Bull Spec local events e-mailing list: February 2012

Vol 2. No. 2, January 30, 2012:


Welcome to the February 2012 events newsletter from Bull Spec! I hope a lot of you made it out to celebrate new books from local authors JL Hilton, Natania Barron, and Cate Tiernan last month, not to mention illogiCon with Joe Haldeman, along with a visit from Tor debut author Marissa Meyer. January comes to a close by bringing author Drew Magary to town for his novel The Postmortal, with events at Chapel Hill's Flyleaf Books on January 31 and Durham's The Regulator Bookshop on February 1.


Some NEW events below: Orson Scott Card comes to Quail Ridge Books on Feb 7, Karen Joy Fowler comes to NCSU on Feb 15, a special Andrew Neal cover for issue #1 of Adventure Time for Chapel Hill Comics, and NC Comicon has a date in Durham in November. Also: a deadline of February 1 for signing up to be a giver for World Book Night 2012 in April. Speaking of deadlines, January 31 is the last date to register as a supporting member for WorldCon, with one of the privileges being able to nominate and vote for the Hugo Awards.


Lastly... Wow. Issue #7 is still very very late. It really will be here "really soon now", and I'm very sorry to all concerned for the delay.


-Sam


JANUARY 2012

31 (Tuesday), 7 pm to 8 pm: Chapel Hill's Flyleaf Books hosts Drew Magary for a reading and signing of his debut novel The Postmortal -- published by Penguin in August: "Imagine a near future where a cure for aging is discovered and-after much political and moral debate-made available to people worldwide. Immortality, however, comes with its own unique problems-including evil green people, government euthanasia programs, a disturbing new religious cult, and other horrors. Witty, eerie, and full of humanity,The Postmortal is an unforgettable thriller that envisions a pre-apocalyptic world so real that it is completely terrifying." Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/176992959071540/

FEBRUARY 2012


1 (Wednesday), 7 pm: The Regulator Bookshop hosts Drew Magary for The Postmortal: "Drew Magary will read from and sign copies of his new novel The Postmortal, which imagines a world twenty minutes in the future wherein the cure for aging has been discovered. Magary explores the implications of such a discovery and the problems that may arise, including evil green people, euthanasia programs, a new religious cult. This story of a pre-apocalypse is a dark comedy that is by turns tragic and comic. Drew Magary is a blogger for Deadspin." Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/169936239780091/


4 (Saturday), 10 am: The Orange County Library in Hillsborough hosts Hillsborough author James Maxey for a class on: "Where Do You Get Your Ideas? (And What Do You Do Once You Have One?)"

4 (Saturday), All Day: Carolina Games Summit at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC: speakers, exhibitors, tournaments, and more.


NEW: 7 (Tuesday), 7:30 pm: Quail Ridge Books hosts Greensboro author Orson Scott Card for a reading and signing of his new "Ender's Shadow" novel, Shadows in Flight. Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/295538490494536/


8 (Wednesday), 6 pm: The Orange County Library hosts a panel discussion on "Where do you get your ideas?", moderated by James Maxey, with panelists John Claude Bemis (Nine Pound Hammer), A. J. Mayhew (The Dry Grass of August), Ed & Janet Howle (The Long Road to Paris), and Natania Barron (Pilgrim of the Sky).


10 (Friday), 7:30 pm: Launch party for James Maxey's Greatshadow (the first book in a new fantasy series from Solaris Books) at Quail Ridge Books: http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/james-maxey-dragon-fantasy-greatshadow -- Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/261902680545846/

12: Regional author new novel: J. M. McDermott's When We Were Executioners, book #2 in his Dogsland Trilogy from Night Shade Books after Never Knew Another, to be released: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12804203-when-we-were-executioners

NEW: 15 (Wednesday), 7:30 pm: NCSU hosts Nebula Award-winning sf writer Karen Joy Fowler (author of Sarah Canary and the best-selling The Jane Austen Book Club) for a reading. The reading will probably be in the Thompson Theater on Dunn Avenue on the NCSU campus, where other recent readings have been. The reading is open to the general public and there is free parking in the parking deck  next to the theater. More information and a confirmed location will be available closer to the event date.


