Category Archives: Finder’s Keppers

Russ Colchamiro talks Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition

Nearly a decade after making his debut, author and Crazy 8 Press member Russ Colchamiro has gone back to the beginning with a new and updated version of his first novel, the wild scifi backpacking comedy Finders Keepers.

Crazy 8 Press: Finders Keepers is one of the novels you are most known for. What inspired you to issue The Definitive Edition?

Russ Colchamiro: Haha fair enough! When I first published Finders Keepers back in 2010, it was intended to be a stand-alone tale of cosmic lunacy in the vein of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, with a complete, self-contained story I very much wanted to tell—and in the way that I wanted to tell it.

But when I expanded the adventures into a three-book series, which include the sequels Genius de Milo and Astropalooza, I wanted the first book to more closely match the tone, pacing, length, and style of books two and three, so the entire series feels more cohesive.

C8P: Makes sense! What’s different about the new version? Continue reading

Welcome to Astropalooza

There’s a tendency among us humans to exaggerate. Just a wee bit.

Things like … I’ve been doing this half my life!

Yet in my case … in this particular case … it happens to be true.

ASTROPALOOZA is not just my newest novel. It’s also the third and final entry in my SciFi backpacking comedy series, which started with FINDERS KEEPERS, continued with GENIUS DE MILO, and now concludes with ASTROPALOOZA.

I have to say … whew! What a journey it’s been.

For the uninitiated … FINDERS KEEPERS is loosely based on a series of backpacking trips I personally took through Europe and New Zealand, set against a jar that contains the Universe’s DNA.

When we first start our gonzo tale … bumbling backpackers Jason Medley (from New York) and Theo Barnes (from Auckland, New Zealand) meet in Europe and become fast friends. Their biggest worries include … can I get the hot girl? Can I make my train to Amsterdam? I’m hung over … again.

Meanwhile, as they fret over their ability to pay off student loans and eventually become full-fledged adults … the galaxy is about to be wiped out of existence as a motley crew — from Earth and a galactic realm — chase down that missing jar of the Universe’s DNA, because they all think the boys have it. Continue reading

New Book! Genius de Milo from Author Russ Colchamiro

Crazy 8 Press Author Russ Colchamiro
Instigates More Cosmic Lunacy with ‘Genius de Milo’

–Second novel in ‘Finders Keepers’ comedic sci-fi trilogy pits
bumbling backpacking heroes against Milo, the Universe’s ultimate gremlin–

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 6, 2015 — Crazy 8 Press has once again set author Russ Colchamiro loose upon the Universe with his latest novel, Genius de Milo, the long-anticipated sequel to his sci-fi backpacking comedy Finders Keepers.

In the spirit of Midnight Run meets The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Colchamiro’s bumbling backpackers Jason Medley and Theo Barnes are back again in Genius de Milo, the second book in the trilogy.

Genius de Milo Front Cover for WebAfter barely surviving a tale of cosmic lunacy across Europe, New Zealand, and the backbone of Eternity, they now find that the Earth is fluxing in and out of existence, Theo’s twin girls are teleporting, and Jason can’t tell which version of his life is real. And all because of Milo, the Universe’s ultimate gremlin. Continue reading

Genius de Milo Cover Unveiled

Genius De MiloHey there folks! The newest book from Russ Colchamiro is coming soon!

As the highly anticipated sequel to his hilarious scifi backpacking comedy Finders Keepers, Genius de Milo picks up the action three years later, and amps up the cosmic lunacy, taking us places only Russ could conjure up.

So as we eagerly await Genius de Milo, here’s the book’s brilliant new cover from Roy Mauritsen!

Lex – Gone to the Dogs (A Finders Keepers blog)

Eternity_Lex_Web_2Okay. First thing’s first.

Working in a boutique galaxy design firm in Eternity — the realm of Existence responsible for creating all the celestial bodies in the Universe — of course I had NO idea that I’d ever end up banished to Earth. My shop designed that very planet!

Yeah. I get the irony.

And I DEFINITELY did not anticipate being reconstituted so that I would be a dog. A canine.

Woof-woof.

But I suppose there’s not a whole lot I can do about that now.

Emma’s taking the whole transition a lot harder than I am. But she’s always been the really ambitious one. Which isn’t to say I don’t have any goals. It’s just that, when I’m honest with myself, I’d rather follow than lead. Guess that’s why I ended up as a dog.

Again, I get the irony.

Still … all things considered, Earth’s not so bad.

Earth_Lex_Web2It’s not so great, let’s not get carried away, but it could have been a lot worse. The Minder of the Universe — that’s the guy who oversees the, well, the Universe (his title kinda says it all) — could have dumped me in the Woglo System. That’s pretty much a bog that floats in space, and every formation in it smells like an ardvaark’s armpit on a REALLY hot day. Continue reading