Oh my: February will be a fun month.

But first, a quick recap of some things I missed along the way.

December

6 Mur Lafferty and Mary Robinette Kowal among the guest narrators for Cory Doctorow's With a Little Help
15 Natania Barron's story "Without a Light" is published in Fantastique Unfettered #1
16 Clay and Susan Griffith's The Greyfriar is named The Vamp Chix blog's Best Vamp Novel 2010 (one of many, many lists and year-end praises for the book)
30 Natania Barron's story "Dead's End to Middleton" (originally in Crossed Genres "Steampunk" issue, and from which she read at the Bull Spec #2 launch) was published in audio by Escape Pod

January

1 Dale Mettam's (story) new comic Orpheus comes out from Viper Comics
4 Orson Scott Card's new book The Lost Gate (volume one, Mither Mages) is published by Tor Books
13 James Maxey was on WUNC's The State of Things to talk about the soundtrack to Nobody Gets the Girl
18 JM McDermott's new novel Never Knew Another (the first book of his Dogsland Trilogy) was published by Night Shade Books
22 Local author R.T. Crowley's debut novel The Wanderer of New Hope is published by Apex-based Peak City Publishing
25 David Niall Wilson's story "A Candle Lit in Sunlight" is published in Best New Vampire Tales (along with Alan Smale, Jay Caselberg, ...)
27 Monica Byrne's play "Nightwork" debuts at Manbites Dog (show continues through Feb 12; check out the podcast of her interview with Frank Stasio on WUNC's The State of Things)
28 Joe Giddings' story "Harvest Moon" is published in Indigo Rising
31 A new Raleigh-based convention was announced: illogiCon will debut in a little less than a year, 13-15 January 2012, with literary guest of honor Joe Haldeman

Now a look at February and a mild peek ahead to March and April. Oh my. Yes, a lot is going on.

February

1 Gail Z. Martin's new novel The Sworn is published by Orbit
1 Look for John Kessel's story "Clean" in the Asimov's March 2011 on newsstands now
1 Michael Jasper's e-comic "In Maps and Legends" releases issue 4. Mike, along with artist Niki Smith, were recently announced as the Digital Creators of the Year by Comic Book Resources for their groundbreaking work not only in the story and art, but in the ridiculous number of electronic formats in which it is available
1 Crossed Genres issue 27, "Tragedy", edited by Natania Barron and Jaym Gates, includes a story from Ada Milencovic Brown, "Nadirah Sends Her Love"
1 The full table of contents to the Ann & Jeff VanderMeer-edited The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities was revealed, including fiction from Mur Lafferty and art from Scott Eagle, and micro fiction from Bull Spec #2 contributor Kaolin Fire
3 David Halperin's first novel Journal of a UFO Investigator is published by Viking (print and e-book) and Blackstone Audio (audiobook)
4-6 What the Hell?!con in Greensboro, NC (hey, Dale Mettam is going...)
8 Halperin reads and signs Journal of a UFO Investigator at Chapel Hill's Flyleaf Books
8 Sale ends for the $4.49 Audible.com audiobook of David Drake's With The Lightnings (RCN Series, Book 1)
9 Mur Lafferty to present at Ignite Durham
9 The Regulator Bookshop hosts author Alice Hoffman to read and sign her new book The Red Garden
10 Jaym Gates on WUNC's The State of Things to talk about Rigor Amortis
10 Halperin reads and signs Journal of a UFO Investigator at Durham's The Regulator Bookshop
10 Hoffman at Quail Ridge Books
11 Hoffman at Flyleaf Books
12 Chapel Hill-based artist Scott Hampton to sign copies of his new comic book Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead at Chapel Hill Comics (Herald-Sun article)
12 Halperin reads and signs Journal of a UFO Investigator at McIntyre's Fine Books (Fearrington Village, Pittsboro) (more events outside the Triangle and in March listed here)
14 McDermott's first novel Last Dragon (2008, Wizards of the Coast Discoveries) gets a new edition from Apex Book Company
15 IBM Jeopardy! challenge (trailer video)
16 Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston to sign copies of their new comic book Formic Wars: Burning Earth #1 (prequel to Ender's Game) at Chapel Hill Comics
19 Jay Requard to talk about his upcoming first novel The Night as part of Apex's Nevermore Film Festival
23 Alex Wilson's graphic short (story) "The Whores in Trinidad Need Witnessing to" to be published in Outlaw Territory 2 from Image Comics
25 NC author Beth Revis among 5 stars of YA to speak at Quail Ridge Books, about her book Across the Universe (YR/YA murder mystery set in space) -- Facebook event and Quail Ridge calendar

March

1 Charles Ebert's story "The Ossuaries" to be published in the March Aiofe's Kiss

1 Jay Requard's first novel The Night to be published by Apex-based Peak City Publishing

4-6 StellarCon in High Point, NC
23 UNC business professor John Kasarda will discuss and sign his new non-fiction book Aerotropolis: The Way We'll Live Next at The Regulator
24 Halperin reads and signs Journal of a UFO Investigator at Bull's Head Bookshop (UNC Chapel Hill)

April

15 Bull Spec #5 to launch as part of NC Speculative Fiction Night #3 at Raleigh's Quail Ridge Books (tentative!) with Crossed Genres (Jaym Gates, Natania Barron, Ada Milencovic Brown), Halperin, Requard, contributors Becca Gomez Farrell, M. David Blake, and more...

Rich Horton summarizes Bull Spec, year one.

In his LiveJournal The Elephant Forgets, Rich Horton summarizes the first year of Bull Spec and gives a statistical roundup along a pair of axes (author gender and story genre). In particular he notes Lavie Tidhar's "The Story of Listener and Yu-En" (issue #3) and Nick Mamatas' "O, Harvard Square!" (issue #4) along with mentions for Katherine Sparrow, Melissa Mead, Natania Barron, Don Norum, and Kaolin Fire. So: go read the roundup, and see what else Rich has been reading this year. (Hint: everything.)