NEW: 18 (Saturday), 4 to 7 pm: Chapel Hill Comics hosts the launch party for Adventure Time #1, based on the hit animated TV series, with an exclusive alternate cover drawn by Chapel Hill Comics's own Andrew Neal: http://www.chapelhillcomics.com/content/?p=1523

24-26: Mysticon in Roanoke, Virginia with guests of honor author Sherrilyn Kenyon and actress Nicki Clyne (Cally Tyrol on SyFy’s Battlestar Gallactica)

MARCH 2012

1: Regional author new novel: South Carolina author T. C. McCarthy's Exogene, book #2 in his The Subterrene War series after 2011's Germline, to be released by Orbit Books: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11418025-exogene

2-4: StellarCon (March 2-4, 2012) in High Point with literary guest of honor Patrick Rothfuss. More info: http://stellarcon.org/

21-25: “The Monstrous Fantastic”, the 33rd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando, FL with guests of honor China Miéville and Kelly Link.


23-25: MidSouthCon in Memphis, TN with guests of honor author Michael Stackpole, writer and editor Cat Rambo, and more.


27: Regional author new novel: Wilmington's David Macinnis Gill's Invisible Sun, sequel to his award-winning 2010 novel Black Hole Sun, to be published by Greenwillow Books.


APRIL 2012


3: Local author new novel: Baen to publish Pittsboro author David Drake's newest novel in his Lt. Leary RCN series, The Road of Danger. More info: http://baen.com/order_isbn.asp?isbn=9781451635158


10: Ex-local author new novel: Tor Books to publish Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamour in Glass, sequel to her debut novel Shades of Milk and Honey which she launched at ReConstruction in Raleigh in August, 2010.


13-15: RavenCon in Richmond, VA with guests of honor author Glen Cook and artist Matthew Stewart.


NEW: 23: World Book Night 2012 -- sign up by February 1 to be a book giver, including several sf titles: http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/


MAY 2012


1: Local author new novel: Baen to publish Raleigh author Mark L. Van Name's newest novel in his Jon & Lobo series, No Going Back. More info: http://www.baen.com/order_isbn.asp?isbn=9781451638103


17-20: Nebula Awards Weekend in Arlington, VA with toastmaster Walter Jon Williams.


22: Local author new novel: Hillsborough's John Claude Bemis's The Prince Who Fell From the Sky to be published by Random House Books for Young Readers.

JUNE 2012

1-3: ConCarolinas (June 1-3, 2012) in Charlotte with writer guest of honor Jack McDevitt. More info: http://www.concarolinas.org/

15-17: DeepSouthCon in Huntsville, AL with guest of honor author Lois McMaster Bujold, with Lou Anders, David Drake, David Weber, and Toni Weisskopf among other participants.

21-24: ConTemporal (June 21-24, 2012) in Chapel Hill with literary guest of honor Cherie Priest and comic book guests of honor Studio Foglio. More info: http://contemporal.org/


JULY 2012


17: Regional author new novel: Tor to publish Greensboro author Orson Scott Card's (along with Aaron Johnson) Earth Unaware: The First Formic War.

20-22: LibertyCon in Chattanooga, TN with literary guest of honor Brandon Sanderson, master of ceremonies Eric Flint, and a special lineup of 25th anniversary guests including Timothy Zahn, Larry Niven, and Jerry Pournelle.

31: Local author new novel: Solaris Books to publish Hillsborough author James Maxey's Hush -- continuing his new fantasy series which begins with Greatshadow in January (see above).

AUGUST 2012


1: Local editor new anthology: Raleigh author and anthologist John Kessel's latest anthology (co-edited with James Patrick Kelly) to be released: Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology from Tachyon Publications.


14: Local author new collection: Raleigh author Kij Johnson's fiction collection At the Mouth of the River of Bees to be published by Small Beer Press.


SEPTEMBER 2012


1: (Date TBD) Local author new novel: Raleigh authors Clay and Susan Griffith conclude their Vampire Empire series with book 3 (Title TBD) after 2010's The Greyfriar and 2011's The Rift Walker. From Pyr Books. More info: http://clayandsusangriffith.blogspot.com/


NOVEMBER 2012


NEW: 17-18: NC Comicon at the Durham Convention Center: http://nccomicon.com/


END

An apology to my contributors, readers, and advertisers on the lateness of issue #7.

