Posts published in: 2015/02
Friday Quick Updates: Oak City Comics Show on Sunday, and Wake County Library's "Let's Talk Sci-Fi" series kicks off with Drake and Van Name discussing Heinlein
Posted on 2015-02-28 at 19:27 by montsamu
Saturday, February 28, 2015: A belated Saturday edition of "Friday Quick Updates" this weekend, ahead of several events today and tomorrow. First! Today Ultimate Comics hosts comics creator/author/illustrator Chris Giarrusso (G-Man Super Journal, Mini Marvels) for a day of signings and quick sketches:
This appearance is ahead of Giarrusso's appearance at the Oak City Comic Show tomorrow (Sunday, March 1) at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown, with a fantastic lineup including Mick Foley, Tommy Lee Edwards,
Read more...Posted in Friday Quick Updates
The Exploding Spaceship Reviews Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear
Posted on 2015-02-28 at 05:49 by angelablackwell
Review of Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear (Tor hardcover, February 3, 2015)
Karen is a teenager in Rapid City who works in a brothel. She’s bright and inquisitive, qualities which lead her into trouble but also allow her to learn some information that is useful to Madam Damnable, her boss. Rapid City feels like a strange steampunk San Francisco mixed with Seattle. The city is so textured and vibrant that it is itself a character in the book.
Many types of characters populate this novel, including a wide
Read more...Posted in The Exploding Spaceship | Tagged elizabeth bear, karen memory
The Hardest Part: Uri Kurlianchik on Tales from an Israeli Storyteller
Posted on 2015-02-24 at 13:17 by montsamu
Israeli author and game designer Uri Kurlianchik was the first person with whom I had a Google audio chat, way back when we were discussing edits on his short story "The Sad Story of the Naga" in Bull Spec #2. (Or it might have been about his choose-your-own-adventure project I never figured out how to publish in a magazine?) Over the years now, I've enjoyed hearing his stories of teaching kids to play roleplaying games -- the foolish or genius things that "his" kids try both in and outside of the rules and
Read more...Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged uri kurlianchik
Coming to Town: Lynne Hansen and Jeff Strand for The Nevermore Film Festival, interviewed by Richard Dansky
Posted on 2015-02-18 at 15:26 by montsamu
By Richard Dansky:
Lynne Hansen and Jeff Strand are one of horror fiction’s power couples. A perennial host of the Bram Stoker Awards, Jeff blends humor and horror in acclaimed novels like Pressure and his short story collection, Dead Clown Barbecue. Lynne’s prolific in YA horror (The Return, The Change) as well as working in film (He’s Not Looking So Great, Chomp). And there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that in their last trip to North Carolina, Jeff failed to finish his side of hush puppies at a
Read more...Posted in Coming to Town | Tagged carolina theatre of durham, jeff strand, lynne hansen, nevermore film festival, richard dansky
February newsletter: Monica Byrne, Zine Machine, Oak City Comics Show, Wake County Library's "Let's Talk Sci-Fi" series, James Maxey named Piedmont Laureate, Read Across Durham, new books, news, and more
Posted on 2015-02-17 at 06:20 by montsamu
Vol 5 No 2. February 16, 2015: Well, the month is half over and the ice storm is here, so no time like the present to finally get the February newsletter out, right? I've got some news, upcoming events, and the monthly avalanche of new books to tell you about, so let's get started.
NEWS
First, while there is still a lot of seasoning left in this year's award season, NC authors have already been on the receiving end of a long and lengthening list of nods. The 2014 Locus Recommended Reading List includes Read more...Posted in newsletter
Upcoming fiction readings: selections from the full event listings for books without spaceships or ghosts
Posted on 2015-02-10 at 17:21 by montsamu
As I mentioned in last week's roundup of upcoming young reader events, in looking over the newsletter event listings, I didn’t see many “grown up” speculative fiction readings in the coming months — other than of course Monica Byrne’s paperback launch of The Girl in the Road on February 17 and the Wake County Library "Let's Talk Sci-Fi" series in March. While the picture changes quickly when you turn your focus on middle grade and young reader books, it's even more crowded if you turn your attention to
Read more...Posted in events
Upcoming events for kids: selections from the full event listings for young readers
Posted on 2015-02-05 at 19:08 by montsamu
In looking over the newsletter event listings, I don't see many "grown up" speculative fiction readings in the coming months -- other than of course Monica Byrne's paperback launch of The Girl in the Road on February 17. But the picture changes quickly when you turn your focus on middle grade and young reader books. So! Here's a quick preview of what's coming soon for the young and young at heart.
FEBRUARY 2015
5 (Thursday) 5 pm -- Quail Ridge Books hosts Raul Gonzalez - 'Lowriders in Space' -- "Artist
Read more...Posted in events
The Hardest Part: John G. Hartness on Raising Hell
Posted on 2015-02-04 at 16:55 by montsamu
Charlotte author John G. Hartness is a larger-than-life figure in our world, so it's no surprise that his characters are bold, colorful, and (quite often) either from out of this world or dealing with the things that aren't. From his first novel The Chosen in 2010 to his "Bubba the Monster Hunter" and "Black Knight Chronicles" urban fantasy series, Hartness has a knack for giving a distinctive -- and usually southern and profane, and funny -- voice for his characters as well. For his new book, Raising Hell:
Read more...Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged john g hartness
Paul Kincaid's From the Other Side, January 2015: Adam Roberts, sequels, and the James Herbert Award
Posted on 2015-02-03 at 19:55 by montsamu
From the Other Side, January 2015
By Paul Kincaid
[Editor’s Note: From the Other Side is Paul Kincaid’s monthly column on books and news from the other side of the Atlantic.]
It’s a new year, a time of change, of novelty, a time when we throw out all the old familiar stuff from 2014 and welcome in fresh work and different writers. So let’s see what 2015 has in store for us.
And we start with a new book from … Adam Roberts. Hm, sorry about that, for a moment there it felt as if 2014 hadn’t quite ended
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