Archive for All posts

New authors!

In recent months, we’ve acquired two new authors  — and I’m excited to introduce both of them to you!

Orbit US has also acquired GOD SAVE THE QUEEN plus two others from author Kate Locke, a pseudonym for Kathryn Smith. It’s an urban fantasy novel set in our time period — but with a twist.  Queen Victoria still rules 175 years after her ascension. This is the world that half-blood Alexandra has been born into — a world where horse-drawn carriages, ballgowns, and corsets mesh with the modern fashions of the humans outside of the vampire aristocracy. We’re publishing GOD SAVE THE QUEEN in July 2012 — and trust me it’s worth the wait.

Orbit worldwide has acquired Amanda Carlson in a new three-book deal. She’s a brand new debut author from Minnesota. I had the privilege of meeting her at the Romantic Times convention (and yes, forgetting to post about that too…). Her three novels: FULL BLOODED, HOT BLOODED, and COLD BLOODED will be out in September 2012, March 2013 and August 2013 respectively. Jessica is the only female werewolf born to a race of males. And prophecy claims that her birth will signal the end of their race. Who said it was easy being a girl?

Two new short fiction releases!

Today we have two short fiction releases over at Orbit Short Fiction.

We have a new Jaz Parks adventure — or rather — a blast from the past for Jaz Parks fans.

An Evening for Vayl and Jaz takes place after the events of Bitten To Death –– when Vayl and Jaz spend a romantic evening together. Told from both their perspectives, it’s one of the few times we see the story from Vayl’s perspective.

We have more Jaz Parks stories here, but Jaz Parks series is now finished (this month!) with the Deadliest Bite.

So if you like this one — check out the whole series starting with Once Bitten, Twice Shy.

 

From the hilarious Jesse Petersen, we also have SHAMBLING WITH THE STARS.

While the short fiction piece is set in the  Living with the Dead series, the story is told from the viewpoint of completely different characters.

Avery Andrews is her name and directing celebrity telethons after tragedies is her game. But the Northwestern Zombie Outbreak isn’t your average tragedy… and once the infection spreads to the studio, Avery and her crew will have to worry about staying alive, not ratings.

Jesse Petersen is the author of Married with Zombies, Flip this Zombie — and out next month– Eat, Slay, Love.

Find out more about them–and other short fiction titles–at Orbit Short Fiction!

Cover Launch: THE GRIFFIN MAGE Trilogy by Rachel Neumeier

It’s omnibus week here in the Orbit Art Department, and the fangirl in me loves an omnibus. Get a whole story arc or series all in one giant go? Yes please! Today we have the cover launch for The Griffin Mage Trilogy by Rachel Neumeier, which collects Lord of the Changing Winds, Land of the Burning Sands, and Law of the Broken Earth.

I really enjoyed this series, it gave me a very Robin McKinley/Anne McCaffrey feeling and that’s a very good thing in my book. Classic heroine coming of age story, with a novel take on griffins, bringing them back to more wild animal (and wild magic) roots. I make no secret of my lack of griffin respect in their past fantasy incarnations, but I love that these griffins feel legitimately dangerous rather than cartoonish. That was the angle we took with the original covers, but I always love a chance to reinvent a cover for a new format, and here I think the cover gives the right feeling of menace, while still keeping Kes the center of the story.

After the jump, a teaser! (more…)

Patricia Briggs cover reissue launch

We’ve been giving Mercy Thompson a new look recently and I think it looks great on her. These books feature the feisty Mercy — coyote shapeshifter, mechanic and finder-of-trouble — so we wanted something urban and adventurous to match. We also wanted the cover look, once created, to really pop on the shelf, so the front, back and spine (separate ‘design areas’!) all needed to complement each other and add to the effect.

These were put together for us in grand style by Nick Castle Design and our Head of Design Duncan Spilling. We started the look with River Marked in March, and this June the rest of Patricia Briggs’ series makes its grand entrance. See all the new covers in their full glory below: (more…)

Deals and Deliveries

Deals! There have been a few. Perhaps this is an understatement. There have been many and now I have to trace my brain back to the last time I’ve posted — please excuse me if you are already aware of some of the below already.

In March, Orbit worldwide also acquired OUT FOR BLOOD and LAST BLOOD in the House of Comarre series by Kristen Painter.  Kristen is the author of the upcoming BLOOD RIGHTS (quickly followed by FLESH AND BLOOD and BAD BLOOD) in Fall 2011 with three books in three months.

Orbit US has signed for four new novels with Joe Abercrombie. The first will be a standalone and then a trilogy — all set in the same world as the First Law trilogy.  Joe is hard at work writing as we speak! And I can’t wait to read his newest, which we plan to publish next fall 2012!

Orbit worldwide also acquired two new novels from the acclaimed N.K. Jemisin: THE KILLING MOON and THE SHADOWED SUN. We’ll be publishing them in May 2012 and June 2012. I absolutely loved the KILLING MOON — and then THE SHADOWED SUN blew me out of the water — it’s full of assassin priests, mad kings and a goddess of death.  Nora has been nominated for the Hugo and the Locus Award for Best First Novel (as well as a host of other awards). We’ll have covers for you soon on those two…

And finally, Orbit worldwide is publishing a new Lilith Saintcrow series. It is tentatively titled THE IRON WYRM AFFAIR (As in Bannon and Clare in…THE IRON WYRM AFFAIR).  Lilith has outdone herself in this amazing Victorian steampunk urban fantasy (yes! I already read the first draft!!!). I won’t give much away other than to say imagine Sherlock Homes and Dr. Watson — if Dr. Watson was a sorceress. It will be out next August 2012.
(more…)

DEAD BEAT by Jim Butcher: A Dresden Files reread

Mark Yon has been a reviewer and web administrator at SFFWorld, one of the world’s biggest genre forum sites, for nearly ten years. He has also been on the David Gemmell Awards organisation committee for the last two years. In this series of rereads, Mark will guide us below through the whole of Jim Butcher’s fabulous Dresden Files series as we count down to the new hardback Ghost Story at the end of July.
*************************************************************************************

At the beginning of this book the set up is as follows: Harry is duelling, wand-less and crippled, after his troubles with the vampire Mavra in Blood Rites. But this is a problem as Mavra’s back – and after revenge. And incubus Thomas, recently discovered to be his half-brother, is now living with Harry following exile from the Raith family.

