Scalzi, Wheaton, friends do DRM-free ebook to benefit Lupus foundation

John Scalzi sez,

Wil Wheaton, John Scalzi and Subterranean Press are proud to announce the publication of CLASH OF THE GEEKS, a special and fantastical electronic chapbook. It features stories by Wheaton, Scalzi, New York Times bestseller Patrick Rothfuss, Norton Award winner and Hugo Best Novel nominee Catherynne M. Valente, Hugo and Nebula Award nominee Rachel Swirsky, and others, and is for the benefit of the Michigan/Indiana affiliate of the Lupus Alliance of America.

The chapbook is available DRM-free in multiple electronic formats at http://unicornpegasuskitten.com. It is free to download, but voluntary payment is strongly encouraged, via Paypal or by tax-deductible donation, with links to both provided at the unicornpegasuskitten.com Web site. All proceeds from this chapbook will go to the Michigan/Indiana affiliate of the Lupus Alliance of America.

The stories in the chapbook are each based on an image created by artist Jeff Zugale at the direction of Scalzi, in which Scalzi, portrayed as an axe-wielding orc, is confronted by Wheaton, who is wearing a clown sweater and holding a spear whilst astride a flying unicorn pegasus kitten. Each author was encouraged to use their own imagination to explain what was going on in the picture and why. The results were diverse, imaginative, and given the caliber of the contributors, unsurprisingly well-done.

In addition to the professional writers who agreed to contribute works, Wheaton, Scalzi and Subterranean Press also ran a “fan fiction” contest, in which anyone could submit a short story based on the picture. From hundreds of submissions, two stories, by Bernadette Durbin and Scott Mattes, were chosen. In addition, songwriter John Anealio composed a ballad, the musical transcription of which is included in the chapbook, and online gaming community legend Stephen Toulouse contributed a tech-oriented one-act play.

CLASH OF THE GEEKS

(Thanks, John!)