The Hardest Part: Jeremy Whitley on My Little Pony: Friends Forever

Posted on 2014-02-20 at 14:50 by montsamu

When I started looking more seriously into the local comic scene in 2009 and 2010, I found some big names: Tommy Lee Edwards, Scott Hampton, Richard Case. And, thanks to Ultimate Comics' Al Gill handing me a copy of The Order of Dagonet #1 I have been able to follow comics writer Jeremy Whitley for a few years now, through the original Dagonet run from Whitley and artist Jason Strutz's Firetower Studios, the re-issue of the comic from Action Labs, and a similar path for Whitley's next project, the Eisner-nominated Princeless. I interviewed Whitley and Strutz for Bull Spec #3, and published their 4-part graphic story "The Long Lives of Heroes" across issues 5 through 8. I'm a big Whitley fan, which is one reason I'm so excited to see his story for My Little Pony: Friends Forever #2 from IDW next week. Here, Whitley writes about getting to play inside the rules of the My Little Pony universe -- a bit of a contrast from creating in his own stories.

[caption id="attachment_3074" align="alignnone" width="197"] IDW PUBLISHING
(W) Jeremy Whitley (A) Tony Fleecs (CA) Amy Mebberson
"The Cutie Mark Crusaders have done everything they can think of to get their cutie marks. But there's one creature of chaos who might have some ideas they would never think of... Discord! When our pint-sized heroines start working with the unpredictable trickster, the results are bound to get unusual! Will Ponyville be able to survive their friendship?"
In Shops: 2/26/2014[/caption]

By Jeremy Whitley:

The hardest part of writing My Little Pony was accepting that I'm playing in someone else's world.  A lot of writers only ever get to/have to write in worlds that are of their own making.  When I started working on MLP, I would make decisions, commit to them, and then be told that it was something I couldn't do.  I'm a big fan of the show and I love the world they've created, but in something like that that's constantly evolving both on tv and in the comic, you can hit walls you didn't even know existed.

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged jeremy whitley, my little pony, princeless

Coming to Town: Megan Shepherd for Her Dark Curiosity and "The Lovestruck Tour"

Posted on 2014-02-18 at 15:26 by montsamu

The Lovestruck Tour features four YA authors -- Megan Hansen Shepherd (Her Dark Curiosity), Megan Miranda (Fracture), Kasie West (Pivot Point), and Robin Constantine (The Promise of Amazing) -- and five bookstores: Asheville's Malaprop's Bookstore on Wednesday, February 19 at 7 pm; Raleigh's Quail Ridge Books on Thursday at 7 pm; Chapel Hill's Flyleaf Books on Friday at 7 pm; Greenville, South Carolina's Fiction Addiction on Saturday at 4 pm; and Decatur, Georgia's Little Shop of Stories on Monday, February 24 at 7 pm. Asheville author Shepherd's 2013 debut novel The Madman's Daughter visited the gothic aftermath of the classic novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, as the titular madman's daughter, Juliet, visits the island to investigate accusations of his gruesome experiments. Last month, Balzer+Bray published the sequel, Her Dark Curiosity. "Inspired by The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this tantalizing sequel to Megan Shepherd's gothic suspense novel, The Madman's Daughter, explores the hidden natures of those we love and how far we'll go to save them from themselves. Back in London after her trip to Dr. Moreau's horrific island, Juliet is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget her father's legacy. But soon it's clear that someone--or something--hasn't forgotten her, as people close to Juliet start falling victim to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes. Has one of her father's creations also escaped the island? As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer--Juliet will be lucky to escape alive." Here, she takes the time to answer some questions from Durham author Stephen Messer about her books and the tour. Enjoy!

-- Interview by Stephen Messer --

You're on tour now for Her Dark Curiosity, the second book of The Madman's Daughter trilogy. The first book was inspired by H. G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau. What led you to adapt this classic sci/fi story for a modern, YA audience?

My original inspiration for THE MADMAN’S DAUGHTER actually came from television, not the classics. I adored the TV show LOST and wanted to write a book set on a mysterious island. I happened to be reading DRACULA at the time, and it reminded me of THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU. So I went back to re-read it for pleasure, and was impressed by how relevant the scientific and moral questions still were. Given that it is a short novella and has no female characters, I thought there might be a way to take the basic story premise and retell it in a totally new way, from a female perspective.

Her Dark Curiosity draws its inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. What are some of the challenges of adapting any classic work of science fiction?

