July newsletter: Paul Tremblay, Clay and Susan Griffith, John Scalzi, Michael Swanwick, the Oak City Comic Show, Kim Harrison, Christopher Moore, and the latest NC books and news

July newsletter: Paul Tremblay, Clay and Susan Griffith, John Scalzi, Michael Swanwick, the Oak City Comic Show, Kim Harrison, Christopher Moore, and the latest NC books and news

Posted on 2015-07-25 at 17:20 by montsamu

Vol 5 No 5. Saturday, July 25, 2015: From scifi films on the radio to this year’s Manly Wade Wellman Award, I’ve got a lot to get to in this newsletter. But first! Some upcoming event highlights:

• July 26 (Sunday) 4 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Paul Tremblay discusses his novel A Head Full of Ghosts. “A chilling domestic drama that blends psychological suspense with a touch of modern horror from a new, brilliantly imaginative master.”
• August 6 (Thursday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Vampire Empire authors Clay and Susan Griffith for their “Crown & Key” trilogy (The Shadow Revolution, The Undying Legion, and The Conquering Dark).
• August 12 (Wednesday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Hugo Award winning and bestselling author John Scalzi for his new novel The End of All Things, set in his Old Man’s War universe.
• August 13 (Thursday) — "Noir at the Bar" at Durham’s 106 Main, with: Eric Beetner (CA), Steve Weddle (VA), Greg Barth (TN), Eryk Pruitt (DUR), SA Cosby (fantasy/crime from VA), and a local artist who is about to publish his first sci-fi crime novel, Geraud Staton.
• August 13 (Thursday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts NC poet and author Valerie Nieman for a reading from her new book of (sometimes speculative) poetry Hotel Worthy. Nieman is the author of Neena Gathering, a 1988 post-apocalyptic novel. Introduction by Richard Krawiec.
• August 15 and 17 (Saturday and Monday) 7 pm — On Saturday August 15, Quail Ridge Books hosts Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award winning author Michael Swanwick for his new “Darger and Surplus” novel Chasing the Phoenix. Swanwick will visit Chapel Hill's Flyleaf Books on Monday August 17.
• August 16 (Sunday) 10 am to 5 pm — Oak City Comic Show at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown with Tommy Lee Edwards, Richard Case, Dale Mettam, Jeremy Whitley, and much more.

Speaking of Wong and Vernon, though, gives me an opportunity to segue over to awards news:

• The 2015 World Fantasy Awards final ballot includes NC authors Ursula Vernon ("Jackalope Wives") and Alyssa Wong ("The Fisher Queen")
• Vernon, already a Hugo Award winner for her graphic novel work, won this year's Nebula Award for her short story "Jackalope Wives" (Apex Magazine)
• Lewis Shiner's "The Black Sun" (Subterranean, Summer 2014) was named a finalist for this year's Sidewise Award for Alternate History, Short Form
• Mur Lafferty's Ghost Train to New Orleans won the 2015 Manly Wade Wellman Award

OK, this is going to be a mess of disorganized things, but here’s some news and notes to pass along:

