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ConTemporal Week, Thursday: Meet hashtag #contemporal2012
Posted on 2012-06-21 at 19:04 by montsamu
I’m looking forward to setting up a Bull Spec and local authors display on Artists Alley tomorrow, but for today, which officially kicks off ConTemporal with this evenings dinner and concert festivities, I want to simply introduce you to the hashtag #contemporal2012 — look for quotes, pictures, and updates all weekend.
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ConTemporal Week, Wednesday: Natania Barron is ConTemporal Bound
Posted on 2012-06-20 at 21:25 by montsamu
Local author (and 3-time fiction contributor, 3-time non-fiction contributor, and incoming Bull Spec fiction co-editor!) Natania Barron is ConTemporal Bound — though she doesn’t exactly have far to go. She’s posted her panel schedule, which includes a 10-person salon discussion on Saturday which you can register for when checking in at ConTemporal registration.
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“479”]
Natania Barron, photo by Carrie Upchurch[/caption]
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ConTemporal Week, Tuesday: Something you might forget to bring...
Posted on 2012-06-19 at 18:33 by montsamu
Why yes, it’s still ConTemporal week, with festivities getting started with Thursday evenings Guest of Honor dinner and concert (does anybody know if tickets are still available for these?) and continuing all weekend. I don’t have much to add today, having used up a half-handful of updates yesterday. But there is one thing I’ve had on my mind: something in particular to not forget.
You see, I received a few complaints after Lev Grossman’s reading at Flyleaf last fall that I didn’t give enough advance reminder notice to bring your copy of The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities to be signed. So I’m fixing that this year: no excuses! Literary guest of honor Cherie Priest is a contributor to the book as well.
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ConTemporal Week!
Posted on 2012-06-18 at 18:31 by montsamu
It’s ConTemporal Week here in the Triangle, with things getting started with the guest of honor dinner this Thursday and continuing through closing ceremonies (and beyond to one last Maker swap meet) on Sunday. I’ll be there Friday and Saturday, with panels on pirates in literature, subplots, and manuscript preparation. (And I’ll be hunting down literary guest of honor Cherie Priest’s signing schedule…)
Monday notes:
- ConTemporal has taken over The Escapist blog
- There's a new trailer up on Vimeo
- The program of events has been released
- Webcomic Masked Manor will see you at ConTemporal
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Maker Faire tomorrow! Free RPG Day, too! M. David Blake is interviewed! Exciting things!
Posted on 2012-06-15 at 21:27 by montsamu
First: I hope as many of you as humanly possible were among the 40+ who went to see and hear Kevin Hearne at Flyleaf Books last Tuesday, and were able to do more than stop by Jeremy Whitley’s Princeless event last Saturday at Ultimate Comics. Did you go? Any pictures or memorable quotes?
Second: tomorrow is Maker Faire NC at the Kerr Scott Building at the NC State Fairgrounds. It runs from 10 am to 5 pm, and includes homemade robots, crafters, quilters, gadgeters, artists, and other “makers” from around the region. There isn’t an “official” Bull Spec presence this year, but hopefully I can convince some folks to take some copies of the flyer for interested parties.
Third: tomorrow is also Free RPG Day (the gaming world’s counterpart to Free Comic Book Day), with events and giveaways around the Triangle, particularly including Raleigh’s Game Theory and Durham’s Sci-Fi Genre.
Lastly: Hillsborough author M. David Blake (“Absinthe Fish”, Bull Spec #5) has a long and ranging interview with AmyBeth Inverness, in which you can see his beautiful fountain penmanship, read about the writing of “Absinthe Fish”, and more.
PS: A week from today we’ll be wrapping up a full day of programming at ConTemporal!
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Bull Spec Newsletter for June 2012
Posted on 2012-06-07 at 19:12 by montsamu
Vol 2. No. 5, Thursday, June 7, 2012:
Wow, did May fly by or what? New books (Mark L. Van Name’s No Going Back, John Claude Bemis’s The Prince Who Fell From the Sky complete with launch party extravaganza last Saturday), more events (David Halperin, Alethea Kontis, Free Comic Book Day) and last weekend’s ConCarolinas in Charlotte. We also had a good bit of local and regional author awards news ranging from storySouth selections to another Nebula Award for Kij Johnson.
June is shaping up to be quite a month as well, with more events (Jeremy Whitley at Ultimate Comics on Saturday, Kevin Hearne at Flyleaf Books on Tuesday, a whole panel of local authors at the B&N of Cary late this month), more new books (James Maxey’s Hush), and ConTemporal on June 21-24, there’s plenty to keep busy.
