towards this project is admirable, and I think the comics have been incredibly entertaining thus far.  Give it a look and see if you agree.

At least, temporarily.

At least, I HOPE it’s temporary.

Kevin has a special-needs uncle – let’s call him Roy. His grandmother adopted him out of foster care when he was a toddler.

I guess, technically, he’s not really special needs. He’s not retarded but rather, just slow. His birth mother drank and probably did drugs when she was pregnant with him which caused brain damage. He’s only a few years younger than myself.

Kevin’s grandmother passed away and he’s been living with Kevin’s parents all of these years.

However – Kevin’s parents are getting older and it’s harder for them to get around and quite honestly, they just want to live their remaining years peacefully. The situation has become tense and Kevin became his co-guardian – he’s now fully (or will be when his mother passes away) responsible for him.

We knew, at some point, he would need to get out on his own, learn to be independent. The challenge? He can’t really be by himself. He has no concept of money. He will never drive. And he doesn’t always have common sense when it comes to some things. So he will need frequent supervision. Our plan was to get him moved into an apartment and the family would take turns dropping by to check on him – take him meals once in a while, etc.

I came up with the plan of moving him into our rental house across the street. He would pay us rent and we could keep a close eye on him. (He gets money from the government every month due to his disability and might I just add – THIS IS WHAT GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS WERE MEANT TO DO: to help those that can’t fully help themselves. NOT SUPPORT PEOPLE WHO ARE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY CAPABLE OF WORKING. *ahem* Focus Karen, focus). No one is currently living in the house now and we need to get someone in there so we can start paying down our loan.

Kevin originally bought the house with his parents in mind and they are still welcome to move in, as soon as they sell their house. The problem? Who knows when that will be. It could be months. It could be years. In the meantime, Roy can live there and we’ll come up with another solution if/when his parents sell their house and/if they still want to move in when that happens. We talked about this plan and he was going to present this plan to his parents after bowling with Roy.

Things sort of reached a breaking point on Sunday night. Kevin left to go bowling with Roy and was gone for several hours. He was gone so long, I started to become worried about him. When he finally came home, he had Roy with him. He felt like the situation was getting worse and why wait?

Our plan is happening now.

The problem is – Kevin didn’t do this gradually so Roy doesn’t have any of his stuff moved into the house yet. So, he’s living with us until we can move him into the house. I’m sure we’re still going to have to “introduce” him slowly to being in the house and living on his own. I’m going to try and talk the boys into spending a few nights with him at the rental house so he doesn’t get scared being on his own. Plus – it’s always a little spooky spending the night in a new place.

But it’s time. Kevin’s parents won’t live forever and no one in the family really wants him to live with them. And to be perfectly honest, Roy is mentally capable of living on his own, he just hasn’t up to this point. There has always been someone to baby him and look after him.

And he won’t be “alone” per se, the family will still be available and did I mention we’ll be across the street if he needs anything?

I think it’s a win-win for everyone, quite frankly.

This is going to be quite an adjustment on everyone’s parts. I think this will actually be good for Blake. He has always had a special connection to Roy – Kevin’s grandma watched Blake when he was a baby so I could continue to work and Blake and Roy have sort of grown up together. They are pretty close. For example, right now, Blake is watching TV with Roy and I can’t tell you the last time Blake came out of his room to watch TV. I think he feels like he needs to take care of Roy and that might be a good thing in the long run for Blake. Roy gives him purpose. He feels comfortable around him and he’s the most animated whenever he’s around him.

Again, a win-win situation. Stay tuned … we’re turning the page to another chapter in our lives.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Start Your Novel

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends October 01, 2013.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I am traveling this week, visiting family in Denver. And we went to visit the Tattered Cover independent bookstore.

I like to visit indie bookstores when I travel because it gives me a better idea of the industry as it plays out across the nation. And it’s fun to see all the different ways that people display books.

Here are a couple pics of different areas of this great indie bookstore. Click to see the photos full size.

Tattered Cover Indie Bookstore, Denver, CO.

Tattered Cover, Indie Bookstore, Denver, CO. Children's section.

One of the interesting things at Tattered Cover was the Espresso Book Machine. This is a print-on-demand printer that both prints and binds a book while you watch. I’ve heard of them for several years, of course, but never seen one. It’s large. Watching the pages flip through the printer is fascinating. Tattered Cover Press is the official designation of books printed here.

Espresso Book Machine: POD Printer

Tattered Cover Press print-on-demand Espresso Book Machine.

I also stopped by the Kobo ebook reader section and checked out all of their selection. (Read my recent post about why you should pay attention to Kobo. Hint: It has to do with indie bookstores.) Buy my books in Kobo format!

Of course–one of the best reasons to visit Colorado this time of year is the aspens!

The best reason to visit Denver this time of year: aspens turning golden.

Darcy at Mt. Bierstadt in the Rocky Mountains. We accidently tried this 14er (14,000 ft) hike and because we weren't prepared, we only made it to about 13,000 ft. Great day!

