Volume Seven Proof Copy and Pre-Order!

The proof copy of Volume Seven is here, and it is good to go!

And so, we have an official release date: Monday, July 17th, 2023 - exactly eleven years to the day since the release of Volume One.

And for the first (and last?) time ever, you can now PRE-ORDER your copy! That's right, you can get a jump on things by either going to Amazon at this link (for the paperback) or this link (for the eBook) or Barnes & Noble at this link.

Or, if you live in the Vancouver/Portland area and want to get your copy in person (and signed by me!), there will be a launch party at Kazoodles Toy Store shortly after the official release date. Stay tuned for details!

P.S. Also, check out this awesome article about Volume Seven and Joel Suzuki in the Summer 2023 issue of Spectrum Life Magazine!

Volume Seven Cover Reveal!

Here it is, courtesy of artist extraordinaire Jill Colbert of Manfish Inc.

And here's the back cover copy:

(WARNING - Contains spoilers for Volume Six)

"The race to omnipotence has ended in a draw - which is a conundrum, because the very notion of not just one, but two all-powerful beings is a paradox that defies definition. It's up to Joel Suzuki - one of the aforementioned all-powerful beings - to capture and suppress his counterpart before everything descends into complete disorder.

But how can one omnipotent being overcome another? And what prison would be strong enough to contain such an entity? Joel should just be able to automatically divine the answers to these questions, but because his own power is part of the problem, doing so would simply accelerate the decay of reality.

He needs to tread carefully as the final game plays out, being careful not to reveal his hand while avoiding defeat. Will he be able to pull off this delicate balancing act in time to save existence from his archenemy once and for all?"

Next step: the proof copy! Stay tuned...

P.S. The show that was announced a couple of weeks ago has been moved from Twilight Cafe & Bar to Dante's, 350 W Burnside St., Portland. All tickets will be honored at the new venue. See you there!

Volume Seven Title Announcement!

We are getting very close to finalizing Volume Seven of the Joel Suzuki series! And so, here's the official subtitle:

That's right, the official subtitle is "Vision of the Virtuoso." It's the first (and last and only, probably) book in the series where the subject of the "Of The" is not one of my confusing, made-up compound words (see: Songshell, Moonfire, Loudstone, Fatewave, Bluerock, Darkeye). It also has two words that start with the letter "V," which lines up nicely with the intended color of the cover - violet - which also starts with the letter "V," and... okay, yeah, I'll stop there. What can I say, I'm a sucker for nerdy alliteration.

Coming next: the cover reveal!

Show Announcement!

Yes, despite all the other things we do, Second Player Score is still a band. We even play live every once in a while!

And the next time we will do so is in a little over four weeks, at the brand new incarnation of Twilight Cafe & Bar in Portland, OR. We'll be a part of a killer lineup that includes All Hype, Still Golden, and the headliners Craig James & The Hawthorns who will be performing an entire set of Blink 182 covers (featuring our own Daniel Downs on guitar).

So mark your calendars for Saturday, June 24th, and get your tickets pre-sale for only $10 at this link. Hope to see you there!

No Time To Blog

Partly because of Tears of the Kingdom, yes, but also:

- Mixes of the remaining tracks for 4-D are back! So, as always, they need to be listened to over and over again several times in different conditions (open air, car, headphones) in order to make them the best they can possibly be.

- Cover art for Joel Suzuki, Volume Seven is done! So now, proofs and eBook conversions need to be ordered, final info forms need to be filled out, and preparations for a launch party need to begin.

- Preproduction for Hold My Beer continues, with grant applications, cast searches, and general film school-style-learning all going on simultaneously.

Busy, but exciting times! (And big thanks to my youngest who told me that walking on the pipe to reach one of the shrines in Great Sky Island is not the way to do it, saving me hours of stress and heartbreak.)

Tears Of The Kingdom Is Out Tomorrow!

And I have my copy on preorder! My copy of Tears of the Kingdom! Which is coming out tomorrow!

Did I mention that Tears of the Kingdom is coming out tomorrow? Because it is! Coming out! Tomorrow! In case you don't know, Tears of the Kingdom is the latest entry in the Legend of Zelda franchise, which is my and my youngest kid's all-time favorite video game franchise. We each have our own Switch now, but we'll be sharing the same copy of the game... not sure how long that arrangement will last. Anyway, from what I can tell by watching the game previews and trailers, any semblance of free time that I may have had will now be a thing of the past. Because Tears of the Kingdom is coming out tomorrow!

Album Four Status Update

Well, we have FINALLY finished all the tracking for every song on Second Player Score's fourth album, Four-D. As one would say in Japanese, yatta! ("Yay!") And also, yokatta ("Thank goodness").

Over the last couple of days, we recorded the four songs that make up the album's "Summer Suite," including "Dimension No. 4," "Challenge Accepted," "Daily Grind," and "This Won't Be So Easy After All" (the title of that last one could very well apply to the recording of this album, which turned out to be a FOUR-year process - there's that number again).

So hopefully we are still on track for a summer of 2023 release. The accompanying card game that I've mentioned in previous posts is probably back on the shelf for now as we have other big projects going on at the moment, but it will see the light of day eventually, I swear.

In the meantime, stay tuned for release date announcements, cover reveals, etc.!