• WUNC's The State of Things featured a big pile of local science fiction authors and fans on its Movies on the Radio: Science Fiction show on June 17; some of the authors involved were Richard Dansky, John Kessel, Tommy Lee Edwards, Natania Barron, Lisa Shearin, Mur Lafferty, James Maxey, Ursula Vernon, and Mark Van Name; and former Chapel Hill Comics owner Andrew Neal got to wax poetic about the 2011 film "Attack the Block", affording the show a chance to include KRS-One's "Sound of the Police" on the air
• Two Kickstarter campaigns to pass along, both ending August 11: Elysian Springs: Adventures from the Superhero Nursing Home by NC editor Lauren "Scribe" Harris and including stories by Gail Z. Martin, Misty Massey, and artist Jason Strutz; and The Sunday Comics Are Back With Over 200 Creators & Pages! which includes work from Andrew Neal
• Mur Lafferty announced a new novel, Six Wakes, forthcoming from Orbit in fall 2016: "his is a clone murder mystery in space. Six clones are crewing a generational spaceship with their fellow clones’ consciousnesses sleeping in servers. Backup bodies are designed to wake when the current body dies. The books starts when our six characters wake up in their new bodies all at once in the middle of the carnage of their own murdered ex-selves, and none of them has any idea which of them is the killer."
• Mark Van Name unveiled the table of contents for the David Drake tribute anthology Onward, Drake! which is forthcoming from Baen in October and features Drake's first new "Hammer's Slammers" story in years; both Van Name and Lafferty have blogged some teasers of their stories; and there's also a signed leather bound limited edition on offer as well
• Comics writer Jeremy Whitley was interviewed about his forthcoming Marvel "Secret Wars" story in the "Secret Love" one-shot anthology book
• Local indie video game company Prologue Games published Act 1 of Knee Deep; among the many rave reviews are these from IndieRoot and IndyWeek; Mur Lafferty and I will talk with Prologue Games' Colin Dwan and Wes Platt on Monday on Carolina Book Beat
• New locally-published speculative fiction zine Middle Planet published its first issue; Middle Planet is co-edited by Eric Gregory and Julia Gootzeit and is available in both print and various electronic formats. In overall style and content it is hard not to compare it to both LCRW and Electric Velocipede
• Two guests of honor announcements to pass along for 2016 North Carolina science fiction conventions: illogiCon (January 8-10) welcomes Mur Lafferty; and ConGregate (July 15-17) welcomes Steven Barnes
• Among the many publication notes I've likely overlooked (please send them along for the next newsletter!) here's three to check out: Jaym Gates has an academic paper on "Interstellar Crisis Communications" in the 100 Year Starship 2014 Public Symposium Conference Proceedings; Tony Daniel's 1995 short story "Life on the Moon," which won the Asimov's Reader's Choice Award and was a Hugo finalist, is re-presented this month at Lightspeed Magazine, along with an author spotlight; and Raleigh author Peter Wood's story "A Day in the Life of Sisyphus" is published in the Statesville-based webzine Page & Spine: "King Sisyphus would finally move that damned boulder all the way up the hill today. The weather was clear. The hill was dry. He’d breakfasted on unleavened bread, lamb and figs. He hadn’t become king by giving up."

NEW AUDIOBOOKS

Whew! Another big haul of books to check out; in particular we’ve got a troika of debut novelists on our hands since the last newsltter: Karissa Laurel, Robert Beatty, and Larry Martin. (And a belated inclusion to their number is Charlotte author J. Matthew Saunders, as his debut novel Daughters of Shadow and Blood came out in May, though I first laid eyes on the book myself at ConGregate. (Speaking of belated inclusions, books by T. Kingfisher, Nicole Givens Kurtz, and Carrie Ryan all escaped my notice last month as well.) And! Clay and Susan Griffith look to set the NC land speed record for trilogies, as we discussed on The Latest on Carolina Book Beat: Clay and Susan Griffith in early June. (And they’ve got a new “Vampire Empire” novel coming in September, to boot!)

Before I sign off and cut to the full upcoming events and book release listings, here’s what’s new at bullspec.com since the June newsletter:

• 3 "Coming to Town" interviews: Coming to Town: John L. Deboer, Erica Lucke Dean, and Stephen Kozeniewski for Red Adept Publishing’s annual book signing event at Event Horizon Games, interviewed by Karissa Laurel, Coming to Town: Nathan Ballingrud for “Noir at the Bar” at 106 Main in Durham, and Coming to Town: Paul Tremblay for A Head Full of Ghosts at Flyleaf Books, interviewed by Richard Dansky
• An "Exploding Spaceship" review column: The Exploding Spaceship Reviews The Oathkeeper by J.F. Lewis, Dark Run by Mike Brooks, and The Shadow Revolution by Clay and Susan Griffith
• One "Hardest Part" guest post: The Hardest Part: Alex J. Cavanaugh on Dragon of the Stars
• And of course: Paul Kincaid’s From the Other Side, June 2015: David Mitchell, Al Robertson’s Crashing Heaven, Chris Beckett, Neal Stephenson, Terry Pratchett, Laura Barnett, and more

-Sam

[ handout-2015-07-10-color.pdf | handout-2015-07-10.pdf ]

UPCOMING EVENTS, JULY 2015

24 (Friday) to (August) 2 — Bare Theatre presents MACBETH (at Forest Theatre, Chapel Hill). “Having played Lady Macbeth in Bare Theatre’s 2006 production, veteran Triangle actress and longtime Bare Theatre member Rebecca Blum takes the helm in this epic Shakespearean tragedy. This will be the company’s fourth production on the outdoor stage at RLT in three years, and it features a new take on the “Scottish play,” with a re-cut script by Blum that focuses on the disintegration of family within the jealous power-hungry struggle known so well to theatergoers.”

