The streets of Chicago are teeming with baddies, and it’s once again up to Harry Dresden to save the day. But time is running out. Halloween is swiftly drawing near, and if Harry can’t solve the case in time… Continue reading
Description
Declan Finn (Honor At Stake, The Pius Trilogy) has the wonderful RK ‘Shadowdancer’ Modena return. RK Modena is an artist whose work is on sale (and quite beautiful). She will join a panel that includes the Novel Ninja, Matthew Bowman (The Catholic Geeks, Novel Ninja), and author Tom Knighton (author of Bloody Eden, Bad Moon on the Rise, and more). We’ll cover #GamerGate, art (which Declan knows nothing about), censorship in gaming and whatever else comes up. Expect Sad Puppies, video games, Twitter wars, social media, and possibly stalking, who knows?
http://percolate.blogtalkradio.com/offsiteplayer?hostId=533877&episodeId=7945791
Description
Tonight, host Declan Finn (Honor at Stake) will talk with Damnation Press’ Erin Lale, as Erin gives us an after action report on this year’s WorldCon. Erin Lale is an author and editor. She’s a frequent contributor to Perihelion Science Fiction, owned The Science Fiction Store in Las Vegas, edited Berserkrgangr Magazine, is the author of Asatru For Beginners and American Celebration, the Acquisitions Editor at Eternal Press and Damnation Books, the Editor and Publisher of Time Yarns, and Editor of the anthology No Horns On These Helmets from Sky Warrior Books, and reviews books for Eternal Haunted Summer. She ran for Nevada State Assembly in 2010 and for Henderson City Council in 2013.
Source: The Catholic Geek: Erin Lale on WorldCon 09/20 by We Built That Network | Culture Podcasts
The only question is … why is it renewed?I was recently asked to write about Catholicism in my novels. Going through Honor at Stake, one might pick up on the fact that I’m Catholic. It’s only in about a quarter of the novel, after all. I built my vampires around Catholic metaphysics. Whether or not they’re adversely effected by religious icons or not revolved around free will. Vampires are possibly connected to the nephilim … okay, that part isn’t so original.
Even my romance segments are Catholic — because unlike most romance novels, my characters don’t jump into bed with each other during an adventure that lasts a week, or a month at the outside.
Why so Catholic?
Um … because I’m Catholic?
Though I must admit, even the reviews I’ve gotten from atheists liked the way religion was handled. It’s strange.
But the answer still stands, and it’s simple: Catholicism informs my view of reality, mostly through Thomas Aquinas. Why? Because I have degrees in history and philosophy. Yes, I’m a nerd of many colors. But still, it really does inform me on reality.
Description:
Host Declan Finn (author, Honor At Stake), will interview Catholic Writer Guild member and author Michelle Buckman, who penned a book called Death Panels in 1994. Expect that we’ll be talking about Planned Parenthood, abortion.and some of the more recent stupidity. Michelle Buckman is an award-winning author of six novels. Her stories have been termed ‘Grit Lit’ as they offer compelling perspectives on contemporary issues. Michelle also an international speaker, writing workshop instructor, and magazine editor. Walking on the beach is her favorite pastime and her greatest source of inspiration.
Finn’s Law: Never Attribute to Malice What Can be Equally Attributed to Stupidity.
[Preface to the evil religion blog posts is here.]
After the start of my online Twitter career, some moron threatened me because I even implied that someone out in the universe could be more corrupt than the Catholic Church.
Yes. Shocking, isn’t it?
I didn’t defend anyone, didn’t consider defending anyone. I merely posted some statistics from John Jay University and the Department of Education.
And now, with the academy award winning film Spotlight deciding to delve once more into just how abusive the Catholic Church is, I think it’s time to plunge into the topic here a little, hmm? Even Andrew Vachss, who specializes in child abuse cases, has decided this is a great week to use the Catholic church as a punching bag.
My reply? Gee, there are abuses everywhere. Trying to claim that the Catholic church is evil because of the uncovered abuses is not only a lie, but a blatant and obvious lie to anyone who pays attention.
Declan Finn (Honor At Stake, The Pius Trilogy) has the wonderful RK ‘Shadowdancer’ Modena and her cohort David Chalmers. We’ll cover art (which Declan knows nothing about), censorship in gaming and game chat, as well as their upcoming collaboration on a new book. David Chalmers is a free software user, technician and gamer. RK Modena is an artist whose work is on sale (and quite beautiful). There will be Puppies, there will be video games, and there will be a specially brought in screener (in the form of Matthew Bowman)
Source: The Catholic Geek: Rory Modena and David Chalmers 08/30 by We Built That Network | Culture Podcasts
Through the dark streets of autumn Chicago we travel. As Halloween approaches, Harry is confronted with even more mysteries and obstacles.
