Same book, new Amazon address

As you may be aware, CreateSpace (the printing service through which I self-publish "Swords & Sixguns: An Outlaw's Tale") is owned by Amazon, who also owns Kindle Direct Publishing (the platform supporting the ebook version of my novel). Until recently, these were considered two separate entities, even though they had the same owner and offered very similar services: I had two accounts, two royalty notices each month, etc. Well, someone at Amazon just realized it was silly to keep them separate, so they began consolidating the accounts this month. Due to this, the Amazon link I'd previously used for my paperback is now defunct (the Kindle link remains the same, though). Here's the new one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1540506924

Now this doesn't mean the paperback itself has changed. It's the same cover, the same ISBN, and the same contents. I simply had to verify my account info to complete the move, which led to an updated address. I'm in the process of changing all the links for it that I scattered about Facebook and my blog, so if you hit an old one and come up empty, don't fret, the paperback is still available, it's just scooted over to a new spot.

(By the by, this is apparently my 100th blog post...sorry it's not more earth-shattering!)

Take a Trip to Border Town

Back when I started this blog, I was expecting to write more about comics than I actually have (or rather, I expected to write about a wider variety...hey, I've found my niche and I've stuck with it).  But last week I picked up the first issue of a new series that truly moved me to put fingers to keyboard so I could sing its praises.  And I'll admit, the fact that I've known the artist for quite a few years is part of the motivating factor.

Like myself, Ramon Villalobos was one of the earliest staff members over at the DC2 fanfiction site, and was even kind enough to do the cover for Weird Western Quarterly #1.  Right from the get-go, you could see the grit and dedication he put into his work, something that set him in the upper-echelon of artists for the site.  As the years passed, his style evolved into something utterly unique and unmistakably his own (I love how he outfits just about everyone in chunky sneakers with deep treads), and I was glad when "The Big Two" finally sat up and took notice.  While I'll never be a full-on Marvel zombie, I was more than glad to pick up his work on What If: Age of Ultron and Original Sins for Marvel.  Then I heard Ramon had landed a gig at DC/Vertigo doing a new series called Border Town, so of course I took a peek, and it was love at first preview.  Not only was it top-notch Villalobos, but the dialogue by Eric M. Esquivel is wonderful: funny one moment, thought-provoking the next (I'm waiting for the day I get to use the phrase "world's shittiest centaur"):

I came here for monsters, but it's the human characters that have me enraptured.  It's a great mix, and I'm looking forward to seeing Frank, Julietta, Aimi, and Quinteh (I have a soft spot for gentle giants) every month.  I want to see the problems they're going to face both in and out of school, as well as how they're gonna handle the monsters we know are coming...and I don't just mean the chupacabra that runs rampant through the story, I mean the human ones, like the skinhead who gets a very-deserved beatdown, as rendered to perfection by Ramon:

I heard that the first printing of Border Town #1 has already sold out, and DC has gone back to press, which just blows my mind.  As someone who has to hustle like crazy to sell her own work, I am so proud of Ramon and Eric that they have an apparent runaway success from Day One.  I wish them 100+ issues, and I promise to be there to buy all of them.