February newsletter updated with tons of new events!

Yup, it always happens. I click “send” on the newsletter and shortly thereafter find out about a long list of upcoming events. Here’s a quick roundup:

FEBRUARY 2013

NEW-NEW: 2 (Saturday) 5 to 7 pm — Chapel Hill Comics hosts Jared Axelrod, author of the Tor graphic novel The Battle of Blood & Ink: A Fable of the Flying City. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/418137048267731/

NEW-NEW: 11 (Monday) 5 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts PETER LERANGIS – Children’s Fantasy With The Colossus Rises.

NEW-NEW: 11 (Monday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Breathless Reads YA Tour: Meet Five Up and Coming Young Adult Authors – Fiona Paul (Venom), Beth Revis (Shades of Earth), Morgan Rhodes (Falling Kingdoms), Elizabeth Richards (Black City), and Jess Spotswood (Born Wicked).

NEW-NEW: 12 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Peter Lerangis, The Seven Wonders Book One: The Colossus Rises.

NEW-NEW: 16 (Saturday) 9 pm til late — Davenport and Winkleperry hosts The Clockwork Ball: A Steampunk Party. “Attention Pilots of Airships and their Crews, Mad Scientists, Explorers of the Unknown, Admirers of Verbosity, Respecters of the Strange, Those Lost in the Throes of Opium or Absinthe, Teetotalers, Scallywags, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dandies, Fops, and Urchins… Our next event will be on Saturday February 16th, 2013 and… will feature a live performance by the outstanding FABLE CRY.  Hosted by that darling duo, Emmett Davenport & Lady Nikolai Attercop. They will be spinning Jazz, Blues, Swing, Dark Cabaret, Gypsy Punk, & Dance music from times gone by or times that never were. Doors at 8pm; Music begins at 9pm. Admission: 18+, 21+ to Drink; $5. Appropriate Attire is Encouraged, but never required.” More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/434531459951000/

NEW-NEW: 26 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Ariel Djanikian reads from her science fiction novel The Office of Mercy. Author Djanikian now calls Chapel Hill home, so let’s get out to welcome this new local author!

MARCH 2013

NEW-NEW: 2 (Saturday) 2 pm — David Drake will be at Circle City Books in Pittsboro — the bookstore was recently written up in the LA Times for its fantastic mural of a bookshelf (which features one of Drake’ss books, “With the Lightnings”: http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-now-thats-a-wall-of-books-20130123,0,3947937.sto

NEW-NEW: 9 (Saturday) 3 to 4 pm — The Regulator Bookshop hosts: “Two NC authors share their visions of the strange with us on Saturday, March 9, at 3 p.m. Nathan Kotecki brings us The Suburban Strange. Celia discovers girls at Suburban High are having near fatal accidents on the eve of their 16th birthdays. Can 15-year-old Celia solve the mystery before her own next birthday? For ages 14+. PT McHugh presents Keeper of the Black Stones: Stone Ends, the first book in a new series. It’s a thrilling combination of fantasy and historical fiction with a likable, funny hero in Jason Evans. For ages 12+.” More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/301390523317829/

NEW-NEW: 19 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts A. J. HARTLEY – With Children’s Fantasy Darwen Arkwright & The Insidious Bleck.

MAY 2013

NEW-NEW: 4 (Saturday) — Free Comic Book Day, including events and of course free comics at all participating shops. Ultimate Comics will be hosting a very large party/gathering/thing in and around their store, including two free Jeremy Whitley comic books, one a split issue featuring Princeless and Jamal Igle’s new title “Molly Danger” and the other an NFL RushZone book. Stay tuned for lineups and plans from other local stores!

