To celebrate Fringe being renewed for another season, we’re giving away a copy of Fringe Science to one lucky fan. Without further ado, the winner (chosen courtesy of Random.org) is . . . Courtney! Congratulations! We’ll be in touch via email so we can get your prize sent out.

Thanks to everyone who entered. If you didn’t win but would like to learn more about Fringe Science, you can sign up below to read a free excerpt; we’ll also let you know about any future giveaways!

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Heard the good news? We’re getting 13 more episodes of Fringe!

To celebrate, we’re giving away a copy of Fringe Science. Leave a comment on this post (say, with your favorite thing about season 4, or what you’re most looking forward to—spoiler free—about season 5) before midnight Central time on Sunday, April 29 to enter!

(And remember: If you haven’t yet, you can sign up for the book mailing list here—scroll down to where it says “Sign up for free chapters & book updates”—and get a free download of Kevin Grazier’s introduction and one of our favorite essays from the book.)

Happy Friday!…

» Continue Reading “More Fringe!”

December always sneaks up on me: suddenly, I’m inundated with Black Friday sales emails, and I realize I have a full list of Hanukah and Christmas gifts to shop for and not a lot of time to do it in.

In case you’re in the same boat: here’s our top 5 best gift bets from our last 12 months of new releases. We’ve also added a few related non-book gift options to round out each suggestion—just in case you really like the person (or your Secret Santa lower limit is higher than a list price of $16.95).

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For the Mad Men fan, the foodie, or the history buff:

The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook

You’re especially in luck if your giftee is all three. Every …

» Continue Reading “The Smart Pop gift guide: books and more”

Last season, we did an official introduction post for our Fall 2010 books. This season, we’re trying something new: officially announcing our Spring 2011 titles individually, each in their own post. If you’ve missed any, you can check them all out here.

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Our books get started in different ways. Sometimes we have an idea: What if we get a lot of science fiction and fantasy writers together and have them write essays about Buffy the Vampire Slayer? (Though this was a few months before I started at BenBella, I’m told this is pretty much how Seven Seasons of Buffy came about.) Sometimes an agent brings us an idea, and an author ready to write it (see: The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook). …

» Continue Reading “The science and science fiction of Fringe: Fringe Science”

When I was a kid, there wasn’t much that bugged me more than picking up a book and discovering that, though the character image on the front had green eyes, the book clearly described the character’s eyes as brown. (You may remember me complaining about this before.) It was like the publisher wasn’t even paying attention—like they thought we wouldn’t notice.

Which is to say: Details matter. Because I did notice. And—I think I’m not alone in this—the more passionate I am about something, the more important the details become.

We work hard to get the details right, here at Smart Pop, and this is particularly true when it comes to the properties we cover. We expect our authors to be fans, and to …

» Continue Reading “Looking for Fringe fans”

You may have noticed: there’s a lot of television on Thursday nights.  My DVR tapes while I watch, and I still have to visit Hulu if I want to be caught up.

That, I suspect, is why no one’s yet realized: Fringe and Supernatural? Secretly the same show!

Consider the evidence:

Each show has an almost preternaturally earnest main character (Olivia and Sam).

Each show co-stars a Dawson’s Creek alum whose first name begins with the letter J (Joshua Jackson and Jensen Ackles).

And the kicker? William Bell is clearly science fiction’s answer to Supernatural’s Yellow-Eyed Demon.

Both prepared children for a war. Both seem to feel a vaguely creepy attachment for their biggest success. And as it turns out, conducting drug …

» Continue Reading “William Bell = Yellow-Eyed Demon?”