We're joining those nutty #CyberMonday kids and putting our hard covers on sale!  That's right, between now and midnight tomorrow night (that's Tuesday, 11:59pm EST) all hard cover books in our inventory are only $25. 

Check out the stash by clicking here.

What? You already have all of those? That's okay, they make great holiday gifts! And if you're already done gift shopping? That's cool. We'll have more coming out soon to delight y'all.  

The site will be down starting about ninety minutes from right now for scheduled maintenance. You will not be able to access all of this right here, of course, and I'm sure this will make you nervous. Sadly, because I am posting this on the same site that will soon be down, I will not even be able to directly you here so you can read it and know it's a planned outage and we'll be back soon.  We expect four hours or so of downtime.

But it is, and we will.

And when we're back, I'll have all sorts of great things to tell y'all: a quite belated thank you and summation of THE MVP gestalt, some thoughts on what it means to be a 'creative adjacent' as I like to call my role in the partnership that is Dark Øverlord Media, and even a bit of news about what's coming down the pike.

But first things first: site updates tonight. We'll be gone for a short while. But don't fret — we'll be thinking of y'all. And also chocodiles, because those are always on Scott's mind.

That's my main man Nikolai Volkoff, at right, turning in his Soviet banner for a CONTAGIOUS flag because the book just sold Russian language rights.

Exmo Publishing bought the rights. They will publish also publish Infected and Ancestor in December.I'm told this is one of the biggest publishers in Russia, and that they will do a great job bringing my work to the good peeps of that massive country.

Volkoff was a tag-team partner with the Iron Sheik. I loved watching these guys antaongize the fans with their anti-American sentiments in the olden times of the WWF. Anyone else remember the Camel Clutch?

Americans, it's a day of celebration. Despite the endless conspiracy theories, the hate spewed online, the comments of idiots, the childish campaigning of both sides that panders to the lowest-common-demominator of easily swayed idealogues, today we celebrate the beginning of yet another peaceful exchange of power (if Obama wins, I still count that as "peaceful" even though power doesn't change hands).

No bombs, no revolutions, no coups and no guns (even though we got a lot of guns, mind). This will be the fifty-seventh straight election without a violent fight for (or to retain) power. Do we have problems? Hell yes we do. For the most part, the statistically overwhelming part, do we settle those differences with votes? Hell yes we do.

If you voted, cheers to you. Upload a pic with your "I Voted" sticker and paste the link in the comments below. I'll make the pictures visible as the day rolls on. If you didn't vote, that's your choice, and you won't get any bad-mouthing from me. Voting is a right, not an obligation.

Until such time as my armory is full and the plaid tanks are ready to roll, slaughtering millions as I remove all choice and free will from the face of the planet, this system — while far from perfect — is still pretty damn good.

Junkies, I give you the To Pirates Pumpkin, courtesy of Junkie Kevinesque. Rock!

Episode #3 was a hum-dinger -- not as intense as the first two episodes, but we have a larger mystery to solve and we saw the return of a major character.

SPOILERS INSIDE! NOT KIDDING!

I now have a theory of Walker biology that I think covers the vast majority of the "watch this hand while the other hand is doing something important" undead logic.

Like biology? Like THE WALKING DEAD? Like both? Well then click through, my friend, and see if you like my theory. And if you don't, post your own in the comments.

Since no matter what this post actually says someone is going to bitch and say I'm ripping on the show, let me land a few pre-emptive strikes so there can be no confusion about my opinion of THE WALKING DEAD, Season 3.
• The first episode was goddamn awesome
• The second episode was even more goddamn awesome

I thought the show really dragged in Season 2 with the endless whining and ridiculous character decisions of Lori, the endless Days of our Lives drama that made the show THE LET'S TALK ABOUT OUR FEELINGS DEAD, and the concept that people are just going to let their kid "go out and play like kids do" when there's a freakin' zombie apocalypse going on. I'm sure there's more of that to come this season, but the first two episodes were off-the-hook good (if I may bust out an 80s phrase, kids).

