And scanning... no, wait, i'm done!

Except for a few odds-n-ends that may appear in the near future, I've done all the scanning. The number of scanned covers tops out at a whopping 544. That means that the book will include well more than 500 images in the trade edition with the additional ones in the limited edition. Wow, that's more than I even expected.

Calling it a night

I'm done for the night. A total of 445 covers have been scanned with the completion of the mass-market paperbacks. All thats left are the magazines, limited editions and oversized books. (Though remember not all of the limited edition covers will appear in the trade edition of my book...)

Here's what I now know I also need: Paperback first printings of the following titles — Darkfall, The Face of Fear, Lightning, The Mask, Midnight, Strangers, The Vision (Ballantine), and Watchers. In all cases I either have a later printing or a copy in such bad shap as to not make it worthy. If you have any of these drop me a line.

Lastly, I've been in contact with the Freas family and have confirmed that my copy of Invasion is indeed autographed by artist Kelly Freas.

New find

Although not a find a monumental proportions the book I just picked up at the library did give up a small gem. Page 212 of The Great American Paperback by Ricahrd A. Lupoff does feature the cover of Koontz' Dark of the Woods with the following caption:

"Doubled with a Koontz PBO (Soft Come the Dragons, cover by Jack Gaughan) this is one of the books that the author doesn’t particularly care to see reprinted. Koontz was a competent but unremarkable science fiction writer in his early years, then found his métier in high tension suspense and borderline horror and leaped to the bestseller list."

And scanning...

332 scans complete. All that's left are the US Mass Markets, the old SF paperbacks, the AV material and the limiteds. Oh, and the magazines. (The pulps are done). I'm off the the library to pick up a book that will most likely be listed in the ephemera section... I'll post something about it here once I get back.

I need a scan of the cover of the paperback 1st printing of stalkers. It seems that my copy is a 4th and therefore is not embossed and has different colors.

Scanning, scanning, scanning

I've completed 252 scans so far. All that there's left to do are the SF paperbacks, The paperback anthologies, the audiobooks and videos and some of the limited edition hardcovers. Maybe about 200 more scans.

I've found that I need the following covers: The Magnum edition of Dark of the summer, Demon Child, Children of the Storm and Legacy of Terror, also the UH HC of Prison of Ice. If you have any of these please contact me.

I'm off to get some lunch and get my car's emmisions check done. Hopefully I'll be back to my scanner in under three hours.

RSS article

I checked my contract and it did allow for me to publish my article on my Web site. You can find it on my articles page.

You can go blind doing that you know

Well, three hours of looking at that damn light bar in my scanner, for books won't let you close the cover that much, and I've got 133 scans done. How many to go? Who knows. I've gone through the trade hardcovers, that's all. I'm maybe 20% done.

BTW, I'm not scanning every cover, just the significant ones. For example, if the HC and BCE covers are the same, I scann the HC cover. If the BCE cover is significantly different then it gets a scan too. UK covers are obly being scaned if that edition is bibliographically significant; i.e. different title, different pseudonym, only HC edition, etc.

I'll probably keep scanning for a little while longer tonight while I've got the momentum but I'm starting to get a tad bit weary of the whole thing and will be calling it a night soon.

If you have a scanner I'm in need of the following (so far): covers of the UK HC editions of Icebound and DROTH. The Scans need to be 75dpi, 256-grays and full size. (Sorry, no color images in the trade edition of the book. Did you know that there will be a color plates section of the ultra rare stuff (like the edition of Beastchild bound in lizard skin) in the limited edition?)

P.S. Thanks to Bill for the UK DROTH info and to Fred for the Christmas 2000 issue of Useless News.

Status update

Well, found a few new items today so I've got them into the book. I also received a copy of the Christmas 2000 issue of Useless News which was promptly integrated into the text. I also ran through the last of the unentered magazine articles that have been sitting in a box. So, with the exception of a few outstanding holes that I'm waiting on answers form others to fill them in, and a last pass at Dean's comments from May 2002, the text is just about done. (O.k. what does that really mean? Well, unless seomthing drops in my lap between now and sending the ms to Rich, hopefully next week, nothing more is going in.) All that having been said, now comes the lovely job of scanning hundreds of book covers...

Useless news

O.k. I have the following issues of Dean Koontz's Useless News which I'd previously forgotten to put into the book. If there are others please let me know.

Autumn '99, Spring 2000, Holidays 2001, Holidays 2002, Spring 2003

UK Firsts

I've completed integrating the Koontz UK first editions that preceed the US first editions. The only other UK editions that will appear in the book are those with significant collectability differences such as a different pseudonym, different title or only HC edition.

I am looking for someone with a UK HC first of Dark Rivers of the Heart. If you have one please contact me ASAP.

The shelf

For the past year I've had a single bookshelf that was overflowing with Koontz items (books, essays, reviews, etc.) that still had to be entered into the book. I'd like to announce the following: That shelf is now clear. So, unless Dean publishes something in the next two months or something previously unknown appears suddenly, everything that's going to be in the book is in the book. (With the exception of the ARC of Odd Thomas that I just won on eBay...

