Sunday quick update: events today, Wednesday, Thursday, ...

Posted on 2012-09-09 at 14:10 by montsamu

Two events today (Sunday, September 9):

• 4 pm — Screening of the short local horror film “Foodie” as part of the Carrboro Arts Center’s Second Sunday film series along with three other short films. Ticketed event: $5. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/247295845391580/
• 6:30 pm to 9 pm — NerdMusik! at Tir Na Nog with Greenville’s Danny Birt among those performing. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/255087191277612/

THIS WEEK:

• September 12 (Wednesday) at 7:30 pm — Andy Duncan at North Carolina State University for a reading event at Thompson Hall. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/348951148523173/
• 13 (Thursday) at 7:30 pm — Local authors Clay and Susan Griffith at Quail Ridge Books on Thursday September 13 for the conclusion of their Vampire Empire trilogy, The Kingmakers. Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/421192207926333
• 13-16 (Thursday to Sunday) — SparkCon in Raleigh, with poetry, art, music, and other programming tracks “filling downtown Raleigh with a 4-day creative explosion”. More info: http://www.sparkcon.com
• 14 (Friday) 9 pm — Amanda Palmer at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro. More info: http://www.amandapalmer.net/shows/
• 14-16 (Friday to Sunday) – The Escapist Magazine presents the first Escapist Expo at the newly renovated Durham Convention Center, with game designers, writers, comics, music, and more. Bull Spec will have a table, so stop buy and say hello, pick up a back issue you’re missing, etc.! More info: http://www.escapistexpo.com/
• 15 (Saturday) 2 pm — James Maxey, John Hartness, and Stuart Jaffe will be signing books and giving some panel-type chats at Market City Comics in High Point on September 15th.
• 15-16 (Saturday and Sunday) — Durham’s CenterFest Arts Festival in downtown Durham, with a large variety of local artists, photographers, makers, and performance art. More info: http://centerfest.durhamarts.org/

Posted in Uncategorized

The Negative Zone #001: Sorry Please Thank You by Charles Yu

Posted on 2012-09-07 at 15:03 by montsamu

THE NEGATIVE ZONE #001: SORRY PLEASE THANK YOU by CHARLES YU

Hey there. My name is Andrew. I sell comic books and graphic novels for a living. I also draw and write. The Negative Zone is my new review column for Bull Spec. My friend Carr D’Angelo suggested the title, and I thought it was funny. My qualifications for writing this column are that I read a lot, and I suffer the delusion that everyone is interested in my opinion. It’s nice to meet you! Here’s my first column:

Last year I read and enjoyed Charles Yu’s How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. It took a while to pull me in, but once it got me, I didn’t stop reading until I finished the book. If you want to be really literal, I guess you could say it’s a book about a time machine repairman, but I’d say it’s a book about all the overwhelming emotions one faces in life. It’s full of some of the most overt and literal metaphors I’ve ever encountered in science fiction, but that’s very purposeful, and well done; it never struck me as either thoughtless or too cute. It’s a lovely and funny book. You should read it.

I just read a new book of Yu’s short stories, Sorry Please Thank You: Stories. The elements present in How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe which worked so well for me are here, too, but I didn’t respond as positively this time around. There is a sameness to the stories which is apparent when you read them all at once. I suspect that if I had read them in bits and pieces, I’d have enjoyed them more.

My favorite story, “Standard Loneliness Package,” involved a worker whose job was to experience other people’s emotions for them, to make it easier for them to cope with tough situations. I enjoyed the basic concept, as well as the interplay between the character’s own emotions and those he felt for others. Plus, it was the first story in the book, so I wasn’t yet burned out on thoughtfully humorous self-aware metatextual-slash-metaphorical science fiction stories about emotion, love, and loss.

All the stories in the book were well written, but a few of them struck me as a little too cute. There’s one which is basically a clever Star Trek deconstruction, and another narrated by a self-aware character in a computer game. They were both well executed, but the concepts overpowered the writing. I think a lot of folks will like them better than I did, though. If you’re the type of person who would consider ordering one of the tons of Star Trek “redshirt” tees floating around out there, you’ll love “Yeomans.”