I'm under deadline (and shouldn't even be writing this), so I don't have time to blog-chase the answers. Besides: I'd rather hear what the Junkies think, because you are all rather smart.

Now, with all of that praise out of the way, I have some questions (read also: let's nitpick the tiniest details). I really only do this with amazing shows that are so close to "perfect" it bugs me they couldn't find a way to tie up those last few little points.

SPOILERS INSIDE! SERIOUSLY, SPOLIERS AND STUFF!!

Our second SiglerFest is in the books. SiglerFest2K12 embraced the wonder of all-out distraction that is Las Vegas. There was beer. Then automatic weapons. Then a cake shaped like Baby McButter from ANCESTOR. Then fiction. Then more beer. Then atomic bombs. Then someone getting my name tattooed on their arm. Then a random bucket of cold goo. Then beer-do-liers. All the things that make a Dark Øverlord the evil creature that he is. Oh, and then some bowling (I threw a 166 and hit my first Turkey ever -- I am coming for you, Chris Hardwick!).

To say SiglerFest2K12 was a fun time is like saying the Sun is a tad warm, or that PROMETHEUS had a couple of minor issues with realistic science. There was much discussion about science-fictiony things, much football watched, many tasty beverages consumed, many crabs butchered in the name of the King.

But it wasn't all silly fun and games and a general denial of maturity. No, there were some emotional aspects of this that caught me off-guard. SiglerFest2K11 was a part of Balticon, a kick-ass con held every year in the Baltimore area. People came to 2K11, sure, but many of them also stayed for Balticon. For SiglerFest2K12, however, there was no other event -- they came for the 'Fest and only for the 'Fest.

On the second day of 2K12 it hit me: these people travelled hundreds of miles and gave up vacation time just to hang out. Woah. That is both humbling and overwhelming.

I pride myself on working my ass off to enterain y'all. I pride myself on creating great work: you dig me because of the stories, not because I blog about politics, not because I have commentary on the writing process or profess to be an expert on the world of publishing, not because I wax poetic on "literary fiction" and why various stories are "important." Pretty much the only things on scottsigler.com are my stories or cool things about my fans. I boast and brag about many made-up things, but when it comes down to brass tacks I am a blue-collar guy that sings for his supper -- if you know me, it's because of my fiction and nothing else. 

Many aspiring authors like to trot out a modest phrase that is a variation of: "I don't need to sell a million books -- if I could just see my books on a shelf, I'd be happy." Well, that's not me. My goal has always been to hit the big-time and entertain as many people as possible. I want best-sellers, comic adaptations, movies, games and someday a TV series. I want to get together with Joss so we can snort coke off a strippers's boobs (or pecs, Joss and I don't preculde strippers on the basis of sex or gender, that's just how we roll).

So, I have yet to attain many of my goals, and I know I have a long way to go to get them. I have not come close to meeting my personal benchmarks of "success." SiglerFest, however, gives me a level of success that I never even anticipated, never even dreamed was part of the deal.

Are there authors whom I envy? Hell yes. At the airport bookstore, I see a couple copies of some of my titles on the shelves while John Scalzi has all of his represented (Scalzi is a great benchmark for me: similar genre, made his bones on the internet by giving away free content, etc. -- trying to reach his level is an excellent motivator). I am never satisfied, mostly because there is always a new competitor to chase. There were people I chased, whom I "caught," then I got fussy because someone else was doing better than me. If I ever catch Scalzi or the other authors I admire, there's always someone bigger to chase: it's a game I can never win and don't want to win, because it's what keeps me hungry and keeps me working hard for all of you.

When it comes to a little thing called "community," however, I have my own world for which there is no comparison to anything else. Not just an online community, because there are bigger and badder, but a community where people will give up time and money to see each other face to face. A community that is ours and ours alone.

By "ours," I don't mean ARealGirl and I. I mean the Junkies. I didn't build this alone -- the Junkies built it with me. Over seven years of podcasts, blog posts, comments, Tweets, forum topics and emails went into making SiglerFest2K12 a success. The people who showed up weren't just there to hang out with ARealGirl and I, they were there to hang out with each other -- that is the part that blows me away. These people, these incredible fans, these Junkies found each other through my stories, through scottsigler.com, and have now been close friends years. They talk to each other on my site, on Twitter, Facebook, by text and email, on the phone and, you guessed it, in person.

