Karen Miller UK Signings
Just a reminder that Karen Miller will be in the UK signing at:
Waterstone’s Bracknell at 1pm tomorrow
and
Waterstone’s Basingstoke at 6pm tomorrow.
Hope to see you there!
Archive for Orbit UK
Orbit Authors talk visuals with the BookGeeks
Two Orbit Authors – Brian Ruckley and Jeff Somers – recently took part in the first BookGeeks SF and Fantasy Writers’ Panel.
The round-robin discussion, which also includes contributions from authors Alastair Reynolds and Jaine Fenn, is on the subject of the marriage of prose and visuals. Specifically: maps (is their inclusion in sf / fantasy books a good thing / bad thing?), cover art (should an on-cover portrayal of a book’s characters or vehicles be encouraged / avoided?) and visualised representations of the authors’ work (what would they like to see, what would work best – games, comcis, movies?)
The piece is presented in round-robin format, with each authors’ responses to the three questions then commented upon by the other three authors, which works quite nicely to build up a the discussion between the participants. It all makes for some very interesting reading. Do check it out and do leave your own comments; pieces like this always work best with plenty of feedback.
Orbit Links for August 22 2008
It’s Friday lunchtime, which can mean only one thing (well, around here, anyhow): it’s time for our weekly round-up post of links to items of interest featuring Orbit authors:
- Marie Brennan comments on varying reader reactions to her work, and possible reasons therefore, over at sfnovelists.com.
- Marianne de Pierres and Sean Williams have both contributed to an article entitled ‘How I Write‘ over at ConceptSciFi.com.
- Robert Jordan fans and collectors, take note: large parts of his collection of antique and reproduction swords, spears, hatchets and knives will be auctioned via eBay in the next couple of weeks.
- Stan Nicholls (author of Orcs, out this September from Orbit US) was interviewed on the Wonderlands ning community.
- Jennifer Rardin‘s kick-ass heroine Jaz Parks is the latest guest of Jezebel the Demon over at the Cat and Muse radio talk-show.
- A fresh slice of writing advice from Lilith Saintcrow, this time on the subject of avoiding unnecessary deletion.
- And Lilith Saintcrow has launched a Wiki to provide background for her writing – check out The Shadow Journal and feel free to contribute (as per submission guidelines).
- Sean Williams talks to ConceptSciFi.com about his recent work, including the Astropolis series and his work on the official novelisation of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
- Over at Grasping For the Wind, there’s an interesting discussion developing on the merits of urban fantasy (a subject very dear to the Orbit team’s collective heart) and what a select group of bloggers think might be the Next Big Thing, genre or sub-genre-wise.
As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)
Free Serial Novel From Lilith Saintcrow!
Lilith Saintcrow – author of the Dante Valentine Series and the new Jill Kismet Series – has just launched a free serial novel: Selene. Set in the world of the Dante Valentine series, Selene expands on the Saint City adventures of Selene and Nikolai. New chapters will be posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You can read the serial here – or subscribe to follow it on your rss reader here. Enjoy!
Karen Miller UK Signings
Karen Miller , the bestselling fantasy debut author of 2007, is coming to the UK! She’s going to be signing copies of all her novels, including The Innocent Mage, The Awakened Mage and Empress
Thursday, August 28th at:
1:00pm: Waterstone’s Bracknell
17 Stanley Walk, Bracknell RG12 1HA.
For more information, call the store on 01344 488124 or visit www.waterstones.com
6:00pm: Waterstone’s Basingstoke
35 Wesley Walk, Basingstoke RG21 7BE.
For more information, call the store on 01256460646 or visit www.waterstones.com
Hope to see you there!
Two Chances to Win the Mercy Thompson Series
We’re hugely excited about the recent release of Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series here in the UK. Shapeshifters, werewolves, vampires and mechanics? We were hooked!
And now there’s not one but two opportunity to win the entire series – Moon Called, Blood Bound, and Iron Kissed – and check them out for yourself. Visit LoveVampires.com and Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review for your chance(s) to win today!
Charlie Huston at Fantasy Book Critic
Charlie Huston, author of the Joe Pitt series, is over at Fantasy Book Critic talking to Rob about his upcoming book, Every Last Drop, published by Orbit in March 0’09:
Q: To begin with, for someone who has never read a Charlie Huston novel, how would you describe your writing style and where would you recommend they start?
Charlie: I think my prose is very direct. There’s a writer’s voice, and I have a style that’s meant to keep things moving, but the stories are delivered without much in the way of decoration. Dark, violent and profane are all apt adjectives…
You can read the full interview here or an excerpt from Every Last Drop over at Charlie’s blog.
Orbit Links for August 15 2008
Welcome to our latest weekly round-up post of links to Orbit authors’ activities elsewhere on the WWW:
- Over at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist right now, you have a chance to win a 13-book Orbit prize pack.
- Michael Cobley has posted an extract from his soon-to-be-published short story ‘Weapon of Choice‘.
- Bookbag reviewer Natalie Baker has good things to say about Jennifer Fallon‘s Wolfblade.
- Charlie Huston‘s ‘Book of All Future Names’ project continues with Munez Lautner and Petty Affair and Castigleone.
- Fantasybookspot.com reviewer Trinuviel has been busy lately with reviews of Orbit titles by Jo Graham (Black Ships)and Glenda Larke (The Heart of the Mirage).
- Robert Jordan‘s The Wheel of Time series has been optioned by Universal Pictures.
- Speculative Horizons recommends the Sword of Shadows series by J.V. Jones.
- Jay Tomio is running a sweepstake to win a signed copy of Ken MacLeod‘s brand new novel, The Night Sessions.
- Lilith Saintcrow explains how to write convincing combat scenes.
- Jennifer Rardin discusses the possibilities for Jaz Parks, the Movie with the folks at mybookthemovie.blogspot.com.
- Charles Stross tells IO9.com why he thinks UK SciFi is more hopeful than US SciFi.
As always, if you see any online articles, reviews or interviews that feature an Orbit author, please feel free to drop us a line and let us know! We’ll happily name-check your website or blog with a heads-up credit in return (please remember to provide us with a link…)
Charles Stross is GoH at MeCon 2008, August 29th-31st
The eleventh annual MeCon convention takes place at Queen’s University Student Union in the city of Belfast from the 29th-31st August this year, and the Guest of Honour will be Orbit’s very own Charles Stross.
Charles will be taking part in a variety of events and readings over the course of the weekend, details of which can be found on the MeCon website.
MeCon’s other guests this year include authors Michael Carroll, Ian McDonald and C.E. Murphy, plus comics artists Paul J Holden and John McCrea.
In Their Own Words: Jennifer Rardin on BITTEN TO DEATH
Jennifer says:
Bitten to Death is a love story. Sometimes it’s twisted. And a little sick. And there are parts you shouldn’t read while eating. But it faces the fact that sometimes people fall so hard they want to fold the objects of their affections into origami swans and lock them in cedar boxes forever. (No, that doesn’t literally occur in BTD, but you’ll get what I mean by the end.)
Of course my books are also all about the assassination. When you’ve based your operations in a Vampere community, however, you’ve created a dilemma. Namely, which ubercreep should you smoke first? The serial killer who greets you at the door? The snappy dresser who calls for your head before he even gets your name? The ally who may be just as evil as your target? Or Edward ‘The Raptor’ Samos, the guy you’ve been chasing forever? Decisions, decisions…