Yu is a good writer, it just seems like he’s writing the same story over and over again. I recommend the stories in Sorry Please Thank You, but not necessarily as a book. Read a story, then put the book down for a while before you read another one. Make sure to leave a bookmark in there, because the stories are similar enough that when you revisit the book, you might think you’re caught in a time loop. And make sure to leave a bookmark in there, because the stories are similar enough that when you revisit the book, you might think you’re caught in a time loop.

-Andrew Neal

Editor’s note: The Negative Zone is set to appear every first and third Friday. Stay tuned for #002 and Andrew’s review of The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi.

Posted in columns, the negative zone

Breaking event news: Quail Ridge Books to host Brandon Sanderson for A Memory of Light

Posted on 2012-09-06 at 21:20 by montsamu

UPDATE: This event has been re-scheduled to February, though the final date has not yet been determined.

The long-awaited conclusion to The Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light, is set to be published in January 2013. And, as he did in September 2010, author Brandon Sanderson will be coming to Raleigh’s Quail Ridge Books. The event will be Sunday, January 13, at 3 PM — note the afternoon start time!

Facebook event link to invite friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/117403835073651/

And one thing which immediately comes to mind is that this is the Sunday of illogiCon weekend; so after a Friday through Sunday of sf convention fun (with guest of honor Tim Powers and toastmaster Mark L. Van Name, among others) close out the weekend with Brandon Sanderson at Quail Ridge. Not too bad a start to 2013.

Posted in events

September newsletter: Scott Sigler, Andy Duncan, Neil Gaiman, and Teen Writing Contest details

Posted on 2012-09-03 at 13:29 by montsamu

Vol 2. No 6. September 3, 2012:

Welcome to September, which is so packed with speculative fiction events that I’m thinking of calling it “Spec-tember”. Any objections? Before I get too far here, there are two big-name ticketed events coming up that, like the charity screening of Serenity did earlier this summer, might sell out:

• Neil Gaiman at The Varsity Theater in Chapel Hill, as part of the Unchained Tour on Thursday September 20; tickets are $20 online and at Flyleaf Books, with two events in South Carolina and an event in Boone already sold out. More info: http://theunchainedtour.org/events-calendar/
• Junot Diaz at Motorco Music Hall in Durham on ... well, darn it, when it rains it pours. Diaz is coming Thusday September 20 as well; tickets are $5 at The Regulator Bookshop or online, with the tickets also good towards purchasing a Diaz book or as store credit. More info: http://motorcomusic.com/showroom-regulator-presents-junot-diaz

Second, I’m very pleased indeed to announce the second Bull Spec Teen Writers Contest, judged by Sharyn November, Viking Children’s Books Senior Editor and Editorial Director of Firebird. The contest is open to 12-17 year olds in North and South Carolina, and submissions are accepted until December 1. More info and a PDF information sheet: /2012/08/31/announcement-second-bull-spec-teen-writing-contest-judged-by-sharyn-november/

Third, a huge congratulations to local writer and illustrator Ursula Vernon, who just won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story for her webcomic Digger — check it out for yourself at: http://ursulavernon.com/node/14 — and (sadly) ex-local writer Kij Johnson, who just won the Hugo Award for Best Novella for her story “The Man Who Bridged the Mist”, along with all of the other just-announced Hugo Award winners, and all of the nominees as well including Bull Spec contributors Mur Lafferty, Daniel M. Kimmel, and soon-to-be-contributor Ken Liu, who won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story.

With all that going on, I’m not going to do much of an August events wrapup this time, other than thanking everyone who came out to Flyleaf Books on August 5 — particularly authors T.C. McCarthy and Michael J. Sullivan! — for making it such a nice weekend of speculative fiction. And an absolutely gigantic thanks to Calvin Powers for filming and posting a video of the readings: http://www.stuckintraffic.com/2012/08/bull-spec-summer-literary-festival-2cd.html

Lastly, there is a handy PDF flyer for those who prefer spreading the word on these events the old-fashioned way rather than forwarding emails or links: /2012/08/29/september-handout-flyer-v1/

-Sam

SEPTEMBER 2012

24 (Monday) at 7 pm — Steven Erikson at Flyleaf Books on Monday, September 24 for the first book in his new prequel trilogy in his Malazan storyline, Forge of Darkness.