So has my work entertained? Fuck yes it has. But for some people it has gone way beyond that and become a part of their personal lives. It has become a foundation upon which friendships were built, friendships that would have never occured were it not for the scribblings I scribble. I want 'dem sales, I won't lie, but being the basis of a community like this is something no best-seller chart or fancy-pants award could ever touch. 

What's even more than that, these people have become part of my personal life. As an artist/entertainer, there is a perception that you need to keep your distance from fans, at least to some degree. I tried to do that, and I failed. Who came to SiglerFest2K12? My friends did.

Thank you all for taking the time to savor Vegas debauchery with A and I. It was a high-point of my career.

AN ODE TO AREALGIRL:
I have to express my thanks to A Kovacs for setting this whole thing up. I'd love to tell you that I was up to my dirty elbows in prepping SiglerFest2K12, but that would be a lie. Not that I lie. Ever. This time out, I was trying to meet a PANDEMIC deadline, which meant the organizational wunderkind that is ARealGirl had to create the whole event mostly by herself. She orchestrated a whirlwind of good times. So thank you, A, you are the most amazing business partner a short, bald writer with delusions of grandeur could ever ask for (and/or create in a laboratory while wearing a bra on his head).

Man-o-man! Another amazing Junkie Tat! This time around it's "Izic the Weird" and his To Pirates team logo tat, with a killer phrase "Memento Mori" thrown in. Recognize the name? Just dig out your copy of THE ALL-PRO and look at the All-Pro selections for the season (so, yes, he's an All-Pro in THE ALL-PRO).

What? Are you talking to me? Sorry, I can't hear you because my head is so swollen my ears are in another time zone. 

Junkies, I bring you bad news. The INFECTED graphic novel is on hold indefinitely. Issue #1 of this 5-issue series is available in stores and online, but we have no date for when Issue #2 will be available. 

What's the deal, you ask? Well, the problem lies not with IDW Publishing, who have been fantastic throughout the process. Unfortunately, the problem lies with us. 

Artist Chad Minshew has yet to complete Issue #2. We're about three months late turning that in to IDW. We were already late with Issue #1, which caused IDW some level of embarassment with stores and their distributor. They extended the deadline for Issue #2, but when we missed that deadline as well, they had to make a business decision: they will wait until all four remaining issues are complete, and only then will they re-solicit the book and work to put it in stores.

Chad's work in INFECTED #1 is phenomenal. We've learned, however, that he works at a slower pace than we'd like. He is a perfectionist, doing both the art and the color. IDW gave us another colorist to help Chad catch up, but Chad did not like how that turned out and wanted to do it himself to make sure the series comes out the way he envisions it. 

So at the moment, the series is on hold. I'm busy working on PANDEMIC, and ARealGirl is busy working on bringing you eBooks for TITLE FIGHT, THE DETECTIVE and THE CRYPT:Book One, as well as managing paperback production of THE ALL-PRO and THE MVP. We've got full plates. At this point, we have to trust in Chad and hope he can get the word done sooner rather than later. 

Dark Øverlord is not making excuses here. We promised to deliver a product and failed on that promise. This is a black eye for us, and we will learn from it. INFECTED will not be the last comic that we do.

Kelly the Builder (a.k.a., Junkie Kelly McArdle) has taken it upon his Quyth Leader self to engineer a Lego model of the P.U.V. James Keeling, also known as "The Crypt." Yes, this will be a whoop-ass, three-foot-long Lego model of everyone's favorite mysterious ship. These pictures show the internal frame he's using for the build.

Kelly's plan is to not only build this, but track instructions and a parts order sheet so that anyone can buy the goods and make their own model. Yes, that's what I just said right there. 

When I was a kid, my very first scifi ships/armies/plots were built with Legos. I didn't make the ship shown on the box, I uses all the parts to make my own designs. I love Legos and this is super exciting to me. Kick that ass, Kelly the Builder!