-Sam
JUNE 2012
NEW: 9 (Saturday) 12p to 4p — Ultimate Comics hosts Jeremy Whitley for a signing of the collected Eisner-nominated Princeless comic book, complete with fencing demonstration: https://www.facebook.com/events/200028633453186/200038296785553/
16 (Saturday) 10 am to 5 pm — MakerFaire NC at the NC State Fairgrounds: http://makerfairenc.com/
13-17 (Wednesday through Sunday) — The North American Jules Verne Society will hold its 2012 annual meeting in Marion, NC, near the site of the Great Eyry referenced in Verne’s novel Master of the World. More info: http://www.najvs.org/meetings.shtml
NEW: 16 (Saturday) — Free RPG Day with events and giveaways around the Triangle, particularly including Raleigh’s Game Theory and Durham’s Sci-Fi Genre.
21 (Friday) — Durham’s Carolina Theatre hosts The Moth: Between Worlds, a live storytelling event. The guests have not yet been finalized. More info: http://www.carolinatheatre.org/events/moth-between-worlds
26 — Local author new novel: Solaris Books to publish Hillsborough author James Maxey’s Hush — continuing his new fantasy series which began with Greatshadow in January.
NEW: 26 (Tuesday) 7 pm — Barnes & Noble of Cary hosts its annual local author science fiction and fantasy panel, with this year’s lineup including Tony Daniels, David Drake, Kelly Gay, James Maxey, Lisa Shearin and Mark Van Name: http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/3365214
JULY 2012
17: Regional author new novel: Tor to publish Greensboro author Orson Scott Card’s (along with Aaron Johnson) Earth Unaware: The First Formic War.
NEW: 23 (Monday) — Star Trek: The Next Generation is back on the big screen to celebrate its 25th anniversary with two hand-picked episodes, with three Triangle-area theaters among many state- and nation-wide, including Crossroads 20 in Cary, Brier Creek 14, and North Hills 15. (Hat tip to Laura Haywood-Cory on this one!) More info: http://www.startrek.com/article/tng-25th-anniversary-event-in-theaters-july-23
UPDATE: 29 (Sunday) 8 pm — The Raleigh Browncoats will present their annual charity screening of the Firefly movie, Serenity, at the Raleighwood Cinema Grill. Doors open at 6 pm for the raffle and costume contest, followed by the film. More info: http://www.ncbrowncoats.com/
AUGUST 2012
1 — Local editor new anthology: Raleigh author and anthologist John Kessel’s latest anthology (co-edited with James Patrick Kelly) to be released: Digital Rapture: The Singularity Anthology from Tachyon Publications.
UPDATE: 5 (Sunday) 2 to 4 pm — Chapel Hill’s Flyleaf Books hosts the 2nd Bull Spec summer literary sf festival with South Carolina author T.C. McCarthy (Germline, Exogene, and the forthcoming Chimera) and Virginia author Michael J. Sullivan (The Riyria Revelations). Last year was a veritable Steampunk Cabinet of Curiosities. This year, it’s a mini Orbit regional author-palooza. Spread the word: https://www.facebook.com/events/326070144135719/
14 — Local author new collection: Raleigh author Kij Johnson’s fiction collection At the Mouth of the River of Bees to be published by Small Beer Press.
NEW: 31 - September 6 — Durham’s Carolina Theatre’s Summer Classics Film Series concludes with Sam Raimi’s ARMY OF DARKNESS and John Milius’ CONAN THE BARBARIAN: http://www.carolinatheatre.org/films/summer-classics-film-seriesSEPTEMBER 2012
4 — Local author new novel: Raleigh authors Clay and Susan Griffith conclude their Vampire Empire series with book 3, The Kingmakers, after 2010’s The Greyfriar and 2011’s The Rift Walker, from Pyr Books. More info: http://clayandsusangriffith.blogspot.com/
NEW: 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: http://www.escapistexpo.com/
OCTOBER 2012
NEW: 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
NEW: 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
NOVEMBER 2012
17-18 (Saturday and Sunday) — NC Comicon at the Durham Convention Center: http://nccomicon.com/
TBD — Local author new novel: J.L. Hilton’s Stellarnet Prince, sequel to January’s Stellarnet Rebel, to be published by Carina Press.
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: http://www.illogicon.com/
END
Posted in newsletter, Uncategorized
3 bits of local and regional author awards news
Posted on 2012-05-24 at 14:50 by montsamu
Three quick-hitting bits of local and regional author awards news, which all deserve more detailed mention, but at least deserve this quick mention:
1. The storySouth Million Writers Award Notable Stories of 2011 have been announced (*), and these include:
- "And the Rain Fell Through Her Fingers" by Richard Dansky (storySouth, March 2011)
- "City of the Dead" by Kristine Ong Muslim (Connotation Press)
- "AIP" by T.C. McCarthy (Rutgers University's Story Quarterly Online) -- PDF
2. SFWA announced the winners of the 2011 Nebula Awards, which included Kij Johnson’s novella “The Man Who Bridged the Mist”. Congrats, Kij!
3. Speaking of T.C. McCarthy, his 2011 debut novel Germline is the winner of the Compton Crook Award, presented annually by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society for the year’s best first novel in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Big-time congratulations, T.C.!
(*) And I’ll take this little space here to add a couple more (OK, several) of my favorite online stories of 2011: Eric Gregory’s “The Harrowers” (Lightspeed, January 2011), Richard Butner’s “Through the Uprights” (Electric Velocipede, December 2011), Lewis Shiner’s “A Box of Thunder” (Strange Horizons, September 2011), Katherine Sparrow’s “The Migratory Patterns of Dancers” (Giganotosaurus, July 2011), “Nadirah Sends Her Love” by Ada Milenkovic Brown (Crossed Genres, February 2011), “Thirty Seconds From Now” by John Chu (Boston Review, September 2011), “The Bio-Documentarian of the British Library” by Deborah Walker (Cosmos, March 2011), …
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Two events tonight, a local author book release, and a local author new edition
Posted on 2012-05-22 at 14:44 by montsamu
The first of the two events is local author David Halperin’s reading and discussion of his novel Journal of a UFO Investigator at the Durham County Southwest Regional Library, at 7 pm: “Join Dr. David Halperin, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at UNC-CH, for a reading and discussion of his novel Journal of a UFO Investigator. This coming of age novel uses science fiction themes to explore the mysteries inside us, weaving together compelling psychological drama and vivid outer space adventure. A book-signing will follow the reading. This program is part of Guilty Pleasures: A Celebration of Genre Fiction.”
The second is Barnes & Noble of Cary hosting author Alethea Kontis on tour for her novel Enchanted, also at 7 pm: “Author Alethea Kontis will discuss her new book, Enchanted, a clever fantasy that weaves favorite childhood fairy tales into an engaging teen novel. A frog, a good prince, an evil prince, a magical kiss and more intertwine into an exciting story.”
Third, congratulations are due Hillsborough author John Claude Bemis, as his latest novel, THE PRINCE WHO FELL FROM THE SKY, goes on sale today. It’s an Amazon Best Book of the Month, described as a “post-apocalyptic Jungle Book”:
Lastly, Pittsboro author David Drake’s Out of the Waters is now out in mass market paperback from Tor, after being released last year in hardcover. It’s book two in Drake’s Books of the Elements series after 2010’s The Legions of Fire:
Posted in events
Yet another new event! Book Launch Extravaganza for The Prince Who Fell From the Sky by John Claude Bemis
Posted on 2012-05-16 at 21:01 by montsamu
I'm thrilled to share that my new book The Prince Who Fell from the Sky comes out May 22! I am thankful that it is already being well-received. Amazon picked it as a Best Book of the Month for May (you can pre-order it 40% off, or get it at your local indy bookstore or Barnes and Noble).I hope you'll be able to join me for my book launch party. Lots of fun for the whole family with music, a book performance by my young acting troupe, refreshments, and reading from the book. Copies of my four novels will be available for purchase from local Purple Crow Books, and I'll be ready to personalize your copy.What: Book Launch Party Extravaganza for The Prince Who Fell from the SkyWhen: Saturday, June 2 at 3 pmWhere: The Public Market House (downtown farmer's market pavilion), 144 E. Margaret Ln, HillsboroughI greatly appreciate all your support! Thank you for helping to spread the word to others who might enjoy this event by forwarding this email or sharing the link to my website on Facebook. http://johnclaudebemis.com/2012/03/launch-party-for-the-prince-who-fell-from-the-sky/Thanks so much! I hope to see you at the celebration on June 2.Best wishes,JohnJohn Claude BemisAuthor of The Clockwork Dark trilogy: THE NINE POUND HAMMER (Random House, 2009)THE WOLF TREE (Random House, 2010)THE WHITE CITY (Random House, 2011)Also...THE PRINCE WHO FELL FROM THE SKY (Random House, spring 2012)
Posted in events, Uncategorized | Tagged events, john claude bemis
Poetry poetry poetry!
Posted on 2012-05-16 at 19:11 by montsamu
Here’s some speculative poetry news, both relating to Bull Spec.
First, as Bull Spec poetry editor Dan Campbell notes:
Issue 7 of Bull Spec is now for sale! It has poetry bySecond, Mike Allen has an excellent introduction to speculative poetry over at Locus, which name-drops Bull Spec as a place to look:alexa_seidel, Daniel A. Rabuzzi,
Also out now is The Moment of Change: An Anthology of Feminist Speculative Poetry, edited by Rose Lemberg. Three of the poems included in the antho originally appeared in Bull Spec, and I’m thrilled with the line-up of poets in the book.
Where do you find this work? For one, in the same places you find short fiction: Asimov’s Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, Apex Magazine, Bull Spec, Abyss & Apex, sometimes even Analog. There’s also some spectacular websites and ...And, since I didn't quite get the Terri Windling cover art for The Moment of Change into Bull Spec #7 as planned, here you go:
Posted in poetry, Uncategorized | Tagged poetry
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