Vol 4. No 2. January 31, 2014:

Well, January was what one might call a good month. RDU-based convention illogiCon welcomed Mary Robinette Kowal, Lawrence M. Schoen, Laura Anne Gilman, Gail Z. Martin, Misty Massey and Ed Schubert, and many more to town, along with fantastic participation from Triangle-area authors and fans; William Shatner rocked the house with his one-man show; Quail Ridge Books hosted Carrie Vaughn for Dreams of the Golden Age; and Jeaniene Frost closed out January with the launch of her latest Night Hunters novel. We also saw new books from Lisa Shearin (on December 31), Cate Tiernan, Megan Shepherd, and Faith Hunter, along with the first in Tor’s re-releases of Jenna Black‘s Guardians of the Night series, a new paperback edition of Ariel Djanikian’s just-optioned-for-TV The Office of Mercy, and! J.M. McDermott’s long-awaited Maze. But don’t sleep in too late to start February, though, as tomorrow (Saturday, February 1), Wendy Webb brings her haunted house novel The Vanishing to Flyleaf Books at 11 AM, kicking off a February that went from sparse to packed since the last newsletter.

Speaking of television, more big, big news on that front is that HBO is set to develop a comedy based on NCSU professor Wilton Barnhardt’s darkly hilarious 2013 novel Lookaway, Lookaway. And speaking of NCSU, they’re looking for a visiting writer to teach in their MFA program next year. Via John Kessel: “NC State University is looking for a Visiting Fiction Writer to teach in our MFA program for the 2014-2015 academic year. Detail available at the NCSU website and also on the AWP Job List. This is meant to be a graduate professorship, so we’re look for experienced and well-published candidates.”

More news? Here you go:

The cover for the Kickstarter-funded Kaiju Rising anthology has been posted, featuring local writers Natania Barron and James Maxey amidst a gorgeous wraparound cover by Bob Eggleton.

anthology has been posted, featuring local writers Natania Barron and James Maxey amidst a gorgeous wraparound cover by Bob Eggleton. ConCarolinas has added considerably to its guest lineup, headlined of course by guest of honor George R.R. Martin and special guest David Weber. One of those new guests? Yours truly, making my first trip to the convention. More info at the new website: http://www.concarolinas.net/

Speaking of impressive lineups, the North Carolina Literary Festival has announced its lineup, which is simply amazing, including Junot Diaz, Karen Joy Fowler, Peter Straub, R.L. Stine, John Kessel, William Barnhardt, Daniel Wallace, Therese Anne Fowler, and many, many more including Bill Ferris, John Claude Bemis, and Zelda Lockhart. The festival runs April 3-6 at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library at NC State University. (And I’m hearing rumors of at least one more major guest announcement to come. Stay tuned!)

Local author (and Bull Spec poetry contributor!) Jen McConnel extends an invitation to area writers for her guest post series Writers on Wednesday

Durham writer Jeremy Whitley’s story for the new comic book My Little Pony: Friends Forever is the debut “Discord” comic story in the forthcoming issue 2, coming in Feburary. Here’s an interview of Whitley by Zack Smith for Newsarama.

Richard Dansky has an article on Deadlands in the latest issue of Dark Discoveries magazine.

Pete Wood’s story “Drink in a Small Town” is in the latest (March) Asimov’s, on newsstands now.

Natania Barron is hosting a live-reading (via Google Hangout) of her novel Pilgrim of the Sky in February.

The North Carolina Speculative Fiction Foundation announced the final eligibility list for the inaugural Manly Wade Wellman Award, with nominations opening soon.

Meanwhile, bullspec.com has been quite busy as well, with: the first installment of Paul Kincaid’s column on British SF, “From the Other Side”; a fantastic series of “Coming to Town” interviews including Laura Anne Gilman interviewed by Jaym Gates, Lawrence M. Shoen interviewed by Ada Milenkovic Brown, Misty Massey interviewed by Edmund R. Schubert, and both Carrie Vaughn and Wendy Webb interviewed by Richard Dansky; and two guest posts in “The Hardest Part” including Jenna Black and Lisa Shearin.