NEW-NEW: 25 (Tuesday) at 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Forbes technology reporter Andy Greenberg for his new non-fiction novel This Machine Kills Secrets: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim to Free the World’s Information. More info: http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/andy-greenberg-machine-kills-secrets

NEW: 26 (Wednesday) at 7 pm — Flyleaf Books hosts Forbes technology reporter Andy Greenberg for his new non-fiction novel THIS MACHINE KILLS SECRETS: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim to Free the World’s Information.

NEW: 29 (Saturday) — Durham’s Sci-Fi Genre Comics and Games is moving to a new location (and a new name?) on Westgate Drive, and has scheduled its grand opening for Saturday, September 29th. More info: http://scifigenre.com/moving.html

OCTOBER 2012

1 (Monday) 7:30 pm — Quail Ridge Books hosts Michael Chabon (the author of The Yiddish Policeman’s Union and The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) for a reading and signing event of his forthcoming non-genre novel, Telegraph Hill. More info: http://quailridgebooks.com/event/michael-chabon-telegraph-hill

9 (Tuesday) 7:30 pm — Kij Johnson returns to the Triangle for a reading and signing of her forthcoming collection from Small Beer Press, At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories, at Quail Ridge Books. More info: http://quailridgebooks.com/event/kij-johnson-nebula-winner-new-stories

22 (Monday) 7 pm — Jasper Fforde at Quail Ridge Books on Monday, October 22 for his young adult fantasy novel The Last Dragonslayer. More info: http://www.quailridgebooks.com/event/jasper-fforde-last-dragonslayer

NEW: October 29 (Monday) 7 pm — Clay and Susan Griffith at Flyleaf Books on Monday, October 29 for a reading and signing of The Kingmakers (see above for more info on the book and another reading at Quail Ridge Books).

31 — Local author new novel: Alex Granados’s Cemetery Plot to be published by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing. Taglined “The apocalypse isn’t all it’s cracked up to be”.

NOVEMBER 2012

4 (Sunday) 2 pm — Alex Granados reading and signing Cemetery Plot at McInty’re Books in Fearrington Village in Pittsboro. (See above for book info.)

12 — Local author new novel: J.L. Hilton’s Stellarnet Prince, sequel to January’s Stellarnet Rebel, to be published by Carina Press.

13 (Tuesday) 7:30 pm — Granados at Chapel Hill’s Flyleaf Books.

15 (Thursday) 7 pm — Granados at Durham’s The Regulator Bookshop.

17-18 (Saturday and Sunday) — NC Comicon at the Durham Convention Center with a long list of guests: http://nccomicon.com/

JANUARY 2013

11-13 (Friday to Sunday) — illogiCon 2 will be held at the Embassy Suites of Raleigh-Durham/Research Triangle on January 11-13, 2013, with writer guest of honor Tim Powers and webcomic guest of honor Garth Graham, and toastmaster Mark L. Van Name: http://www.illogicon.com/

NEW-NEW: 13 (Sunday) 3 pm —Quail Ridge Books again hosts best-selling author Brandon Sanderson, this time for the conclusion of The Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light. More info: /2012/09/06/breaking-event-news-quail-ridge-books-to-host-brandon-sanderson-for-a-memory-of-light/

JUNE 2013

27-30 (Thursday to Sunday) — ConTemporal 2013 at the North Raleigh Hilton, beginning with the Thursday evening guest of honor dinner and continuing as this Steampunk-themed convention is back for a second year. More info: http://contemporal.org/

END

Posted in newsletter

Announcement: Second Bull Spec Teen Writing Contest, judged by Sharyn November

Posted on 2012-09-01 at 02:26 by montsamu

DURHAM, NC: August 31, 2012

WHAT: Bull Spec, a Durham-based speculative fiction magazine established in 2009, is pleased to announce its second Teen Writing contest, to be judged by Sharyn November, Viking Children's Books Senior Editor and Editorial Director of Firebird.

WHY: To foster the next generation of speculative writing in the Carolinas and celebrate the region’s most promising young writers.

WHEN: Submissions may be sent between September 1 at 12:00 AM to December 1 at 11:55 PM, Eastern Time (US).

HOW: Email your stories as RTF attachments to [email protected]. We are absolutely not strict on formal manuscript formatting for the teen writing contest, though please, be readable.

ELIGIBILITY: The contest is open to writers aged 12-17 in North and South Carolina, with age determined at the time of story submission. One entry per person, and the story must be the sole work of the submitting author. The story must not have been previously published. One additional eligibility rule this year: previous winners of the teen writing contest are not eligible.

LENGTH: Entries should be between 1000 and 2000 words. Entries longer than 2000 words will not be considered and will be returned unread.

THEME: There is no specific theme. Please submit your best story in any speculative fiction subgenre.

PRIZE: One (1) story will be selected as the winner of the contest and will be published in Bull Spec #9 in print and PDF in early 2013. The winning author will be paid $100 and receive a contributor copy of the magazine. Up to three (3) additional stories may be listed by author and title as honorable mentions.

ADDITIONAL: Download a PDF of this release, suitable for printing.

CONTACT:

Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

Publisher, Bull Spec

[email protected]

+1.919.824.9402

NOTE: The first Bull Spec Teen Writing Contest was judged by multiple award-winning editor Ann VanderMeer, and won by Hillsborough, NC writer Benjamin Paul for his story "The Messengers", which was published in Bull Spec #5 in April 2011. One honorable mention was also listed, Maryam Ali's "Out of Darkness".

Posted in Uncategorized

September handout flyer, v1.

Posted on 2012-08-30 at 02:03 by montsamu

While I’m soon to pull the trigger on the full September newsletter, here’s the handout flyer of highlights for September and early October. It’s a busy month ahead!

Update: Corrected an inaccurate listing. Andy Duncan’s reading at NCSU is on Sep 12 at 7:30, not Sep 19 at 7. See you there!

(Don’t print the JPG! There’s a handout-2012-september-v1 (color) and handout-2012-september-v1-bw (grayscale) PDF for that!)

SEPTEMBER 2012

4 Chapel Hill Comics hosts sf and horror author Scott Sigler for a reading from his Galactic Football series and graphic novel Infected. 7 pm.

9 Raleigh’s Tir Na Nog hosts “NerdMusik!” with Mikey Mason, Danny Birt, and more. 6 to 8:30 pm.

12 North Carolina State University hosts author Andy Duncan for a special reading event. 7:30 pm.

13 Quail Ridge Books hosts Clay and Susan Griffith for a reading and signing of The Kingmakers: Vampire Empire 3. 7:30 pm.

14-16 The Escapist Magazine presents the first Escapist Expo at the Durham Convention Center.

20 Chapel Hill’s Varsity Theater hosts Neil Gaiman and other storytellers as part of The Unchained Tour. Tickets online and at Flyleaf Books. 7:30 pm.

20 Durham’s Motorco Music Hall hosts award-winning author Junot Díaz for a reading. Tickets online and at The Regulator Bookshop. 7:30 pm.

21 Flyleaf Books hosts fantasy author Brent Weeks for book 2 of Lightbringer, The Blinding Knife. 7 pm.

24 Flyleaf Books hosts epic fantasy author Steven Erikson for book one in his new Malazan prequel trilogy, Forge of Darkness. 7 pm. OCTOBER 2012

1 Quail Ridge Books hosts Michael Chabon for a reading and signing from his forthcoming non-genre novel Telegraph Avenue. 7:30 pm.

9 Quail Ridge Books hosts Kij Johnson for a reading and signing from her new collection At the Mouth of the River of Bees. 7:30 pm.

Posted in flyers, Uncategorized

Saturday quick updates, August 18

Posted on 2012-08-18 at 20:15 by montsamu

Since the August newsletter was mailed out a few weeks ago, and even since last week’s round of quick updates, the news and events have been piling up. While it’s not quite time to send out the September newsletter yet, there are some things coming up and not yet specifically mentioned that I wanted to get out into the world:

• August 20 (Monday) 9 pm -- "Nerd-Vana Presents Super Mega Ultra-Funcade Toon-Hour", something which appears to be a series of strange skits involving Saturday morning cartoon themes, with Rich Sigfrit and Laura Haywood-Cory and a long list of other performers, at Legends Nightclub in Raleigh. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/209595709169790/
• August 21 (Tuesday) 7 pm -- Monthly book club meeting of the Research Triangle Science Fiction Society (RTSFS) with this month being a discussion of Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age and also a discussion of this year's Hugo nominees. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/419566308080461/
• August 24 (Friday) 10 am -- Ann Patchett visits Duke for the DukeReads summer reading program’s discussion of her novel State of Wonder. Watch live online at 10 am via Duke University's ustream channel. More info: http://dukealumni.com/learn-travel/dukereads
• August 24-26 (Friday to Sunday) -- Major League Gaming Summer Championships in Raleigh. More info: http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/competitions/40
• August 28 (Tuesday) 6:30 pm --The next SF/F Group meeting of the Durham Writers Group, a writing workshop. RSVP via the Meetup group.
• September 4 (Tuesday) 7 pm -- Best-selling science fiction and horror author Scott Sigler visits Chapel Hill Comics for a reading and signing event.
• September 9 (Sunday) 4 pm -- Screening of the short local horror film "Foodie" as part of the Carrboro Arts Center's Second Sunday film series along with three other short films. Ticketed event: $5. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/247295845391580/
• September 9 (Sunday) 9 pm -- NerdMusik! at Tir Na Nog with Greenville's Danny Birt among those performing. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/255087191277612/
• September 14 (Friday) 9 pm -- Amanda Palmer at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro. More info: http://www.amandapalmer.net/shows/
• September 20 (Thursday) 7:30 pm -- The Unchained Tour, including Neil Gaiman, at The Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill. Ticketed event, with tickets available online or in person at Flyleaf Books. More info: /2012/08/15/the-unchained-tour-including-neil-gaiman-with-events-across-the-carolinas-in-september/
• (Ongoing) "Cattes Wearing Hattes" pre-registration drive for illogiCon -- for every 3 pre-registrations, another convention staff member changes their Facebook profile picture to, well, a cat wearing a hat. When they reach 30 I'll be changing my profile pic to one of my cats wearing a green bowler as well. Did I mention Tim Powers is the literary guest of honor, and Mark L. Van Name is the toastmaster? More info on this, er, "event" at: https://www.facebook.com/events/288960271212241/

Posted in Uncategorized

The Unchained Tour, including Neil Gaiman, with events across the Carolinas in September!

Posted on 2012-08-15 at 20:48 by montsamu

Beginning September 14 in Columbia, SC and making its way through North and South Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, and ending up in Savannah, GA on September 22, The Unchained Tour is bringing Neil Gaiman and a crew of Moth-veteran raconteurs to the Carolinas all September long. The stops in between (all 7:30 pm unless noted) include Spartanburg, SC (Sep 15), Tryon, NC (Sep 16, 2 pm), Asheville, NC (Sep 16), ETSU – Johnson City, TN (Sep 17, 12 pm), Boone, NC (Sep 17), Charlotte, NC (Sep 18), Winston-Salem , NC (Sep 19), Chapel HIll, NC (Sep 20), and Charleston, SC (Sep 21).

Posted in events

Friday quick updates, August 10

Posted on 2012-08-10 at 16:14 by montsamu

Couldn’t make it out to Flyleaf for the Michael J. Sullivan and T.C. McCarthy reading? I’m absolutely stoked to remind folks that Calvin Powers captured the readings on video for all to see. Thank you so much, Calvin! And thanks to the 40 or so folks who came to the event, whether from far away (Sullivan’s recap of the event mentions a family from Baltimore!), nearby, or somewhere in-between. (You’re not nobody, Teresa Frohock!)

Second, some new events have been scheduled since the August newsletter went out. You can scan the newsletter for “NEW-NEW” of course, but in brief:

• Ultimate Comics will be celebrating its ninth anniversary on Saturday, August 25 with "a HUGE party!"
• Andy Duncan at North Carolina State University on Wednesday, September 12 for a reading event at 7:30 pm -- UPDATE: I had originally and incorrectly listed this as Sep 19.
• Flyleaf Books hosts Forbes technology reporter Andy Greenberg for his new non-fiction novel THIS MACHINE KILLS SECRETS: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim to Free the World’s Information, for a reading and signing on Wednesday, September 26 at 7 pm
• Durham’s Sci-Fi Genre is moving to a new location on Westgate Drive, and has scheduled its grand opening for Saturday, September 29th. More info: http://scifigenre.com/moving.html
• Quail Ridge Books hosts Greensboro author Orson Scott Card for Ruins, the second book in his Pathfinder series from Simon Pulse (young readers/young adult) on Wednesday, November 7 at 7:30 pm

At the book’s page at Amazon.com, you can read an “Author One-on-One” between Anna North and Kelly Link, getting some ideas about the book. Anyway, that’s all I have for this Friday — see you next week, by which time we’ll have definitely announced the next Bull Spec Teen Writers contest details!

Posted in Uncategorized

July and August newsletter -- including events tonight (Friday) and Sunday

Posted on 2012-08-03 at 19:31 by montsamu

Vol 2. No 5. 3 August 2012:

Sorry for the radio silence last month; it’s been a bit busy around here since the calendar rolled into June. First, the imminently upcoming highlights, with more info links down in the calendar section:

• Tonight (Friday, August 3) the North Carolina Museum of Natural History hosts a screening of three short films based on the work of the late Ray Bradbury. The event starts at 5 om, with the films to start at 7 pm.
• For readers nearer the western half of North Carolina -- Saturday (August 4) Asheville's Malaprop's Bookstore hosts Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, Naomi Novik, Tobias S. Buckell, Karin Lowachee, Nathan Ballingrud, Will Hindmarch, and Jeremy L.C. Jones for a joint reading at 7 pm.
• Sunday (August 5) from 2 to 4 pm, Chapel Hill's Flyleaf Books hosts South Carolina science fiction author T.C. McCarthy and Virginia fantasy author Michael J. Sullivan for a joint reading and signing. Yeah! We've been waiting all summer for this and it's finally here! If you missed McCarthy on WUNC's The State of Things today, check back later tonight for the re-broadcast, or download the podcast.

• Anna North (post-apocalyptic novel America Pacifica) and Kristen-Paige Madonia at The Regulator Bookshop on Monday, August 13 at 7 pm.
• Local authors Clay and Susan Griffith at Quail Ridge Books on Thursday September 13 for the conclusion of their Vampire Empire trilogy, The Kingmakers at 7:30 pm.
• Andy Duncan at North Carolina State University on Wednesday, September 12 for a reading event at 7:30 pm. UPDATE: I had erroneously listed this as Sep 19.
• Brent Weeks at Flyleaf Books on Friday, September 21 for the second book in his Lightbringer series, The Blinding Knife at 7 pm.
• Steven Erikson at Flyleaf Books on Monday, September 24 for the first book in his new prequel trilogy in his Malazan storyline, Forge of Darkness at 7 pm.
• Jasper Fforde at Quail Ridge Books on Monday, October 22 for his young adult fantasy novel The Last Dragonslayer at 7 pm.
• Local writer Alex Granados has a new book Cemetery Plot coming out in late October, with events and appearances scheduled throughout the Triangle in early November.
• I must have missed the announcement, but Mark Van Name will be the Toastmaster at illogiCon in January 2013.
• ConTemporal 2013 has been announced for June 27, 2013 at 5:00pm until June 30, 2013 at 3:00pm at the North Raleigh Hilton.

-Sam

AUGUST 2012

Posted in newsletter