The Next Fix

THE YEAR OF M&M: THE GRAND FINALE

In the beginning (of 2008) two arch-nemeses made a pact to conquer the world that would inevitably become their final battlefield. These titans were known to the masses that came to serve under their respective rules as Matt Wallace and Mur Lafferty, and they called their historic treaty The Year of M&M.

It prevailed.

In 2008 they both saw their debut books published. Matt dropped his premiere short story collection The Next Fix to rave reviews while Mur gave the reading world her novel Playing for Keeps and watched it climb to the top of the Amazon charts.

To mark both occasions, the holiday season, and drive sales to the gates of Valhalla itself, Matt and Mur now present THE YEAR OF M&M: THE GRAND FINALE

Order BOTH The Next Fix and Playing for Keeps between December 8th and December 15th and not only will you be giving yourself or a loved one the gift of supreme doctrine and epic storytelling, you will be entered in M&M's Spectacular Holiday Raffle. Prizes include an iPod Nano and a copy of every single title in the Apex Publications catalogue!

Finally, on Monday, December 15th, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, Matt and Mur are co-hosting a holiday bash on Second Life. The venue is The Tiki Bar in State of Mind. There will be a bull riding contest, bumper boat battles, and live music featuring some of the most popular acts on the internet. Matt and Mur will both be live in avatar form and you'll want to be ringside as they take flaming swords in hand to vie for control of the universe. Click here for the landmark and be there on the day.

What you MUST DO THIS HOLIDAY SEASON:

1) Come party with M&M like it's 2999. Will they duel to virtual death inside a steel cage on Second Life? Will their RL counterparts get blitzed on gin and rum and sing Christmas carols? DON'T MISS THE EXCITING CLIMAX.

2) Order The Next Fix and Playing for Keeps from Amazon.com and give the gift of fucking-your-shit-up storytelling this holiday season.

3) Make sure you're entered into the holiday raffle by e-mailing your Amazon.com receipt (dated between December 8th and December 15th) to thenextfix@gmail.com

Happy Holidays! FEAR THE FINAL BATTLE!

Before the premiere of ”Latchkeepers” during the jam-packed Singularity event at Balticon 42, I sat down with the fucking Mac Daddy of Mayhem himself—scholar, pimp, playa—THE David Kanter for a live edition of Audiometrix (a.k.a. “The Sound and the Soul of Stranger Things”). The recording is now on-line. We discussed my Tommy Monaghan-esque origin story, how I got involved with the show, The Year of M&M, and just exactly how I formulate those intriguing metaphors.

Dave’s words.

It was a fun piece of business. The crowd was feeling it, I had jokes, Dave wore an opera coat that made him look like God’s own MC. And it was an honor to be featured on Audiometrix and join an elite trio of writers that includes Scott Sigler and Gary Braunbeck. Well. Not so much Sigler. But you know.

You can download the interview here. Although I recommend visiting the site and leaving a comment. And digging the obligatory Next Fix plug in the show notes.

Mur Lafferty is one of my favorite people. We share many interests, we are both authors of podcast fiction. We even have the same birthday (July 25th. Send money). A while back we decided that the likes of Scott Sigler and J.C. Hutchins had their break out year and that it was our turn. We therefore declared 2008 The Year of M&M. I fired the first salvo with the publication of The Next Fix a couple of weeks ago. Well, Mur has answered. With a pair of motherfucking howitzers.

I’ve sung the praises of her latest podcast novel epic Playing for Keeps many times (if you’re reading this on livejournal, my avatar is a custom PfK job). Mur just announced that the very same novel has been picked up by Swarm Press (the new superhero imprint of Permuted Press) for an August 2008 release. But why settle for my martini-dry words on the matter. A zealous Mur fan (they are many and widespread) tracked her down at a book signing in Maryland this weekend and captured the following on video . . .


Not only is the news awesome, but can you beat that fetching smile and those loveably clumsy Vanna White-esque hand gestures? And although you can’t really tell in that clip, Mur has the long flowing vibrantly purple hair of a Valkyrie. Who serves as David Bowie’s bodyguard. IN SPACE.

And as if announcing the publication of Playing for Keeps wasn’t enough, Mur dropped another mortar shell filled with the black powder of awesome. She has signed on to be the newest featured columnist on SuicideGirls.com (oh, yes. THE Suicide Girls). Mur will be filling the large geek-shaped hole left by Wil Wheaton’s departure, focusing on geek culture, podcasting, comics, sci-fi, all that jazz. Her as-of-yet unnamed column will debut in June.

We are the Children of the 25th and it is The Year of M&M. FEAR US MOTHERFUCKER.

No, seriously, congratulations to Mur. Well-earned, well-deserved, and well-met across the fuckin’ board, dude.