Speaking of Shearin, it was my pleasure to talk to her on Carolina Book Beat in early January. In addition to the podcast of that interview (which includes her reading from her new book), the CBB folks posted podcasts of recent appearances by Jason Mott and Matt Ross. This Monday (Feb 3) I’ll be on with illustrator Tommy Lee Edwards to talk about his forthcoming Vandroid project. And in March I’m very excited to have Mur Lafferty on to talk about Ghost Train to New Orleans, her forthcoming sequel to The Shambling Guide to New York City, and for which she’s just finished principal recording on the audiobook edition.

-Sam

UPCOMING EVENTS, FEBRUARY 2014

1 (Saturday) 11 am – Flyleaf Books hosts Wendy Webb for The Vanishing. More book info: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/wendy-webb/the-vanishing/9781401341947/

NEW-NEW: 1 (Saturday) 3 pm to late — Atomic Empire’s first “tap takeover” is courtesy the Duck-Rabbit Brewery: “Duck-Rabbit is taking over all eight of Atomic Empire’s taps! Beer selection will include: Amber Ale, Brown Ale, Porter, Milk Stout, Hoppy Bunny, Barleywine, Baltic Porter, and Paul’s Day Off Smoked Stout. We will also be selling flights, so you can try more than one.”

4 — Regional book release day for The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage, followup to her Newbery honor winner and NY Times bestseller Three Times Lucky (Greenville).

4 — Regional book release day for Vengeance by Megan Miranda, sequel to her 2012 YA supernatural thriller Fractured (Charlotte).

NEW-NEW: 4 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Duke’s Smith Warehouse hosted a reading by PEN/Malamud Award winner George Saunders. More info: http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/02/03/english-department-brings-george-saunders-campus

NEW: 6 (Thursday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Sheila Turnage – ‘The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing’. “Mark your calendar now for the launch of one of the biggest children’s books of the year.”

NEW-NEW: 6 (Thursday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Philipp Meyer discusses his historical novel The Son (paperback release). (Fiction.)

NEW-NEW: 8 (Saturday) 3 to 5 pm — Durham County’s Southwest Regional Library hosts a “Meet the Author” event with Durham author Mur Lafferty. More info: http://durhamcountylibrary.org/events/meet-the-author-mur-lafferty/

NEW-NEW: 8 (Saturday) 10 am to 3 pm — The High Country Festival of the Book hosts a special February event in Boone, NC, bringing authors Deborah Johnson and Ed Williams to the area. More info: http://www.highcountryfestivalofthebook.com/

NEW-NEW: 9 (Sunday) 3 pm — Bookmarks NC “Book Club Moveable Feast” in Winston-Salem, NC with authors Wilton Barnhardt, Arien Djanikian, Deborah Johnson, Wendy Welch, and more changing tables every 10 minutes to meet with and discuss with readers. Tickets (4 remaining at last check) are available at: http://bookmarksnc.givezooks.com/events/book-club-movable-feast

NEW: 10 (Monday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Deborah Johnson – The Secret of Magic. Johnson’s novel is amazing; it’s an historical fiction set in Mississippi in the late 1940s as a black GI returns home from WW2 to the segregated South, built around an actual NAACP Legal Fund case and a fictional fantasy novel within the novel. (Fiction.)

NEW: 11 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Deborah Johnson discusses her novel The Secret of Magic. (See above for my brief thoughts on this fantastic book.)

NEW: 16 (Sunday) 2 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Joyce Allen launches her young adult novel The Threads of Earth, part two of the Threads trilogy.

NEW: 17 (Monday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Alice Hoffman – ‘The Museum of Extraordinary Things’.

NEW: 19 (Wednesday) 6:30 pm — McIntyre’s Books hosts Alice Hoffman for The Museum of Extraordinary Things.

NEW: 20 (Thursday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts The Lovestruck Tour – Four Passionate Authors. (See below for list.)

NEW: 21 (Friday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts The Lovestruck Tour, featuring YA authors Megan Hansen Shepherd (Her Dark Curiosity), Megan Miranda (Fracture), Kasie West (Pivot Point), and Robin Constantine (The Promise of Amazing).

