All entries written in December, 2007
December 31, 2007 at 9:03 am · Filed under Extras, Maps
Pronounced “Pratt-i-corn,” as if it has three syllables, this collection of suburbs is centered around Woodvale, and is the larger home of Mark and the SG Crew. It’s meant to look like it belongs in the northeastern corner of New Jersey, with the northern Bronx just off the map in the east. The arrow pointing to “the shore” in the south is actually a bit misleading, since there’s still a bunch of rural and industrial New Jersey to drive through before you get to any decent beaches. Topography isn’t shown here, but there are discernable valley walls, which are steep in the east and west, marginally noticeable in the north going towards upstate New York, and virtually nonexistant in the south.
Mark and his friends only visit a handful of these towns over the course of the series, but for the sake of knowing the world I write about, I decided it was important to think out and design the entire valley.
Capsule descriptions of prominent towns are forthcoming.
December 30, 2007 at 8:10 pm · Filed under Announcements
Just a reminder that you only have until midnight tomorrow, January 31st, to enter the win a free copy of The Gauntlet contest. All you have to do is send an email with your name to joncann[at]schoolkids-sg[dot]com (or leave a comment on the contest post, if you prefer) and you’ll be entered in the drawing.
But the entry period ends at the same time as 2007 does, so hurry up!
If this is any incentive: the free copy I’m giving away is actually an uncorrected proof. There’s virtually no difference between this version and the final one (I think I crossed out an extra period somewhere in chapter 25, but that’s basically it), but it’s clearly pre-release, and it doesn’t even have a barcode. So if I ever attain some marginal amount of success, this copy might just be a genuine collector’s item someday. Eh? Eh?
December 26, 2007 at 7:41 pm · Filed under Announcements
Just a quick note–I was recently told that some people were having a hard time viewing this page in certain versions of Internet Explorer. The issue should be resolved now. Please leave a comment or shoot me an email if this or any other problems persist.
Hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas! Don’t forget to enter the free book contest! The next present you receive could be from me!
December 24, 2007 at 9:00 am · Filed under Announcements
Since it’s Christmas Eve, I hope no one will begrudge me taking the day off. Chapter 13 of Bad Company will go up on schedule this Friday, and then next week, things should be back to normal. Also, let me remind you that you have until one week from today to enter the free book contest! Just send an email with your name to joncann[at]schoolkids-sg[dot]com, and you might get picked to receive a free copy of The Gauntlet. It’s that simple.
Have a very happy holiday!
December 17, 2007 at 9:00 am · Filed under Extras, Interactive
That’s right! I’ve got an extra copy of the new print version of The Gauntlet, and I’m going to be giving it away to one lucky person! How will I decide which lucky person? Well, that’s easy–anyone who wants to be entered in the drawing just has to email me at joncann[at symbol]schoolkids-sg[dot]com (if taking out those anti-spam measures is too much work for you, there’s a mailto link under “meta” on the sidebar). Include your first name or some other identifying characteristic.
That’s it…that’s all you have to do. Send an email and be entered to win a free book. What could be easier? You have until December 31st to enter. The winner will be announced on January 2nd.
Also! [Edit: never mind. I found a more tasteful way to make this announcement.]
December 12, 2007 at 9:00 am · Filed under Announcements
Well, whaddaya know? After I posted a link to her website last week, Alexandra Erin, author of Tales of Mu, appeared to comment on this site before I even had a chance to contact her like I said I was going to! It turns out there is a hub for blogs that serialize fiction, created by Ms. Erin herself, and though it’s still very new, its popularity is growing.
The hub is called Pages Unbound, and anyone interested in reading or writing stories online should definitely check it out. I myself put in for membership right away, both for the sake of giving School Kids SG additional exposure, and because I think having a healthy hub like this is important.
December 10, 2007 at 8:24 pm · Filed under Merchandise
BOOK ONE: THE GAUNTLET - $8.99 (Buy now!)
I am extraordinarily proud to present the first-ever volume of School Kids SG available in print!
This book, volume one of the series, collects all 27 chapters of The Gauntlet in a slim 6×9 format. Book one also boasts all-new front and back cover art, and a convenient map of Woodvale High.
It even has a little numeral “1″ on the spine, so you can look forward to other volumes standing beside it on your bookshelf in the near future! What more could you ask for?
Whether you prefer reading books in print to reading them online, or simply want a copy of The Gauntlet to take on the train with you, this book is the perfect way to get into School Kids SG!
Buy it now from lulu.com, for only $8.99!
December 10, 2007 at 9:02 am · Filed under Reviews, Thoughts
I’ve already made a long and probably-confusing post about Coheed and Cambria—the gist of it is that this is a band that excites me creatively. I think their songs have this effect on me because (1) they themselves tell a story, and being around other stories often gets me going with my own, and (2) the story is told in kind of a nebulous, emotional way, where the song lyrics don’t always immediately make sense and sometimes sound like a stream-of-consciousness born from thinking about a story. It’s hard to explain, but that’s pretty much how I work—in crazy, free-associative terms. So Coheed and Cambria is definitely the band for me.
What follows is a review of Coheed’s new album, No World for Tomorrow. I’m not as in love with it as I was with Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, their previous album, but I still think it’s very good, and I want to tell you why.
Keep reading….
December 5, 2007 at 9:08 am · Filed under Misc, Thoughts
This post is actually a collection of several interesting links, but I wanted the title to catch the eye of anyone reading an RSS feed, as this first plug is the most important:
Melonpool is back! It’s been updating again for about a month now. I’ve already mentioned this comic twice on the site, once in a post about Heroes and again when I was listing my favorite webcomics (obviously). Both times, I said that Melonpool had “the most satisfying and complex time travel writing I’ve ever seen,” and that’s still very much true, but the rest of its stories are great, too. They are often funny and always well-drawn. I just wanted to do my part to promote the return of this excellent comic. Here’s a link to the start of the new storyline.
More intriguing links below the cut.
Keep reading….
December 4, 2007 at 11:00 am · Filed under Announcements
Yeah, I was looking over the Word file of Bad Company and I realized that, wow, chapter 10 is really short. So was chapter 8, for that matter, but it’s that’s behind us now. Anyway, since chapter 10 isn’t long enough to anchor a whole week, you can have it this Friday as sort of an add-on to chapter 9. I hope that’s all right with everybody.
Also! The final version of The Gauntlet went to the printers on Saturday, and I should have my proof copy in a couple of days. Once I take a quick look through to make sure that everything is printing all right, you should all by able to buy it for yourselves! Good news for those of you who get eye strain from reading text on a computer screen, right?
