NYCC: Parasol Protectorate Covers Are Coming!

If you were at NYCC this weekend, you may have met some of our Parasol Protectorate ambassadors dressed in their Steampunk and Victorian best and giving out buttons for Gail Carriger’s books. Thank you greatly to Evelyn Kriete (who runs Steampunk Fashion and Jabborwhalky productions), G.D. Falksen (author, blogger, and moderator of the Steampunk 101 panel), Jeni Hellum (who blogs about Multiculturalism in Steampunk), and Joseph Hernandez (of Penny Dreadful Productions). I will point them out when I start uploading the Parasol Protectorate book covers made from the pictures I have of everyone looking fantastic both wandering around NYCC and everyone who came to the Steampunk photo meetup Saturday night.

Now, back to retouching for me! After the jump, some Steampunk links for you to enjoy while waiting for covers to be released and flickr uploads to process… (more…)

NYCC Recap: Full House!

I have been to many a convention, and let me tell you, NYCC was packed. Saturday was more crowded than any day of San Diego con this year, and everyone was hungry for books! Luckily Orbit had a lot going on to keep the demanding masses satisfied!

As you can see from the picture to the left of Mira Grant signing copies of Feed, Orbit’s author signings were a hit as usual—we ran out of books in less than a half hour for both Mira Grant and Joe Abercrombie, who was signing copies of Best Served Cold. (more…)

NYCC Recap: Orbit US 3rd Anniversary Party

It’s been a busy week/weekend here at Orbit US, and as we all start to come out of our post-NY Comic-Con exhaustion, we’ll be catching you up on all the excitement. First, let’s all take a moment to say HAPPY 3rd ANNIVERSARY to Orbit US. We had a little party to celebrate while people were in town for NYCC. It was held at the really cool subterranean Cellar Bar at the Bryant Park hotel, which had a seriously urban fantasy vibe going on. The cocktail waitress even had a corset on – and although Orbit was accused of requesting it specifically, I assure you it was a happy coincidence.

Pictures after the jump! (more…)

Busy publication week for Iain M. Banks

Mr Banks has had a busy publication week for Surface Detail – and he’s not going to be relaxing any time soon!  He spent last week being interviewed by all sorts of national and regional press – appropriately including the New Scientist and BBC TV filming him at the Science Museum.

Iain’s first event on the eve of publication at the Round House was a sell out, and he answered the audience’s questions for nearly 2 hours!  Then on Thursday he signed for a great crowd at Forbidden Planet.

If you haven’t managed to attend any of the events so far, Forbidden Planet, Blackwells in London and Foyles all have signed first editions of Surface Detail (though probably not for long!) (more…)

“The Heir of Night”: Keeping It Real with Armour and Weapons

As a kid, I always loved armour and weapons. We lived in Singapore for some years, too, so in addition to western traditions including medieval armour, then cuirassiers, and later the long rifle, I was also aware of oriental armour and weaponry. I even had a Chinese sword—imitation, of course—and horse rider’s composite bow. From endless childhood games in which wars and battles were re-enacted, it is perhaps not surprising that I graduated to fencing during my high school and university years. As an adult, I trained first in tai chi and kung fu, and then the Japanese martial art aikido, which involves both “empty hand” training and weapons, including the Japanese sword, knife, and staff. (more…)

Version 43 is here

You’ve seen the new wallpaper and the dueling videos.

You’ve probably read the extract.

You may have seen the brand new and exclusive Amazon interview and article.

And you might even have heard when SFREVU called Philip Palmer’s work ‘relentlessly energetic, inventive and shamelessly ambitious.’

But if you don’t pick up a copy of Version 43 for yourself this month, or do any of the above actions for that matter, then… well, you should.  Or the cyborg will know.

Wallpaper: Version 43 by Philip Palmer!

New Wallpaper time! I know all your assorted screens and devices would love some new art, and I am happy to provide new visuals, this time from Version 43 by Philip Palmer.

I love how this series is shaping up (Red Claw, Version 43, and soon you’ll see the cover launch for Hell Ship), and I think the pulp-retro feel of the covers works for these books – if you’re looking for classic, in your face, action-packed scifi then Philip Palmer is your man.

The creepy-cool image was shot by Eric Westpheling, who I’m sure is still haunted by visions of the doll props taking over his apartment.

Enjoy!

1024 x 768 | 1280 x 800 | 1440 x 900 | 1680 x 1050 | 1920 x 1200 | iPhone | iPad | PSP

The day’s arrived for The Heir of Night

If you’re in Australia and New Zealand, you’re definitely in the right place to get your hands on some exciting new fantasy as Helen Lowe’s Orbit debut, The Heir of Night, hits bookshelves today in all of its beautifully plotted and blazing red glory!

In case you missed it, the author has explained the world of The Heir of Night for us here, and the blogosphere has already weighed in favourably on this start to a new series:

‘The Heir of Night is a carefully plotted story in a complex world’ – fantasyliterature.com

‘Very promising and fast-paced new epic fantasy.’ – bookloons.com

‘A very rich and complex story with a perfect balance between action and character development that got me hooked from the first page.’ – fictionkingdom.blogspot.com

‘Helen Lowe’s prose flows effortlessly from the first pages to the last page and she uses magic in a good way.’ – risingshadow.net (more…)

Writing and Writer’s Workshops

The dog ate my homework.
The dog ate my homework.

I have a writer’s workshop coming up soon, so I’ve been going through my notes and reminding myself of what it is I wish to convey and how to best go about communicating it to my students. I can’t stand waffling and hot air, so I tend to give very short very concentrated workshops. They last a week maximum (sometimes in the case of workshops given to schools, the week is spread out in little pieces over a month or more) I don’t tend to focus on ‘voice’ or ‘finding your story’ or any of the other more esoteric subjects. My aim is simply to bring the participants back to the basics and to have them build themselves up from that base level, a piece at a time, until they’ve explored what it is they are writing and how they are writing it. (more…)