Posted in Coming to Town | Tagged her dark curiuosity, megan shepherd, stephen messer, the lovestruck tour, the madman's daughter

Friday Quick Updates, Monday edition: Alice Hoffman, Megan Shepherd and The Lovestruck Tour, and the Nevermore Film Festival

Posted on 2014-02-17 at 15:51 by montsamu

Monday, February 17, 2014: Tonight sees the first of two events with magical realist Alice Hoffman in the Triangle, ahead of Megan Shepherd, Megan Miranda, and the rest of “The Lovestruck Tour” later this week. Hoffman’s new book is The Museum of Extraordinary Things, set in the New York City of the early 1900s, and after launching the book at the Savannah Book Festival this past weekend she’s at Raleigh’s Quail Ridge Books tonight at 7:30 pm, ahead of a second event in the area at McIntyre’s Books in Fearrington Village on Wednesday. That “Lovestruck Tour” starts Wednesday night in Asheville at Malaprop’s Bookstore, before local events Thursday (at Quail Ridge Books) and Friday (at Flyleaf Books).

Meanwhile, this weekend sees the Nevermore Film Festival’s return to the Carolina Theatre of Durham along with regional convention MystiCon in Roanoke, VA.

One new regional event to mention is on Friday, February 28th, also at Asheville’s Malaprop’s Bookstore: a special event with Pulitzer-nominated author Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! and a recent short story collection, Vampires in the Lemon Grove, consisting of an on-stage interview followed by a booksigning and a wine and cheese reception. Now, does anyone know if Amtrak goes to Asheville yet?

-Sam

UPCOMING EVENTS, FEBRUARY 2014

17 (Monday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Alice Hoffman – ‘The Museum of Extraordinary Things’.

19 (Wednesday) 6:30 pm — McIntyre’s Books hosts Alice Hoffman for The Museum of Extraordinary Things.

20 (Thursday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts The Lovestruck Tour – Four Passionate Authors. (See below for list.)

21 (Friday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts The Lovestruck Tour, featuring YA authors Megan Hansen Shepherd (Her Dark Curiosity), Megan Miranda (Fracture), Kasie West (Pivot Point), and Robin Constantine (The Promise of Amazing).

21-23 (Friday to Sunday) — 15th Nevermore Film Festival at The Carolina Theatre of Durham. More info: http://festivals.carolinatheatre.org/nevermore/

21-23 (Friday to Sunday) — MystiCon in Roanoke, VA withguests John de Lancie (ST:TNG’s “Q”), author Todd McCaffery, author A.J. Hartley, and more. More info: http://mysticon-va.com/

NEW: 28 (Friday) 7 pm — Asheville’s Malaprop’s Bookstore hosts a ticketed event with author Karen Russell (Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories). The program includes an interview by Greta Johnsen followed by a booksigning and wine and cheese reception. More info: http://www.malaprops.com/event/karen-russell-conversation-wcqs-morning-edition-host-greta-johnsen-ticketed-event

[for more events check the most recent newsletter]

Posted in Friday Quick Updates | Tagged alice hoffman, flyleaf books, karen russell, malaprops bookstore, megan miranda, megan shepherd, mysticon, nevermore, quail ridge books

Coming to Town, post-visit edition: Deborah Johnson for The Secret of Magic

Posted on 2014-02-14 at 17:34 by montsamu

Mississippi author Deborah Johnson has spent the last few weeks on tour, since the publication of her second novel, The Secret of Magic, in print and ebook from Amy Einhorn Books. From Mississippi, through Alabama, Georgia, and this weekend in western North Carolina with events in Boone and Winston-Salem, leading up to two events this past week in the Triangle Area: Monday night at Quail Ridge Books at 7:30 pm and Tuesday night at Flyleaf Books at 7 pm. The novel is an historical fiction set in Mississippi of the 1940s around a real NAACP legal defense fund case, and featuring a fictional fantasy novel which shares the real book's title. In that novel-within-the-novel, black and white children play together in the quasi-mythical Magnolia Forest. The book gains national renown, inspires a young lawyer, Regina Robichard, who travels from Thurgood Marshall's NAACP offices to investigate the case of a black Army Lieutenant murdered on his way home after WW2, and is banned throughout much of the deeply segregated South. Johnson's novel does not flinch whatsoever from the reality of that South, the era of Jim Crow laws, "separate but equal", unpunished lynchings, and Confederate Flags flying proudly above the steps of the courthouse. I'll admit to at first being partially pulled into the book by the back cover copy's idea of the "parallels" which Robichard begins to discover between the fantasy-novel-within-the-novel and the events of the case, but there is no magical realism here -- "just" realism, powerful and compellingly told, with that magical garnish of The Secret of Magic and the pull of childhood's reading.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="221"] The Secret of Magic
by Deborah Johnson
Amy Einhorn (Penguin)
January 2014[/caption]

Interview by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn:

Q: Both of your novels have taken place in your fictional town of Revere, Mississippi, albeit 20 years apart. Does anything tie the two towns together, 1946 to 1966, or are they each their own separate fictional creations?