Now I'm on to filling in some holes (I've got e-mails out and I'm waiting for responses), finishing incorporating Dean's comments, dealing with some apparent inconsistancies in what Dean's said in the past to what he's said more recently (no I'm not telling), scanning literally hundreds of covers and editing for consistancy.

I'll keep posting updates here all week.

Home stretch

I am off work all this week to get my Dean Koontz book finished. Wish me luck!

Article out

My "Introduction to RSS" has been published in the August 2003 issue of Buisness Information Alert. Sorry but there isn't an official online version but I believe my contract allows me to post it on my site. I'll check that out and post it if allowed.

Jail for a short story

According to this Wired News article an 18-year-old highschool stodent could get jail time for penning a story about an attack on school. More information on Brian's plight, including the full text of the story can be found at savebrian.org.

Forthcoming adventure

Looks like I'm going GeoCaching over Labor Day weekend. I'll be sure to post the results here.

Are your users stupid?

If so you just might need Stupida Mouse.

Walter isaacson

A photo of the author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life can be found on my authors photos page.

Do you get the joke?

There are only 10 types of people who understand binary. Those who do and those who don't.

Great subject line

Posted yesterday to Webdesign-L:
Re: [WD]: em vs. px , mac vs. pc, cheech vs. chong, fixed vs. fluid

SoBig.F

I got home at 9pm this evening and started downloading my e-mail. 487 copies of that damn virus later...

Censors rejoyce

Regarding the recent settlement in Minneapolis, Family.org has this to say in a recent article:

"I would think (the Minneapolis settlement) would make libraries more cautious about when to disable the filtering," Burt said.

Phil Burress, head of Citizens for Community Values - a Cincinnati group which operates the national Family Friendly Libraries program - agreed the settlement should give pause to all libraries.

"How do you know that it's not a pedophile that's coming in and saying, 'I just want to do some research, will you turn the filters off?' " Burress asked.

He said if turning off filters should ever lead to harm to a child or a worker being exposed to offensive material, another lawsuit is bound to follow.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

After more than six years I've finally run into L.E. Modesitt, Jr. again. (I only run his Web site...) Anyway, I showed up with every book I had of his that I'd purchased since the last time I caught up with him. This included more than a dozen paperback originals, about two dozen hardcovers, the ARC of almost every title he written and a complete set of pulp appearances. This totaled about 65 books; two boxes and a folding luggage cart. A photo can be found on my authors photos page.

The robotic librarian

La-D-Da has release an amusing little ditty titled The Robotic Librarian. The lyrics for The Erotic Librarian are sure to follow.

Release date

According to the publisher my next book, The Neal-Schuman Directory of Management Software for Public Access Computers, will be released on September 26th.

A bad precident

The Minneapolis Public Library has settled (for aproximately $435,000) a case with a dozen employees over a 'hostile work environment' in regards to patrons looking at constitutionally protected speech on the public computers. Here's a new article on the settlement and the statement from the library board.

Eclectic tastes

So today I bought both Kiss' Symphony: Alive IV and Harry Conick, Jr.'s Other Hours: Connick on Piano 1. I'm not quite sure what this says about my listening habbits.

Google Calculator

Did you know that you can use Google as a calculator?

Quote

Read the whole Sherman Alexie interview that is the source for his quote regarding librarians.

Boots

Ah, a whole day of listening to nothing but David Bowie bootlegs spanning that past 30+ years. Heaven! (Thinking about my Rolex helped too.) Want to trade? (Bowie, not Rolexes!) Drop me a line...

Uh, yeah

Undeniable Forensic Proof that Paul McCartney really was replaced with a Look-Alike in 1966.

Babylon 5 news, sorta

B5 creator in kitten rescue drama

So, you're a li-berry-an?

This Boondocks comic is nothing short of genius!
Thanks Jim

Scary government idea of the week

According to this C|Net article the feds want to propose "smart stamps" to track the mail.

The zippless format

It seems that the new versions of popular zip programs will be incompatible.

<truth type="ohSo" />

"Women are like watches: The finer the movement the better the time"
— Unknown

An end to the friends

For those wishing to read a not-so-positive article on the recent goings-on at the Denver Public Library you can read the Westword article. It's causing quite a stir in the Denver metro area.

What a tounge

Today I met Mr. Winkle at the tattered cover. Photos can be found on my author photos page.

<goddess type="greek"> Annie </goddess>

Wireless McDonalds

During my recent trip to San Francisco I saw a billboard about McDonalds having wireless Internet access. Here's an article about it. I'm still not sure what to think. Check out www.mcdwireless.com to see if it's avialable in your area.

Reviewing

A few months ago I was asked to read a proposed table of contents from another publisher's forthcoming XHTML book and answer fewer than ten questions. For this I was paid $50. Now they're asking me to review four of the manuscript's chapters and answer some more questions. For that, $200. I could get to like this.

Gone flat

That's it, my bike has had it's last flat tire. This weekend I'm getting airless tubes.

