Archive for April, 2010
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There’s an interesting post by Roger Ebert about how video games can never be art over here. I generally find Ebert to be pretty dependable when it comes to a lot of artistic matters, and back when he was in his prime it often felt he had no peer. But there are a lot of reasons to doubt his position on this: he seems to think video games haven’t evolved past 1989, and are still mostly flashing lights with attack moves and points, and he apparently doesn’t hold much interest in the medium as a whole. I’m not sensing a lot of willingness in his argument to explore the potential and possibilities of what he’s attacking.
More to the point, I think that any attempt to label any medium (or substance, or tool) as validating or invalidating its product as art is flawed from the start. Art’s an inherently subjective and personal thing. We’re all hearing different frequencies. While one person might listen to a stool scraping across a linoleum floor and hear only an irritating whine, another might hear a lonely moan that’s reminiscent of a car’s brakes on a night street. Read the rest of this entry »
by Robert Jackson Bennett •2 Comments • Categories: Guest Post • Tags:
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So I was reading entries on some website or other a while ago, writing advice, you know – all these detailed posts about developing the world and the characters. The advice concerned making out these detailed character sketches – not just notes about hair color and love interests and pets, but all this stuff about past and present conflicts and insecurities and on and on. Hmm, I said. Should I be doing that? Read the rest of this entry »
by Rachel Neumeier •1 Comment • Categories: Guest Post • Tags:
- Lauren Panepinto - April 19th, 2010
This lovely Monday we have an awesome cover for a book I really enjoyed reading and working on, The Fallen Blade, by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. The fabulous Larry Rostant provided the very atmospheric imagery, and I had obvious fun playing with the type. With both the image and the type, we wanted to clearly evoke renaissance Venice, but portray the strong main character and dark adventure of the story.
The Fallen Blade is the best of both worlds: an alternative historic fiction set in a renaissance Venice at the height of her power, populated by supernatural creatures and backstabbing political intrigue, AND a fast-moving fantasy adventure tale of vampires, werewolves, assassins, and pirates. Jon Courtenay Grimwood does such a fantastic job of describing Venice that you feel a really strong sense of geography and atmosphere. I was just in Venice in January and I was really impressed with how true the historical and geographical details felt, and it makes following the characters and story weaved around this framework all the more immediate. I can’t wait to see where the story is going to go in the next book.
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by Lauren Panepinto • 7 Comments • Posted in: Art, Covers, Orbit US, Uncategorized
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I’ve written seven published novels. Even though my novels are short by modern standards, that’s still a lot of pages, a lot of characters, a lot of worlds and ideas. Inevitably, it leads people to remark on my creativity. ”How do you think of this stuff?” they’ll ask, usually incredulous and in awe of my amazing talents. My response usually goes something like this:
“Avert your eyes, mortal. For I am a blessed demigod with muses whispering sweetly in my ears.” Then I usually throw a smoke bomb, ninja-style, and vanish, leaving the questioners to ponder the imponderable. Sometimes, if I’m in the proper mood, I’ll leave a haiku poem folded in a paper crane and maybe an autographed photo emblazoned with the wise words, keep your feet on the ground, but keep reaching for the stars! I’m cool like that. Read the rest of this entry »
by A. Lee Martinez •Post a Comment • Categories: Guest Post • Tags:
- Tim Holman - April 19th, 2010
THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by Kevin J. Anderson has been announced as a finalist in the Colorado Book Awards. The promotional poster (at left) clearly shows THE EDGE OF THE WORLD on top. Not only that, but the two big mountains in the background – we’re assured – are the Maroon Bells, and Kevin has climbed both of them. (Note that in real life these mountains are far taller than a pile of books.)
Congratulations to Kevin, and for everyone who enjoyed THE EDGE OF THE WORLD don’t miss the sequel, THE MAP OF ALL THINGS, coming in June.
by Tim Holman • Post a Comment • Posted in: All posts, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
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When Harlan Ellison was asked “Where do you get your ideas from?” he famously answered “Schenectady.” Ellison was commenting on the absurdity of pinning down a process as ephemeral, multi-dimensional and just plain murky as the origin of an idea. However, if the question had been modified to exclude the final word from the sentence then Ellison’s answer would work for me.
Author by Mohawk River in Schenectady
I’ve lived in Schenectady. It’s an industrial city on the Mohawk River in Upstate New York. It’s famous for being the site of the Schenectady Massacre of 1690, where French and Native American forces attacked the fledgling settlement at midnight, burning it to the ground and slaying sixty men, women and children who were still in their bedclothes, and also for being the place where Thomas Edison chose to headquarter his fledgling General Electric Company. Schenectady is built on land that was once the territory of the Mohawk nation, and its name comes from the Mohawk phrase, “over the pine plains.”
I wrote a great chunk of Watcher of the Dead within the city’s limits. And as the answer to the question, “Where do you get your ideas?” is always “Where I was physically located at that moment the idea occurred to me,” then my ideas are officially from Schenectady. Read the rest of this entry »
by J.V. Jones •3 Comments • Categories: Guest Post, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK • Tags: fantasy, J. V. Jones, Writing
- Alex Lencicki - April 14th, 2010
We just sent out a press release announcing a digital short fiction publishing program from Orbit (US). We’re aiming to launch in the fall with short fiction from some of your favorite authors. You can read the press release here . If you’d like to get updates about digital fiction from Orbit, sign up to our mailing list below!
by Alex Lencicki • Post a Comment • Posted in: All posts, News, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Alex Lencicki - April 14th, 2010
Brent Weeks’ new novel, The Black Prism, is set to come out in August this year, but you can get an early look at the first three chapters right here.
by Alex Lencicki • 4 Comments • Posted in: All posts, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- Lauren Panepinto - April 14th, 2010
Sorry folks, I know monday is usually cover launch day, but things are a little hectic in the Art Dept. and this week wednesday is cover launch day. But never fear, I have a cover all ready for next monday too!)
Tom Holt is a funny guy. Orbit UK has been publishing him for a long time and I was thrilled to get to redesign his look with his US launch of Blonde Bombshell in June. I can’t wait to start applying the new look to the backlist titles waiting to roll out. But first we have another new book, one which wins for my favorite title of all time* Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages.
Tom Holt is all about funny, absurdist scifi/fantasy, and when I read my first Tom Holt book I was pleasantly surprised how like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett it felt. and that’s high praise from me. I really like the humorous scifi/fantasy subgenre, and I think we’ve been packaging it well here at Orbit with the A. Lee Martinez books especially, and I’m really happy to add these books to the list.
I love a chance to hand-draw a cover, because most of the time everything happens solely on the computer. I especially enjoy hand-drawing type. I’ll have to try to work it in to more covers, even if it’s not as purposely rough-style like these covers. Read the rest of this entry »
by Lauren Panepinto • 1 Comment • Posted in: Art, Covers, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
Trudi Canavan has just 