NEW-NEW: 21-23 (Friday to Sunday) — 15th Nevermore Film Festival at The Carolina Theatre of Durham. More info: http://festivals.carolinatheatre.org/nevermore/

21-23 (Friday to Sunday) — MystiCon in Roanoke, VA withguests John de Lancie (ST:TNG’s “Q”), author Todd McCaffery, author A.J. Hartley, and more. More info: http://mysticon-va.com/

NEW-NEW: 25 (Tuesday) 7 pm — A Knights of Badassdom screening at the Raleighwood Cinema Grill. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1378122032455699/

26 — Regional book release day for The Narrow Gate: A Supernatural Thriller (Solom) by Scott Nicholson (Boone).

26 — Local comic book launch day for Vandroid by Tommy Lee Edwards.

NEW-NEW: 28 (Friday) — The Carolina Theatre of Durham is playing a Labyrinth and Legend doubleheader showing, starting at 7 pm. More info: http://www.carolinatheatre.org/films/labyrinth-legend

NEW-NEW: 28 (Friday) — Asheville’s Malaprop’s Bookstore hosts a ticketed event with author Karen Russell (Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories). The program includes an interview by Greta Johnsen followed by a booksigning and wine and cheese reception. More info: http://www.malaprops.com/event/karen-russell-conversation-wcqs-morning-edition-host-greta-johnsen-ticketed-event

MARCH 2014

NEW-NEW: 3 (Monday) 6:30 pm — The Orange County Library (Main Branch) hosts a panel discussion about H.G. Wells, with authors Nathan Kotecki, James Maxey, and Clay Griffin. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/253778568132539/ — NOTE — POSTPONED

4 — Local book release day for Ghost Train to New Orleans (The Shambling Guides) by Durham’s Mur Lafferty (Mar 4, 2014).

NEW-NEW: 4 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Internationalist Books and Community Center hosts author Margaret Killjoy to talk about his forthcoming utopian anarchist sf novel A Country of Ghosts, praised by Kim Stanley Robinson as “An exciting and mysterious novel, a story of war and love.” More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1411094312476615/

NEW: 5 (Wednesday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Ishmael Beah – ‘Radiance of Tomorrow’. (Fiction.)

NEW: 6 (Thursday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Mur Lafferty discusses her fantasy novel Ghost Train to New Orleans.

7 (Friday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Kim Harrison for The Undead Pool. More info: http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/theundeadpool



11 — Local book release day for Resistance by Jenna Black.

NEW: 16 (Sunday) 3 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Richard Peck – ‘The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail’. (Kids.)

17 (Monday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts the “Three Nightmares You Can’t Resist” tour with authors Kristen Simmons, Mindee Arnett, and Jenna Black. More info: http://www.flyleafbooks.com/event/three-nightmares-you-can%E2%80%99t-resist-tour-featuring-kristen-simmons-mindee-arnett-jenna-black

NEW-NEW: 21-23 (Friday to Sunday) — Mad Monster Party Charlotte with William Shatner, Hulk Hogan, and more: http://madmonster.ticketleap.com/mmp14/

25 — Local book release day for Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel.

NEW: 28 (Friday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Meg Wolitzer – ‘The Interestings’. (Fiction.)

APRIL 2014

1 — Regional book release day for Charlotte author Gail. Z. Martin’s Reign of Ash, book two in her Ascendant Kingdoms series from Orbit Books after 2013′s Ice Forged.

1 — Regional book release day for Salvage by debut Asheville author Alexandra Duncan.

5-6 (Saturday and Sunday) — 2014 North Carolina Literary Festival hosted by the NCSU Libraries at NC State University; the primary venue for the Festival will be the James B. Hunt Jr. Library on Centennial Campus. “This free public event is presented on a rotating basis by the Duke University Libraries, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries, the NCSU Libraries, and North Carolina Central University. The Festival is designed to attract people of all ages, from our surrounding communities and across the state. The program will be varied and will include author readings and discussions, book signings, activities, bookstore sales and more.” The North Carolina Literary Festival has announced its lineup, which is simply amazing, including Junot Diaz, Karen Joy Fowler, Peter Straub, R.L. Stine, John Kessel, William Barnhardt, Daniel Wallace, Therese Anne Fowler, and many, many more including Bill Ferris, John Claude Bemis, and Zelda Lockhart.

8 — Regional book release day for A Whisper in Time by Elizabeth Langston, book two in her Whisper Falls series.

