Next week, to celebrate the publication of the 88 Names trade paperback edition, I’ll be returning to AltspaceVR for a live reading and audience Q&A. The event is free and open to anyone with internet access.
To attend, you’ll need to download the appropriate AltspaceVR client software. Download links are on the AltspaceVR homepage (if you don’t have a VR headset, choose “2D mode”). Once the client is installed, you’ll need to create an account and spend a few minutes creating your avatar. The final step is to RSVP for the event, which you can do here.
Tomorrow at 3 PM Pacific I’ll be rejoining Montgomery Martin and Kelly McLaughlin, aka the Dungeon Dudes, on their Twitch livestream for part 2 of my epic adventure as Mr. Big in the Untold Tales of Drakkenheim. You can watch part 1 right now on the Dungeon Dudes’ YouTube channel, here. And if you haven’t done so already, I’d also recommend listening to last week’s 88 Names podcast interview with Monty and Kelly.
Tomorrow at 3 PM Pacific / 6 PM Eastern I will be joining Kelly McLaughlin and Montgomery Martin, aka the Dungeon Dudes, in their livestreamed D&D campaign, the Untold Tales of Drakkenheim. I’ll be playing the character Alvin Peaseblossom, aka “Mr. Big,” a 4th-level gnome rogue with a giant brain. This is my first D&D session since college, thirty-five years ago, so it promises to be extra chaotic, and a lot of fun.
You can watch us live on Twitch, here, or catch the video replay afterwards on either Twitch or the Dungeon Dudes’ YouTube channel. You’ll also want to check out this week’s 88 Names podcast, where Kelly and Monty will be our special guests.
To celebrate the trade paperback release, we’re putting the pod back together. The 88 Names podcast will drop new episodes starting on March 9. Confirmed guests include role-playing game design legend Mike Pondsmith (aka “the guy who killed your Cyberpunk character”), NASA/JPL star Sasha Samochina, medical education technology researcher Dr. Todd Chang, and the “Dungeon Dudes,” Montgomery Martin and Kelly McLaughlin.
And speaking of the Dungeon Dudes, I will be a guest on their Twitch channel, making a two-part run through the Dungeons of Drakenheim, on March 23 and March 30, starting at 3 PM Pacific/6 PM Eastern. This will be my first time playing a live D&D session since Ronald Reagan was president, so I’ll be boning up on the new 5th edition rules before the show (I’m told negative armor classes are bad, now).
One other bit of news: the Blu-ray edition of the first season of HBO’s Lovecraft Country is out today.
Like many of you, I spent last week watching election returns and reading silly hot takes about What It All Means. (My favorite, so far, is Jonathan Chait’s assertion in New York Magazine that “America, by and large, never wanted Trump to be president,” which is an exceedingly odd statement given that 70 million people just voted to reelect him.) Silliness aside, it looks like Trump really is on his way out and the republic isn’t going to fall just yet. So that’s a relief.
In other news:
* Lovecraft Country is on the New York Times bestseller list for the tenth week. Now that the HBO series has finished its first season, I imagine this won’t last much longer, but it’s been a great run.
* The Italian edition of Lovecraft Country, translated by Luca Briasco, was published on October 27, and the Polish edition, translated by Marcin Mortka, was published on November 2. This brings the total number of translations to nine, with eight more—from China, Greece, Hungary, Japan, Romania, Serbia, South Korea, and Turkey—forthcoming.
* Meanwhile in Germany, FISCHER Tor’s German-language edition of 88 Names, translated by Alexandra Jordan, is available now in ebook format and will be published in print on November 25.
* I have two more online events this week: On Wednesday, November 11, at 3 PM Pacific Time, I’ll be a guest on the Vox Vomitus podcast, chatting with host and fellow author Jennifer Anne Gordon. And on Thursday, November 12, I’ll be appearing via Zoom at Magic City Books of Tulsa at 5 PM Pacific/7 PM Central.
I’ve got a bunch of online events scheduled this month (full list here), including two this weekend that I wanted to spotlight:
On Saturday, October 17 at 8 PM Pacific Time, I’ll be reading from and answering questions about Lovecraft Country as part of Crypticon Seattle’s 2020 online convention. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased here.
On Sunday, October 18 at 5 PM Pacific Time, I’ll be in conversation with my friend and fellow author Christopher Moore, as part of San Francisco’s 2020 Litquake. Admission to this event is free, but with a suggested donation of $5-10. You can sign up here.
And immediately after the Litquake event, I’ll be tuning into HBO for the season finale of the Lovecraft Country series. If you’ve got things you want to ask about the show or the book, and you can’t make it to any of my live events, I’m still taking questions over at Goodreads.
This Friday, October 2, at 5 PM Pacific Time, I’ll be making a remote appearance as part of Novel Nights, a fundraiser to support Seattle’s Hugo House. This is the first of six Novel Nights events that will be taking place over the next two weeks:
Tickets to individual events are $25 each, or $75 if you would like a signed copy of that author’s book. You can also get a full series pass to all six Novel Nights, with or without signed books.
Last week I was a guest on the For All Nerds podcast with Tatiana King and DJ Benhameen, talking about Lovecraft Country (my appearance starts at the 33:30 mark). This was my second visit to the ‘cast—I was previously a guest back in 2017, when they were known as the Fan Bros Show—and just like last time, I really enjoyed myself. For more Lovecraft Country conversation, be sure and check out the weekly “Safe Negro Podcast” editions of For All Nerds, where they go in-depth on each episode of the HBO series (starting with “Sundown,” here).
In other news:
* I am still answering reader questions over at Goodreads.
Here’s the video of my conversation with Christopher Moore last Thursday, hosted on Zoom by Powell’s City of Books. Thanks to Chris and Powell’s for a fun time.
You’ll have another chance to catch me live online this Saturday, July 25, at 5:30 PM Pacific Time, when I do a solo Zoom appearance for Sunriver Books & Music. For details on how to sign up for this event, contact the bookstore by calling 541-593-2525 or email them at sunriverbooks@sunriverbooks.com.
Here’s the video of my recent appearance on the Second Life Book Club. My host, Draxtor Despres, came up with the idea of having me read a short passage from each of my seven novels, to create a sort of “tasting menu” of the Matt Ruff canon. I thought it worked out pretty well, and the discussion was a lot of fun, too.
Also, just a reminder, if you’re interested in catching me live, there’s still time to register for this evening’s Zoom event hosted by Powell’s City of Books. My friend Christopher Moore and I will be chatting about 88 Names. The event starts at 5 PM Pacific Time and you can sign up here.
And if you’re busy this evening, you’ll have another chance to see me on Zoom when I do a solo appearance for Sunriver Books & Music on Saturday, July 25 at 5:30 PM Pacific. Details here.
