OK everyone, I know the holidays are a stressful time, but all your shopping worries are over.  Behold the glory that is the 2014 Year of the Poser Calendar!  Which you can buy at The Tinker’s Packs!

Jim C. Hines is a science fiction and fantasy author.  What possessed him to make a calendar of himself baring his abs?  Here’s the story, as told by Jim C. Hines himself:

In 2012, Jim wanted to start a discussion about science fiction and fantasy cover art, particularly the ways women were portrayed. To do this, he attempted to contort himself into the poses of various cover art heroines, leading to many discussions about sexism and objectification, the purpose of cover art, and who could do the better Christmas-themed cover pose, Jim Hines or John Scalzi. (Spoiler: it was totally Jim!)

Toward the end of the year, Jim launched another round of poses, this time to raise money for the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation. He offered rewards for various fundraising goals, including a cover pose calendar if the fundraiser brought in more than $15,000. Jim figured that was an absurdly high goal, and that he’d be safe. He figured wrong… and thus a calendar was born!

This calendar is funny, thought-provoking, and benefits charity.  It’s even signed.  Jim C. Hines braved some serious back pain to demonstrate how men and women are portrayed on book covers and he made us laugh while doing it.  Here’s a couple of examples:

You can find out more about why Jim C. Hines took this project on, and what it taught him about gender and sexism in publishing, at jimchines.com.  Here you can find all his cover poses, and some funny, interesting, challenging essays about them.  This project is a great example of “show, don’t tell” and of using humor to make a point.  And oh yeah, Hines is right – insulin pumps are cool.