Archive for Orbit US

Blameless is here!

Ah…the endless hours waiting. But no longer, for Blameless is here! Now you can find out everything that has happened to Alexia since we last saw her in Changeless — and for a sneak peek just in case you aren’t in a bookstore right now reading this,  here is a extract from Blameless!

A bit about the story (SPOILERS AHEAD! Don’t read unless you’ve read Soulless and Changeless!)

Quitting her husband’s house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season.

Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London’s vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.

While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires — and they’re armed with pesto.

And you have seen the video about the cover design right? Trust me, it’s amazing.

And for those of you in the UK — you’ll be seeing SOULLESS, CHANGELESS and BLAMELESS in stores together this September!

Hoboglyphs Win Prizes!

Mr Shivers, the critically acclaimed horror debut from Robert Jackson Bennett, is released in paperback today. Chronicling one man’s journey through the Depression blighted Texan Dustbowl in search of the mysterious, scarred vagrant who murdered his daughter, the book is a must read for fans of old school horror, literary dystopia or anyone looking for something to knock their socks off this autumn. To celebrate the paperback release of Mr Shivers we have 10 copies of the book to giveaway. (more…)

Moorehawke illustration giveaway

Celine Kiernan is not only a talented author but also a gifted animator and illustrator — and she has done the most incredible illustration of her main protagonist Wynter Moorehawke for us. We have six super-limited edition prints, on cream canvas, to give away to readers. Email orbit@littlebrown.co.uk with your name and address to enter the draw, and get a chance to win this really incredible original artwork!

And if you have any interesting pictures of The Crowded Shadows (UK | US) in the wild to share with us (for example, at your local bookstore or courtesy of your own PhotoShop mash-up parlour) they would be gratefully received at the same email as above.

If you haven’t seen her post, Celine’s description of how she approaches illustrating is fascinating. And the animation of this Wynter drawing taking shape before your eyes in seconds is just amazing. And to see it again, click HERE.

Moorehawke Artwork.

working on the promotional art for UK release.
working on the promotional art for UK release.

When Orbit asked would I do some limited edition artwork for the UK release of The Crowded Shadows I was more than happy to oblige. I always draw when working on a book. I draw the characters, I draw scenes from the story, sometimes I even do wee comic strips. It’s my way of blowing off steam when writing is stressing me out. So, as you can imagine, I’ve been drawing the Moorehawke characters for years at this stage, and I’ve a pretty clear picture in my head of how they look.

If you’re interested, I thought I might walk you through the process of doing a drawing? (more…)

Dueling Zombie Authors!

September 2010Over at Babel Clash, authors Mira Grant and Jesse Petersen are going head to head with two very different visions of the zombie apocalypse. The only thing they seem to agree on is that most of us are lunch.

Also, click back through the last few posts to see Nicole Peeler and Jaye Wells having way too much fun in public.

The Literature of Discovery?

Robert Jackson Bennett has some interesting thoughts on the role of genre in fiction over at his blog: here. What do you think? Is literary fiction innovative? Is genre limiting?

Is Mr. Shivers the best debut you’ll read this year? I can only answer the last one.

(… the answer is yes, by the way.)

Films of High Adventure

The inimitable Jesse Bullington and his friend (and writer) Molly Tanzer have been subjecting themselves to classic films of dubious merit for our entertainment for months now. This week, they take on a personal favorite (an assessment that bears some reflection on reading their analysis)– the classic Willow.

Anyhow, go check it out here.

Also, for some past highlights, I recommend the truly awful Ladyhawke.

It’s like if the Grossbarts reviewed movies. With less cursing.