  Answers from Elena Ornig. Are you depended or independent? -” I am independent!”   If that is the case then you are like a Robinson Crusoe, or living in total seclusion under your own governance, but the majority of us are not in that position. In real life we depend on political, economical and social systems which are already in place depending on your geographical location. That simply means you are not as independent as you might wish to be. You are very dependent upon systems that restrict you according to its laws, rules and regulations.   Okay, you are physically dependent, but you are independent in your thoughts if not actions. Is that true? Those who are involved in the overwhelming production of mass media, advice and opinions that are easily broadcast and delivered to your door do not think so. If it were so, many commercial businesses and industries would be out of business. ... Read the rest of this post

Foyles bookshop is to open its seventh branch near the site of the 2012 Olympics in the new Westfield Stratford City shopping centre.

The family-owned bookseller, which has its flagship store on Charing Cross Road, central London, will launch its latest shop in the Westfield Stratford City, dubbed "Europe's largest urban shopping centre" and due to open later this year.

The seventh Foyles will trade from over 5,000 square feet and be situated on the ground floor.

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Sobs. The 3 Evil Cousins must report that after 52 years of business, our local bookstore, Cody's in Berkeley was forced to close its last store.

Cody’s Books was famous for its support of the free speech movement in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1989, they were firebombed for refusing to remove Salman Rushdie's controversial novel "The Satanic Verses” from their storefront. Through more than a half a century, they hosted countless poets, authors and booklovers. This year, the rent at their final store on 4th street was nearly tripled. In a last ditch effort to save the store, they moved to a new, smaller location near the UC Berkeley Campus, but even that was not enough.

The 3 Evil Cousins were privileged in Cody’s final weeks to co-host several events. These included book signings by Melissa Marr, Cody Doctorow and Cassandra Clare.

In honor of Cody’s, and in hopes we can do something small for other Independents who still struggle to stay afloat during this age of mega-bookstores and the ease of purchasing online we will link all the books we review to IndiBound.org. IndiBound (previously known as Book Sense) is the effort of independent booksellers located throughout all our neighborhoods. We hope others will join us in helping to support our local bookstores.

Yours Truly,
3 Evil Cousins

I read a new children’s picture book entitled, WOW! School, in Barnes and Noble today. I rode with my mother after lunch to the book store, because she had to get some paperbacks for the library. Every year when school starts the library needs more children’s classics in paperback. Therefore, while she went to get the books she needed, I went in the children’s section. The children’s section at Barnes and Noble is one of my favorite places in the world. I ran/walked to the little “barn” bookshelf and stared in wonderment at the miraculous books lining the barnyard wall or haystack or bookshelf. I wonder why Barnes and Noble have a model of a barn for the main bookcase? In addition to the barnyard theme, they don’t have a new release bookshelf anywhere in the store and when I asked the little children people who work there, they looked at me like they weren’t sure what I meant. Although they were nice enough sales people, and I think Barnes and Noble is fantastic, I felt as if I were in a time capsule and asked a dumb question. It was as if it I asked an outdated question, a question that would have been popular long ago or at a different time.

But, it doesn’t matter if the children’s book section at Barnes and Noble isn’t doing things the way I think they should, since it’s still one of my favorite places in the world, and I’m not running the children's book department. I’m just researching the children’s book market for my manuscripts and A Nice Place In The Sun, so why should I care? I guess because it’s my home away from home, and I think I have the right to decorate what goes on the bookshelf.

Anyway, after reading Wow! School, I wanted to write an unofficial book review, or I guess I should say a book suggestion on the the title.

The first day of school was one of the scariest days in our lives when we experienced it when we were children, and then again when we experience it with our children. I know school has already started in most areas, but Wow! School brings the reader through the whole day of school so it’s a great conversation starter after your children start school as well, to find out how school is coming along for them, and give them an opportunity to ask questions. When I read to my son it often provided an opportunity for a conversation about the subject or theme of what book we were reading, and Wow School seemed like a good example.

It’s a big book with extremely colorful and descriptive illustrations showing everything happening in a classroom in just two pages. The illustrations are one big drawing across a two-page spread. The book depicts a multicultural theme with big bold images of everything that belongs in the ideal classroom, bookcases lined with books, desks with kids behind them taking part in numerous activities. It even shows details of children with their art work on easels, and other art supplies, in addition to books with small titles written on the front. There is much to look , but it’s not busy, and again, it encourages conversation while you look into the pictures of what is happens inside a school.

Wow! School! follows an entire school day with the perfect amount of text and descriptive illustration to tell a lively and fun story. You open the first page to the first day, and the second page to a gigantic picture of the teacher and four students, with detailed items in the classroom in the background. Then turn the page to reading time in another double spread illustration, with the image of the teacher sitting on a rug with her students. All of the illustrations have one to six words of text on the outside of the illustration. It is great fun, so if you have small children in school go by Barnes and Noble, the library, or shop online but read Wow! School! I think you and your children will enjoy it, and so did the little girl who sat at the little table with me in the children's section while I read it.

Wow! School! Robert Neubecker (Author)Publisher: Hyperion (June 15, 2007)Ages Baby-Preschool