Well, there's really no hiding it, or "smoothing" it out this time. Issue #7 is no longer the "Winter 2011-12" issue; it's the "Spring 2012" issue. I want to offer (again) my apologies to my patient readers, my forgiving advertisers, and my contributors that their works, planned for 2011, are now coming in early 2012 instead. Additionally, an apology to the "2011 year in review" editors who essentially wasted their time considering these stories for 2011, some of which I also included in my yearly Pushcart Prize nominations, spots which should have gone to poems and essays and stories actually published in 2011. It is what it is. Issue #7 will be out as soon as we can finish it (which includes some rework on the cover; sorry JZ for yet another bother on that score) and we'll hope to have issue #8 out in May.

I thought I had learned my lesson with issue #4, which while it did come out in late (late!) December 2010, ended up creating a lot of confusion as the print copies didn't arrive until mid-January, for some reviewers late January. Apparently not. Well, we'll keep learning and keep trying, and thanks for sticking with us.

-Sam

Heading to illogicon, Jan 13-15!

Well, it's time to pack up magazines and the crate that has become the traveling road show for "the year in local sf" and head to illogiCon, this weekend (Friday through Sunday, Jan 13-15) in Raleigh. I don't have any panels today, but I'm moderating an "Ethics in SF" panel tomorrow (Saturday) with Joe Haldeman, John Kessel, Kij Johnson, and Gray Rinehart, and two panels on Sunday: one on the year's best in sf, the other on local authors. I think I'm ready. Congrats to Warren Buff and company on putting together programming that ranges from the writerly (craft, publishing, career, etc.) to the readerly (readings, discussions) to other media (comics, films, games) to, well, all the rest of the craziness that is fandom, all the while keeping the con very affordable at $20 pre-registered, $30 at the door for the whole weekend, with single day registrations as well. I'm looking forward to seeing friends from far away (JM McDermott!) and further out in NC (Ada! Davey!) and an absolutely massive list of local writers, readers, fans, and friends. See you there?

Wake Forest author Michael Jasper is web serializing his novel A Sudden Outbreak of Magic!

Starting with the Prologue today, Wake Forest author Michael Jasper (Gunning for the Buddha, A Gathering of Doorways, The Wannoshay Cycle, ...) is web serializing his novel A Sudden Outbreak of Magic:

photo by Andy Castro

"So here’s the story…  

Kelley and her twin brother Jeroan just moved to Dubuque, Iowa. Their parents uprooted them from their home in Chicago after learning that Jeroan had gotten mixed up with a gang. As the only black girl in her grade, Kelley is not pleased about the move. 

One cold morning in November, after trying (unsuccessfully) to keep Jeroan out of trouble again, she gets “infected” by magic after reading aloud from a small leatherbound book she finds. 

She also blows up the family home at the same time.
Soon Kelley and Jeroan must face up to a power-hungry, centuries-old Sorcerer who wants to rid the world of what he calls “renegade” magic-users. Only Kelley’s new way of using magic will save their new city and their magically infected friends, though she may lose her brother in the process. 

A novel for all ages about magic, growing up, and finding your place within those two very different realms."

Hugo etc. pandering, 2012 edition:

First, the holiday book guide acts as a very good stand-in for repeating a lot of the book-related suggestions -- no, seriously, go there and look at the long list of books which were published by local and regional authors this year, and see if one or more of them doesn't remind you of one of your favorite reads this year, ranging from the Best Novel category (The Rift Walker, Out of the Waters, Pilgrim of the Sky, The Lost Gate, Miserere, Never Knew Another, Briarpatch, Germline, The Sworn, on and on...) or Best Related Work (here I might suggest Journal of a UFO Investigator, if it's not considered science fiction proper, or How to Write Magical Words or even The Fiasco Companion) or Best Graphic Story (TURF completed its mini-series last year, and there was the stand-alone Laddertop, as well as the first trade edition of the first several issues of The Order of Dagonet), along with checking out the editors and cover artists for those novels for the Best Editor - Long Form (David Hartwell for Out of the Waters, Lou Anders for The Rift Walker, and others) and Best Artist - Professional (such as Chris McGrath for The Rift Walker cover) categories.