NEW: 25-26 (Saturday and Sunday) — Durham County Libraries hosts their annual Comics Fest featuring Jimmy Gownley, writer and artist of the Amelia Rules! series, Nick Bertozzi, writer and artist of Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey, Jim Ottaviani, writer of Feynman, and Malcolm Goff, local artist and cartoonist, and contributor to Running for Hope. Saturday features a “Local Artists Alley” at the Southwest Regional Library from 12:30 to 5 pm.

26 (Sunday) 4 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Paul Tremblay discusses his novel A Head Full of Ghosts. “A chilling domestic drama that blends psychological suspense with a touch of modern horror from a new, brilliantly imaginative master.” Tremblay is the author of (among others) The Little Sleep and Swallowing a Donkey’s Eye and (with Stephen Graham Jones) Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn’t Fly, and the co-editor (with Sean Wallace) of the anthologies Fantasy, Phantom, and Bandersnatch.

28 — Local author book release day for The Conquering Dark (Crown & Key, #3)  by Clay and Susan Griffith (Del Rey, July 28).

NEW: 28 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Spartanbug, SC’s Hub City Bookshop hosts Shared Worlds: Ekaterina Sedia, Tobias Buckell, Nathan Ballingrud, and Monica Byrne.

AUGUST 2015

NEW: 1 (Saturday) 10 am to 4 pm — Ultimate Comics hosts “Three EVENTS, Two STORES, One DAY! The celebration kicks off at the new Ultimate Raleigh store from 10am-12 with super-creators Robert Venditti & Robert Gill signing the Ultimate exclusive variant cover of Valiant Comic new Book of Death! Let’s open the new store together! Then follow us over to Ultimate Comics on Farrington Road for our 12 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Venditti & Gill will be signing from 1-4 and we’re cooking burgers & hotdogs and partying it up with comic book give-a-ways and sweet tunes by DJ Fader!”

3 (Monday) 6:30 pm — The Orange County Public Library hosts First Monday Classics: The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

4 — Local author book release for Dawnbreaker by Jay Posey, completing his Legends of the Duskwalker trilogy (Angry Robot Books) after Three and Morningside Fall.

4 — Local author book release for a new edition of The Hunter Returns by David Drake and Jim Kjelgaard (Baen Books) — first published in 1991, a middle grade / young adult novel: “Meet Hawk, formerly a hunter in a band of prehistoric nomads, now an outcast for breaking tribal law by daring to create a powerful new tool: the bow and arrow. Now the world is changing, the bison are disappearing, and the tribe has fallen into famine. Their only hope? Hawk and his new tools and hunting methods. But the old ways die hard, and Hawk must find a way to survive in a land of prehistoric predators — from dire wolves to beavers the size of bears — if he is to save his tribe, and show humanity the path away from Stone Age stagnation.”

NEW: 6 (Thursday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Vampire Empire authors Clay and Susan Griffith for their “Crown & Key” trilogy (The Shadow Revolution, The Undying Legion, and The Conquering Dark).

NEW-NEW: 9 (Sunday) 10 am to 6 pm — Charlotte Comicon Summer Comics and Toy Show at the Crown Plaza Executive Park Hotel with guests (among others) Bo Fader, Brockton McKinney, and John Hartness.

NEW: 12 (Wednesday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Hugo Award winning and bestselling author John Scalzi for his new novel The End of All Things, set in his Old Man’s War universe.

NEW: 13 (Thursday) 6:30 pm — Noir at the Bar III at Durham’s 106 Main, with: Eric Beetner (CA), Steve Weddle (VA), Greg Barth (TN), Eryk Pruitt (DUR), SA Cosby (fantasy/crime from VA), and a local artist who is about to publish his first sci-fi crime novel, Geraud Staton.

NEW: 13 (Thursday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts NC poet and author Valerie Nieman for a reading from her new book of (sometimes speculative) poetry Hotel Worthy. Nieman is the author of Neena Gathering, a 1988 post-apocalyptic novel. Introduction by Richard Krawiec.