NEW-NEW: 9 (Thursday) 7 pm — The Regulator Bookshop hosts Jen McConnel for Daughter of Chaos.

11-13 (Friday to Sunday) — JordanCon 6 in Rosell, Georgia, with author guest of honor Patrick Rothfuss and artist guest of honor Larry Elmore. More info: http://www.jordancon.org/

NEW: 12 (Saturday) 3 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Elizabeth Langston – ‘A Whisper in Time’.

NEW-NEW: 17 (Thursday) 7 pm — The Barnes & Noble of Brier Creek hosts Mur Lafferty for a signing of Ghost Train to New Orleans. More info: http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/83303

NEW-NEW: 19 (Saturday) 8 pm until late — The Clockwork Ball: A Steampunk Party at the Haw River Ballroom, hosted by The Davenport Sisters. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1388306014723527/?ref_notif_type=plan_user_invited&source=1

NEW: 25-27 — RavenCon in Richmond, Virginia with Guest Elizabeth Bear (2013 Locus Award Winner) and Ghost Mary Shelley. More info: http://www.ravencon.com/

26-27 (Saturday and Sunday) — The Festival of Legends at Storybook Farm in Chapel Hill.

29 — Local book release day for Morningside Fall (Duskwalker Cycle) by Jay Posey, a follow-on to his post-apocalyptic debut novel Three.

NEW-NEW: 30 (Wednsday) — Clay and Susan Griffith to give a reading at Lady Jane’s Salon RDU: http://ladyjanesrdu.blogspot.com/

MAY 2014

NEW-NEW: 3 (Saturday) — Clay and Susan Griffith are teaching a session on collaboration at Triangle Area Freelancers Write Now! conference: http://www.triangleareafreelancers.org/WriteNow.html

NEW: 5 (Monday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Christopher Moore – ‘The Serpent of Venice’.

6 — Local book release day for The Sea Without a Shore by David Drake (May 6, 2014) — Lt. Leary series

16-18 (Friday to Sunday) — DeepSouthCon 52 at new convention ConTrails in Bristol, Virginia. (That’s the big that sticks out over Tennessee in the southwest corner of the state.) With Guest of Honor: Gordon Van Gelder and Artist Guest of Honor: Charles Vess. Additionally, the Rebel and Phoenix Awards will be presented. “Contrails is a new convention in scenic Bristol, Virginia. We’re an “old fashioned” sci fi literature con with an emphasis on the written word, discussion and southern hospitality.” More info: https://sites.google.com/site/contrailssf/home

20 — Local book release day for Durham author and playwright Monica Byrne’s debut novel, The Girl in the Road.

23-25 (Friday to Sunday) — Animazement in Raleigh, NC. More info: http://www.animazement.com/

NEW: 23-26 (Friday to Monday) — BaltiCon 48 with Guest of Honor Brandon Sanderson, 2013 Compton Crook Award winner Myke Cole, 2014 Heinlein Award recipient Geoffrey A. Landis, and Ghost of Honor Robert Jordan. More info: http://www.balticon.org/

Shatterdome Atlanta 2014 is a new fan-run Pacific Rim convention being held May 31, 2014 at the Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center being put on by (among others) Conni Covington. Here are some links to learn more; they’re still pretty early in planning so I don’t see guest lists and such yet: http://shatterdomeatl.tumblr.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/events/1376406699280500/

JUNE 2014

(May 30) to June 1 (Friday to Sunday) — ConCarolinas in Charlotte, with guest of honor George R.R. Martin. More info: http://concarolinas.org/

26-29 (Thursday to Sunday) — ConTemporal in Raleigh at the Hilton North Raleigh Midtown. “Join us for the Third Annual Extravaganza!” More info: http://contemporal.org/

NEW-NEW: 27-28 (Friday and Saturday) — The High Country Festival of the Book in Downtown Boone, NC. More info: http://www.highcountryfestivalofthebook.com/

JULY 2014

11-13 (Friday to Sunday) — ConGregate in downtown Winston-Salem. More info: http://www.con-gregate.com/

NOVEMBER 2014

15-16 (Saturday and Sunday) — NC Comicon at the Durham Convention Center. Initial announced guests include Sean Murphy. More info: http://nccomicon.com/

– END –