Urban Fantasy Weekend Report

INTERVIEWS, NEWS and EVENTS at SCIFIGUY.CA:

As most of you know this past week was Book Bloggers Appreciation Week and book lovers and book bloggers everywhere were in heaven as they created and participated in a wealth of special events. Among those where the BBAW awards. SciFiGuy.ca was shortlisted along with some very special blogs - Bibliophile Stalker, Dribble of Ink, The Book Zombie and The Galaxy Express in the Best Speculative Fiction Blog category. I was thrilled yesterday morning when when the judges announced SciFiGuy.ca had received the award. I can only say that the award is really for all the wonderful readers, supporters, authors and others (you know who you are) that made it possible at all. Kudos go to the fantastic Amy of My Friend Amy and her tireless team that made the event so successful. Amy does a wonderful Closing Ceremonies wrapup of the 2009 BBAW.

Terry Spears was here this week with a great post on her werewolf romance series. You can read her interview here and there is still time to enter the giveaway for a signed copy of To Tempt the Wolf, the third book in the series. Open until Tuesday, September 22 at 11:59 PM EST.

September 23 - Jocelynn Drake will be visiting for an interview about Dawnbreaker, the highly anticipated third book in her Dark Days series.

September 28 -Young adult fantasy author Kristin Cashore's blog tour for the Graceling companion novel Fire will be visiting as part of its' 15 stop event.

September 30 - Author Jaime Rush (aka Tina Wainscott) will be visiting to talk about Out of the Darkness, the second book in her Offspring series.

October 1 - Author Margaret Weis will be visiting to talk about her newest Dragonlance release, Dragons of the Hourglass Mage, Book 3 in the Lost Chronicles sequence. We'll also be giving away 5 copies of the new book.

I also have more contests coming including one for Lucan by Susan Kearney and contest for Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series that I am pretty excited about. Stay tuned.

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CONTESTS:

Julie Kagawa is having a contest on her blog  in which she is giving away hand-painted rocks with a character from her forthcoming book The Iron King. Open until October 1.

Patrica's Vampire Notes has a giveaway with 5 copies of Dark Hunger by Rita Herron. Contest runs until Oct. 5, 2009 11:59 PM Hawaii Time

Suburban Vampire is having a contest to win one of  five advance copies of the upcoming release of How To Catch and Keep a Vampire: A Step-by-Step Guide to Loving the Bad and the Beautiful by Diana Laurence. The deadline: Thursday, September 24, 8:00 AM Pacific Time.

 RR@H Novel Thoughts & Book Talk is having a giveaway of the first three Demonica books by Larissa Ione. Not sure what the closing date is.

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AUTHOR and BOOK NEWS:

FREE READS:

• Erica Hayes has a free short story called Hellcursed featuring her succubus heroine from the forthcoming  Shadowfae.
• Diana Pharaoh Francis has an excerpt of Bitter Night, her forthcoming urban fantasy up on Amazon.
• Read an excerpt of Chapter 1 of Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon.
• Rachel Vincent posted a short excerpt of Shift at the Deadline Dames here.  Read he disclaimer, then the excerpt.
• Alysson Noel has posted the first three chapters of Shadowland.
• Kresley Cole is offering a free download of The Warlord Wants Forever a novella in her Immortal After Dark series as well as 7 excerpts from the other novels. 
• Jocelynn Drake has posted an excerpt of Chapter 1 for Dawnbreaker the third Dark Days novel.

INTERVIEWS:

• Maggie Shayne by Michele Hauf
• Richelle Mead on Australian Tour - video snippet [via Tez Says]
• Richelle Mead on Australian Tour - radio interview [via Tez Says]

• Claire Delacroix/Deborah Cooke at Shape Shifter Romance and at Fresh Fiction.
• Lois McMaster Bujold from DragonCon can be found here.
• Tracey O'Hara by Jocelynn Drake
• Gail Carriger at BABBLING ABOUT BOOKS, AND MORE!
  