<about>time</about>

I've been divorced for a year now. I guess it was time to remove my ex from the speed dial on the phone. (I wasn't keeping her there for any particular reason, I just hadn't bothered to remove her.) Sometimes I need a virtual kick in the pants. (Thanks Annie!)

That very overdue book

Yeah, yeah, yeah. My Dean Koontz book is two years overdue. Well, that little problem should be solved soon. I've been told that I'm taking the last week of August off of work and getting it in shape enough to submit it to the publisher. If I don't, "there will be consequences". At least, that's what my girlfriend tells me...

Seen at the airport

A button that read "When Clinton lied, nobody died."

Author

A photo of Sidney Blumenthal, former advisor to President Clinton is now up on my author photos page.

More editing

I received back the edit of my RSS article today. I reveiwed it, made a few small changes and sent it back. Assuming I didn't do any damage in the eyes of the editor, that article is done and will be in the September issue of Business Information Alert.

Ahead of schedule

According to Neal-Schuman, my library software book "may be out by the end of the month."

Retraction

Well, it seems that Quessing Courseware Corp. is still around. Guess they were just having site problems for a few days.

Kayak Attack!

Kayak Lessons
Copyright 1999 W. Bruce Cameron www.wbrucecameron.com
Reprint permission courtsey of W. Bruce Cammeron
Subscribe by sending the words "subscribe cameron" to majordomo@cwe.com

I don't recall ever having expressed an interest in kayaking. Any activity that requires the participants to wear a helmet and a life jacket is plainly something in which I should not be involved. In fact, I pretty much avoid all sports which cannot be played while holding a hot dog. Nonetheless, for my birthday this year my children purchased me kayak lessons at the local recreation center.

Now, for you uninitiated, a kayak is a thin sliver of boat into which the victim is hermetically sealed by way of a rubber "skirt." Picture being adhered to a water ski by a suction cup and being handed a paddle that looks like a helicopter rotor--that's kayaking. A kayak is about as stable as a guest on the Jerry Springer Show--it feels as if it will dive for the bottom at the slightest excuse. Kayaks were invented by Eskimos to be used in their death-wish rituals, and now can be found every weekend on the local rivers, flitting about like giant psychotic water bugs.

Fortunately, or so I thought at the time, my lessons were scheduled to take place in a swimming pool, where I felt it unlikely that I would encounter any white water. My instructor, a bearded fellow named Tom, lined up six of us in our wobbly boats in about five feet of water, and proceeded to tell us that our first lesson would be in how to tip over.

How to tip over! That's like telling a pilot that his first lesson in flying will be in how to crash. I held up my hand. "Uh, Tom? I think my kayak already knows how to tip over."

Tom was amused. No, he explained, I had misunderstood. When out in the rapids, the strong currents sometimes flipped the kayaks over. But instead of sinking, the kayak's rubber seal would keep the vessel buoyant, so all we needed to do was learn how to flip back up.

"Uh, Tom?" My hand was back in the air. "Why would we want to go out in the rapids when we have this nice pool?"

"Let's get started," Tom suggested. He walked us through the whole maneuver, and then, probably concerned that I might feel I wasn't getting my money's worth from these lessons, he said we would start with me. He reach out and flipped my kayak over.

I was plunged into the wet. Gamely I followed Tom's instructions, rotating my paddle and thrusting my hips. I did not rise into the air. Instead, the shallow end of the pool entered my nose and began washing my brain in chlorinated water.

Tom heaved me back up, and I came out sputtering. "Whoa, Mr. Cameron! You just missed me with your paddle, there," Tom warned.

"That's because my eyes are so full of water I can't aim properly," I choked.

"Do you know what you are doing wrong?" Tom asked.

"Drowning?" I suggested.

"You're supposed to hip thrust AFTER you rotate the paddle," Tom chided. "Let's try it again."

Back into the drink. Unexpectedly, I found myself thinking of my Grandfather, probably because I could hear his voice telling me to "move into the light." I tried to remember the advice he used to give me. "Son," he'd say proudly, "you're a dim-witted lad who will never amount to anything."

Right, Grandpa! So why am I upside down under a kayak, hydrating my lungs, when I could be at home on my couch living up to my lack of potential? I gathered what little strength I had and kicked hard against the bottom of the kayak, popping out like a champagne cork. I swam over to the pool ladder and climbed out.

"Mr. Cameron, where are you going?" Tom demanded.

I turned to face him and the rest of the class. I was still wearing the rubber skirt from the kayak, which stuck out from my hips like a Tupperware tutu. It may not have been my most manly moment. "Tom," I said, "if God had meant for me to kayak, he wouldn't have invented the outboard motor." I went home and watched a bass fishing show on television.

Now, THAT'S boating.

Write to the author at bruce@wbrucecameron.com

Submitted & Revised

The Outlook Express for Smart Computing was turned in today and I wrote a requested new introductory paragraph for my RSS article.

Marvin reincarnated

It seems that Marvin the Martian has been reincarnated as a Web server.

Insert Queen lyric here

It looks like my first publisher, Quessing Courseware Corp. is no longer in business.