Friday Quick Updates: William Gibson tonight, NC Comicon next weekend, James Maxey's Bad Wizard countdown sale, and more
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Friday Quick Updates: William Gibson tonight, NC Comicon next weekend, James Maxey's Bad Wizard countdown sale, and more
Posted on 2014-11-07 at 18:44 by montsamu
Friday, November 7, 2014: Ever since seeing Zack Smith report about it for Indy Week’s fall arts preview, I’ve been looking forward to tonight: William Gibson will be at Motorco in Durham! Presented by The Regulator Bookshop, less than 40 tickets remain for this 7:30 reading, talk, and signing so: get your tickets, invite your friends (each ticket is good for two people, after all), and see you there! To whet your appetites, a pair of local interviews are available including Richard Butner’s for Bull Spec (“I get it by osmosis. It’s kind of impossible not to get it by osmosis, although that’s probably just a function of my particular Twitter feed.”) and Brian Howe for Indy Week (“I was given a demo by someone from Oculus Rift a couple of months ago, and I said, ‘Why couldn’t they do this before?’”).
There are also a pair of a pair of YA sf readings this weekend, with Lauren Kate and Robin LaFevers holding two readings each in the Triangle. Meanwhile, on Saturday and Sunday The Raleigh Review’s Southern Recitations reading and workshop series presents Mining the Mirror: Turning Emotional Landmines into Good Literature with Zelda Lockhart and Angela Belcher Epps. Among the “new-new” events since the October newsletter include:
- Saturday, Nov. 8: NC State’s Hunt Library hosts Tony Hale of Arrested Development and Veep for his new children’s book Archibald’s Next Big Thing
- Sunday, Nov. 9: Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde” at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh
- Sunday, Nov. 9: William Powers at Flyleaf Books for his new memoir New Slow City: Living Simply in the World's Fastest City at 2 pm.
- Monday, Nov. 10: William Powers at The Regulator Bookshop for his new memoir New Slow City: Living Simply in the World's Fastest City at 7 pm.
- Thursday, Nov. 13: The Museum of Life and Science in Durham hosts an adults-only event called Game Theory with beer, board and video and card games, and "create a game" sessions with local video game designers
- Monday, Nov. 17: Flyleaf Books hosts the book launch for Daniel Wallace’s new children’s book The Cat’s Pajamas
Meanwhile, a sizable contingent of our local and regional authors are up in Washington, DC this weekend for the World Fantasy Convention, and I’m enjoying seeing their posts and photos and other reports of the goings-on. One of those authors is Hillsborough’s James Maxey, who was the most recent guest on Carolina Book Beat, where he talked about his new novel Bad Wizard. Coincidentally, that novel is currently featured as a Countdown deal, on sale for $0.99 for the next 12 hours or so, slowly increasing in price until it’s back at its regular $5.99.
Speaking of “for a limited time”, there are still 18 days left to nominate Raleigh author Stacey Cochran’s “Kindle Scout” submission of his novel Eddie & Sunny for full publication. While Cochran has written in quite a few genres (sf, fantasy, horror, …) this is a crime/mystery/love story of poverty, parenthood, separation, and “the American Dream”. I have a “Hardest Part” essay from Cochran lined up for next week as well, so stay tuned for more.
Lastly, for the NaNoWriMo folks out there, Natania Barron and Jonathan Wood have been (and will be) featured at Writer’s Digest all month long, to keep you motivated, interested, and successful. Their latest column encourages you to “find your happy place” and “just write”. Who knows, by this time next year, maybe I’ll have a few more new books to talk about?
-Sam
UPCOMING EVENTS, NOVEMBER 2014
7 (Friday) 7 pm — The Barnes & Noble of Cary hosts Lauren Kate: Waterfall. (Teen.)
7 (Friday) 7:30 pm — The Regulator Bookshop hosts William Gibson for his new novel The Peripheral, at Motorco Music Hall.”Tickets are $30.00 each. One ticket admits two people and is good for one copy of his new book,The Peripheral, a high-tech thriller set partly in a decadent post-apocalyptic future.”
8-9 (Saturday and Sunday) — The Raleigh Review’s Southern Recitations reading and workshop series presents Mining the Mirror: Turning Emotional Landmines into Good Literaturewith Zelda Lockhart.
