Guest Post & Giveaway: Alexander Outland Blog Tour by G.J. Koch

Please welcome G.J. Koch to the blog. I was asked to participate in this Alexander Outland: Space Pirate Blog Tour a few months ago and had no idea who the author was. It pretty much stayed that way until a few weeks back when I came to the realization the she was the author of the Kitty Katt Alien novels, Gini Koch. Yeah, no need to say it, I was hit with the dumb stick. I've been very curious about that series for some time now, and after reading this guest post, she made a believer out of me. So, I've finally ordered the first book of the series which I hope arrives soon.

In any case, was later asked for ideas for a topic for this post. I'll tell you right off the bat that I hate coming up with these sort of ideas, and one I provided was something along the lines of "the fine line between fun, funny, and just being silly". Well, Koch seems to think it was the "Guest Post Topic From Hell". About a month ago I was told I did the interview from Hell, so I guess we're on the right track. Plus, it was about time someone called me by my proper title, "Sir Bastard".

Hope you guys have fun with this one, I certainly did. And don't forget the giveaway at the end of the post. Have fun (or something)!

Make Me Laugh, Clown

G.J. Koch

Proving that the name of this blog is accurate, I was asked to discuss the fine line between fun, funny, and just being silly. (Dear Sir Bastard, I hate you. Love, Moi.)

I write the Alexander Outland: Space Pirate series, coming from Night Shade Books June 5^th of this fine year. I also, as Gini Koch, write the Alien/Katherine “Kitty” Katt series for DAW Books/Penguin. Both series have things in common -- they’re written by moi, released by great publishers, they’re science fiction with a lot of action and romance, and they’re funny.

So, now you’re thinking what your Lord and Master, Sir Bastard was thinking (if Sir Bastard thinks, which, so far, I’m not convinced he does): she’s a funny girl, so naturally, give her the topic that delves into the crux of the issue with humor -- what’s funny and what isn’t. Brilliant! She’ll love it!

Wrong. She hates it.

This isn’t an easy topic. For anyone. Especially for someone who’s whole damn job is to make people laugh. Because the more you examine humor, the less funny it is to you. (I have deadlines, Sir Bastard. Several of them. Not that you care. No, you gave OTHER authors fun, chatty questions. You did INTERVIEWS. But for moi? I get the Guest Post Topic From Hell. Thanks for that.)

So, what’s a girl to do when given a topic such as this one? Ignore it completely was my first, second, third, and fourth instinct. Fifth, too, as I think about it.

But because we in the entertainment industry do like to stretch and grow (actually, we really don’t, but we’ve all learned that we have to from time to time), I’m gonna give it a shot. (And then I’m gonna shoot Sir Bastard.)

The adage that dying is easy but comedy is hard is true. Terribly, difficultly true. I write under a variety of pen names and I promise you that I struggle far less with anything “serious” I write than when I’m writing something intended to be funny. (Unintentional humor is not what we’re dealing with here. If you’re laughing when reading one of my books, that’s what I intended. Even in the serious stuff. I swear.)

Being funny naturally helps you when you need to translate humor onto the page. Because humor is, like all art, subjective. Only humor gets a lot more scrutiny than more serious fare. Why? Because everyone can agree that the hero dying tragically right before he and the heroine can reunite and live happily ever after is sad. No one argues with that. (Possibly Sir Bastard argues with that. He strikes me as the kind who WANTS the bad guy to get the girl. Maybe it’s that beard of his…)

But watch someone slip on a banana peel. It may be your idea of hilarity or it may make you cringe. Because laughter is universal but what MAKES us laugh is not. (Truthfully, I rarely laugh at the banana peel gag, but I would if it were Sir Bastard slipping on it. Something to ponder.)

There is a difference between fun, funny, and silly, too. And, because SOMEONE asked, I’m going to give you my explanations for the differences. (Oh no, don’t thank me. Thank Sir Bastard. I suggest sending him something small that explodes.)

Fun is something you do and something you have. Fun includes but is in no way limited to things like going out on a date, having sex, going to an amusement park, going to a movie, hanging out with friends, really enjoying a good meal, drink or illegal substance, having quiet time with your spouse, pulling hard on someone’s beard because he gave you the “fun” topic, and so on. Any one of these activities can be funny or silly, but they don’t have to be in order for them to be fun. Fun is something you enjoy. Fun can be shared or not, but it’s still something you experience.

Funny and silly are a matter of perspective. I personally find The Three Stooges to be silly, at best. (I’ll bet you love the Stooges, don’t you, Sir Bastard? I’ll bet they’re your favorites, just like every other man I know. I’ll bet you particularly like Moe, because he’s the one who assigns the other Stooges their versions of Guest Posts From Hell.) However, many love the Stooges and laugh themselves silly (ha ha ha, see what the funny girl did there?) over the Stooges’ antics.

So, I call the Stooges silly and others (Sir Bastard and his ilk) call them funny.

Using the logic I learned in college (back in the Dark Ages, when I rode to school on the back of a T-Rex I named Fluffy, who was the BEST T-Rex ever and no other T-Rex can EVER compare to), this basically means that what YOU laugh at is funny, and what others laugh at that you do NOT laugh at is silly.

So, all of this falls right back into the eye of the beholder, or, in the case of those of us using the written word, the mind of the reader. (I’ll get you, Sir Bastard, and your pretty beard, too. This puppy’s only halfway done.)