In the Best Editor - Short Form category, Mark Van Name edited the urban fantasy anthology The Wild Side, and John Kessel (along with James Patrick Kelly, of course!) edited the anthology Kafkaesque. Additionally, Natania Barron and Jaym Gates edited the first Crossed Genres quarterly, which included Greenville author Ada Milenkovic Brown's execellent "Nadirah Sends Her Love". You can also see on that book guide the editors for some of the anthologies where local and regional authored Short Stories were published, such as Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (for The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities), Jonathan Strahan (for several anthologies which included local and regional authors), John Joseph Adams (for selecting Eric Gregory's "The Harrowers" for Lightspeed Magazine and its year one anthology) and Joe R. Lansdale, among others.

Second, some of the (not all, I'm sure I'm missing some here) outstanding fiction published by local and regional authors this year, not already listed on the holiday book guide, or available to peruse in the table of contents for Bull Spec issue #5 (Roger Williams's novelette "Mortal Passage" is not eligible, having been previously published online) and issue #6:

• Greenville's Ada Milenkovic Brown, "Nadirah Sends Her Love", Crossed Genres
• Asheville's Alexandra Duncan, "Rampion", F&SF (novella)
• Jason Erik Lundberg, "Kopi Luwak", Red Dot Irreal
• James Maxey, Burn Baby Burn (novel)
• Mur Lafferty, "1963: The Argument Against Louis Pasteur", The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities
• John Kessel, "Clean", Asimov's (novelette)
• Mark L. Van Name,  “The Long Dark Night of Diego Chan” in The Wild Side (novelette)
• Richard Butner, "Through the Uprights", Electric Velocipede (very long, but still a short story)
• Lewis Shiner, "A Box of Thunder", Strange Horizons
• Kij Johnson: "Story Kit" in Eclipse Four; and "Bridging the Mist" in Asimov's (novella)
• Gwendolyn Clare: "Perfect Lies" in Clarkesworld; "A Claw from the Western Paradise" in Triangulation: Last Contact; "Ashes on the Water" in Asimov's; and "Iron Oxide Red" in Daily Science Fiction
• Dan Campbell,  "Where Sea and Sky Kiss", Daily Science Fiction
• Ryan Jones, "Return to Earth", Stupefying Stories
• Rich Matrunick: “The Pale Farmer” in Every Day Fiction, May 3rd, 2011; “Stranded (with Pork Chop)”: Electric Spec, Volume 6, Issue 3; “From Alexandra to Amberglow” in Ray Gun Revival, Volume 2, Issue 8;  “Prophecy Negotiations” in Space Squid, Issue 10; and “Other Sister” in Stupefying Stories
• Joseph Giddings: "Lifestealer" in Ray Gun Revival; and "Goliath" in The Fringe Magazine
• Peter Wood, "Future Imperfect" in Ray Gun Revival
• M. David Blake, "When the Pupil is Ready", The Drink Tank #300
• Gina Massel-Castater, "Careless of the Night", The Wild Side
• Eric Gregory, "The Harrowers", Lightspeed Magazine
• Natania Barron, "Pushing Paper in Hartleigh" in Subversion
• Gray Rinehart: "The Tower" in Crossed Genres; and Therapeutic Mathematics and The Physics of Curve Balls in Analog
• Stuart Jaffe, "Little Girl with Pink Ribbons", In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk
• Erik Bundy, "The Turtle Wore Mascara", Electric Spec

Next, a quick rundown for The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: In their second year of eligibility: Local authors Monica Byrne, John Claude Bemis, Stephen Messer, and Gray Rinehart; and Bull Spec alumni David Steffen and Deborah Walker. In their first year of eligibility: Local authors M. David Blake, Teresa Frohock, Natania Barron, Mur Lafferty, Rebecca Gomez Farrell, Ada Milenkovic Brown, and TC McCarthy; and Bull Spec alumni Preston Grassmann.

Nearly lastly, all of the non-fiction contributors to Bull Spec, from Paul Kincaid to Richard Dansky and many others (see those tables of contents) are eligible in the Fan Writer category.

Lastly, Bull Spec is itself eligible in the Semiprozine category, along with many wonderful "not too big, but we pay you something" magazines.

(And if you are a local or regional writer or Bull Spec alumni and/or you know of something I missed, please post a comment! Thanks!)

