HOW MANY DUDES

Welcome to the Stone Soup Digest! This is where I share what I'm up to and some of my favorite things from around the internet. Subscribe to Stone Soup to get this in your inbox every week.

Go Play How Many Dudes

How many dudes does it take to beat up a gorilla? A thousand toddlers? A horse-sized duck? A GOD? Enter the Dude Ranch and find out in this roguelike dudebuilder where you recruit an army of dudes to fight ridiculous battles.

I got to beta test this game! Anyone who knows me is laughing their ass off right now because I am decidedly not a gamer. I don’t own a console and it was only a couple of years ago that I learned a “Steam Deck” wasn’t one of the worst berths on the Titanic. Which is why I volunteered to beta test How Many Dudes: Because maybe it would be useful for the developers to know how a caveman would experience their game.

Here’s my report: It’s fucking fun as hell. This game is a delight to play. It’s easy to pick up and hard to put down. The art is fun, the violence is delightful, and the mechanics are intuitive. If you’ve ever thought, “Man, I wish there was a wholesome way to enjoy some guys dukin’ it out,” your lucky day has arrived. 

Go check out How Many Dudes now, on desktop or mobile!

Steam | Google Play | Apple App Store

SDCC Recap

I got to spend this past week in San Diego! Comic Con was incredible. I got to meet so many of you, and learn about your tattoos and celebrate your cosplays. I spent time with my editors and creative collaborators and queer family. And, most importantly, I got to wear the mysterious jumpsuit that appeared in my closet and somehow fit me perfectly.

Oh, and I rode on the shoulders of the World’s Greatest Author.

Spread Me Paperback Release Event

Spread Me is coming out in paperback in just a couple of weeks! I know, I know, they grow up so fast. I’ll be at A Seat at the Table Books in Elk Grove (near Sacramento) to celebrate. 

If you preorder Spread Me from A Seat at the Table, you’ll get an AMAZING PRIZE: An exclusive, signed, alternate-cover-card with art by the one and only Liana Kangas!! The art is unreal and I’m obsessed with it. Here’s a little sneaky peeky at the art:

Don’t miss the paperback launch event!

August 15 at 2:00 PM
A Seat at the Table Books
9257 Laguna Springs Dr #130
Elk Grove, CA 95758

Be there!

Currently Reading: “Dr. Werthless” by Harold Schechter and Eric Powell

Wertham wrote Seduction of the Innocent (1954), asserting that comic books were a cause of juvenile delinquency. His testimony before Congress about the supposed dangers of comics helped lead to the creation of the Comics Code Authority, and to Wertham being reviled by comic book fans as a witch-hunting zealot who stirred up a panic among parents for his own self-promoting purposes.

Wertham was also a renowned psychiatrist who, among other accomplishments, opened a clinic in Harlem for disadvantaged African-American patients and played an important role in the desegregation of the nation's schools.

Believing that murder could be abolished through a proper understanding of the mental and social roots of criminal violence, he took a genuinely humane approach to some of the most notorious homicidal maniacs of his time, while simultaneously exploiting their stories for his own commercial ends.

Barnes & Noble | Bad River Website | Local Library | Find an Indie Bookstore

Neighborhood Watch #3 is Out Now!

Despite their distrust, Val and Bianca have no choice but to continue working together to keep their friend, along with her gunshot wound, hidden from the cops. But they each have had very different experiences with the law—ones that could make or break their ongoing investigation. Will they be able to avoid any trouble while they look into what Jill’s "runaway” daughter knows about this growing mystery?  

Kobo | Bad River Website | Local Comic Shop

Make Me Better is a USA TODAY BESTSELLER

I am FLOORED. Months after launch, we managed to put Make Me Better on the USA Today Bestseller list! Thank you so much for buying, reading, supporting, blogging about, and sharing this book with your friends and enemies. It means the whole world to me. 

If you haven’t already ordered Make Me Better, I hope you will! Here are all the places you can get your copy:

Barnes & Noble | Bad River Website | Libro.fm | Local Library | Find an Indie Bookstore

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In the meantime, remember: Do what you can. Care for yourself and the people around you. Believe that the world can be better than it is now. Never give up.

-gailey