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This Saturday’s annual Alt.Fiction event in Derby was a fantastic example of just how vibrant and lively the UK genre scene currently is. A panel-packed day offered readings from some of the UK’s top genre talent - including Orbit’s very own Charles Stross, Mike Carey, Philip Palmer (who has posted his own Alt.Fiction write-up) and Brian Ruckley (who has likewise posted his impressions of the day) - as well as discussion sessions and workshops on a variety of writing and publishing-related topics.

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This Saturday, April 26th, the cream of the UK genre fiction crop will be heading to Derby’s Assembly Rooms for the third annual Alt.Fiction Festival.

Alt.Fiction is a one-day convention that brings together sf/f/h authors, readers and publishers for a series of panel sessions, workshops, readings and more. Think Eastercon or Fantasycon, condensed into a single day and organised to within an inch of its life by Alex Davis and his team of willing and enthusiastic volunteers from Derby City Council, and you’ll get the picture.

This year, several Orbit authors will be in attendance, including Mike Carey, Philip Palmer, Brian Ruckley and Charles Stross. The four of them will be appearing on various panels and reading sessions throughout the day; you can see which ones by checking out the schedule of events.

And yes, that is yours truly on a panel at 12.00 on the topic of ‘Writing and the Internet’, alongside Simon Spurrier and Hub Magazine editor Lee Harris. Hecklers welcome!

Tickets for Alt.Fiction are on-sale now at a very reasonable £20 from the Derby Assembly Rooms website.

We’re happy to announce that Brian Ruckley, Charles Stross, Mike Carey and Philip Palmer are going to be at this year’s Alt.Fiction event, taking place at the Assembly Room in Derby on Saturday, April 26th.

If you’re not familiar with Alt.Fiction it’s a fantastic weekend of writers, writing and all things genre. The schedule of events and more information is available here and here. Hope to see you all there!

Just a reminder to all those in the Glasgow area - and all those who have a chance to get to the Glasgow area - the Aye Write! Bank of Scotland Book Festival is on this weekend. Iain Banks and Ken MacLeod will be discussing their latest novels, Matter and The Execution Channel, at The Mitchell Library at 6pm on Sunday, March 9th.

Find out more about the festival and buy your tickets here.

Iain M. Banks will be reading and signing copies of his new book, Matter, the last week in February. Get your tickets now!

City Books
When: Monday 25 February, 6:30pm
Where: The Old Market, Upper Market Street, Hove
Tickets: £6, including a complimentary glass of wine
Contact: info@citybookshove.co.uk

Waterstone’s Bristol
When: Tuesday 26 February, 7:00pm
Where: Waterstone’s, 11a Union Galleries, Broadmead, Bristol
Tickets: £3, redeemable against the purchase of a book
Contact: enquiries@bristolgalleries.waterstones.com

Waterstone’s Norwich
When: Wednesday 27 February, 7:00pm
Where: Waterstone’s, Castle St, Norwich
Tickets: £3, redeemable against the purchase of the book
Contact: enquiries@norwich-castlestreet.waterstones.com

Waterstone’s Lincoln High Street
When: Thursday 28 February, 7:00pm
Where: Waterstone’s, 297A High St, Lincoln
Tickets: £3, redeemable against the purchase of the book
Contact: enquiries@lincoln-highstreet.waterstones.com

Charles Stross
(photo: Charlie Hopkinson)

Charles Stross is being interviewed today in Second Life, courtesy of Information Week. The audio of the interview will also be available on the Dr Dobbs’ Chatbridge and will be available after the event as a podcast.

Mitch Wagner of Information Week has some kind words for Charlie’s new book Halting State, which we publish in January:

Halting State is a well-realized and intelligent treatise about near-future effects of networked technology . . . It’s also an extremely entertaining, thrilling, and funny crime caper novel . . . I really, really loved Halting State.

You can find out more about the book here – and be sure to look at some of the other ringing endorsements from the great and the good of the SF and Technology worlds.

We’re extremely sorry to say that the Mike Carey event scheduled for Thursday 25 October has been cancelled by the organisers.

Orbit UK author Mike Carey will be doing a talk and signing on Thursday 25 October. It’s at at the Rutherford Theatre, 76 Portland Place, W1B 1NT, from 7.00pm. Tickets are £7 (£5 for concessions), and are available by contacting events.london@blackwell.co.uk, calling 0845 456 9876 or dropping into the Blackwells bookshop at 100 Charing Cross Road.

There’s also a competition to win tickets and signed copies of Mike’s new book, Dead Men’s Boots, on the SFX website.

Update: unfortunately, this event has been cancelled by the organisers.

If you’re in Brooklyn this evening, come join us down in Red Hook at Rocky Sullivan’s (gmap) to hear Jeff Somers read from The Electric Church. Jeff’s a great reader, Rocky Sullivan’s is a fun bar, and you’ll have significantly more fun than you would at yet another panel on the state of book reviewing.

8:00 PM on Monday, Sept. 24
Rocky Sullivan’s
34 Van Dyke St. (corner of Dwight St.)
Redhook, Brooklyn
718-246-8050

Terry Brooks
(photo: Judine Brooks)

Internationally-bestselling author Terry Brooks is going to be touring the UK later this month to promote his new book The Elves of Cintra. Selecting places to do book signings is always a fraught process — especially for an author as popular as Terry with fans all around the country. Future tours will concentrate on areas that we haven’t covered this time, especially Scotland and the North of England. However, for this tour, we’ve come up with the following itinerary for Terry, and hope very much to see you at one of these signings.

Monday 17 September

1pm: Signing at Forbidden Planet, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London. For more information, call the store on 020 7420 3666 or visit www.forbiddenplanet.com.

Wednesday 19 September

5.30pm: Signing at Waterstone’s Bluewater, Greenhithe, Kent. For more information, call the store on 01322 624831, email manager@bluewater-west.waterstones.com or visit www.waterstones.com.

Thursday 20 September

12.30pm: Signing at Waterstone’s, Wesley Walk, Basingstoke. For more information, call the store on 01256 460646, email manager@basingstoke-wesleywalk.waterstones.com or visit www.waterstones.com.

4.00pm: Signing at Waterstone’s, 17 Stanley Walk, Bracknell. For more information, call the store on 01344 488124, email manager@bracknell.waterstones.com or visit www.waterstones.com.

Friday 21 September

12.30pm: Signing at Waterstone’s, 50-52 Smithford Way, Coventry. For more information, call the store on 02476 634224, email manager@coventry.waterstones.com or visit www.waterstones.com.

7pm onwards: Terry is one of the Guests of Honour at Fantasycon — see their website for details.

Saturday 22 September

10am onwards: Terry will be doing an interview and panel at Fantasycon — see their website for details.

4.00pm: Signing at Waterstone’s, 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham. For more information, call the store on 0115 948 4499, email manager@nottingham.waterstones.com or visit www.waterstones.com.