And the worst part is he doesn’t have the time! Continue reading
I suppose it was inevitable that I would like Gravity Falls. It’s weird, it’s set in the Pacific Northwest (I grew up in western Oregon), and there‘s tons of lore, mystery, and goofiness to top it off. But we’ll get to all of that later. Gravity Falls just wrapped up its second (and final) season, and it was a doozy of a run by the end. It’s a paranormal mystery show about twin siblings who spend the summer at their great-uncle’s tourist trap, the “Mystery Shack”. Naturally, it’s full of sham attractions designed to sucker in out-of-towners (and the townsfolk who like spending money at the place), but when the twins start digging around, they discover that there’s actual weirdness going on in the town… Continue reading
In the base game set of Legendary: A Marvel Deck-Building Game, Upper Deck established a core group of well-known and beloved heroes to take on equally recognizable villains. One such hero was Spiderman, arguably the most famous hero of 
Marvel Comics. Upper Deck gave Spiderman a Spider Friends team affiliation, even though no other hero in the base game shared that allegiance. But from day one Upper Deck promised to add more Spider Friends heroes to Legendary, and in their third expansion, following Dark City and Fantastic Four, they fulfilled that promise. This set’s all about the webslinger and his allies, along with a Marvel Knight hero who takes advantage of a keyword introduced in this expansion.
What’s in this set – 5 heroes on two preexisting teams, 2 Masterminds, 4 Schemes, and 2 Villain Groups.
August 23rd’s show had host Declan Finn (A Pius Man, Honor At Stake), welcome back author Tom Knighton (author of Bloody Eden, Bad Moon on the Rise) as the Hugo nominations of 2015, wrapping up Sad Puppies 3. If you don’t know what are sad puppies (aside from youthful canines with mood problems), check out Tom’s first appearance, and that will more than catch you up. Will Sad Puppies win? Or will their adversaries destroy the Hugos before letting ‘outsiders’ into the clubhouse? Then, Daniella Bova will join us for commentary on the Planned Parenthood train wreck, and how they dovetail frighteningly with her distopian novels, Tears of Paradox and The Notice.
There’s a game I’ve never played and yet I’ve enjoyed anyway. It’s called 7th Sea, and it’s a near-Earth (not an alternate history, but with deliberately obvious parallels) setting that, at its debut, was extremely innovative. Unlike much more ubiquitous roleplaying games, you don’t start off as someone who barely knows how to hold a sword; the game assumes you’re already a hero, and have already made a name for yourself. It’s a setting where from the moment you start, you are assumed to be affecting the fate of empires.
7th Sea was very popular, but the publisher didn’t develop it much. Now, the game and setting creator has obtained the rights to the game, and has set up a Kickstarter campaign to fund 7th Sea‘s second edition, with an initial goal of $30,000.
It was funded in seven minutes. It’s now raised over $800,000. Continue reading
http://percolate.blogtalkradio.com/offsiteplayer?hostId=533877&episodeId=7845501
In this episode of The Catholic Geek, we had…
Jim Butcher is at it again. Throughout “The Dresden Files” series, we’ve seen monsters, vampires, demons, dastardly villains, and impossible escapes. We’ve felt joy, fear, heartbreak, and anger right along with our favorite wizard.
And we’re about to jump on that crazy roller-coaster again with Book 7, Dead Beat. Remember to remain seated and to keep your arms, legs, and various foci in the car at all times, and enjoy the ride!
It’s been a while since we looked at the wonderful world of Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game, far longer than I intended, but the time has come to return to this universe of heroes and villains! When last we left our heroes, they were in the Dark City, the first expansion to the game. Dark City was a “big box” expansion, bringing a grand total of 350 new cards to the game, but today we’ll take a look at the game’s third expansion, the “small box” (100 cards) set, Fantastic Four!
Fantastic Four
The first “small box” expansion introduced Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four, to Legendary. Needless to say, the Fantastic Four is the new team affiliation for this set, and as a team they work well together. Most Legendary heroes gain no direct benefit when played alongside teammates, but 75% of the Fantastic Four heroes have a card with a team-activated superpower. It’s the Invisible Woman, oddly enough, who doesn’t have such a superpower. And finally, in this expansion’s fifth hero spot we get the unaffiliated Silver Surfer.
What’s in this set – 5 heroes in one new team, 2 Masterminds, 4 Schemes, and 2 Villain Groups.
A year ago today, one of the most iconic actors in science fiction died. It’s a strange thing to look back on. On the one hand, I’m stunned to think it’s only been a year; on the other, I feel like we never truly lost Leonard Nimoy.
Nimoy was special. Even though he’s primarily known for just one role in science fiction, he played that character to the hilt. He breathed life into Spock. No insult to Zachary Quinto, but I don’t think anyone could have given us the same character; anyone else who plays him is a variation on a theme, even more so than the other characters from the franchise. Without Spock, I firmly believe Star Trek would not have existed. And without Star Trek, where would science fiction be today? Continue reading
Andy
ashetoashes
catholicgeekguest
Declan Finn
Karina Fabian
Matthew Bowman
Lori Janeski
Hannah Rose
Ross Windsor
Olivia Bushey
The Catholic Geeks 
Dead Beat’s Breakdown (part 3)
Already, Dead Beat has us glued to the edge of our seats. New threats lurk in the dark hours before Halloween’s approach, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up any time soon. Continue reading →