The town of Revere Mississippi is the same in both novels. I wanted the setting to remain the same but the people to be different. Hopefully, each set of characters brings out the point that I most wanted to address within the frame of a particular time and set of circumstances.

Q: Your actual home of Columbus, Mississippi shares a similar population and geographic location -- at least in its close proximity to Alabama -- to the Revere of your novels. Is there a real-life analogue for Magnolia Forest, or any of the houses and streets?

Posted in Coming to Town | Tagged deborah johnson, flyleaf books, quail ridge books, the secret of magic

The Latest from Carolina Book Beat

Posted on 2014-02-10 at 16:43 by montsamu

The podcast for my talk a week ago with Tommy Lee Edwards on Carolina Book Beat is up!

Posted in Uncategorized

Friday Quick Updates: Mur Lafferty tomorrow, Deborah Johnson next week, a Book Club Moveable Feast this weekend, Jeremy L.C. Jones writes about Manly Wade Wellman, and more

Posted on 2014-02-07 at 16:07 by montsamu

Friday, February 7, 2014: Three “NEW-NEW” events this weekend, added to the calendar since sending the February newsletter barely a week ago, including Mur Lafferty’s Durham County Library (Southwest Regional Library) event on Saturday and a “Bookmarks Book Club Moveable Feast” event on Sunday in Winston-Salem, for which very, very limited tickets remain. Several more new events were added further down the line, including the 15th Nevermore Film Festival at The Carolina Theatre of Durham on Feb 21-23 and a really intriguing-looking panel on H.G. Wells at the Orange County library in early March.

Speaking of Lafferty, more news there including:

• Her novel The Shambling Guide to New York City is a newly announced Orbital Drop, meaning her publisher Orbit has dropped the ebook price to $1.99 for the next three weeks; a fantastic time to pick it up and get ready for The Ghost Train to New Orleans which "drops" in early March, and speaking of The Ghost Train to New Orleans...
• Lafferty is hosting a contest for the best drink recipe for her fictional "Captain Spaulding", which is gin with (purportedly) demon blood. She's planning to video taste test the entrants and award the winner(s) a prize pack drawn from "copies of Shambling Guide, Ghost Train, and more necklaces from Surly Amy"

I hope you took in some of the fantastic events in a packed first week of February, including Wendy Webb at Flyleaf Books, George Saunders at Duke University (no, I didn’t even know about this one until it was too late, either), and Sheila Turnage at Quail Ridge Books just yesterday. And Turnage’s The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing wasn’t the only highly-anticipated sequel out this week from a regional author, as Megan Miranda’s Vengeance continues where her 2012 debut Fractured left off — and Miranda will be in the area later this month as part of the “Lovestruck” tour. See you out and about!

-Sam

UPCOMING EVENTS, FEBRUARY 2014

8 (Saturday) 3 to 5 pm — Durham County’s Southwest Regional Library hosts a “Meet the Author” event with Durham author Mur Lafferty. More info: http://durhamcountylibrary.org/events/meet-the-author-mur-lafferty/

8 (Saturday) 10 am to 3 pm — The High Country Festival of the Book hosts a special February event in Boone, NC, bringing fiction authors Deborah Johnson and Ed Williams to the area. More info: http://www.highcountryfestivalofthebook.com/

9 (Sunday) 3 pm — Bookmarks NC “Book Club Moveable Feast” in Winston-Salem, NC with authors Wilton Barnhardt, Arien Djanikian, Deborah Johnson, Wendy Welch, and more changing tables every 10 minutes to meet with and discuss with readers. Tickets (4 remaining at last check) are available at: http://bookmarksnc.givezooks.com/events/book-club-movable-feast

10 (Monday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Deborah Johnson – The Secret of Magic [Facebook event link]. Johnson’s novel is amazing; it’s an historical fiction set in Mississippi in the late 1940s as a black GI returns home from WW2 to the segregated South, built around an actual NAACP Legal Fund case and a fictional fantasy novel within the novel. (Fiction.)

11 (Tuesday) 7 pm – Flyleaf Books hosts Deborah Johnson discusses her novel The Secret of Magic. (See above for my brief thoughts on this fantastic book.)

