Julielyn and I were interviewed this past Monday night at TalkLansing HQ. I like the article a lot, and Tricia Bobeda did a great job of capturing a bit of the show’s humor and antics in print.

I was happy that she devoted a portion of the article to our producer, Jeff, who is an invaluable part of the LansingNext team.

It took some doing, but I managed to track down a few print copies of the issue. Seeing my face on the cover was a surreal experience, especially in the Noise boxes around town.

Me doing my best Mr. Scream impression

If you can find a print version to read, do so, as there are way more pictures of us in action at the studio.

It is great that the show got this kind of press, I am curious what our listen stats will be like for Wednesday’s episode (which can be streamed and downloaded indefinitely).

This plays right into why JL and I wanted the show to also be a podcast–when people can hear about, they can go to the site and check it out right away. I know we got a bunch of downloads and listens today because of that article, and the linking to it on Twitter and Facebook.

That is a key thing in media today–being able to sample something on demand. If people had to wait until next Wednesday at 11 AM to hear the show, many would totally forget about it.

LansingNext is an Internet talk show I am doing with my friend Julielyn Gibbons for the brand new TalkLansing.net

TalkLansing was started by a few local radio personalities as a way to go after the “iPhone Generation.” All of the shows will be streamed online (and available for download eventually).

I was honored when Julielyn approached me to co-host the show with her and I’m excited about this unique opportunity. Our slogan is:

A weekly Internet talk show focusing on the people, issues and events affecting Lansing’s next generation.

That gives us a bit of wiggle room when it comes to topics, and we’re already having a lot of fun. Julielyn and I are quickly developing a great on-air (…on-net?) dynamic, with me already falling into the comic relief role (which is fine by me).

The shows are pre-recorded (as I can’t do a live show on a Wednesday morning) and while the first one was a bit rough around the edges, we are getting the hang of things at a blazing speed.  Parts of the first show took me back to my college radio days when I actually had a co-host.

We also have a Facebook fan page.

And speaking of such things, I made one for myself a couple days ago. More on that later, as I plan to blog about it.

So tune (click?) in to TalkLansing.net today at 11 AM to give us a listen. Feedback appreciated, as this is very much a work in progress. Once I get an .MP3 of the episode, I’ll see about having it available to download from one of my sites.

Our first episode will feature a pair of guests and we’ll also talk about Foursquare, the iPad and smoke-free bars around town.

Tomorrow night (12.15.09) I will be presenting at DemoCamp Lansing in Harper’s Brew Pub in East Lansing.  I’ll be talking about podcasting. I have five minutes to rap about podcasting to a room full of (mostly) strangers. It should be interesting, as I have yet to really work out my battle plan.

Speaking of making it up as I go, I found out today that I made it to the Sweet Sixteen of PowerPoint Karaoke 2009, which really surprised me (thanks to everyone who voted for me, you are all awesome).

The idea of PowerPoint Karaoke (aka BattleDecks) is that you give a presentation–but you don’t know what your PowerPoint slides are going to be about.  In our case, we knew our topic (mine was the economy).

Watch the video below (or watch it on the YouTube).

If you like what you see, please vote for me. If I make it to the next round (the Elite Eight) I get a prize of some kind. Awesome.

I also updated my Writing Samples and Resume pages.

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In Halloween costume news, I swung by a local costume shop–one of the mega costume stores that appears in early September and disappears on November 1st, like some kind of costuming Bringadoon.

My plan for the moment is go as The Man With No Name character from thee Fistful of Dollars trilogy.  The main thing I need to pull this off is the trademark poncho Clint Eastwood wears.  Thankfully, they had ponchos (not the exact design, but that’s OK), so that part is taken care of.  Next, I need to find a decent looking gun with a hip holster, and a hat.  I can get the Eastwood squint/scowl down, no problem–and I’ve already been working on the voice (which I use for the Magic of Eyri podcast).

All in all, this should be an easier task than last year’s Ghostbuster costume.

Starting with the next episode, things really start kicking into high gear, action-wise anyway.  And we’ll meet some new characters too.

Event this Tuesday: I’m going to be part of the Fantasy Author Panel at the Delta Township District Library. Join Jim C. Hines, Phil Kline and myself as we rap about writing fantasy fiction. FREE. 6 PM to 8:30 PM.

We will be signing and selling books afterwards…well, I won’t be selling books, but I’ll be giving out free podcast CDs.  I may only put the first few episodes on there and make them audio CDs instead of .MP3s. We’ll see.

Also, episode 008 of Magic of Eyri is online, here ya go.

Pray I’m not screwing myself over here. I am a bit worried.

Well, after some trouble shooting and hair pulling, I solved the problem (and was glad I did before deleting my FeedBurner feed). I had the settings set to only include the last 5 posts in the syndication feed.

Yeah. I’m a moron.