8 (Saturday) 2 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Lauren Kate discusses her YA novel Waterfall. (Teen)
8 (Saturday) 3 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Robin LaFevers – ‘Mortal Heart’. (Teen)
NEW: 8 (Saturday) 7 pm — NC State’s Hunt Library hosts Tony Hale of Arrested Development and Veep for his new children’s book Archibald’s Next Big Thing. [IndyWeek]
9 (Sunday) 2 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Robin LaFevers discusses her YA novel Mortal Heart (at Chapel Hill Public Library). (Teen)
NEW: 9 (Sunday) 2 pm — William Powers at Flyleaf Books for his new memoir New Slow City: Living Simply in the World’s Fastest City.
NEW: 9 (Sunday) 3 pm — Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde” at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh. More info: http://www.dukeenergycenterraleigh.com/event/wagners-tristan-and-isolde-5340
NEW: 10 (Monday) 7 pm — William Powers at The Regulator Bookshop for his new memoir New Slow City: Living Simply in the World’s Fastest City.
11 — Local author book release day for Revolution by Jenna Black, the latest in her Tor Teen “Replica” series.
11 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts CHRIS VAN ALLSBURG. “Celebrate the holidays with the multiple award-winning author of The Polar Express, Jumanji and other beloved, occasionally traumatic picture books, who is promoting his latest, The Misadventures of Sweetie Pie.” (via Indy Week)
NEW: 13 (Thursday) — The Museum of Life and Science in Durham hosts an adults-only event called Game Theory: “Once the sun goes down the Museum is turning into the ultimate gaming experience! Board games to card games, video games, party games – we’ve got a game for you. Dig deeper into the science behind gaming with researchers from UNC and Duke. Play the classic Prisoner’s Dilemma and learn how individuals and collective strategic decision-making impacts everything from climate change to capitalism. Talk with local game designers and create your own game to take home. Play live games at the Museum as you join a team for a round of Capture the Flag, Museum-style and grab a controller and prepare to joust in time with the beat while playing J.S. Joust. Consider yourself a gaming pro? Victors will be immortalized on our Facebook & Twitter feeds. Ditch those dinner plans – your favorite food trucks, Dump Pho King and Pie Pushers, will be parked out front and plenty of local NC beer will be available for purchase.”
13-16 (Thursday to Sunday) — Kickstarter-backed (through Nov 5) stage play The Maltese Bodkin: “hiSTORYstage presents a film noir-style comedy mystery with a Shakespearean twist performed as a 1944 radio drama. ‘The Maltese Bodkin’ tells the tale of Birnam Wood, hard boiled detective, as it is broadcast across the airwaves to the homes of eager listeners on the day after D-Day. Shows will run Thursday, Nov. 13 through Saturday, Nov. 15 at 8:00 PM and Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2:00 PM. There will be a USO-style dance Friday, Nov. 14 following the performance until 11:30 PM. Dress to impress and practice your swing moves! Refreshments will be served.”
14-16 (Friday to Sunday) — AtomaCon in North Charleston, SC; a “family-friendly” Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Science and Technology convention. Literary guest of honor: John Jackson Miller, author of Star Wars: Kenobi. At the Charleston Plaza Hotel. More info: http://www.AtomaCon.org/
15-16 (Saturday and Sunday) — NC Comicon at the Durham Convention Center and Comiquest Film Festival at the Carolina Theatre of Durham. Guests include John Barrowman (Dr. Who, Torchwood, Arrow) and Carole Barrowman, Fiona Staples (Saga), and Bernard Chang among many others. Carole Barrowman will be holding a writing workshop on Saturday morning, Saturday evening will see a special meet and greet with John Barrowman, and this year the accompanying ComicQuest film festival expands to include the premiere of a new Kung Fu Panda short film. There is also a pre-party on Friday night (Nov 14th) at Motorco. More info: http://nccomicon.com/
NEW: 17 (Monday) 5:30 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts the book launch for Daniel Wallace’s new children’s book The Cat’s Pajamas. [Facebook]
[As always for the most complete and further-ahead listings see the most recent newsletter.]