Friday quick update: weekend events

A couple of interesting things going on this weekend:

• This weekend (Oct 13-14) is Sci-Fi & Fantasy Literary Weekend at the Carolina Renaissance Festival in Huntersville, NC (a bit northeast of Charlotte, between I-77 and I-85). Among other authors involved, Charlotte epic fantasy author Gail Z. Martin and adventure fantasy author Misty Massey will be participating. There’s also a costume contest and other activities.
• Meanwhile in Durham, on Sunday newly opened Atomic Empire (formerly Sci-Fi Genre) hosts 2012′s North Carolina State Championship Magic (the Gathering) Tournament. Registration opens at 9:00 a.m. and the first round begins at 10:00 a.m.

Friday Updates: new events, Nathan Kotecki on Saturday, Hope Larson on Sunday, Kij Johnson on Tuesday, and more local author publication notes

As usual, as soon as I send out the newsletter I find out about publication news and events that I’ve missed. This month is no exception, although the events list is indeed exceptionally long. But first, some upcoming events:

• NEW: 6 (Saturday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Durham author Nathan Kotecki for a reading and signing of his new Young Adult fantasy novel The Suburban Strange. More info: http://www.flyleafbooks.com/event/nathan-kotecki-reads-his-new-young-adult-fantasy-novel-suburban-strange
• 7 (Sunday) 2-4 pm: Graphic novelist (and Bull Spec #2 interviewee!) Hope Larson visits Chapel Hill Comics for a reading and signing from hew new adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time: https://www.facebook.com/events/506635952698280/
• 9 (Tuesday) 7:30 pm — Kij Johnson returns to the Triangle for a reading and signing of her new collection from Small Beer Press, At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories, at Quail Ridge Books. More info: http://quailridgebooks.com/event/kij-johnson-nebula-winner-new-stories

Local author publication notes:

• Karissa B. Sluss, short story “Deadest in Show” in Return of the Dead Men and Women Walking a horror anthology published by Bards and Sages: http://www.bardsandsages.com/deadmen
• Peter Wood, short story “All Your World’s a Stage” in Interstellar Fiction Oct 1: http://interstellarfiction.com/fiction/all-your-worlds-a-stage-by-peter-wood/ — along with an interview: http://interstellarfiction.com/nonfiction/contributor-qa/qa-with-peter-wood/
• A paperback edition of Stephen Messer’s middle grade fantasy novel The Death of Yorik Mortwell, illustrated by Gris Grimly, out from Random House Books for Young Readers: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8089200-the-death-of-yorik-mortwell

And here is that (very!) long list of “NEW-NEW” events in October and November:

OCTOBER

NEW-NEW: 6 (Saturday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Durham author Nathan Kotecki for a reading and signing of his new Young Adult fantasy novel The Suburban Strange. More info: http://www.flyleafbooks.com/event/nathan-kotecki-reads-his-new-young-adult-fantasy-novel-suburban-strange

NEW-NEW: 14 (Sunday) 10 am — Atomic Empire hosts the North Carolina State Championship Magic Tournament. Registration begins at 9, winner receives invite to the national championships in Indianapolis. More info: http://www.atomicempire.com/2012s/

NEW-NEW: 18 (Thursday) 7 pm — Local authors Mark L. Van Name (The Wild Side anthology, Baen) and Clay Griffith (The Vampire Empire series, Pyr) will discuss urban fantasy at the Cameron Village library.

NEW-NEW: 23 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Durham author Nathan Kotecki visits The Regulator Bookshop for a reading and signing of The Suburban Strange. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/241877642602182/

NOVEMBER

NEW-NEW: 5 (Monday) 7 pm: Quail Ridge Books hosts Cinda Chima for a reading and signing of her young adult fantasy novel The Crimson Crown, the fourth and final novel of her Seven Realms series. More info: http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/cinda-chima-seven-realms-conclusion-crimson-crown

NEW-NEW: 10 (Saturday) 11 am — McIntyre’s Books hosts Ilie Ruby for her second novel, The Salt God’s Daughter, “Imbued with a traditional Scottish folktale and hints of Jewish mysticism”. More info: http://www.fearrington.com/village/calendar.asp?month=11&year=2012

NEW-NEW: 17 (Saturday) 3 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Morgan Keyes for a reading and signing of new “ages 10 and up” fantasy novel, Darkbeast. More info: http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/morgan-keyes-new-fantasy-darkbeast

NEW-NEW: 19 (Monday) 6:30 pm — Local author Mark L. Van Name will host a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) related writing workshop at the Cameron Village Library.