NEW-NEW: 14 (Friday) 7 pm — The Greensboro Barnes & Noble hosts Asheville author Robert Beatty for his Biltmore-set debut middle grade novel Serafina and the Black Cloak (Disney/Hyperion).

NEW-NEW: 15 (Saturday) 10 am to 4 pm — The Hilton University Place in Charlotte hosts Carolina Book Fest 2015 with (among others) Cary author Rysa Walker (Timebound).

NEW-NEW: 15 (Saturday) 2 pm — The Cary Barnes & Noble hosts Asheville author Robert Beatty for his Biltmore-set debut middle grade novel Serafina and the Black Cloak (Disney/Hyperion).

15 (Saturday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award winning author Michael Swanwick for his new “Darger and Surplus” novel Chasing the Phoenix.

16 (Sunday) 10 am to 5 pm — Oak City Comic Show at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown with Tommy Lee Edwards, Richard Case, Dale Mettam, Jeremy Whitley, and much more, including a special appearance by Michael Swanwick for a panel on his storied career as a science fiction and fantasy author.

NEW-NEW: 17 (Monday) 4 pm — The Chapel Hill Public Library hosts a Meet the Author Tea with Jeremy Hawkins (The Last Days of Video) and Katy Simpson Smith (The Story of Land and Sea). Refreshments at 3:30 pm.

NEW: 17 (Monday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award winning author Michael Swanwick for his new “Darger and Surplus” novel Chasing the Phoenix.

18 — Local author book release day for Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon (Dial, Aug 18) beginning a new children’s series.

NEW-NEW: 22 (Saturday) 2 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts an “all family” storytime and book drive for Safe Schools NC, with a reading and discussion of “King and King” (subject of a recent schoolboard controversy) as well as additional readings “from a selection of books for children featuring themes that support diversity in gender identity and sexual orientation and anti-bullying message” with a participant list which includes Durham YA author Nathan Kotecki (The Suburban Strange).

NEW-NEW: 23 (Sunday) 10 am to 4 pm — Raleigh Comic Book Show at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley with guests Sandy Jarrell, Budd Root, Andy Smith, and Tom Davidson. Free admission.

NEW-NEW: 23 (Sunday) 2 pm — McIntyre’s Books hosts a NC Poetry Society Reading with Richard Krawiec, Fred Chappell, and John Amen, hosted by Sara Claytor.

NEW-NEW: 23 (Sunday) 7 pm — The Raleigh Browncoats screening of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog at the Colony Theatre in Raleigh.

NEW-NEW: 24 (Monday) 5:30 to 7:30 pm — Previous Piedmont Laureate and middle grade fantasy author John Claude Bemis will be at Hillsborough’s Hot Tin Roof, as charity bartender for a fundraiser for Heifer International. “Tim Newman—who works at Heifer and lives in Hillsborough—will be my fellow bartender, demonstrating his mad Tom Cruise Cocktail drink pouring skills.”

NEW-NEW: 29 (Saturday) 5 pm — Raleigh’s So & So Books hosts Sean Jackson reads from HAW, a local debut novelist whose book takes a look at a near-future North Carolina which has turned into a near-wasteland, though not completely devoid of hope.

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.”

1 — Local author book release day for A Rebel’s Stone by P.T. McHugh (Glass House, September 1).

NEW-NEW: 3-19 (Thursday to Saturday) 8 pm — Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern and Block-Ops present The Shipment at Durham’s Common Ground Theatre, a “scathing comedy that walks ‘the line between stock forms of Black entertainment and some unidentifiable weirdness’“. I still don’t have a solid handle on what this is going to be about, but the trailer has a Dalek and other, yes, unidentifiable weirdness. Expect anything.

4 (Friday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Kim Harrison – ‘The Drafter’. “Folks loved the Hollows series. Now Kim Harrison returns on Friday, September 4, at 7 pm with The Drafter.  ThinkThe Bourne Identity meets Minority Report in this first highly-anticipated installment of Harrison’s sexy new suspense trilogy, featuring a brilliant special task agent at the top of her field and set in a futuristic Detroit.”

NEW: 5 (Saturday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Christopher Moore – ‘Secondhand Souls’. “How do we describe Christopher Moore’s work? Just… go with the flow and be prepared to snort with laughter.  The author of Lamb, The Serpent of Venice and more joins us on Saturday, September 5, at 7 pm with Secondhand Souls. In this delightfully weird and funny sequel to the NY Times bestseller A Dirty Job, the souls of the dead are mysteriously disappearing – and you know that can’t be good.”

10 (Thursday) 8 pm — The Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) hosts The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses: “‘The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses’ concert series is back with a third installment: ‘Master Quest’. Audiences can expect to experience awesome new inclusions from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and new music from the recently announced remake of fan favorite The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. A four-movement symphony, recounting the classic storylines from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and A Link to the Past. The performance will also highlight orchestral renditions of music from The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Performed by a 90-piece orchestra & choir with a giant screen.”

NEW-NEW: 10-12 (Thursday to Saturday) — The Bookmarks NC 2015 Festival of Books and Authors in downtown Winston-Salem with author David Baldacci (keynote, September 10), various “eat and greet” events on September 11, and a full day of free festival programming on Saturday (September 12) with authors Robert Beatty, Pat Conroy, Ron Rash, Fred Chappell, Marc Brown, R.L. Stine, Garth Stein, Mercedes Lackey, and more.

11-13 (Friday to Sunday) — Paperhand Puppet Intervention presents this season’s series of performances at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

NEW-NEW: 12 (Saturday) 8 pm — The ArtsCenter hosts “Danger!”, the season opener of The Monti storytelling calendar. Ticketed event.

NEW: 14 (Monday) 5:30 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Matthew Neill Null discusses his debut novel Honey from the Lion; Introduction by Allan Gurganus. (Fiction.)

14 (Monday) 7 pm — The Regulator Bookshop hosts Amy Stewart, “Girl Waits With Gun”. (Fiction.)

NEW-NEW: 15 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Danny Dragonbreath author Ursula Vernon for her new young reader book Hamster Princess. (Kids.)

NEW-NEW: 16 (Wednesday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Brad Melzter for his new children’s book I Am Helen Keller in his Ordinary People Change the World series (I am Abraham Lincoln, I Am Amelia Airhart, I Am Albert Einstein, I Am Jackie Robinson, I Am Lucille Ball, and I Am Rosa Parks). (Kids.)

NEW: 17 (Thursday) 4 pm — Duke University Libraries hosts the SFWA Southeast Reading Series for “Storytelling and Migration” with authors Gail Z. Martin, Alyssa Wong, Ursula Vernon, Delilah Dawson, and Monica Byrne, cosponsored by the Franklin Humanities Institute’s Story Lab at the FHI Garage at Duke’s Smith Warehouse.

18-19 (Friday and Saturday) 7:30 pm — The Red Hat Amphitheater hosts The Lord of the Rings in Concert — “Peter Jackson’s award-winning epic will be projected digitally on an immense high definition screen while the combined forces of the North Carolina Symphony, North Carolina Master Chorale, and The Raleigh Boychoir bring the music of Middle-earth to life.”

NEW: 18-19 (Friday and Saturday) — The Carolina Theatre of Durham hosts two screenings of David Lynch’s Dune: The Extended Cut. “Here’s a rare screening of the extended TV cut of this sci-fi masterpiece. Visit an unbelievable world beyond time and space. This is the saga of intergalactic warrior Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan) and his messianic rise to leadership, featuring an all-star cast including Max Von Sydow, Linda Hunt and Sting.” Showtimes are Friday at 8:30 pm and Saturday at 12:45 pm.

18-20 (Friday to Sunday) — The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) trade show in Raleigh at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown with authors Julia Elliott, Jeff Strand, Carrie Ryan and John Parke Davis, Renee Ahdieh, Robert Beatty, Katherine Harbour, A.G. Riddle, V.E. Schwab, and many more. More info: http://sibaweb.com/trade-show

NEW-NEW: 19 (Saturday) 6 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Asheville author Robert Beatty for his Biltmore-set debut middle grade novel Serafina and the Black Cloak (Disney/Hyperion).

21 (Monday) 7 pm — The Regulator Bookshop hosts Matthew Guinn, “The Scribe”. (Fiction.)

22 — Regional author book release day for Sound by Alexandra Duncan (Greenwillow Books, Sep 22) — a stand-alone companion novel to her 2014 debut Salvage.