Bull Spec local events e-mailing list: January 2012

Vol 2. No. 1, January 4, 2012:


Welcome to the January 2012 events newsletter from Bull Spec! I hope a lot of you made it out to see Hillary Jordan, John Kessel, and Cassandra Clare last month, and there are a ton of new events, including one tomorrow night (JL Hilton at Tir Na Nog, Thursday) and another in two days (Marissa Meyer at Flylear Books, Friday) and several more in January, so look below and don't miss them. And don't forget mid-January's illogiCon which is bringing Joe Haldeman back to the Triangle, January 13-15!


Lastly... Wow. Issue #7 is still very late. It will be here in PDF "really soon now", and I'm very sorry to all concerned for the delay. I don't think it's possible for print copies of issue 7 to make it here in time for illogiCon, which is very frustrating and is a real setback. On a more positive note, many of the Kickstarter rewards have been delivered, and if you're looking for your T-shirt or a pendant I have them and am working my way through the list.


-Sam


JANUARY 2012

5 (Thursday), 7 pm to 9 pm: Release party for local author JL Hilton's Stellarnet Rebel at Raleigh's Tir Na Nog Irish Pub. From Carina Press: "A science fiction romantic thriller." More info including an excerpt: http://www.stellarnetrebel.com/ 

6 (Friday), 7 pm to 8 pm: Chapel Hill's Flyleaf Books hosts Marissa Meyer for a reading and signing of her debut novel Cinder: "Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg." More info on the novel, and a prequel short story, here: http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/12/glitches


NEW: 11 (Wednesday), 12 pm: Local author James Maxey will be on WUNC's The State of Things to discuss his recent superhero novel Burn Baby Burn and forthcoming fantasy novel Greatshadow.


NEW-NEW: 13 (Friday), 7 pm: Durham author Stephen Messer joins Asheville author Allan Wolf to read and discuss their recent books: http://flyleafbooks.com/event/evening-nc-childrens-authors-allan-wolf-and-stephen-messer-ages-7

13-15: New local SF convention illogiCon (January 13-15, 2012) in Raleigh with literary guest of honor Joe Haldeman. More info: http://illogicon.com/ -- Get registered and tell the programming committee what you want to see!


17: Regional author new novel: Greensboro's Orson Scott Card's newest novel, Shadows in Flight, to be published by Tor Books. More info: http://us.macmillan.com/book.aspx?isbn=9780765332004


NEW: 28 (Saturday), 3 pm: B&N New Hope Commons hosts the book release party for local author Natania Barron's December 2011 debut novel Pilgrim of the Sky. "Steampunk attire optional!"


NEW: 28 (Saturday), 3 pm: Quail Ridge Books hosts Durham author Cate Tiernan for a reading and signing of her new YA novel Darkness Falls, Tiernan's next book in her Immortal Beloved series.


31 (Tuesday), 7 pm to 8 pm: Chapel Hill's Flyleaf Books hosts Drew Magary for a reading and signing of his debut novel The Postmortal -- published by Penguin in August: "Imagine a near future where a cure for aging is discovered and-after much political and moral debate-made available to people worldwide. Immortality, however, comes with its own unique problems-including evil green people, government euthanasia programs, a disturbing new religious cult, and other horrors. Witty, eerie, and full of humanity,The Postmortal is an unforgettable thriller that envisions a pre-apocalyptic world so real that it is completely terrifying."

31: Local author book release: Solaris Books to publish the first book in a new fantasy series from Hillsborough author James Maxey, which starts with Greatshadow: http://www.solarisbooks.com/titles/title_details/greatshadow -- book #2, Hush, is due in July!

31: Regional author new novel: Charlotte's Gail Z. Martin's newest novel, The Dread, to be published by Orbit Books. Sequel to 2011's The Sworn and continuing her second series in her Chronicles of the Necromancer books. More info: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/books_9780316192361.htm

FEBRUARY 2012


NEW: 1 (Wednesday), 7 pm: The Regulator Bookshop hosts Drew Magary for The Postmortal: "Drew Magary will read from and sign copies of his new novel The Postmortal, which imagines a world twenty minutes in the future wherein the cure for aging has been discovered. Magary explores the implications of such a discovery and the problems that may arise, including evil green people, euthanasia programs, a new religious cult. This story of a pre-apocalypse is a dark comedy that is by turns tragic and comic. Drew Magary is a blogger for Deadspin."


NEW: 4 (Saturday), 10 am: The Orange County Library in Hillsborough hosts Hillsborough author James Maxey for a class on: "Where Do You Get Your Ideas? (And What Do You Do Once You Have One?)"

