The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

Brook's worldbuilding skills are impressive, her Iron Seas setting rivaling Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century for potential stories, and I daresay its backstory is actually a bit more compelling, despite my general preference for American-flavored steampunk.

Fragmented Marketing: Making Mickey a Transmedia Epic

While Epic Mickey can certainly be used as an example of transmedia development, I'd argue that the process only got it half right since there doesn't appear to be an integrated marketing plan in effect.

Fragmented Marketing: Making Owls Appealing

"From the Director of 300 and Watchmen" isn't an ideal tagline for a PG-rated movie aimed at kids.

Review: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers My rating: 5 of 5 stars In ZEITOUN, Dave Eggers does an excellent job of weaving Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun's compelling backstories and Katrina experiences together, shaded by post-9/11 xenophobia, and delivers a powerful documentary of what will most likely be looked back upon by history as one of this country's … Continue reading Review: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers →

On Inception, The Passage, and Writing in The Obama Era

The weakness of "It's all a dream" — why we hate that, why we feel cheated when narratively anything is revealed to be all a dream — is that you've just asked me to spend so much time and emotional capital investing in the stakes of this, and you've now swept it away with the … Continue reading On Inception, The Passage, and Writing in The Obama Era →

Reading Is Fun(damental)

“A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints” Wilfred Peterson (via dhammza) At the beginning of the year I made several resolutions, one of which I … Continue reading Reading Is Fun(damental) →

Killer iPad Apps: ComiXology

It's been two weeks since Steve Jobs' "magical and revolutionary" device officially went from fascinating Rorschach test to tangible consumer appliance, and while some of the hype around it being the savior of book, magazine and newspaper publishing has thankfully died down, there's no debating that Apple's App Store has had a significant impact … Continue reading Killer iPad Apps: ComiXology →

Playing with the Kindle, Playing with the Future

A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future. --Sidney J. Harris It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of eBooks or eReaders, but there's no question they're growing in popularity... at least amongst technology companies. While the hype … Continue reading Playing with the Kindle, Playing with the Future →

Dialect of a Skirt by Erica Miriam Fabri

Erica is a great poet, one whose work I’ve had the pleasure of publishing in Spindle; she’s also a friend, so take my recommendation (and criticism) with a grain of salt. Generally speaking, I prefer my poetry a la carte or in thematic anthologies; I’m not a fan of individual collections of poetry unless a … Continue reading Dialect of a Skirt by Erica Miriam Fabri →

Review: GROUNDSWELL, by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Solid info and insights, coupled with clear (if sometimes incomplete) case studies make GROUNDSWELL: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (Harvard Business School Press; 2008) ideal for the C-Suite skeptic and those trying to influence their embrace of socialization. Published last year, and working primarily from data collected in 2007, it holds up … Continue reading Review: GROUNDSWELL, by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff →