Submit to Machine of Death VOLUME 2!

Machine of Death — the short story collection that I put together with Ryan North and Matthew Bennardo — continues to do great. We’re well past 20,000 copies sold, with no end in sight, and we were one of Amazon’s best-selling books of 2010. The reviews have continued to be overwhelmingly positive, and we keep doing strange things like inviting you to send us things in the mail.

Now we’re doing another whole book! Because why not.

We expect the book will be out sometime in the middle of next year. But before we release the book, we need to make the book! Through July 15, 2011, we are accepting submissions of short stories and art portfolios for Machine of Death Volume 2.

I spoke to Chris Lough at Tor.com about the submission guidelines:

Are you hoping to see more genres come in? Not just SF, but fantasy, romance, steampunk, pulp, and so on?

DM: Yes, absolutely! The first anthology wasn’t “hard” SF anyway, though the SF audience seems to have embraced it and it’s now found on SF shelves in bookstores. But breaking out of genre is one of the great ways we hope to see folks broaden the content of the second volume.

We’ve posted, and will be continuing to post, some cool writer’s resources for you on the MOD blog:

Full submission guidelines for MOD2
Direction for stories we’d like to see
• Insights into the selection process
Tips for avoiding pitfalls in short fiction in general

And much more cool stuff in the archives at machineofdeath.net. Add the MOD RSS to your reader, or like us on Facebook, to stay up-to-date on MOD stuff! We keep coming up with new weird things to try, many of which you can be a part of.

The deadline for MOD2 submissions is July 15, so get cracking! And of course, if you don’t know what any of this is about, you can check out Machine of Death Volume 1 as a free PDF, free podcast, or grab a copy in paper or electrons.

Machine of Death Talent Show – Tuesday night!

The Machine of Death talent show in Hollywood is coming up in just a few days! As you recall, it’s what prompted the creation of Boom! And a Bear Comes Out, the party hit of the summer.

Over on the MoD blog I’ve announced the full lineup for the show. Highlights include:

• A live rap performance by me
• An improv set by Mission IMPROVable’s The Grind
• A reading from MOD by The Sound of Young America‘s Jesse Thorn
• And, of course, the heart of the show: the wonderful talents of spirited readers who took the initiative to make something cool.

We’ve got musicians, monologists, animations and all sorts of stuff planned — and I really want to reward these folks by packing the place Tuesday night. The house opens at 7:30, admission is free, and there’s even going to be birthday cake.

The Fake Gallery, 4319 Melrose Ave, Hollywood


View Larger Map

More details here! And the Facebook invite is here, if you’d like to RSVP. We’ll also be livestreaming the entire event at machineofdeath.net.

During the show, feel free to tweet your thoughts using hashtag #MachineofDeath (and search #MachineofDeath to see what other folks are saying)! I’ll be reading some of my favorite tweets during the show.

I have been quivering in my sleep anticipating this show! PLUS: SURPRISES. Of the GREAT kind.

ALSO

One of our talent show musicians has asked if I can find a sax player who would like to accompany him during his song with a brief solo. “No rehearsal required,” he says! Would you like to bust a sweet sax solo on Tuesday night? Email me (dave at wondermark dot com), and I’ll see to it that you leave the show with something special for your trouble.

IN SUMMARY

I had Easter lunch with my mom, and she said “David, the thing about you is that you can take a small thing, and make it into a big thing in a way nobody else would think to do.” I think I fundamentally do not know how to do a thing simply. Maybe it’s a medical issue? The moral of the story is, once I decided to put on a talent show, I set myself on this path toward the creation of a massive thing, and I owe it to all the people involved to see it done right. Will you help out, and provide these folks with the audience they deserve? Watch us, online or in person, live on Tuesday night. I guarantee it will be amazing.

Boom! And a Bear Comes Out

I wrote a song! It has been running through my mind for a long time, and I finally said “You know what? It is time to FINISH THIS. Time to lay it down. Time to make it the PARTY HIT OF THE SUMMER.”

Boom! And a Bear Comes Out from David Malki ! on Vimeo.

I hope you like it!

If you also have a nagging “cool thing” that you need an excuse to finish, why not submit something to the Machine of Death Talent Show? We’ve pushed back the submission deadline to April 20, and we will accept video performances from remote participants (although if you’re in the Los Angeles area, we’d love to physically put you on the stage)!

More info here. If you can’t submit something, we hope you’ll at least watch the show on the evening of April 26, either live in Los Angeles or livestreamed at MachineofDeath.net. Here’s the Facebook event!

I will tease you with this as well: everyone who’s able to attend the show in person will go home with a very special item that we’ll be unveiling the evening of.

Admission will be free, so if you can’t make it, send your Los Angeleno friends!

Sketches from MoCCA!

Thanks for coming and saying hello at MoCCA last weekend! It was a fun show. I loved being in New York, and it’s always super encouraging and energizing to meet nice people who have nice things to say.

Some of you were clearly nervous, but don’t worry! It was adorable. I get nervous sometimes too. I did not think you were weird. This is the first time in a very long time that I can confidently stamp a show as “WEIRDO-FREE.” I did not meet a single weirdo all weekend! (Until I got on the subway, of course. But that’s a different story.)

Mediocre Sketches

As I normally do, I was offering Mediocre Sketches to all and sundry. As I normally forget to do, though, this time I had the presence of mind to take some pictures!

I usually ask the sketch requester for a suggestion of what to draw — unlike other cartoonists, I don’t have easy characters to just whip out a sketch of. Most people prefer to leave the choice to me (as in the above), which is fine, but I also got some good requests!

“Octopuss in Boots”

“Elephant Chef”

“Dignified Portrait” (click for bigger)

Machine of Death

I also managed to whip up a portable Machine of Death to administer mortality predictions on the spot. Normally this sort of thing is done in a van with an autoclave and a stack of waivers and a full counseling crew on-hand, but in a pinch I made do with a piece of cardboard and a Sharpie.

Dresden Codak‘s Aaron Diaz was my dapper model for this demonstration (with thanks to Chris Hastings for the pics):

WATCH OUT FOR RUBBER DUCKIES AARON

MOD Collector’s Sets are almost gone!

I just heard from Jeffrey at TopatoCo that the Machine of Death Collector’s Sets are already two-thirds gone! Less than 100 copies remain in the world. Update: They’re all gone! The regular edition is still available though!

If you picked one up, thank you so much! I really hope you enjoy it. There is a team of people diligently hand-lettering the certificates as we speak.

If you haven’t yet, the sets will only be up till Saturday, or while supplies last, whichever comes first! I expect they will probably sell out before Saturday.

TRIVIA TIDBIT: The hardcover edition includes 78% more sassiness than the paperback. This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and is not intended to cure, diagnose, or treat any disease.

Machine of Death limited hardcover edition + collector’s set