NEW: 4 (Saturday), All Day: Carolina Games Summit at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC: speakers, exhibitors, tournaments, and more.


NEW-NEW: 7 (Tuesday), 7:30 pm: Quail Ridge Books hosts Greensboro author Orson Scott Card for a reading and signing of his new "Ender's Shadow" novel, Shadows in Flight.


NEW: 8 (Wednesday), 6 pm: The Orange County Library hosts a panel discussion on "Where do you get your ideas?", moderated by James Maxey, with panelists John Claude Bemis (Nine Pound Hammer), A. J. Mayhew (The Dry Grass of August), Ed & Janet Howle (The Long Road to Paris), and Natania Barron (Pilgrim of the Sky).


NEW: 10 (Friday), 7:30 pm: Launch party for James Maxey's Greatshadow (see above for book info) at Quail Ridge Books: http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/james-maxey-dragon-fantasy-greatshadow

12: Regional author new novel: J. M. McDermott's When We Were Executioners, book #2 in his Dogsland Trilogy from Night Shade Books after Never Knew Another, to be released: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12804203-when-we-were-executioners

NEW-NEW: 15 (Wednesday), 7:30 pm: NCSU hosts Nebula Award-winning sf writer Karen Joy Fowler (author of Sarah Canary and the best-selling The Jane Austen Book Club) for a reading. The reading will probably be in the Thompson Theater on Dunn Avenue on the NCSU campus, where other recent readings have been. The reading is open to the general public and there is free parking in the parking deck  next to the theater. More information and a confirmed location will be available closer to the event date.

24-26: Mysticon in Roanoke, Virginia with guests of honor author Sherrilyn Kenyon and actress Nicki Clyne (Cally Tyrol on SyFy’s Battlestar Gallactica)

MARCH 2012

1: Regional author new novel: South Carolina author T. C. McCarthy's Exogene, book #2 in his The Subterrene War series after 2011's Germline, to be released by Orbit Books: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11418025-exogene

1: Regional author new novel: J. M. McDermott's Maze to be published by Apex Books: http://jmmcdermott.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/welcome-to-the-maze-maze-is-coming-in-march-2012/

2-4: StellarCon (March 2-4, 2012) in High Point with literary guest of honor Patrick Rothfuss. More info: http://stellarcon.org/

21-25: “The Monstrous Fantastic”, the 33rd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando, FL with guests of honor China Miéville and Kelly Link.


23-25: MidSouthCon in Memphis, TN with guests of honor author Michael Stackpole, writer and editor Cat Rambo, and more.


27: Regional author new novel: Wilmington's David Macinnis Gill's Invisible Sun, sequel to his award-winning 2010 novel Black Hole Sun, to be published by Greenwillow Books.


APRIL 2012


3: Local author new novel: Baen to publish Pittsboro author David Drake's newest novel in his Lt. Leary RCN series, The Road of Danger. More info: http://baen.com/order_isbn.asp?isbn=9781451635158


10: Ex-local author new novel: Tor Books to publish Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamour in Glass, sequel to her debut novel Shades of Milk and Honey which she launched at ReConstruction in Raleigh in August, 2010.


13-15: RavenCon in Richmond, VA with guests of honor author Glen Cook and artist Matthew Stewart.


MAY 2012


1: Local author new novel: Baen to publish Raleigh author Mark L. Van Name's newest novel in his Jon & Lobo series, No Going Back. More info: http://www.baen.com/order_isbn.asp?isbn=9781451638103


17-20: Nebula Awards Weekend in Arlington, VA with toastmaster Walter Jon Williams.


22: Local author new novel: Hillsborough's John Claude Bemis's The Prince Who Fell From the Sky to be published by Random House Books for Young Readers.

JUNE 2012

1-3: ConCarolinas (June 1-3, 2012) in Charlotte with writer guest of honor Jack McDevitt. More info: http://www.concarolinas.org/

15-17: DeepSouthCon in Huntsville, AL with guest of honor author Lois McMaster Bujold, with Lou Anders, David Drake, David Weber, and Toni Weisskopf among other participants.

21-24: ConTemporal (June 21-24, 2012) in Chapel Hill with literary guest of honor Cherie Priest and comic book guests of honor Studio Foglio. More info: http://contemporal.org/


JULY 2012


17: Regional author new novel: Tor to publish Greensboro author Orson Scott Card's (along with Aaron Johnson) Earth Unaware: The First Formic War.