• Trisha Telep at VampChix
• Chelsea Quinn Yarbro at Innsmouth Free Press.
• Interview with Kim Harrison, Jeaniene Frost, Vicki Petterssen, Jocelynn Drake and Melissa Marr talking about the Unbound anthology at Blog Talk Radio.

Cherie Priest has added a.Steampunk FAQ to her Clockwork Century website.

Jeri Smith-Ready syas that the third book in the WVMP Radio series, Bring on the Night, will be released on August 1, 2010.  The fourth book, tentatively titled Lust for Life, will be released six months later, in Spring 2011. Both will be mass market paperbacks. Jeri's first young adult novel, Shade, releases on May 18, 2010.

In Lara Adrian news she reports -

With Shades of Midnight in production and on the way for its December 29th release, I am currently writing Taken By Midnight, which is Brock's story and the 8th installment of the series! You'll see a bit more of Brock in Kade's book, however at the risk of spoiling anything, I'll refrain from saying much more than that for now. ;-)
Taken By Midnight is very tentatively scheduled for release next fall, but I'm crossing my fingers that we can get it out a little bit earlier than that. Stay tuned for cover art and more info!

Mini book trailer for Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick [via Simon's Urban Fantasy Blog].



It has been pretty thoroughly covered this week, but for those that missed it, Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely is going to the movies. On her blog Melissa reports -

Universal did an exclusive new release in VARIETY. The press release "Universal Makes Wicked Deal".

There is an MTV article "Wicked Lovely Adaptation Confirms Faeries as the Next Fantasy Trend" and bunches of places where the news has been re-released.

And exciting news for author Karen Mahoney who says -

After 10 months of tenacious work, my super-agent has sold my debut novel and the (as yet, unwritten) sequel!! I am so lucky and truly cannot wait to work with Flux - an imprint I love. So that means The Iron Witch is actually going to be a Real Book. And I'll get to write The Wood Queen under contract.

Recently Tate Hallaway announced that her Garnet Lacey series had not been renewed. She has been running a series of posts outlining the proposals for the books that were planned but now will not be written. They are Garnet Lacey #6 (DEAD AND MARRIED), Garnet Lacey #7 (LADY IN DEAD), and Garnet Lacey #8 (OVER MY DEAD BODY). Wouldn't it be grand if Tate could wite these by subscription. Something to think about. I wonder how many subscibers it would take to make it worth her while. I'd certainly pony up at least as much as a trade paperback for a subscription to each.

I love Gail Z. Martin's fantasy series Chronicles of the Necromancer so I was thrilled with this announcement from Orbit Books -

I’m pleased to announced that we will be publishing a new series from Gail Z. Martin! Set in the world of THE SUMMONER and THE BLOOD KING, this new series follows the fate of Summoner King Martris Drayke as he struggles to maintain the tenuous peace he has won for Margolan. Facing a new invasion from the north and tragedy at home, he must seek the aid of old friends and new allies, the guardians of an ancient power that watches the portals to the underworld, a nomadic fighting force known as The Sworn. Rumors have reached Tris’s ears that the dead The Sworn have vowed to protect are stirring uneasily in their burial mounds. The Dread are coming and Tris must do everything in his power to protect his home and his people.
We’re delighted to welcome Gail on board. THE CHRONICLES OF THE NECROMANCER has been a terrific series with the last installment coming out in December of this year—THE DARK LADY’S CHOSEN. Check it out at www.chroniclesofthenecromancer.com!

I'm including this picture of  Richelle Mead and koala friend on her Australian book tour because I need to boost my cute quotient in the weekend report.

Jackie Kessler has a new website and blog dedicated to the launch of her new young adult fiction.

In recent interviews Jocelynn Drake has revealed that the books four and five in her Dark Days series will be named Pray for Dawn and Wait for Dusk.

Lots of updates to Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments website. Check it out. 