NEW-NEW: 30 (Friday) 7 pm — Cherie Priest returns to the Triangle, as Flyleaf Books hosts a reading and signing from her forthcoming Clockwork Century novel, The Inexplicables. More info: http://www.flyleafbooks.com/event/cherie-priest-reads-her-new-steampunk-adventure-inexplicables

NEW-NEW: 30 (Friday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Allie Condie for Reached, the conclusion of the #1 NYT bestselling “Matched” trilogy, a YA dystopia. More info: http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/allie-condie-matched-trilogy-conclusion

Breaking event news: Quail Ridge Books to host Brandon Sanderson for A Memory of Light

UPDATE: This event has been re-scheduled to February, though the final date has not yet been determined.

The long-awaited conclusion to The Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light, is set to be published in January 2013. And, as he did in September 2010, author Brandon Sanderson will be coming to Raleigh’s Quail Ridge Books. The event will be Sunday, January 13, at 3 PM — note the afternoon start time!

Facebook event link to invite friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/117403835073651/

And one thing which immediately comes to mind is that this is the Sunday of illogiCon weekend; so after a Friday through Sunday of sf convention fun (with guest of honor Tim Powers and toastmaster Mark L. Van Name, among others) close out the weekend with Brandon Sanderson at Quail Ridge. Not too bad a start to 2013.

The Unchained Tour, including Neil Gaiman, with events across the Carolinas in September!

Beginning September 14 in Columbia, SC and making its way through North and South Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, and ending up in Savannah, GA on September 22, The Unchained Tour is bringing Neil Gaiman and a crew of Moth-veteran raconteurs to the Carolinas all September long. The stops in between (all 7:30 pm unless noted) include Spartanburg, SC (Sep 15), Tryon, NC (Sep 16, 2 pm), Asheville, NC (Sep 16), ETSU – Johnson City, TN (Sep 17, 12 pm), Boone, NC (Sep 17), Charlotte, NC (Sep 18), Winston-Salem , NC (Sep 19), Chapel HIll, NC (Sep 20), and Charleston, SC (Sep 21).

August 4-5: Science Fiction across the state!

There are two events I’d like to tell you all about, both taking place the weekend of August 4-5.

The first is on Saturday, August 4, at Asheville’s Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe, from 7 to 9 pm. Continuing a “tradition” which started last year of the staff and visiting instructors from Wofford College’s Shared Worlds teen writing camp, Malaprop’s is hosting a Fantasy and Science Fiction Extravaganza with Nathan Ballingrud, Tobias Buckell, Naomi Novik, Will Hindmarch, Karin Lowachee, and Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, moderated by Shared Worlds director Jeremy L.C. Jones:

http://www.malaprops.com/event/shared-worlds-malaprops-fantasy-and-science-fiction-extravaganza

https://www.facebook.com/events/449700638386204/

The second is one I hope you’ve all heard about and are excited about already, on Sunday, August 5, at Chapel Hill’s Flyleaf Books, from 2 to 4 pm. This is also the second in a “series” which began last year, as the VanderMeers (along with Ekaterina Sedia, SJ Chambers, Scott Eagle, Jeremy L.C. Jones, and more including Durham’s own Mur Lafferty) came down to Durham’s Fullsteam Brewery (in partnership with local bookstore The Regulator Bookshop) after their Malaprop’s reading last year. This year I’m hosting a second “Bull Spec summer literary speculative fiction festival”, this time at Flyleaf Books, with South Carolina science fiction author T.C. McCarthy and Virginia fantasy author Michael J. Sullivan.

http://www.flyleafbooks.com/event/2nd-annual-bull-spec-magazine%E2%80%99s-summer-literary-speculative-fiction-festival

https://www.facebook.com/events/326070144135719/