16 (Sunday) 2 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Joyce Allen launches her young adult novel The Threads of Earth, part two of the Threads trilogy.

17 (Monday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Alice Hoffman – ‘The Museum of Extraordinary Things’.

19 (Wednesday) 6:30 pm — McIntyre’s Books hosts Alice Hoffman for The Museum of Extraordinary Things.

20 (Thursday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts The Lovestruck Tour – Four Passionate Authors. (See below for list.)

21 (Friday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts The Lovestruck Tour, featuring YA authors Megan Hansen Shepherd (Her Dark Curiosity), Megan Miranda (Fracture), Kasie West (Pivot Point), and Robin Constantine (The Promise of Amazing).

Posted in Friday Quick Updates | Tagged deborah johnson, jeremy lc jones, mur lafferty

The Hardest Part: Dario Ciriello on Sutherland's Rules

Posted on 2014-02-05 at 20:39 by montsamu

I can't quite place how I digitally ran into Dario Ciriello back in 2009. Probably it was that I had a silly idea that I would be a writer, thinking that the mess I was working on was looking like it would be a novella, and looking around to see who published at that length. Enter Panverse One, edited by Ciriello, which blew me away. An all-novella anthology (the first of three, so far, all excellent) with fantastic, varied stories, a beautiful cover, and a well-produced physical book, introducing me to a world of small press, print-on-demand publishing that I had no idea even existed. "Wait, wait... one dedicated person with the drive to do something like this can actually do something like this?" It's not exaggerating to say that Bull Spec would not exist without the inspiration provided by Panverse One -- and Ciriello was just getting started. After taking a brief hiatus after Panverse Three in 2011, Panverse Publishing returned to fiction with three novels in 2013, one of them Ciriello's own Sutherland's Rules, a non-fantasy, non-sf (*), high-stakes, high-fun, crime adventure novel set across California, London, and Afghanistan. It's the second of Ciriello's books I've read and immensely enjoyed (the other being his non-fictional memoir of moving to Skopelos Island in Greece, Aegean Dream) and I'm hoping for many more. Here, Dario writes about the hard part of getting one of the characters from Sutherland's Rules right, down to her motivations, before being able to write her to the fullest.

(*) OK, OK. There might be some hallucinogenic trips into branching parallel universes.

By Dario Ciriello:

The hardest part of writing my recent novel, Sutherland’s Rules, was understanding Carol, my female protagonist.

I’ve written female protagonists—and they’re all strong—before, and not had much trouble with them. I like strong women. In fact, I’m married to one.

Carol, though, was a real challenge. Carol is an attractive  professional dancer in her early fifties, now the owner of a dance school; she’s also bisexual and a partner in an open marriage, and the latter made it especially challenging when writing in her viewpoint.

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged dario ciriello, panverse publishing, sutherland's rules

Carolina Book Beat preview: Tommy Lee Edwards

Posted on 2014-02-03 at 04:38 by montsamu

So tomorrow morning (Monday, Feb 3, 10 AM) I’ll be talking with illustrator Tommy Lee Edwards on Carolina Book Beat on WCOM-FM. It’s the first time we’ve tried an illustrator as a guest, so I wanted to put up some links to visual aids here before the show.

We’re mainly planning to talk about his forthcoming Vandroid project(s) which include a short film [with trailer], a soundtrack, and, set for a late February release, the first of five monthly issues of a comic book series. What is Vandroid? Well… it purports to be a “lost” 1980s sci-fi action movie about an advanced AI which inhabits … a high-end conversion van. There’s an extensive preview up at Crave Online, and you can already pre-order issues both in the US and the UK.

I’m also hoping to talk about Tommy’s previous mini-series, the Jonathan Ross-authored Turf, “set in 1920s Prohibition-era New York and featuring period typical gangsters alongside vampires and aliens.” As well as some of his other work, such as his striking concept art for The Book of Eli and the award-winning “The Random Adventures of Brandon Generator”, and his growing involvement with NC Comicon.

You can explore Tommy’s work at his website, or check out the (not 100% complete, but pretty good) databases of his comic work at Comic Book DB (Penciller, Inker, Colorist, Cover Artist) and ISFDB (cover art and interior art for prose books).

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged carolina book beat, tommy lee edwards

Feburary newsletter: Wendy Webb, Sheila Turnage, Deborah Johnson, Alice Hoffman, Megan Shepherd, MystiCon, TV deals, new and forthcoming books, literary lineups, and more

Posted on 2014-01-31 at 20:20 by montsamu

Vol 4. No 2. January 31, 2014:

Well, January was what one might call a good month. RDU-based convention illogiCon welcomed Mary Robinette Kowal, Lawrence M. Schoen, Laura Anne Gilman, Gail Z. Martin, Misty Massey and Ed Schubert, and many more to town, along with fantastic participation from Triangle-area authors and fans; William Shatner rocked the house with his one-man show; Quail Ridge Books hosted Carrie Vaughn for Dreams of the Golden Age; and Jeaniene Frost closed out January with the launch of her latest Night Hunters novel. We also saw new books from Lisa Shearin (on December 31), Cate Tiernan, Megan Shepherd, and Faith Hunter, along with the first in Tor’s re-releases of Jenna Black’s Guardians of the Night series, a new paperback edition of Ariel Djanikian’s just-optioned-for-TV The Office of Mercy, and! J.M. McDermott’s long-awaited Maze. But don’t sleep in too late to start February, though, as tomorrow (Saturday, February 1), Wendy Webb brings her haunted house novel The Vanishing to Flyleaf Books at 11 AM, kicking off a February that went from sparse to packed since the last newsletter.

Speaking of television, more big, big news on that front is that HBO is set to develop a comedy based on NCSU professor Wilton Barnhardt’s darkly hilarious 2013 novel Lookaway, Lookaway. And speaking of NCSU, they’re looking for a visiting writer to teach in their MFA program next year. Via John Kessel: “NC State University is looking for a Visiting Fiction Writer to teach in our MFA program for the 2014-2015 academic year. Detail available at the NCSU website and also on the AWP Job List. This is meant to be a graduate professorship, so we’re look for experienced and well-published candidates.”

More news? Here you go:

• The cover for the Kickstarter-funded Kaiju Rising anthology has been posted, featuring local writers Natania Barron and James Maxey amidst a gorgeous wraparound cover by Bob Eggleton.
• ConCarolinas has added considerably to its guest lineup, headlined of course by guest of honor George R.R. Martin and special guest David Weber.  One of those new guests? Yours truly, making my first trip to the convention. More info at the new website: http://www.concarolinas.net/
• Speaking of impressive lineups, the North Carolina Literary Festival has announced its lineup, which is simply amazing, including Junot Diaz, Karen Joy Fowler, Peter Straub, R.L. Stine, John Kessel, William Barnhardt, Daniel Wallace, Therese Anne Fowler, and many, many more including Bill Ferris, John Claude Bemis, and Zelda Lockhart. The festival runs April 3-6 at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library at NC State University. (And I'm hearing rumors of at least one more major guest announcement to come. Stay tuned!)
• Local author (and Bull Spec poetry contributor!) Jen McConnel extends an invitation to area writers for her guest post series Writers on Wednesday
• Durham writer Jeremy Whitley's story for the new comic book My Little Pony: Friends Forever is the debut "Discord" comic story in the forthcoming issue 2, coming in Feburary. Here's an interview of Whitley by Zack Smith for Newsarama.
• Richard Dansky has an article on Deadlands in the latest issue of Dark Discoveries magazine.
• Pete Wood's story "Drink in a Small Town" is in the latest (March) Asimov's, on newsstands now.
• Natania Barron is hosting a live-reading (via Google Hangout) of her novel Pilgrim of the Sky in February.
• The North Carolina Speculative Fiction Foundation announced the final eligibility list for the inaugural Manly Wade Wellman Award, with nominations opening soon.

Speaking of Shearin, it was my pleasure to talk to her on Carolina Book Beat in early January. In addition to the podcast of that interview (which includes her reading from her new book), the CBB folks posted podcasts of recent appearances by Jason Mott and Matt Ross. This Monday (Feb 3) I’ll be on with illustrator Tommy Lee Edwards to talk about his forthcoming Vandroid project. And in March I’m very excited to have Mur Lafferty on to talk about Ghost Train to New Orleans, her forthcoming sequel to The Shambling Guide to New York City, and for which she’s just finished principal recording on the audiobook edition.

-Sam

UPCOMING EVENTS, FEBRUARY 2014

1 (Saturday) 11 am – Flyleaf Books hosts Wendy Webb for The Vanishing. More book info: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/wendy-webb/the-vanishing/9781401341947/

NEW-NEW: 1 (Saturday) 3 pm to late — Atomic Empire’s first “tap takeover” is courtesy the Duck-Rabbit Brewery: “Duck-Rabbit is taking over all eight of Atomic Empire’s taps! Beer selection will include: Amber Ale, Brown Ale, Porter, Milk Stout, Hoppy Bunny, Barleywine, Baltic Porter, and Paul’s Day Off Smoked Stout. We will also be selling flights, so you can try more than one.”

