Book Delay
about 8 years ago – Wed, Apr 20, 2016 at 10:33:03 PM

Hey folks,

I’m sorry I’ve been out of touch. About a month ago, my computer (and the backup drive plugged into it) were completely hosed despite having paid, up to date anti-virus software. After investing a small sack of cash and a couple weeks with two different recovery specialists, both regretfully informed me that I now had a couple of expensive paperweights.

THE GOOD:

I kept tertiary backups of all my photos in the cloud. Clearly, one layer of backups isn’t enough for documents, and I now need to make sure I have multiple layers for EVERYTHING.

THE BAD:

Pretty much all of my text documents are gibberish; Dining With the Doctor, two other books in various stages of research/writing, and all of the ongoing work I had on rent-paying contracts. That last part is pretty distressing.

NEXT STEPS:

I am absolutely committed to rewriting this book. I’ve already spent thousands of my dollars (your money is set aside entirely for printing costs) on the food, props, and photography alone. Plus, I freaking love this project.

An Unexpected Cookbook and Kitchen Overlord’s Illustrated Geek Cookbook are such beautiful books that it’s viscerally embarrassing for me when people see the first edition of Dining With the Doctor. I am downright possessed with a desire to replace the 1st edition with a physically beautiful, revised and expanded book that’s both worthy of my favorite fandom and looks damn good stacked next to my later books.

I’m starting with basic outlines and reference notes in some google docs and 110 lush, nerdy 8x10 food photos, which keep me inspired. I’ve attached some below.

I am very, very sorry for this delay. As eager as you are for the book (and I thank you so much for that!) no one wanted it out on time more than me. I was relying on it as a tentpole for my summer convention tour, when I hoped to both promote it as a holiday present with medium term marketing and recoup the money already invested with dealer’s room sales. I’ve canceled much of that tour to work on both the book and immediate rent-paying contracts.

I know you’re bummed. So am I. Things were progressing right on schedule, down to talks with the domestic printers. Now, I’m scrambling to meet bill paying contracts while also suddenly rewriting what was a 60,000 word book.

I wish I had better news.

Meanwhile, here are some of the photos that keep me inspired as I pull together all the loose strings and begin again.

New Coloring Book! Plus, Doctor Who Cookbook Proceeding on Schedule
over 8 years ago – Sat, Dec 19, 2015 at 10:28:35 AM

As the year winds to a close, I wanted to let you know everything is still right on schedule for a June release of Dining With the Doctor: Regenerated.

We have the following:

• cover art
• interior incidental art (to fill excess white space)
• a quote from a domestic printer with a good reputation
• 110 pages of food photography

PHOTOS

That last part took most of this year. I had to make, plate, and photograph 150 of the 180 interior recipes. Those of you who’ve ever taken a pintrest-worthy food photograph of something you made from scratch will relate to how long it takes to do that over 100 times. Since the book is limited to 280 pages, some recipes share a photo. For example, I was able to fit 12 recipes from the Fish Fingers and Custard chapter into one photograph:

The Fish Fingers and Custard chapter ended up with over 30 recipes. In order to make sure EVERYONE can have some Fish Fingers and Custard, I have recipes for paleo, gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, and regular versions of both sweet and savory fish fingers. Then I did it all again for both sweet and savory custards. That’s 20 recipes you can use to mix-and-match your perfect Fish Fingers and Custard combination based on both dietary needs and personal preference.

However, most of the recipes get their own full page photo, such as the Dalek Pinata Cake for “The Fiveish Doctors” 50th anniversary special. I don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t seen the special. Those of you who have will understand why that episode called for something unexpected hidden inside a Dalek.

NEXT STEPS

I’m hard at work actually writing the book. It looks like it’ll clock in around 70,000 words - which is the length of a mid-sized novel. After the writing wraps up it’s time for layout and design. The last stage of the manuscript itself is the time consuming process of indexing everything by dietary restrictions.

My goal for this year was to cook and photograph all the food, acquire all the interior art, acquire the cover art, and get everything set up with the printer. I’m happy to say I’ve checked off everything on that list.

NERDERY! HISTORY! COLORING!

Over the last few months, a ton of people requested coloring pages from Kitchen Overlord’s Illustrated Geek Cookbook. Rather than reissue the same book in black and white, we used the art as a launching point to create something you could use outside the kitchen.

Kitchen Overlord's Colorable Compendium of Geek History

Watch nerd life as we know it evolve over a century from humble beginnings with H.G. Wells Time Machine through the invention of movies, television and video games, all while coloring along with 110 pages of luscious art.

Kitchen Overlord’s Colorable Compendium of Geek History is available now with 2 day prime shipping from Amazon for $13.99:

If you’re looking for any other last minute culinary gifts, thanks to the joy of Amazon 2 Day Prime, there’s still time to get any of these Kitchen Overlord titles in time for Christmas.

• Kitchen Overlord’s Illustrated Geek Cookbook
• An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery
• Wood for Sheep: The Unauthorized Settlers Cookbook
• SteamDrunks: 101 Steampunk Cocktails and Mixed Drinks

Backerkit Should Be Fixed
over 8 years ago – Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 12:19:34 PM

The folks at Backerkit have been super helpful. I believe it’s now set up so Kickstarter backers have no added shipping.

