I went to Meltdown Comics recently because I’ve always wanted to hang out there. It’s where Chris Hardwick does his Nerdist podcast , plus they offer comic book classes I want to take. - Check out the Meltdown site and check out the classes they offer here (sounds fun, right? I’m so taking these classes)
I stopped by on a night when they were hosting one of their many events in the ghetto back room (holds about 100 folding chairs, concrete floor, low ceiling) - this one was called Star Dreck, which is a lot like Mystery Science Theater, only they make fun of bad Star Trek episodes. If you’re not familiar, MST is the original nerd comedy show where weird characters sat in front of a movie screen playing a horribly bad movie they’d make fun of. 
The guys started with some stand up banter at the start, then they rolled a couple of REALLY BAD Star Trek The Next Generation eps, truly awful, and made fun of them while they ran. All four guys were huge Star Trek fans, so they were sort of making fun of themselves.
The guys were, from left to right:
Matt Mirra – Cool guy, and the least known (maybe that’s why he was so cool!)
Tom Lennon – the most well known of the four panelists, and by for the most vulgar
Kumail Nanjiani - actually, kind of a snarky jerk, I thought. But I guess that’s his thing
Paul Scheer – Liked this guy a lot, very cool and laid back and funny
I love this about living in LA for a season – so much interesting creative stuff going on everywhere! I’m swimming in weird.
Tags: chris hardwick meltdown mystery science theater nerdist paul scheer star dreck star trek
Dark Eden has won a QED. The award from Digital Book World celebrates quality, excellence and design in ebooks. Dark Eden, a revolutionary idea in ebook publishing can be purchased for your iPad, iPhone, or iPad as well as in the android market. 85 awards were given out this year, some of the winners include Jay-Z, Steven Tyler, and Martha Stewart.
Dark Eden is one of the only two “YA-Centric” projects to win the award.
“We consider the QED the ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval™’ for ebooks – a mark of quality that publishers, authors, and content creators can proudly bear to assure readers can buy with confidence. Ebook sales are growing dramatically and readers need to know what they’re buying will render well regardless of device – tablet, e-reader, smartphone or PC – before they buy. It’s really gratifying to see that so many publishers across a range of genres are producing ebooks of the highest quality now.”
—David Blansfield, President, F+W Media, parent company to Digital Book World
Tags: app Dark Eden Digital Book World ebook iPad iPhone Patrick Carman QED
Love this! A letter from a librarian:
Dear Mr. Carman,
I am a librarian who teaches library skills to 5th graders. I read aloud to them each week and am currently reading Mick Harte Was Here. I just couldn’t bring myself to read that the day before winter break so I told the kids I had a surprise for them. At first, they were irritated, but I told them that I just couldn’t handle the sadness right before we were leaving to have a good time for two weeks. Anyway, I pulled out my copy of 3:15 Season One and we watched, listened, and read a couple of the stories. Scared the crud out of a couple of the girls, but the success was obvious yesterday, our first day back.
My kids came running into class, “Mrs. Zorc, I brought that book and read all the stories!” ( To be honest, I had to wrack my brain to remember back that far!) :-) “Mrs. Zorc, I got the app for that 3:15 book.” …3 kids out of 24…not bad, huh? I just smiled. Then, of course, “You know, Mrs. Zorc, I had bad dreams because of that book.” (She didn’t look all that traumatized!) :-)
Anyway, just thought I would let you know that these are very good readers so it works on SO many levels! Thank you for this book!
I hope you have a very good 2012!
A fan!
Mrs. Zorc, NBCT
Daniel Wright Junior High School
Thanks Mrs. Zorc! If you want to reach us with your stories, questions or comments you can do so at fansandevents@gmail.com
For you iPhone and iPad users, a terrifying part of the Skeleton Creek story that you may not have seen before. Find out what really happened to The Apostle, the whole terrifying story in words and video, by searching the App Store using the keyword “dredge” — believe it or not, our creepy adventure is ready to creeping onto your phones! It’s part of the 3:15 series. One word of advice: you’ll want to leave the lights on for this one…
When I was a kid to think about 2012 was to dream of a futuristic world where cars flew and robots serve us drinks. Ok, well I learned that from the Jetsons. Even as a kid I knew cars wouldn’t really be able to fold up into a briefcase. Okay, that’s a lie. They totally folded like that. And flew to the moon and drove under water and had machine gun turrets that shot candy.
Well, 2012 has arrived and the world isn’t quite like I imagined it would be. Instead of flying cars we’ve got iPads, smart phones, and Top Chef. Pretty good, even if none of those things can fly me to the moon or distribute free candy when I demand it. Even books have turned out differently than I thought. I never imagined things like Skeleton Creek, 3:15, Trackers, or Dark Eden when I was ten, but I’m glad there’s room in the modern world for many kinds of reading experiences. Heck, I’m just psyched we’re still reading!
2012 will include the totally traditional second Floors book, so you’ll be able to discover what happens to Leo and Remi in the Whippet Hotel through words, words, and more words. And Eve of Destruction, the next Dark Eden project will be headed your way before summer. It’s an exciting time for books, both traditional and Transmedia. And I’m beginning work on a new traditional YA trilogy – top secret! – so stay tuned for news on that.
For quick updates daily you can get those in numerous places, here are a couple:
Here’s wishing all of us a great 2012, even if cars can’t fly.
Patrick
Tags: 2012 author books Dark Eden Floors jetsons Patrick Carman transmedia
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