Despite these many woes, there are more to come … Harry is blackmailed by Mavra, the target being his friend, police chief Karrin. If she is to live, or at least avoid being dismissed due to incriminating shenanigans in Blood Rites, then he has to find ‘the Word of Kemmler’ (whatever that is). He must then then take whatever it turns out to be to Mavra by Halloween, in three days time. This isn’t easy, as Harry and friends are being hunted by six necromancers – who clearly have designs on the Word of Kemmler too and will stop at nothing etc. etc.! (more…)

Cover Launch: EYE OF THE TEMPEST (Jane True #4) by Nicole Peeler

One thing I love about our Orbit roster is our kickass heroines (often written by real-life kickass ladies)…but they’re not JUST kickass. (Ok, not allowed to say “kickass” for the rest of the post, promise.) Our heroines have unique voices and over the course of a series begin to feel utterly real. Sometimes when I am working on covers I literally hear a voice of a character in my head saying yea or nay. Now, I don’t create the art for Nicole Peeler’s Jane True books in the US, but I know illustrator Sharon Tancredi has got a little Jane inside her egging her on. I was so excited to see Blondie make the cover of Eye of the Tempest, Jane’s fourth adventure, and she looks like a fabulous teammate for Jane. Of course, it is known I have a soft spot for cool tattoos…and to really help our dynamic duo pop, we upped the boldness with a bright shock of red for the title bar. I’m also going to show the back cover, which I rarely do, but you must see the fantastic octopus Sharon created to go with the cover!

After the jump, get to see the US back cover and the requisite teaser text…..and if you haven’t met Jane True yet, you really must pick up the rest of the series…here’s a fabulous review from B&N to whet your appetite…True Love: Nicole Peeler’s Selkie-Halfling Heroine Jane True is Paranormal Fantasy’s “It Girl”

(more…)

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages

It’s at last time to release Tom Holt’s Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages (UK | USA | ANZ) into the wilds of the bookosphere. And this  imaginative comedy is pure Tom Holt magic — a tale of our world but not as we know it, featuring pigs and parallel worlds. And look no further than this free extract and handy plot outline  to find out more:

Polly, an average, completely ordinary property lawyer, is convinced she’s losing her mind. Someone keeps drinking her coffee. And talking to her clients. And doing her job. And when she goes to the dry cleaner’s to pick up her dress for the party, it’s not there. Not the dress – the dry cleaner’s. And then there are the chickens who think they are people. Something strange is definitely going on – and it’s going to take more than a magical ring to sort it out.

Tom Holt’s previous books have scored highly when it comes to praise, being called: ‘Clever, funny, tirelessly inventive (Christopher Moore), ‘Dazzling’ (Time Out) and ‘Uniquely twisted’ (Guardian). And here are some reviews in already for the latest book itself:

A great mix of the fantastical and the funny … another great satirical offering from Tom Holt that entertains thoroughly while effortlessly moving between the silly and the smart”
Bookgeeks.co.uk

“Crazy, absurd, complex and hilarious … His writing is in the same mould as that of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Jasper Fforde”
TheBookBag.co.uk

“I loved this book … prepare to have a wild ride that doesn’t always make sense, has lots of twists and turns and craziness but is good, clean, mind-bending fun”
LifeWithBooks.com

Orbit acquires IRON DRUID trilogy by Kevin Hearne

Current US covers for Iron Druid series

I’m very pleased to announce that Orbit UK has acquired an imaginative, witty and action-packed new urban fantasy trilogy which is currently getting a huge buzz in the US.

The Iron Druid trilogy by Kevin Hearne is set in Arizona and introduces us to Atticus O’Sullivan. He’s a rare book salesman, herb peddler, and 2,000 year old druid – the last of his kind – who has been on the run for over two millennia from a very angry ancient Celtic god. The books are set in the modern day world, where gods, myths, and magic are very much alive.  The first book HOUNDED primarily features the many Celtic gods; HEXED will focus on Coyote and the Bacchants; HAMMERED will be about a plot against Thor. (Everybody hates Thor.)

Kevin Hearne was also excited about the deal, saying: ‘I’m thrilled to be with Orbit UK and hope people will enjoy this blend of history and legend dropped into the modern world. The rich mythology of the Irish is endlessly fascinating to me, and an allusion to British lore in HOUNDED will eventually become important later in the series as Atticus finds himself in trouble near Windsor Castle.’

I first read the manuscript for HOUNDED in 2009 but it was before I moved to Orbit, and although I loved the story, I couldn’t see a way to make it work on my list back then (I was mainly publishing crime thrillers). When I heard the Iron Druid series was still looking for a UK home I couldn’t believe my luck, and I’m delighted to be bringing Atticus to the UK after all. And since we’re publishing these books this September, October and November, I don’t have long to wait to share them with everyone else here too. You’re in for a treat!