Eternal Desire Book Video from Roxanne Rhoads. Roxanne's Blog Tour will be here at SciFiGuy on October 19.

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MEDIA:

New Moon Trailer #3

Solomon Kane

Solomon Kane is a new film premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival and is based on the character created by Robert E. Howard. Here is the blurb for one of the more recent editions of the Kane stories (followed by the movie trailer). I really like the look of this one. Hard to believe the lead actor (James Purefoy) is the same as headed up the recent TV series The Philanthropist. Very intense. Here is a link to a summary of all of the blogs running stories on the film for those interested.

With Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard created more than the greatest action hero of the twentieth century—he also launched a genre that came to be known as sword and sorcery. But Conan wasn’t the first archetypal
adventurer to spring from Howard’s fertile imagination.

“He was . . . a strange blending of Puritan and Cavalier, with a touch of the ancient philosopher, and more than a touch of the pagan. . . . A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urge to right all wrongs, protect all weaker things. . . . Wayward and restless as the wind, he was consistent in only one respect—he was true to his ideals of justice and right. Such was Solomon Kane.”

Collected in this volume, lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist Gary Gianni, are all of the stories and poems that make up the thrilling saga of the dour and deadly Puritan, Solomon Kane. Together they constitute a sprawling epic of weird fantasy adventure that stretches from sixteenth-century England to remote African jungles where no white man has set foot. Here are shudder-inducing tales of vengeful ghosts and bloodthirsty demons, of dark sorceries wielded by evil men and women, all opposed by a grim avenger armed with a fanatic’s faith and a warrior’s savage heart.

This edition also features exclusive story fragments, a biography of Howard by scholar Rusty Burke, and “In Memoriam,” H. P. Lovecraft’s moving tribute to his friend and fellow literary genius.

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AUTHORS ON VIDEO:

Here are some of the videos from the third episode of Penguin's Project Paranormal Screening Room where the spotlight is on the Romance Writers of America. You can also find them on their YouTube Channel.


Part 3 - Featuring Jim and Shannon Butcher, discussing their life together as a married couple who also writes professionally.
 

Part 4 - Featuring Jayne Castle, on her work, her pseudonyms, and why paranormal fiction is so popular.


Part 5 - Erica Colon, featuring discussions with convention-goers about their love of the genre.


Part 6 - Featuring J.R. Ward and Jessica Andersen, discussing how their differences help shape their partnership.

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COVERS and ART:

The authors over at The Odd Shots blog are going wild. Meljean Brook takes on Jill Myles revealing "the cover" her debut release, GENTLEMEN PREFER SUCCUBI.

Smart Bitches Trashy Books ran a challenge this week to produce the best spoof cover of the current publishing craze to "Twilight-ize" everything. Here is the original post and covers that started the whole thing, here are the entry covers and here is the winner. Absoultely priceless.

Literary Escapism found the cover for Warriors with some great contributors. Jackie has more details on the anthology.

Tez Says  has cover art for Laurell K. Hamilton’s DIVINE MISDEMEANORS (AU), & Gayle Ann Williams’s TSUNAMI BLUE (US)

Covers Featured at SciFiGuy.ca this past week:

• "A Mermaid's Ransom" by Joey W. Hill
• "The Mage in Black" by Jaye Wells
• "The Enemy" by Charlie Higson
• "Dracula: The Un-Dead" by Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt 

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AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE:

From Orbit Books -

Gail Carriger’s SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, so to help set the mood we’ve just launched the Soulless Victorian Dress-Up Doll, (the flash and illustration are by the very talented Sarah Vaughn.) SOULLESS will be in bookstores at the end of September. Enjoy the game!

Josh Jasper at Genreville points us to Harlan Ellison's Dramatic Reading of the Seussified "I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script" which derives from the recent bruhaha over Josh Olson's Village Voice rant, "I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script." Harlan's reading is R-rated but funny as hell.

Why Paranormal Romance Is No Fad

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