Funny people see the same things the rest of you do, only we filter it into a skewed version and share it via our own particular viewpoints and in our own meters, our personal idioms, if you will (and I will). There are all kinds of humor -- gentle, angry, sarcastic, wacky, ironic (waves to Alanis who actually doesn’t understand the definition of ironic, but has, therefore, provided many of us with hours of entertainment because we get to point this out over and over again), mean-spirited, satiric, and more.

I know what the next question (that Sir Bastard didn’t bother to ask me) is: what kind of humor do I write?

I write the kind you enjoy! (Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying. I’m here to sell books, people. And because Sir Bastard invited me, to use the term loosely. But mostly to sell books. Because that is the name of the game in Author Land.)

The Alien series follows Katherine “Kitty” Katt as she discovers that the Roswell rumors are true, but with a twist -- the aliens are here to help us and, as a side benefit, they’re all gorgeous. They’re turned on by brains (the women think Stephen Hawking and Marilyn Vos Savant are the hottest humans around) more than anything else. The men like smarties, too, and they like our gutsy, independent folks.

Kitty gets involved in the fight to protect Earth from all the nasty, fugly space and human monsters constantly trying to destroy it, and along the way she discovers lots of secrets, lies, and conspiracies to disrupt and dismantle.

Kitty fights evil with her own brand of weapons -- hairspray, rock ‘n’ roll, whatever she can dig out of her massive purse, a quirky worldview, and a really smart mouth and sarcastic wit. And she’s a pro at keeping the bad guys monologue-ing.

In Alexander Outland: Space Pirate, trouble’s brewing out in space, and Alexander Outland -- the least likely hero in the galaxy -- and his eccentric crew have to save the day, despite the fact they’d prefer to take the money and run.

Alexander Napoleon Outland is the best pilot, and ladies’ man, in the galaxy. But Nap, as his friends call him, is more than that -- he’s a schemer with a heart of gold he desperately wants to hide, a soft spot for other people’s cargo and his exotic weapon’s chief, and the unerring ability to find the biggest misfit on any planet or space station and somehow join that person onto his crew.

Nap’s not your classic hero, but that tends to make him the right guy for the job…whatever the job happens to be. He’s a little bit Han Solo, a little bit Malcolm Reynolds, a little bit Captain Jack Sparrow, and a whole lot of fun to fly with.

There are aliens, explosions, telepaths, donkeys, space pirates of all kinds, and a galaxy-wide conspiracy. And the most horrifying “underwater” trip any crew’s had to face in a long, long while. But mostly, there are laughs.

There are laughs because that’s my job. To entertain you, to take you places you haven’t been before, introduce you to characters and situations you haven’t experienced before, and then twist it all up and make you laugh even as things explode and characters run for their lives. They’re the best books ever written and a deal at twice the price. (Hey, you still can NOT blame a girl for trying.)

It’s a tough job, making people laugh, but someone’s gotta do it. And that someone is me.

BIO

G.J. Koch writes science fiction. Not the hard stuff, though. Because that requires actual scientific knowledge or at least actual scientific research. Knowledge may be power and research may be cool, but they take time away from writing jokes, action, and romance, and being witty in the face of death is what it’s really all about. Check out G.J.’s rollicking Alexander Outland: Space Pirate series from Night Shade Books and reach G.J. at Space…the Funny Frontier.

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Bastard Giveaway - Alexander Outland: Space Pirate by G.J. Koch

Thanks Gini for the taking the time for the post above, but now it's time for the good stuff; the giveaway. I have been given permission to offer 1 print copy of Alexander Outland: Space Pirate, published by Night Shade Books, for US participants and 1 eBook copy for International participants. Been hearing good things about it, so don't miss the opportunity.

Captain Alexander Outland of the Sixty-Nine (short for Space Vessel 3369, of course) is the best pilot in the galaxy. He's also a pirate, a smuggler, and loved and loathed by women in umpteen solar systems. His crew of strays and misfits includes an engineer of dubious sanity, a deposed planetary governor, an annoyingly unflappable Sexbot copilot, and a slinky weapons chief who stubbornly refuses to give the captain a tumble.

Outland just wants to make a decent living skirting the law, but when an invisible space armada starts cutting into his business, he soon finds himself in hot water with the military, the mob, mad bombers, and an extended family of would-be conquerors. And that's not counting an occasionally telepathic spy . . . .

Like any sensible scoundrel, he hates heroics. They're risky and they don't pay well. But to keep his ship and crew in one piece, and make time with a certain hard-to-get weapons chief, he might just have to make an exception--and save the galaxy in spite of himself!

Night Shade Books

Participants have to be 18 years of age or older to participate. Void where prohibited by law. Giveaway rules are subject to change. 

The giveaway is open for both US and International participants, and it will run from May 3, 2012 until 12:01am ET on May 12, 2012.

How to participate:

• Once logged in to the Rafflecopter, enter your email and indicate if you're a US or International participant. It's the only mandatory thing to do to enter.
• One entry per person, or face disqualification.
• Entries accepted until 12:01am ET on May 12, 2012.
• 1 print copy of Alexander Outland: Space Pirate for US winner.
• 1 eBook copy of Alexander Outland: Space Pirate for International winner.
• Will have to confirm email to be considered a winner within a week after May 12, 2012.
• Additional entries may be had by following the steps provided in the Rafflecopter instructions, and only by doing those steps. 
• Winners will be chosen by random selection using the Rafflecopter.

Good luck everyone! And thanks once again to G.J. Koch for coming here, and make sure to visit the rest of the stops in the Alexander Outland: Space Pirate Blog Tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway