January newsletter: illogiCon preview, Kickstarter roundups, and Manly Wade Wellman Award coverage
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January newsletter: illogiCon preview, Kickstarter roundups, and Manly Wade Wellman Award coverage
Posted on 2015-01-03 at 13:00 by montsamu
Vol 5 No 1. January 3, 2015: Happy New Year! Since the November/December newsletter, we’ve had some fantastic events, seen a pile of new books and audiobooks, and! remembered that Bull Spec turned 5 years old in early November as well.
Let’s start with a bit of an illogiCon preview, as in just less than a week the convention will open on Friday with a 3 pm Opening Ceremonies, with guests of honor Jacqueline Carey and Christopher J Garcia, and a fantastic panel of local, regional, and further-afield authors, illustrators, and other creators, including new (to me at least!) guests Clay Gilbert, Garth Graham, Ray Haggerty, Chris Holmquist, Chris Kennedy, Cheralyn Lambeth, Ian J. Malone, Lynn McNamee (publisher of Garner-based Red Adept Publishing), Raulie Raulerson, Terri-Lynne Smiles, and Scott Smith and many familiar faces from across NC including Michael G. Williams, Jeremy Whitley, Mark Van Name, Fraser Sherman, Ed Schubert, Gray Rinehart, James Maxey, Misty Massey, Gail Z. Martin, Debra Killeen, John Kessel, J.L. Hilton, Clay and Susan Griffith (who have four novels coming out in 2015!), Tera Fulbright, Bill Ferris, Richard Dansky, Tony Daniel, Betty Cross, Ada Milenkovic Brown, Natania Barron, and more. Throughout the weekend there’s plenty of panels and readings, as well as a film festival, a Mikey Mason performance, a Nerdvana show, the dealer’s room, and more to explore as well.
Quite a few of that last big list of names are included in the 2015 Manly Wade Wellman Award preliminary eligibility list announcement and already a few updates are in ahead of the final eligibility list’s announcement at illogiCon. Unfortunately several of those updates weren’t in time to make the Carolina Book Beat podcast episode focusing on the list, but if you want to hear a one-minute description of each of the 80 or so books, there you go. Speaking of Carolina Book Beat, Mur Lafferty and I talked with Ursula Vernon at length about her Danny Dragonbreath books and her writing for adults as T. Kingfisher on the previous episode.
Next, since time is of the essence for these, I wanted to roundup some ongoing local- and regional-interest Kickstarter campaigns:
- Funding through January 6: Deluxe Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition is to put it mildly a runaway success, having raised over $230,000 of its $50,000 goal. The project is also led by Durham author and editor Richard Dansky, and stretch goal after stretch goal has been reached including a new original story by Durham author Mur Lafferty.
- Funding through January 15: Athena's Daughters, Volume 2 has also been successfully funded, and is "a collection of short speculative fiction by some of the industry's up-and-coming women authors" edited by (welcome to NC!) Janine Spendlove, and includes stories by (among many others) Charlotte author Carrie Ryan and NC authors Emily Lavin Leverett, Jordan Frederick, and Nicole Givens Kurtz.
- Funding through January 23: Tales of the Weird Wild West being co-edited by Durham's Margaret McGraw, NC author Misty Massey, and Emily Lavin Leverett, also has a long list of NC author ties, including Tonia Brown, Gail Z. Martin, John Hartness, and Massey, with stretch goals -- not yet achieved, as this project currently sits at $3,100 of its $5,500 goal -- including a second volume with stories by Kurtz as well as an open submissions window.
- An article about the psychological underpinnings of Lewis Shiner's Glimpses
- Durham author Monica Byrne's The Girl in the Road has appeared on many year's best lists
- Raleigh author Pete Wood's Raleigh-based sf story "Butterflies" is in the January issue of Asimov's
- David Drake was interviewed by Matt Staggs for Suvudu
- This summer's Baen writers boot camp opened for registration
- John Hartness' Paint it Black is a finalist for this year's EPIC Award for Best Horror Novel
Finally, here’s what new at bullspec.com since the last newsletter:
- The Hardest Part/Coming to Town: Jaym Gates on War Stories
- The Hardest Part: F. Hampton Carmine on Abby and the Magic Key
- Coming to Town: Julia Elliott for The Wilds at The Regulator Bookshop, interviewed by Bill Verner
- The Hardest Part: Jim C. Hines on The Prosekiller Chronicles: Rise of the Spider Goddess (An Annotated Novel)
- Paul Kincaid’s From the Other Side, November 2014
- Coming to Town: Fred Chappell for “Familiars”, interviewed by Warren Rochelle
- The Hardest Part: Michael Jasper on Finders, Inc.
- "Hardest Part" essays from Bridget Ladd and Stephanie Ricker and more
- "Coming to Town" interviews with illogiCon guests of honor Jaqueline Carey (by Sharon Stogner) and Christopher J Garcia (by M. David Blake)
- Paul Kincaid's "From the Other Side"
-Sam
UPCOMING EVENTS, JANUARY 2015
5 (Monday) 6:30 pm — The Orange County Public Library’s First Monday Classics series discusses The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
6 — Local author book release day for Dragonbreath #10: Knight-napped! by Ursula Vernon (Dial Books).
9-11 (Friday to Sunday) illogiCon (“illogiCon iv: How Schrödington Got His Groove Back”) with guests of honor Jacqueline Carey and Chris Garcia at the Embassy Suites RDU. [Facebook Event]
12 — Regional author book release day for The Mussorgsky Riddle by Charlotte author Darin Kennedy (Curiosity Quills Press, Jan 12).
NEW: 14 (Wednesday) — Ultimate Comics hosts a Star Wars #1 release party for the new comics series.
NEW: 16-18 (Friday to Sunday) MarsCon 2015 in Williamsburg, Virginia celebrates its 25th anniversary with special guests David Weber, Katherine Kurtz, David B. Coe/D.B. Jackson, and Alethea Kontis. (And! Danny Birt gets married! Congrats, Danny and Caren!)
20 — Regional author book release day for Raising Hell - A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Novella by John Hartness (Falstaff Books, Jan 20).
20 — Regional author book release day for First Frost by Asheville author Sarah Addison Allen (St. Martin’s Press, Jan 20).
NEW-NEW: 22 (Thursday) 3:30 pm — A “meet the author” reading and reception for 2015 Piedmont Laureate James Maxey at the Chapel Hill Library.
NEW: 22 (Thursday) 7 pm — The Regulator Bookshop hosts Stephen Hren, “Max’s Hungry Ghost”.
NEW: 23 (Friday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Sarah Addison Allen - ‘First Frost’.
NEW-NEW: 23 (Friday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Christopher Scotten - ‘Secret Wisdom of the Earth’. (Fiction.)
23 — Regional author book release day for Southern Gothic (Max Porter #4) by Stuart Jaffe (Jan 23).
NEW-NEW: 24 (Sat) 11 am — Fearrington Village’s McIntyre’s Books hosts Sarah Addison Allen for First Frost.
NEW-NEW: 24 (Sat) 11 am — Quail Ridge Books hosts an NC Children’s Authors writing workshop.
NEW-NEW: 24 (Sat) 4 pm — Durham’s Atomic Empire hosts Jason Morningstar and Steve Segedy from Bully Pulpit Games for their freeform storytelling RPG Fiasco. “It’s like making your own Coen brothers movie, in about the same amount of time it’d take to watch one.” (Also there will be Duck Rabbit beer.)
24-25 (Saturday and Sunday) — The Raleigh Review’s Southern Recitations reading and workshop series presents The Poet as Translator: Bridging the Language of the Universe and the Universe of Language with Malena Mörling.
NEW: 25 (Sunday) — The third annual Bookmarks Movable Feast in Winston-Salem, NC: “Our third annual Movable Feast will feature over 20 authors from across the country! Authors will change tables every 10 minutes, giving each table the chance to meet 10 authors. Come early and meet all the authors! Doors open and Bar Service begins at 2 p.m. Booksignings and further conversation to follow at 5 p.m. Books available for purchase with proceeds benefitting Bookmarks.”
27 — Local author book release day for The Dragon Conspiracy (SPI Files, Book 2) by Lisa Shearin (Ace, Jan 27, 2015).
27 — Regional author book release day for Bound by Flames: Night Prince, Book 3 by
27 — Regional author book release day for A Cold Legacy (Madman’s Daughter Book 3) by Megan Shepherd (Jan 27, 2015).
NEW-NEW: 29 (Thursday) 7 pm to 11 pm — Online launch party for NC author Tonia Brown’s latest novel, Hauling Ash. More info: [Facebook]
NEW-NEW: 29-30 (Thu-Fri) — Carolina Performing Arts presents the National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Dunsinane at Memorial Hall. “Macbeth is dead. An English army has swept through the landscape, killed the tyrant and taken the seat of power. Attempting to restore peace and put in place a new ruler, the commanding officer is beset by a brutal guerrilla uprising. Increasingly isolated from his own men and Scottish allies alike, his efforts to restore order appear futile as the situation spins out of control. Directed by Roxana Silbert, this exhilarating play by award-winning playwright David Greig is a vision of one man’s attempt to restore peace in a country ravaged by war – a brilliant reimagining of what happens when Shakespeare’s masterpiece ends. Following performances on our Loading Dock and at Top of the Hill’s Back Bar, the bewitching National Theatre of Scotland returns with its first fully staged Memorial Hall performance.”
30 — Regional author book release day for After #5: Red Scare by Scott Nicholson (Boone, NC) the fifth full-length novel in his “After” post-apocalyptic series.
FEBRUARY 2015
NEW-NEW: 2 (Monday) 6:30 pm — The Orange County Public Library’s First Monday Classics series discusses Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
NEW-NEW: 5 (Thursday) 5 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Raul Gonzalez - ‘Lowriders in Space’ — “Artist Raul Gonzalez (currently exhibiting in downtown Raleigh) is aka Raul the Third. But kids who pour over his work as illustrator for Cathy Camper’sLowriders in Space will know him as awesome. Lowriders merges Spanish, a bit of astronomy, and car lore for an out-of-this-world adventure. Young (and maybe not so young) fans of graphic novels will love his drawing program, with a demo, activities, and advice for budding artists, ages 7+. See what you can create with just a pen.” (Kids.)
NEW-NEW: 6 (Friday) 6 pm to 9 pm — Raleigh’s City Gallery (118 N. Person St.) hosts an opening reception for a new comics exhibition Pixels & Pigments with local cartoonists Cole Phillips, Gabriel Dunston, and Adam Fitzpatrick, and special musical guest Zach Gregory.
NEW-NEW: 9 (Mon) 7 pm — Quail Rridge Books hosts Gordon Korman - ‘Masterminds’. (Kids.)
10 — Local author book release day for Scout’s Oath: A Planetary Romance by Scott Vogel (Rampant Loon Press) — a follow-on to his 2014 novel Scout’s Honor.
NEW-NEW: 10 (Tue) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Charles Belfoure - ‘The Paris Architect’. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 10 (Tue) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Chapel Hill native Nic Brown discusses In Every Way, his new novel set in Chapel Hill and Beaufort. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 11 (Wed) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Melissa Pimentel discusses her novel Love by the Book, with a free drinks/appetizers reception at Lucha Tigre at 6:30 pm. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 11 (Wed) 7 pm — The Regulator hosts Mike Mayo, “Everybody Goes to Jimmy’s” his new mystery novel. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 12 (Thu) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver - ‘Fake Snakes and Weird Wizards’. (Kids.)
NEW-NEW: 12 (Thu) 7 pm — The Regulator hosts Samuel Lopez Barrantes, “Slim and the Beast”. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 13 (Fri) 6:30 pm — McIntyre’s Books hosts Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver – Here’s Hank: Fake Snakes and Weird Wizards at the Fearrington Village Barn. (Kids.)
NEW-NEW: 14 (Saturday) 11 am — McIntyre’s Books hosts Michael Mayo – Everybody Goes to Jimmy’s. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 14 (Saturday) 2 pm — McIntyre’s Books hosts Michael Sears – Long Way Down. (Fiction.)
14-15 (Saturday and Sunday) — The Raleigh Review’s Southern Recitations reading and workshop series presents The Secret Language of Fiction: Weaving Words into Elegant, Meaningful Stories with Marjorie Hudson.
NEW-NEW: 16 (Mon) 7 pm — Flyleaf hosts Samuel Barrantes discusses his novel Slim and the Beast. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 17 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Downtown Durham’s Letters Bookshop hosts Durham playwright and author Monica Byrne for the release of the paperback edition of her 2014 debut The Girl in the Road, a near-future speculation fiction novel published by Crown Books. Per the Facebook event, Byrne will read from both The Girl in the Road and “Novel #2”, “whose title I’ll announce at the event.” Additionally, singer-songwriter Skylar Gudasz will perform songs inspired by the book.
17 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Gabrielle Zevin discusses her novel The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 20 (Friday) 3 pm to 10 pm — The Durham Armory hosts the first-ever Zine Machine Printed Matter Festival: “North Carolina’s first-ever zine fest, is coming February 20, 2015. Zine Machine is calling all zine makers, comic artists, indy book writers, and assorted do-it-yourself printed matter makers to join us in our occupation of the old city armory for a festival of autonomous, alternative printed media.”
NEW-NEW: 20-22 (Friday to Sunday) — The Carolina Theatre of Durham hosts the 16th annual Nevermore Film Festival: “Dedicated to screening brand new horror features and shorts from around the world, as well as some fan favorites. Many of these films will never receive a theatrical release in the United States. Classic suspense movies, hyper-violent Hong Kong cinema and everything in between are included. NEVERMORE is an exciting three-day feast of the macabre!”
NEW-NEW: 21 (Saturday) 2 pm — McIntyre’s Books hosts Vicki Delany, Erika Chase, & Donis Casey – Molly Weston’s Magical Mystery Tour. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 23 (Monday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Shannon Hale - ‘Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters’. (Kids.)
24 — Local author book release day for Tony Daniel’s Star Trek: The Original Series: Savage Trade.
24 — Regional author book release day for anthology The Big Bad II edited by John G. Hartness and Emily Lavin Leverett (Dark Oak Press) with stories by NC authors Gail Z. Martin, Jay Requard, Nicole Givens Kurtz, Misty Massey, Stuart Jaffe, Edmund R. Schubert, and more.
NEW-NEW: 24 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Tim Dorsey - ‘Shark Skin Suite: A Novel’. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 26 (Thu) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Phil Klay - ‘Redeployment’ for the paperback release of his National Book Award winner. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 27 (Fri) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Heather Webb - ‘Rodin’s Lover’. (Historical fiction.)
27 to (March) 1 (Friday to Sunday) — MystiCon in Roanoke, VA with author guest of honor Alan Dean Foster, at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood. More info: http://mysticon-va.com/
NEW-NEW: 28 (Sat) 2 pm — McIntyre’s Books hosts Jonathan Odell – Miss Hazel and the Rosa Parks League. (Historical fiction.)
MARCH 2015
NEW: 1 (Sunday) 10 am to 5 pm — Oak City Comics Show at the Hilton North Raleigh: “Come join us for the first of our twice a year Comic-Toy-CosPlay Show. Admission only $5.00! Kids 10 and under Free. The First 200 people in full costume… FREE. More details will be hitting you soon!” Guests include (among others) Tommy Lee Edwards (Turf, Vandroid, The Book of Eli, Star Wars), Dale Mettam (Inspector Gadget, Johnny Test), and Jeremy Whitley (Princeless, My Little Pony) and vendors include (among others) Ultimate Comics and Chapel Hill Comics.
NEW-NEW: 1 (Sunday) 3 pm — Wake County’s Eva Perry Regional Library hosts a Let’s Talk Sci-Fi event with David Drake and Mark Van Name for a discussion of Robert Heinlein.
NEW-NEW: 2 (Monday) 9 am to 12 pm — Read Across Durham volunteer event in Durham County 3rd grade classrooms: “I need your help as we begin recruiting volunteers for our Read Across Durham event scheduled for March 2. Please share the link with as many folks as possible. We need volunteer readers for every third grade classroom. The details are included in the link.” (Karlene Fyffe Phillips, Manager of Family Literacy and Community Services for Durham County Library)
NEW-NEW: 2 (Monday) 6:30 pm — The Orange County Public Library’s First Monday Classics series discusses Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
3 — Local author book release day for Into the Maelstrom (Citizen) by David Drake and John Lambshead (Baen, Mar 3, 2015) — book two after Into the Hinterlands.
NEW-NEW: 5 (Thu) 7 pm — Wake County’s Cameron Village Regional Library hosts a Let’s Talk Sci-Fi event with James Maxey and Jay Posey for a discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien.
NEW-NEW: 5 (Thu) 7 pm — The Regulator hosts Trace Ramsey, author of the Quitter zine. (Non-Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 8 (Sun) 2 pm — Wake County’s East Regional library hosts a Let’s Talk Sci-Fi event with Ariel Djanikian and Bill Greeves for a discussion of Ray Bradbury.
NEW-NEW: 9 (Mon) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Mary Doria Russell - ‘Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral’. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 10 (Tue) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Jeremy Hawkins launches his debut novel The Last Days of Video. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 10 (Tue) 7 pm — The Regulator hosts Durham native Gretchen Wing, “Headwinds”, the second in her YR/YA series about a 14-year-old girl who discovers that she has the power of flight.
NEW-NEW: 11 (Wed) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts David Joy discusses his novel Where All Light Tends to Go. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 12 (Thu) 7 pm — Wake County’s West Regional Library hosts a Let’s Talk Sci-Fi event with Ariel Djanikian and Mur Lafferty for a discussion of Anne McCaffrey.
NEW-NEW: 12 (Thu) 7 pm — The Regulator hosts David Joy, “Where All Light Tends to Go”. (Fiction.)
13-15 (Friday to Sunday) — Wizard World Comic Con at the Raleigh Convention Center with featured media guests James Marsters. Sean Astin, and Lou Ferrigno, and special comics guests Michael Golden Rob Liefield, and Renee Witterstaetter. Note: William Shatner’s appearance canceled due to a conflict with his filming schedule.
14-15 (Saturday and Sunday) – The Raleigh Review’s Southern Recitations reading and workshop series presents Stories in Stanzas: Writing the Longer Narrative Poem with Joseph Bathanti.
NEW-NEW: 16 (Mon) 7 pm — Wake County’s North Regional Library hosts a Let’s Talk Sci-Fi event with Bill Greeves and James Maxey for a discussion of Edgar Allen Poe.
18 (Wed) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Jeremy Hawkins – ‘The Last Days of Video’. “We have to cheer when a bookseller gets a novel published. Jeremy Hawkins, of our fellow independent Flyleaf in Chapel Hill, brings us The Last Days of Video. Check out his debut novel on Wednesday, March 18, at 7 pm. “Funny, raucous, and deliciously irreverent” —Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.” (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 18 (Wed) 7 pm — The Regulator hosts Cat Warren, “What the Dog Knows”. (Non-Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 24 (Tue) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Liza Wieland - ‘Land of Enchantment’. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 25 (Wed) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Jamie Kornegay discusses Soil, his debut novel. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 26 (Thu) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Jamie Kornegay - ‘Soil’. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 28 (Sat) 2 pm — Wake County’s Southeast Regional Library hosts a Let’s Talk Sci-Fi event with John Kessel and Mur Lafferty for a discussion of Ursula K. Le Guin.
31 — Local author book release day for Gods of Chaos by Jen McConnel (Month9Books, March 31).
APRIL 2015
NEW-NEW: 1 (Mon) 6:30 pm — The Orange County Public Library’s First Monday Classics series discusses Orwell’s 1984.
NEW-NEW: 2 (Tue) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Skip Horack discusses his new novel The Other Joseph. (Fiction.)
NEW-NEW: 6 (Mon) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Chris Grabenstein - ‘The Island of Dr. Libris’. (Kids.)
7 — Local author book release day for Dragon of the Stars by Alex J. Cavanaugh (Dancing Lemur, April 7).
NEW-NEW: 7-9 (Tue-Thu) — East Coast Game Conference at the Raleigh Convention Center. “The East Coast Game Conference, the largest gathering of video game professionals on the East Coast, returns for its 7th year! The six tracks are: Design, Programming, Art, Narrative, Serious Games, and Audio. The Career Lounge will also be back for 2015.”
NEW-NEW: 8 (Wed) 7 pm — The Regulator hosts Liza Wieland, “Land of Enchantment”. (Fiction.)
NEW: 9 (Thu) 7 pm — The Regulator Bookshop hosts Jeremy Hawkins, “The Last Days of Video”. (Fiction.)
14 — Local author book release day for A Rebel’s Stone by P.T. McHugh (Glass House, April 14).
NEW-NEW: 14 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts John Stephens - ‘The Black Reckoning’ — “One of the biggest children’s fantasy series around is The Books of Beginning. The trilogy, begun with The Emerald Atlas and continued with The Fire Chronicle, now concludes with The Black Reckoning. John Stephens shares the epic finale with us; for ages 9+. The New York Times calls the series ‘a new Narnia for the tween set’.” (Kids.)
21 — Local author book release day for Ursula Vernon’s Castle Hangnail, a new middle grade fantasy: “From the creator of Dragonbreath comes a tale of witches, minions, and one fantastic castle, just right for fans of Roald Dahl and Tom Angleberger. When Molly shows up on Castle Hangnail’s doorstep to fill the vacancy for a wicked witch, the castle’s minions are understandably dubious. After all, she is twelve years old, barely five feet tall, and quite polite.”
21 — Regional author book release day for War of Shadows by Gail Z. Martin (Orbit, April 21, 2015) — book 3 in the Ascendant Kingdoms saga which began with Ice Forged.
23 — Local author book release day for Going Through the Change by Samantha Bryant (Curiosity Quills Press, April 2015).
24-26 (Friday to Sunday) — RavenCon 10 in Richmond, VA with writer guest of honor Allen Steele and special guest Lawrence M. Schoen. At the DoubleTree by Hilton Richmond Midlothian. More info: http://www.ravencon.com/
NEW-NEW: 25 (Saturday) 2 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts the book release party for Samantha Bryant’s “menopausal superhero novel” Going Through the Change.
MAY 2015
NEW-NEW: 2 (Saturday) — Free Comic Book Day at shops across the world!
NEW-NEW: 28 (Thursday, to June 6) — Raleigh Little Theatre presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Raleigh Rose Garden.
29-31 (Friday to Sunday) — ConCarolinas in Concord, NC with guests of honor John Scalzi, Matt Busch and Lin Zy, and Catherine Asaro, and master of ceremonies Rich Sigfrit. at the Embassy Suites Concord.
TBD — Regional author book release day for Founders by Stuart Jaffe (Silence in the Library Publishing, May 2015).
JUNE 2015
2 — Local author book release day for Clay and Susan Griffith’s The Shadow Revolution (Crown & Key, #1) from Del Rey.
24-26 (Friday to Sunday) — ConTemporal 2015: “ConTemporal is an experiential Steampunk convention being held June 24-26, 2015 at the Hilton North Raleigh-Midtown in Raleigh, NC. No sooner had the idols been recovered then they were stolen by a mysterious figure! Meanwhile, Lt. Com. Julius Cosgrove is trapped in 1632, near the location of the Grantville temporal incursion caught between the cultists and the Germans fighting the Thirty Years’ War.”
30 — Local author book release day for The Undying Legion (Crown & Key, #2) by Clay and Susan Griffith (Del Rey, June 30).
JULY 2015
7 — Regional author book release day for Iron and Blood by Charlotte author Gail Z. Martin (Solaris, July 7, 2015) — “A Steampunk novel set in the fictional city of New Pittsburgh. New Pittsburgh in 1898, a crucible of invention and intrigue, the hub of American industry at the height of its steam-driven power. Born from the ashes of devastating fire, flood and earthquake, New Pittsburgh is ruled by the shadow government of The Oligarchy. In the abandoned mine tunnels beneath the city, supernatural creatures hide from the light, emerging to feed in the smoky city known as ‘hell with the lid off.‘”
NEW: 10-12 (Friday to Sunday) — ConGregate 2: Scoundrels and Rogues in High Point, NC with guests of honor Timothy Zahn, Michael Stackpole, Albin Johnson, Scott Rorie, Faith Hunter, and Valentine Wolfe.
NEW-NEW: 19 to (August) 1 — Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC hosts the 8th annual Shared Worlds teen writing summer camp, with Nathan Ballingrud, Monica Byrne, David Anthony Durham, Gavin J. Grant, Will Hindmarch, Jeremy L. C. Jones, Kelly Link, Catherynne M. Valente, Ann VanderMeer, and Jeff VanderMeer.
28 — Local author book release day for The Conquering Dark (Crown & Key, #3) by Clay and Susan Griffith (Del Rey, July 28).
AUGUST 2015
18 — Local author book release day for Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon (Dial, Aug 18) beginning a new children’s series.
SEPTEMBER 2015
1 — Local author book release day for The Geomancer: Vampire Empire: A Gareth and Adele Novel by Clay and Susan Griffith (Pyr, September 1) — “The uneasy stalemate between vampires and humans is over. Adele and Gareth are bringing order to a free Britain, but bloody murders in London raise the specter that Adele’s geomancy is failing and the vampires might return.”
OCTOBER 2015
NEW: 2-4 (Friday to Sunday) DeepSouthCon 53 at CONtraflow V in New Orleans with guests of honor Robert J. Sawyer, Seanan McGuire, and Les Johnson.
8-11 (Thursday to Sunday) Bouchercon 2015 in Raleigh. Bouchercon is the annual World Mystery Convention, and this is the first Bouchercon ever (in its nearly 50-year history) to be held in the American South.
NOVEMBER 2015
NEW-NEW: 27-29 (Friday to Sunday) — Chessiecon 2015 at the North Baltimore Plaza Hotel with guests of honor Seanan McGuire, Ursula Vernon, Heather Dale (with Ben Deschamps) and special Guests Tamora Pierce and Tom Smith.
TBD — Local author book release day for Air and Darkness by David Drake (Tor, November 2015) — the concluding book 4 in The Books of the Elements series.
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