Posts published in: 2012/06

Local Author release day: James Maxey's Hush, book 2 in The Dragon Apocalypse

Posted on 2012-06-27 at 19:8 by montsamu

Congratulations to Hillsborough author James Maxey, whose second fantasy series for Solaris Books has just doubled in size. Quickly on the heels of January's Greatshadow is book 2 of The Dragon Apocalypse, Hush:

"The invulnerable, super-strong warrior Infidel has a secret: she’s lost her magical powers right at the moment when she needs them most. To keep a promise to a fallen friend, she must journey to the frozen wastelands of the north. Her quest leads her through the abstract realms of the Sea of

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ConTemporal Day 1

Posted on 2012-06-23 at 2:51 by montsamu

Photos:

Notes:

  • Wow. For the first day of a brand new convention, there was a lot of energy, lots and lots of art, and things just went really smoothly. Well done!
  • It is pretty hard to fit even two years worth of local sf/f onto one table.
  • Had a good time on the "Pirates in Literature" panel with John Claude Bemis and Danny Birt, moderated by Lee Martindale --rambled all over from Treasure Island to Ice Pirates, back to Peter Pan, "Pinkbeard", the Dread Pirate Roberts, and On Stranger Tides.
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ConTemporal Week, Friday: Registration, and Pirates!

Posted on 2012-06-22 at 15:24 by montsamu

Registration for ConTemporal opens today at 12 pm, at which time you can also start registering for the various author Salons -- intimate 10-person conversations with many of the guest authors and artists of the convention. As for me, I have one panel today, at 4 pm: "Pirates in Literature". If I have time today, I'll also set up a table of a staggeringly heavy collection of local author books (for display, not for sale) in the Artist's Alley.

(And the Dealer's Room opens at 5, at which time you can come

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ConTemporal Week, Thursday: Meet hashtag #contemporal2012

Posted on 2012-06-21 at 19:4 by montsamu

I'm looking forward to setting up a Bull Spec and local authors display on Artists Alley tomorrow, but for today, which officially kicks off ConTemporal with this evenings dinner and concert festivities, I want to simply introduce you to the hashtag #contemporal2012 -- look for quotes, pictures, and updates all weekend.

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ConTemporal Week, Wednesday: Natania Barron is ConTemporal Bound

Posted on 2012-06-20 at 21:25 by montsamu

Local author (and 3-time fiction contributor, 3-time non-fiction contributor, and incoming Bull Spec fiction co-editor!) Natania Barron is ConTemporal Bound -- though she doesn't exactly have far to go. She's posted her panel schedule, which includes a 10-person salon discussion on Saturday which you can register for when checking in at ConTemporal registration.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="479"] Natania Barron, photo by Carrie Upchurch[/caption]

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ConTemporal Week, Tuesday: Something you might forget to bring...

Posted on 2012-06-19 at 18:33 by montsamu

Why yes, it's still ConTemporal week, with festivities getting started with Thursday evenings Guest of Honor dinner and concert (does anybody know if tickets are still available for these?) and continuing all weekend. I don't have much to add today, having used up a half-handful of updates yesterday. But there is one thing I've had on my mind: something in particular to not forget.

You see, I received a few complaints after Lev Grossman's reading at Flyleaf last fall that I didn't give enough advance

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ConTemporal Week!

Posted on 2012-06-18 at 18:31 by montsamu

It's ConTemporal Week here in the Triangle, with things getting started with the guest of honor dinner this Thursday and continuing through closing ceremonies (and beyond to one last Maker swap meet) on Sunday. I'll be there Friday and Saturday, with panels on pirates in literature, subplots, and manuscript preparation. (And I'll be hunting down literary guest of honor Cherie Priest's signing schedule...)

Monday notes:

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Maker Faire tomorrow! Free RPG Day, too! M. David Blake is interviewed! Exciting things!

Posted on 2012-06-15 at 21:27 by montsamu

First: I hope as many of you as humanly possible were among the 40+ who went to see and hear Kevin Hearne at Flyleaf Books last Tuesday, and were able to do more than stop by Jeremy Whitley's Princeless event last Saturday at Ultimate Comics. Did you go? Any pictures or memorable quotes?

Second: tomorrow is Maker Faire NC at the Kerr Scott Building at the NC State Fairgrounds. It runs from 10 am to 5 pm, and includes homemade robots, crafters, quilters, gadgeters, artists, and other "makers" from around

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Bull Spec Newsletter for June 2012

Posted on 2012-06-07 at 19:12 by montsamu

Vol 2. No. 5, Thursday, June 7, 2012:

Wow, did May fly by or what? New books (Mark L. Van Name's No Going Back, John Claude Bemis's The Prince Who Fell From the Sky complete with launch party extravaganza last Saturday), more events (David Halperin, Alethea Kontis, Free Comic Book Day) and last weekend's ConCarolinas in Charlotte. We also had a good bit of local and regional author awards news ranging from storySouth selections to another Nebula Award for Kij Johnson.

June is shaping up to be quite a

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