Geek Crafts

Inconsolable is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. Before I received my copy in the mail, author Shaheed Shabazz warned me that the book was “graphic and twisted” and I smirked to myself, thinking “He doesn’t know me very well, graphic and twisted is what I do“. I was not prepared in the least for the gore-filled, horrifying ride that calls itself Inconsolable.

There were times, while reading this revenge tale full of drugs, torture and mind tricks, that I couldn’t put the book down–there were other times when I was so horrified by the images Shabazz so skillfully painted that I had to put the book down to give myself a break from the intensity. The story starts out calmly enough, introducing the reader to Sean Stiles, a character who at once seems unassuming and noble. Shortly after we meet him, he meets a group of meth heads and loses his life. The story picks up down the line, where our meth addicted murderers have sworn each other to secrecy, gotten clean and moved on. Or so they thought.

Although they were sure no one would “miss” Sean Stiles it becomes clear that someone did, and that someone is intent on ripping apart their lives, and their bodies. With scenes straight out of a Japanese horror flick, Shabazz throws us into a world that is run by the Blue Giant, where justice is carried out slice by slice, slowly but surely, and where no one is off-limits. The book will leave you shaken, terrified to close your eyes, and regretting every wrong you have ever committed in your life. It’s a great read–if you’re brave enough.

See what Shaheed Shabazz had to say to Geek Crafts after the jump.

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I’m in a weird place with this one. Part of me is like “Awesome! That would totally blend into my bookcase”, the other part of me is saying “Oh my God, what did she do to that book?!” VeganPrincess decided to make Stephen King’s extra-long Armageddon epic into a book safe after realizing she probably wasn’t going to get to it (although she should have, as it’s arguably his best).

• The Stand Book Safe

What trip to England would be complete without a large amount of Doctor Who trivia, sight seeing and, of course, the new Doctor Who Experience at the Travel Museum in Coventry. As soon as my sister-in-law mentioned it, months before our trip, it became a cemented part of our plans. I mean, yes, it is nice to sit in a pub that was once frequented by C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carrol, great to take in the medieval architecture, and wonderful to get real, authentic fish’n'chips. But I’m a geek, and geeks like what geeks like, and this geek likes (loves, actually) Doctor Who.

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Brad Isaac at persistanceunlimited is a man after my own heart. A quick, easy way to Bind Your Own Book involving no more than my printer, some gorilla glue and a phone book? Brad Isaac, you’re my hero. (via geekityourself)

• Bind Your Own Book

I know we don’t post a ridiculous amount of books on this site, but how could I resist posting something with a subtitle of “Wookiee Cookies”? Well, as you can see, I couldn’t. So here is the Star Wars Cook Book: Wookiee Cookies and other Galactic Recipes, that I found on geeksugar.

It is a little known fact that every single Star Wars Fan on Earth, actually, needs to eat just as much as those who do not like Star Wars (yes, there are people out there who do not like Star Wars, but rest easy, they aren’t trying to convert anyone to their twisted perspectives). So what better way to mend together your inate desire to eat food, with  your love of Star Wars? Well that’s easy, cook yourself a plate of Bobba Fett-uccini and some Wookie Cookies and turn on The Empire Strikes Back.

• Star Wars Cook Book: Wookie Cookies and other Galactic Recipes

My Pet Virus by Shawn Decker is probably the funniest book you will ever pick up. Now, I admit, this isn’t something you expect to hear about a real-life-story of a kid with hemophilia who ends up contracting HIV through a blood transfusion, but that’s only because you don’t know Shawn Decker. Shawn has faced down his HIV positive status with a twisted sense of humor and a series of anecdotes that will challenge what you think you know about prejudice, AIDS and life as a teenager while making you laugh until your guts hurt.

In addition to writing My Pet Virus and performing in the band Synthetic Division, Shawn, and his HIV-negative wife, Gwenn travel the world educating people about AIDS and safe sex. They believe that if a “positoid” and a “negatoid” (Shawn’s terms–read the book and find out more) can make a sexually active marriage work, then maybe other people should be aware of how to do it, too. In addition, Shawn has recently finished his first fiction work, a story about vampires, and if you are anxiously awaiting the release, you will find updates at his blog Shawn & Gwenn: Blog.

Even though Shawn has just finished one of the more hectic times of year in his life, he agreed to sit down and answer a few questions for our Geek Crafts readers.

So you grew up in a small town as a hemophiliac, HIV positive kid who loved
Depeche Mode…did you ever see yourself traveling the US speaking publicly
about your cult-hit memoir and safe sex?

I really had no idea I’d be talking about my HIV status with my friends, let alone strangers.  At age 20, around the same time I definitively decided that Black Celebration was Depeche Mode’s finest album, I realized I wanted to open up about my HIV status.  At that point, I’d been diagnosed half my life, and it seemed like an exciting thing to do.  Also, I was inspired by Pedro Zamora, who’d been on MTV’s Real World reality show.  He was young, HIV positive and speaking at college campuses.  He passed to spirit a couple of years before I started educating about HIV, but I was able to meet his partner, Sean, and his roommate, Judd Winick, both of whom I thanked for the inspiration.
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