NEW: 26 (Saturday) 10:30 am to 1 pm — A “Scents of of Creativity & Memory” workshop at the Dan Pollitt Conference Center in Pittsboro. “Connect to creativity and open emotional blocks through your strongest sense. Essential oils are used as creative prompts in class. Whether you are a writer, artist, or other creative mind, using aromas to stir ideas and memories can help you get closer to the work you do. Essentials oils can help align your health and creative values. Writers will get a bit more out of this class as discussions will focus on literary devices evoked by aromas, literary journal submissions, and self-pub v. traditional publishing options.” More info or to register: http://www.taralynnegroth.com/writing-classes.html

30 (Wednesday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Gene Luen Yang – ‘Secret Coders’. “From the graphic novel superstar comes a wildly entertaining new series that combines logic puzzles and basic coding instruction with a page-turning mystery plot! For ages 8+.”

TBD — Local author book release day for Badge, Book, and Candle (Bookburners, #1) by Mur Lafferty (Serial Box, co-authored with Max Gladstone, Brian Francis Slattery, and Margaret Dunlap).

OCTOBER 2015

NEW-NEW: 1 (Thursday) 3:30 pm — Bull’s Head Bookshop at UNC, Chapel Hill welcomes Adam Morgan for a reading and signing of his new non-fiction book North Carolina’s Wild Piedmont: A Natural History. Morgan will also be making a few stops on a signing-only basis, at Charlotte’s Park Road Books (Monday, Sep 28, 7pm), Raleigh’s Quail Ridge Books (Tuesday, September 29, 2 pm), and Chapel Hill’s Flyleaf Books (Wednesday, September 30, 2 pm).

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.

5 (Monday) 6:30 pm — The Orange County Library hosts First Monday Classics: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

6 — Local book release day for the David Drake tribute anthology Onward, Drake! edited by Mark Van Name, with stories by Drake, Van Name, Mur Lafferty, Tony Daniel, T.C. McCarthy, and more. (Baen, October 6)

NEW: 6 (Tuesday) 5 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Sheila Turnage – ‘The Odds of Getting Even’. “Kids and the Newbery committee loved Sheila’s Three Times Lucky, the first of her humorous mysteries set in the fictional little NC town of Tupelo Landing. Mo, Dale, and their families and friends went on to The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing (now in paperback). We’re delighted and thrilled to once again be the launch site (party!) for Sheila’s The Odds of Getting Even.” (Kids 9+).

8 (Thursday) 7:30 pm — The Durham Performaning Arts Center (DPAC) hosts An Evening with Neil deGrasse Tyson: “Join us for an evening of engaging conversation on science, exploration, and the world as we know it with superstar scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Neil is an award-winning astrophysicist, author, regular guest on The Daily Show, host of FOX’s Cosmos, and host of his own radio show StarTalk. He has a new latenight TV show also called StarTalk, which premieres on National Geographic on April 20.”

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.

NEW-NEW: 11 (Sunday) 4 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts YA Panel: Alexandra Duncan, Amy Reed, and Jaye Robin Brown discuss their latest novels. Asheville author Duncan is a science fiction and fantasy writer whose new novel Sound is the companion to her award-winning, “kick-ass, brilliant, feminist science fiction” debut Salvage. (Teen.)

13 — Regional author book release day for City of Thirst by Carrie Ryan and John Parke Davis (Map to Everywhere #2) published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

NEW-NEW: 15 (Thursday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Fierce Reads Tour featuring Josephine Angelini, Leigh Bardugo, Emma Mills, and Leila Sales! Bardugo is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Grisha Trilogy: Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising. Set in the Grisha-verse following the events of Ruin and Rising, Six of Crows is about six dangerous outcasts and one impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first. (Teen.)

NEW-NEW: 16 (Friday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books presents Brian Selznick for his new novel The Marvels, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh at 3313 Wade Ave. “The award-winning author & illustrator (Caldecott Medal recipient for The Invention of Hugo Cabret) visits us for the first time with the luminous The Marvels on Friday, October 16, at 7 pm.  As in Wonderstruck, two story lines are connected – but how?  Massively illustrated, The Marvels is a story of family, the past, and puzzles, stretching over centuries.  Brian’s multimedia program is not to be missed!” This is a ticketed event: “with purchase from us of The Marvels, receive up to two admission/signing line tickets. At time of book purchase, you may purchase a third companion ticket for $5.  Ages 9+.” (Kids+.)

20 — Local book release day for Rysa Walker’s Time’s Divide (The Chronos Files, Book 3) published by Skyscape.