4 — Regional book release day for The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage, followup to her Newbery honor winner and NY Times bestseller Three Times Lucky (Greenville).

4 — Regional book release day for Vengeance by Megan Miranda, sequel to her 2012 YA supernatural thriller Fractured (Charlotte).

NEW-NEW: 4 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Duke’s Smith Warehouse hosted a reading by PEN/Malamud Award winner George Saunders. More info: http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/02/03/english-department-brings-george-saunders-campus

NEW: 6 (Thursday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Sheila Turnage - ‘The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing’. “Mark your calendar now for the launch of one of the biggest children’s books of the year.”

NEW-NEW: 6 (Thursday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Philipp Meyer discusses his historical novel The Son (paperback release). (Fiction.)

NEW-NEW: 8 (Saturday) 3 to 5 pm — Durham County’s Southwest Regional Library hosts a “Meet the Author” event with Durham author Mur Lafferty. More info: http://durhamcountylibrary.org/events/meet-the-author-mur-lafferty/

NEW-NEW: 8 (Saturday) 10 am to 3 pm — The High Country Festival of the Book hosts a special February event in Boone, NC, bringing authors Deborah Johnson and Ed Williams to the area. More info: http://www.highcountryfestivalofthebook.com/

NEW-NEW: 9 (Sunday) 3 pm — Bookmarks NC “Book Club Moveable Feast” in Winston-Salem, NC with authors Wilton Barnhardt, Arien Djanikian, Deborah Johnson, Wendy Welch, and more changing tables every 10 minutes to meet with and discuss with readers. Tickets (4 remaining at last check) are available at: http://bookmarksnc.givezooks.com/events/book-club-movable-feast

 NEW: 10 (Monday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Deborah Johnson - The Secret of Magic. Johnson’s novel is amazing; it’s an historical fiction set in Mississippi in the late 1940s as a black GI returns home from WW2 to the segregated South, built around an actual NAACP Legal Fund case and a fictional fantasy novel within the novel. (Fiction.)

NEW: 11 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Deborah Johnson discusses her novel The Secret of Magic. (See above for my brief thoughts on this fantastic book.)

NEW: 16 (Sunday) 2 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Joyce Allen launches her young adult novel The Threads of Earth, part two of the Threads trilogy.

NEW: 17 (Monday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Alice Hoffman - ‘The Museum of Extraordinary Things’.

NEW: 19 (Wednesday) 6:30 pm — McIntyre’s Books hosts Alice Hoffman for The Museum of Extraordinary Things.

NEW: 20 (Thursday) 7 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts The Lovestruck Tour - Four Passionate Authors. (See below for list.)

NEW: 21 (Friday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts The Lovestruck Tour, featuring YA authors Megan Hansen Shepherd (Her Dark Curiosity), Megan Miranda (Fracture), Kasie West (Pivot Point), and Robin Constantine (The Promise of Amazing).

NEW-NEW: 21-23 (Friday to Sunday) — 15th Nevermore Film Festival at The Carolina Theatre of Durham. More info: http://festivals.carolinatheatre.org/nevermore/

21-23 (Friday to Sunday) — MystiCon in Roanoke, VA withguests John de Lancie (ST:TNG’s “Q”), author Todd McCaffery, author A.J. Hartley, and more. More info: http://mysticon-va.com/

NEW-NEW: 25 (Tuesday) 7 pm — A Knights of Badassdom screening at the Raleighwood Cinema Grill. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1378122032455699/

26 — Regional book release day for The Narrow Gate: A Supernatural Thriller (Solom) by Scott Nicholson (Boone).

26 — Local comic book launch day for Vandroid by Tommy Lee Edwards.

NEW-NEW: 28 (Friday) — The Carolina Theatre of Durham is playing a Labyrinth and Legend doubleheader showing, starting at 7 pm. More info: http://www.carolinatheatre.org/films/labyrinth-legend

NEW-NEW: 28 (Friday) — Asheville’s Malaprop’s Bookstore hosts a ticketed event with author Karen Russell (Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories). The program includes an interview by Greta Johnsen followed by a booksigning and wine and cheese reception. More info: http://www.malaprops.com/event/karen-russell-conversation-wcqs-morning-edition-host-greta-johnsen-ticketed-event

MARCH 2014

NEW-NEW: 3 (Monday) 6:30 pm — The Orange County Library (Main Branch) hosts a panel discussion about H.G. Wells, with authors Nathan Kotecki, James Maxey, and Clay Griffin. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/253778568132539/ — NOTE — POSTPONED

4 — Local book release day for Ghost Train to New Orleans (The Shambling Guides) by Durham’s Mur Lafferty (Mar 4, 2014).