20-22: LibertyCon in Chattanooga, TN with literary guest of honor Brandon Sanderson, master of ceremonies Eric Flint, and a special lineup of 25th anniversary guests including Timothy Zahn, Larry Niven, and Jerry Pournelle.

31: Local author new novel: Solaris Books to publish Hillsborough author James Maxey's Hush -- continuing his new fantasy series which begins with Greatshadow in January (see above).

AUGUST 2012


1: Local editor new anthology: Raleigh author and anthologist John Kessel's latest anthology (co-edited with James Patrick Kelly) to be released: Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology from Tachyon Publications.


14: Local author new collection: Raleigh author Kij Johnson's fiction collection At the Mouth of the River of Bees to be published by Small Beer Press.


SEPTEMBER 2012


1: (Date TBD) Local author new novel: Raleigh authors Clay and Susan Griffith conclude their Vampire Empire series with book 3 (Title TBD) after 2010's The Greyfriar and 2011's The Rift Walker. From Pyr Books. More info: http://clayandsusangriffith.blogspot.com/


NOVEMBER 2012


NEW-NEW: 17-18: NC Comicon at the Durham Convention Center: http://nccomicon.com/


END

Regional author book release: Faith Hunter's Raven Cursed (Jane Yellowrock, Book 4)

Faith Hunter's Raven Cursed is out today, the fourth book in her Jane Yellowrock series of novels:

A regional author with a regionally-set book? Indeed:

The vampires of Asheville, North Carolina, want to establish their own clan, but since they owe loyalty to the Master Vampire of New Orleans they must work out the terms with him. To come up with an equitable solution, he sends an envoy with the best bodyguard blood money can buy: Jane Yellowrock. 

But when a group of local campers are attacked by something fanged, Jane goes from escort to investigator. Unless she wants to face a very angry mast vampire, she will have to work overtime to find the killer. It's a good thing she's worth every penny.

Out as a mass market paperback original from Roc, the book is also on various e-book platforms as well as in digital audiobook:

Narrated by Khristine Hvam for Audible Frontiers, the audiobook runs a bit over 15 hours.

Local author release day: Stellarnet Rebel by J. L. Hilton and Darkness Falls by Cate Tiernan

Congratulations are due to local author J.L. Hilton, whose debut novel, Stellarnet Rebel, is out today from Carina Press!

Welcome to Asteria, a corporate-owned, deep-space colony populated with refugees, criminals and obsessive online gamers. Genny O'Riordan has shifted in from Earth determined to find a story that will break her blog into the Stellarnet Top 100, and even better - expose the degradation of the colony's denizens.

Duin is an alien - a Glin - a hero of a past revolution against the Glin royal family, yet branded a terrorist. Duin speaks every day in the Asteria market, hoping to spur humans to aid his home world, which has been overtaken by the evil, buglike Tikati.

When Genny and Duin meet, what begins with a blog post becomes a dangerous web of passion and politics as they struggle to survive not only a war but the darker side of humanity...

In addition to being available on Google eBooks and therefore at our local IndieBound stores (here's direct links for The Regulator Bookshop, Quail Ridge Books, Flyleaf Books, and more) it's also on Nook, Sony, Apple iBookstore, and on the Kindle US (and Kindle UK) -- I don't see it on Kobo, anybody find it there? -- along with being available directly from the publisher, where you can find an excerpt and more information as well. And the book has a website of its own, with even more info.


And in addition to that, it's also out today in  audiobook at Audible.com and (soon) in the iTunes Music Store. Narrator Gayle Hendrix has narrated books for Nora Roberts, Suzanne Brockmann, and on the St. Martin's Press/Audible Frontiers anthologies Strange Brew (Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris, and more) and My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (Sherrilyn Kenyon, Harris, Butcher, and more). I couldn't be much more excited.


But wait! There's another local author book out today, that being Darkness Falls by Durham's Cate Tiernan, the second in her Immortal Beloved series which started in 2010:

Also out today in audiobook as Immortal Beloved #2: Darkness Falls, Narrated by Kelly Lintz for Hachette Audio:

These are the first of many, many local author releases this year, so don't wait! Pick your bookstore/audiobookstore and pick up your copies!