20 — Regional author book release day for Gatefather by Orson Scott Card (Mither Mages, Book 3) published by Tor Books.

NEW-NEW: 20 (Tuesday) 5 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Adam Rubin & Dan Salmieri - ‘Robo-Sauce’ for the launch of their new picture book for ages 4+, from the authors of Dragons Love Tacos. (Kids.)

NEW-NEW: 24 (Sunday) 8 pm — The Carolina Theatre of Durham hosts John Hodgman: Vacationland, a 75-minute comedy show.

30-(Nov) 1 (Friday to Sunday) — HonorCon 2015 at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown with Tony Daniel, David Drake (Saturday only), Chris Kennedy, and David Weber.

NOVEMBER 2015

3 — 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.

3 — Regional author book release day for Without Light or Guide by T. Frohock (Harper Voyager Impulse), part two of Los Nefilim.

NEW: 3 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books presents Welcome to Night Vale: An evening with Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor & John Darnielle at The Varsity Theater at 123 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill. “From the creators of the wildly popular Welcome to Night Vale podcast comes an imaginative mystery of appearances and disappearances that is also a poignant look at the ways in which we all struggle to find ourselves…no matter where we live.” (Tickets sold through Flyleaf Books only and include entrance to show and a copy of the book.)

NEW-NEW: 4 (Wednesday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books welcomes bestselling science fiction thriller author A.G. Riddle for Departure.

NEW-NEW: 5 (Thursday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Clay & Susan Griffith - ‘The Geomancer’ as the Raleigh husband-and-wife author team return to the world of their “Vampire Empire” series.

NEW-NEW: 7 (Saturday) 3 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts YA author Joelle Charbonneau - ‘Need’. (Teen.)

NEW-NEW: 13 (Friday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts bestselling YA author Marissa Meyer for Winter, the conclusion of her Lunar Chronicles (Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Fairest). “We’re celebrating in style - come in costume and enjoy the festivities.  Refreshments, too.  For ages 12+.” (Teen.)

13-15 (Friday to Sunday) — NC Comicon at the Durham Convention Center, including Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard’s ONLY U.S. appearance and (among others) Bernard Chang, Tommy Lee Edwards, John Paul Leon, Gerard Way, and Stacey Lee.

NEW-NEW: 21 (Saturday) — Quail Ridge Books hosts Harriet McDougal, Maria Simons, and Alan Romanczuk for The Wheel of Time Companion, the authoritative non-fiction companion to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, with special guest Jason Denzel, debut author of epic fantasy novel Mystic and founder of Wheel of Time fan destination Dragonmount.com.

24 — Local author book release for The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher (a pen name for Ursula Vernon) a republication of her self-published 2014 novel by 47North.

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.

DECEMBER 2015

1 — Regional author book release day for Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Starbound #3) published by Disney-Hyperion.

NEW-NEW: 27 (Sunday) 10 am to 4 pm — Raleigh Comic Book Show at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley with guests TBD. Free admission.

JANUARY 2016

NEW: 8-10 (Friday to Sunday) — Illogicon 5 at the Embassy Suites Raleigh – Durham/Research Triangle North Carolina with guest of honor Mur Lafferty. Registration is open: “Prices: 6/13 thru 8/15: $20; 8/15 thru 10/15: $25; 1016/ thru 12/31: $30; At the door: $40.”

FEBRUARY 2016

26-28 (Friday to Sunday) — MystiCon 2016 in Roanoke, Virginia, with guest of honor George R.R. Martin.

APRIL 2016

12 — Regional author book release day for A Shadow All of Light by Fred Chappell (Tor Books).

TBD — Local author book release day for Nightstruck by Jenna Black.

JUNE 2016

NEW: 3-5 (Friday to Sunday) — ConCarolinas 2016 with special author guest Christie Golden.

JULY 2016

NEW: 15-17 (Friday to Sunday) — ConGregate 2016 in High Point with guests of honor Steven Barnes and A.J. Hartley.

AUGUST 2016

TBD — Regional author book release day for Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley (Tor Teen) — “The book follows 17 year old Anglet Sutonga as she is drawn into a web of murder and intrigue surrounding the theft of a strange and priceless artifact. Anglet is the steeplejack of the title, one of the marginal street urchins who works the chimneys, towers and other high, dangerous places in the city of Bar-Selehm.”

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