NEW-NEW: 4 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Internationalist Books and Community Center hosts author Margaret Killjoy to talk about his forthcoming utopian anarchist sf novel A Country of Ghosts, praised by Kim Stanley Robinson as “An exciting and mysterious novel, a story of war and love.” More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1411094312476615/

NEW: 5 (Wednesday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Ishmael Beah - ‘Radiance of Tomorrow’. (Fiction.)

NEW: 6 (Thursday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Mur Lafferty discusses her fantasy novel Ghost Train to New Orleans.

7 (Friday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Kim Harrison for The Undead Pool. More info: http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/theundeadpool

11 — Local book release day for Resistance by Jenna Black.

NEW: 16 (Sunday) 3 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Richard Peck - ‘The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail’. (Kids.)

17 (Monday) 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts the “Three Nightmares You Can’t Resist” tour with authors Kristen Simmons, Mindee Arnett, and Jenna Black. More info: http://www.flyleafbooks.com/event/three-nightmares-you-can%E2%80%99t-resist-tour-featuring-kristen-simmons-mindee-arnett-jenna-black

NEW-NEW: 21-23 (Friday to Sunday) — Mad Monster Party Charlotte with William Shatner, Hulk Hogan, and more: http://madmonster.ticketleap.com/mmp14/

25 — Local book release day for Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel.

NEW: 28 (Friday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Meg Wolitzer - ‘The Interestings’. (Fiction.)

APRIL 2014

1 — Regional book release day for Charlotte author Gail. Z. Martin’s Reign of Ash, book two in her Ascendant Kingdoms series from Orbit Books after 2013′s Ice Forged.

1 — Regional book release day for Salvage by debut Asheville author Alexandra Duncan.

5-6 (Saturday and Sunday) — 2014 North Carolina Literary Festival hosted by the NCSU Libraries at NC State University; the primary venue for the Festival will be the James B. Hunt Jr. Library on Centennial Campus. “This free public event is presented on a rotating basis by the Duke University Libraries, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries, the NCSU Libraries, and North Carolina Central University. The Festival is designed to attract people of all ages, from our surrounding communities and across the state. The program will be varied and will include author readings and discussions, book signings, activities, bookstore sales and more.” The North Carolina Literary Festival has announced its lineup, which is simply amazing, including Junot Diaz, Karen Joy Fowler, Peter Straub, R.L. Stine, John Kessel, William Barnhardt, Daniel Wallace, Therese Anne Fowler, and many, many more including Bill Ferris, John Claude Bemis, and Zelda Lockhart.

8 — Regional book release day for A Whisper in Time by Elizabeth Langston, book two in her Whisper Falls series.

NEW-NEW: 9 (Thursday) 7 pm — The Regulator Bookshop hosts Jen McConnel for Daughter of Chaos.

11-13 (Friday to Sunday) — JordanCon 6 in Rosell, Georgia, with author guest of honor Patrick Rothfuss and artist guest of honor Larry Elmore. More info: http://www.jordancon.org/

NEW: 12 (Saturday) 3 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Elizabeth Langston - ‘A Whisper in Time’.

NEW-NEW: 17 (Thursday) 7 pm — The Barnes & Noble of Brier Creek hosts Mur Lafferty for a signing of Ghost Train to New Orleans. More info: http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/83303

NEW-NEW: 19 (Saturday) 8 pm until late — The Clockwork Ball: A Steampunk Party at the Haw River Ballroom, hosted by The Davenport Sisters. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1388306014723527/?ref_notif_type=plan_user_invited&source=1

NEW: 25-27 — RavenCon in Richmond, Virginia with Guest Elizabeth Bear (2013 Locus Award Winner) and Ghost Mary Shelley. More info: http://www.ravencon.com/

26-27 (Saturday and Sunday) — The Festival of Legends at Storybook Farm in Chapel Hill.

29 — Local book release day for Morningside Fall (Duskwalker Cycle) by Jay Posey, a follow-on to his post-apocalyptic debut novel Three.

