Three quick bits of Just A Geek news:

• I noticed that both of my books got a little bounce on Amazon when my Slashdot interview ran last week. Thank you to everyone who picked them up. I hope they are worth your time and money. 🙂
• The Just A Geek charity auction that I blogged about last week is in the last mile. As I write this, the bidding is up to $202.50. That’s awesome!
• I saved the biggest news for last: Just A Geek: Teh Audiobook is finished! David Lawrence and I completed a year’s worth of work last week. Sean Bonner and I are working on a supermegaawesome cover design, but I’m leaving for the World Series of Poker, and Sean’s leaving for the World Series of Not Being Available To Work On The Audiobook Cover, so it won’t be done for another three or four weeks . . . but David and I have decided that, rather than make people who’ve waited a year sit around for another four weeks, we’re going to offer a pre-release version of Just A Geek: Teh Audiobook starting at noon Pacific time on Tuesday, July 5th. Because this is essentially a white label release, it will be offered for a limited time, and at a discount. I’ll post a link, and more details on Tuesday, when the audiobook becomes available.

I’ve gotten generally positive feedback about the recording of my Just A Geek reading from Gnomedex 2004, even though I can hear how terrified and uncomfortable I was in front of that audience. If you’ve heard or seen the Gnomedex performance, and liked it, I’m positive that the studio version won’t let you down.

Hey, baby, it’s the Fourth of July . . . and that means it’s time for the annual reprint of Fireworks:

As the sun sank lower and lower, sparklers were passed out to everyone, even the younger children. I politely declined, my mind absolutely focused on the coming display. I wanted to make a big impression on the family. I was going to start out with something amazing, which would really grab their attention. I’d start with some groundflowers, then a Piccolo Pete and a sparkling cone. From then on, I’d just improvise with the older cousins, following their lead as we worked together to weave a spectacular tapestry of burning phosphor and gunpowder for five generations of family.
Dusk arrived, the family was seated, and the great display began. Some of the veteran fireworks lighters went first, setting off some cascading fountains and a pinwheel. The assembled audience cheered and gasped its collective approval, and it was my turn.
I steeled myself and walked to the center of the large patio, casually kicking aside the still-hot remains of just-fired fountains. Casually, like someone who had done this hundreds of times before.
My hands trembled slightly, as I picked up three ground flowers that I’d wound together. My thumb struck flint and released flaming butane. I lit the fuse and became a man. The sparkling fire raced toward the ignition point and rather than following the directions to