The Pre-Order shop should now be set up for a flat shipping rate instead of cumulatively adding on more for each add-on book.

You made the book possible, so of course you’re getting the cheapest price. That’s only fair. People who didn’t back the Kickstarter but want to pre-order a book now will be charged $5 for domestic US shipping and $20 international. (I’m sorry about the international shipping! Getting a 280 page 8x10 cookbook to the UK or Australia is crazy expensive.)

If you’re still getting any shipping errors, please let me know.

Once more, I’m so sorry about the confusion. I set up a Backerkit because 1) it’s the most efficient way to make sure I have a correct address for everyone and 2) it’s the easiest way to let folks customize their orders. I apologize for fumbling the setup. Luckily, Backerkit has great customer service.

No extra shipping charges - Sorry about the Backerkit confusion
over 8 years ago – Thu, Sep 17, 2015 at 12:25:56 AM

Hi folks!

I'm so sorry about the Backerkit shipping snafu! First and foremost, NO KICKSTARTER BACKERS ARE BEING CHARGED EXTRA FOR SHIPPING. No how, no way, NEVER my intention.

I'm currently waiting to hear back from Backerkit. The shipping charges are only supposed to apply to brand new pre-orders - in other words, folks who are buying a book now for the first time, NOT folks who supported the Kickstarter.

For those of you who are new to Kickstarter, following up a project with a Backerkit is pretty standard procedure. Very few of the Kickstarters I've backed over the years have done without one.

Backerkit offers two big post-campaign advantages.

First, it lets you, the backer, easily change your address at any point in time. That may sound totally intuitive (because it is!), but Kickstarter makes changing your address and getting the correct information to a specific campaign manager an absolute nightmare.

Second, it lets people customize add-on's instead of picking a campaign level. By the time my first Kickstarter shipped, I had over 100 custom orders via email and messages. That was very difficult to manage. Backerkit lets you guys customize whatever add-on's you want on the front end while making order management and fulfillment a breeze for me on the back end. Everybody wins.

They also offer a lot of really helpful services to campaigns much bigger than mine (like a complete fulfillment and shipping program), which is why Backerkit is so popular with Kickstarter's thriving boardgame community.

Backerkit is mostly intuitive to set up. I'm sure I simply misunderstood some documentation that resulted in Kickstarter backers getting an extra shipping charge. I've reached out to them for help clarifying and fixing the error. The good news is your cards aren't being charged at all right now. In fact, if you choose any add-on's, they wont' be charged until a couple weeks before the books ship.

Let me reassure you one last time, NO KICKSTARTER BACKERS ARE BEING CHARGED EXTRA SHIPPING.

I'm really sorry about this confusion. I promise it's as frustrating to me as it is to you. Rest assured, I'm working on getting it cleaned up.

1/3 more book for your bucks!
over 8 years ago – Mon, Sep 14, 2015 at 10:25:41 AM

Good news, everybody! I've wrapped up primary photography on Dining With the Doctor: Regenerated!

I know I promised you 120 recipes, but in the last stages of work, it ballooned up to 180. Yes, you read that right. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY WHOVIAN RECIPES - sixty more than you were expecting!

What does that mean for you?

I'm starting the book by paying respect to Paul McGann's 8th Doctor for keeping the fandom alive during the dark years when Doctor Who wasn't on the air with his beautifully narrated Big Finish audio dramas. (If you've never checked them out, these deserve to be at the very top of your next road trip podcast list!)

Then, you get one recipe for every episode of series 1-8 (116 episodes!) including a little detour into some of the more festive official 50th anniversary webisodes (c'mon, you can't leave out The 5ish Doctors!).

Since you can't get four nerds together without having five things wrong with their digestive systems, the Fish Fingers and Custard chapter exploded into 30 recipes. (I kept asking my friends if I was crazy. They said, "Yes. Yes you are. And don't you dare stop.") You're getting sweet and savory versions of both fish fingers and custard for folks who can eat anything, plus variations for gluten free/celiac, paleo, vegan, and vegetarian diets (plus kosher-dairy, kosher-parve, and halal represented in the vegetarian and vegan recipes.) And, since darn near every Doctor Who watch party ends with the host wondering what to do with a tray of leftover fish sticks, I even have some recipes for leftovers.

Can you tell I'm excited?

Adding 60 more recipes does indeed mean a heck of a lot more work for me (and -ahem- some smaller fonts and design choices since finances dictate that the book is still limited be 280 pages total with 100 pages of photos), but rest assured, I'm still right on track for a spring 2016 release.

Now that Capaldi's Doctor is vworp-vworping back onto our screens September 19th, all this week I'm posting both book preview and web-exclusive recipes on Kitchen Overlord so you'll have fresh and tasty options for your upcoming watch parties as well as something to whet your appetite for the forthcoming book.

Thanks again for all your support, and I hope you enjoy the preview recipes when getting together with friends for Series 9!