Anyway, it is set to a much higher number now, so that should not be a problem. My apologies to those that this snafu caused any problems for.

I did the same thing to the feed for my blog. Sadly, I deleted the FeedBurner feed for my blog first, as a sort of test…and only realized afterwards that this wasn’t the problem. Well, I have the FeedBurner feed up again and everything will be fine…I just might have to go back and recode some of the FeedBurner buttons that show my blog subscriber stats.

I’m still very upset with myself for making such a dumb mistake in the first place. Live and learn I guess. And it could have been WAY worse.

For those that don’t know, I play drums in the band. This is our first gig at Macs with me behind the drums and our first gig at an actual venue ’round Lansing (our first being at a charity event in Grand Ledge last month). Enjoy the lameo online flier I made.

In other writing news, I was contacted yesterday about helping out with a local teen writers workshop. Don’t know the details yet, but I said yes.

And remember–I’ll be giving out free CDs with (at least) the first three episodes of the podcast. Haven’t decided yet if the CD will be data or audio (.MP3s or not).

Click below to see my finalized schedule.

May 1, 2009 6:00 pm Sci-Fi/Fantasy – The Perception Sarah Hoyt, Daniel Hogan, Jeff DeLuzio, Sarah Monette What is the general perception of genre writing? Pros and cons of Genre writing vs. traditional fiction.

May 2, 2009 11:00 am Can I Be Your Friend? Bringing Authors and Readers Together John Scalzi, Jim C. Hines, Wil Wheaton, Mary Robinette Kowal, Daniel Hogan, Dr. Philip Kaldon Facebook, LiveJournal, WordPress, MySpace, Twitter, website, etc. — SF/F/H authors are encouraged to engage in self-promotion on the web. Some, like John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton make it look easy. But where’s the line on privacy and personal details for the authors? And what about fans bent on making the transition to troll or stalker? No one said this was going to be easy.

May 2, 2009 12:00 pm Self-Publishing – How to Not Get Totally Screwed David Crampton, Wil Wheaton, Daniel Hogan, Rick Jackson, Alex Heberling, Megan Rose Gedris, Michael Marcus, Sarah Zettel Vanity presses are popping up left and right, and a writer/comic artist no longer needs to beg and plead with a publisher to get their work out there. So how to you get your book ready for print? What printers give you the best bang for your buck? How do you get people to notice it? These questions and more addressed.

May 2, 2009 3:00 pm To See a Universe in a Grain of Sand Sarah Hoyt, Dan Hoyt, Elizabeth Bear, Daniel Hogan,Sarah Monette, Sarah Zettel Worldbuilding. How to create your universe.

May 2, 2009 4:00 pm What’s So Funny?! David Crampton, John Scalzi, Jim C. Hines, Dan Hoyt, Daniel Hogan, Brian Briggs Humor in Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Does it work? Why or why not?

May 2, 2009 5:00 pm Copywhat? Copyrights! Open Source Licensing in Literature Elizabeth Bear, Daniel Hogan, Eric Raymond, Rick Jackson What they are, how they work and things to bear in mind when submitting to traditional publishers and e-publishers. Also – what happens to the rights on my e-blog if I want to publish somewhere else?

May 3, 2009 8:00 am National Novel Writing Month David Crampton, Jim C. Hines, Mary Robinette Kowal, Daniel Hogan Every November hordes of would-be writers as well as established pros unite to attempt to produce 50,000 words in one month. Good idea or waste of time? Does it help or hurt writing? What about the pressures of deadlines in general? Does slow and steady win the race, or does the pressure cooker of trying to produce so many words in the last hour really work?

May 3, 2009 9:00 am Book Signing Catherynne M. Valente, John Scalzi, Jim C. Hines, Wil Wheaton, Sarah Hoyt, Dan Hoyt, Elizabeth Bear, Daniel Hogan, Brian Briggs Come meet some of our great authors and get your book signed. There may or may not even be readings done by some of them – how well can you beg?

May 3, 2009 12:00 pm Is Audio the New Print? Wil Wheaton, Steve Eley, Daniel Hogan, Rick Jackson, Rick Stringer There’s an explosion of audiobooks and podcasts out there. Is Audio supplanting print as the medium of choice?

May 3, 2009 1:00 pm Selling Your Soul – Marketing Your Work on a Limited Budget David Crampton, Jim C. Hines, Daniel Hogan, Rick Jackson Websites, freebies, conventions and business cards – plus anything else we can think of! Ways to help market and promote yourself and your product when you’re strapped for cash!

This is my second year at Penguicon and I am very much looking forward to it.  I had a blast last year, and this year I’ll be hard at work promoting the Magic of Eyri podcast. I will also have copies of the novel version of The Magic of Eyri for sale at my usual special convention price ($20). I don’t know yet if I’ll have a table or anything…I need to look into that, but if I’m on a lot of panels (which is looking like will happen) I wouldn’t be at a table for too long anyway.