NEW-NEW: 30 (Wednsday) — Clay and Susan Griffith to give a reading at Lady Jane’s Salon RDU: http://ladyjanesrdu.blogspot.com/

MAY 2014

NEW-NEW: 3 (Saturday) — Clay and Susan Griffith are teaching a session on collaboration at Triangle Area Freelancers Write Now! conference: http://www.triangleareafreelancers.org/WriteNow.html

NEW: 5 (Monday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Christopher Moore - ‘The Serpent of Venice’.

6 — Local book release day for The Sea Without a Shore by David Drake (May 6, 2014) — Lt. Leary series

16-18 (Friday to Sunday) — DeepSouthCon 52 at new convention ConTrails in Bristol, Virginia. (That’s the big that sticks out over Tennessee in the southwest corner of the state.) With Guest of Honor: Gordon Van Gelder and Artist Guest of Honor: Charles Vess. Additionally, the Rebel and Phoenix Awards will be presented. “Contrails is a new convention in scenic Bristol, Virginia. We’re an “old fashioned” sci fi literature con with an emphasis on the written word, discussion and southern hospitality.” More info: https://sites.google.com/site/contrailssf/home

20 — Local book release day for Durham author and playwright Monica Byrne’s debut novel, The Girl in the Road.

23-25 (Friday to Sunday) — Animazement in Raleigh, NC. More info: http://www.animazement.com/

NEW: 23-26 (Friday to Monday) — BaltiCon 48 with Guest of Honor Brandon Sanderson, 2013 Compton Crook Award winner Myke Cole, 2014 Heinlein Award recipient Geoffrey A. Landis, and Ghost of Honor Robert Jordan. More info: http://www.balticon.org/

Shatterdome Atlanta 2014 is a new fan-run Pacific Rim convention being held May 31, 2014 at the Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center being put on by (among others) Conni Covington. Here are some links to learn more; they’re still pretty early in planning so I don’t see guest lists and such yet: http://shatterdomeatl.tumblr.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/events/1376406699280500/

JUNE 2014

(May 30) to June 1 (Friday to Sunday) — ConCarolinas in Charlotte, with guest of honor George R.R. Martin. More info: http://concarolinas.org/

26-29 (Thursday to Sunday) — ConTemporal in Raleigh at the Hilton North Raleigh Midtown. “Join us for the Third Annual Extravaganza!” More info: http://contemporal.org/

NEW-NEW: 27-28 (Friday and Saturday) — The High Country Festival of the Book in Downtown Boone, NC. More info: http://www.highcountryfestivalofthebook.com/

JULY 2014

11-13 (Friday to Sunday) — ConGregate in downtown Winston-Salem. More info: http://www.con-gregate.com/

NOVEMBER 2014

15-16 (Saturday and Sunday) — NC Comicon at the Durham Convention Center. Initial announced guests include Sean Murphy. More info: http://nccomicon.com/

– END –

Posted in newsletter | Tagged jeaniene frost, mysticon, paul kincaid, peter wood, richard dansky, wendy webb

The Hardest Part: Lisa Shearin on The Grendel Affair

Posted on 2014-01-30 at 03:09 by montsamu

I first met Lisa Shearin at a 5-author science fiction and fantasy panel at the Cary Barnes & Noble in 2010, hearing about her Raine Benares adventure fantasy series and feeling a bit overwhelmed -- here's an Ace-published author with 4 (at that time, since the series has grown to 6) books and I had a lot of catching up to do. But now Shearin has started a new series with the release of The Grendel Affair, the first book in her SPI Files series, giving old fans a new adventure to begin and new fans an obvious place to start, with a no-nonsense Southern urban fantasy heroine new on the job of protecting humanity from supernatural threats in New York City. I had the opportunity to talk with her on Carolina Book Beat earlier this month, and one thing we didn't quite get to was the sentence-to-sentence, page-to-page work of writing a novel. Here, Shearin writes about the hardest part of her writing process: filling those blank pages.

The Hardest Part: First drafts (because you can’t fix a blank page)

By Lisa Shearin:

Unlike many writers, I prefer the rewriting/editing part of writing a book. For me, the first draft is the necessary evil that I have to get through to reach the part I really enjoy. Once I have the entire story down in rough draft form, that’s when I can start to play and have fun; because at that point, I’ve at least got something to work with.

For me, my ideal writing goal is 1,500 words a day. With chapter lengths of approximately 4,000 words, that’s about three chapters a week, right? Uh, not usually. Fifteen hundred words a day is when I’m really cranking out the words, inspiration is flowing, my muse is in the room (and cooperative). One thousand words a day more often what happens (because I still have a day job). But what about the times when the words aren’t flowing, when I really don’t know what happens next?

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged lisa shearin, the grendel affair