Archive for Conventions

Event Schedule for San Diego Comic-Con 2012

It’s time for the 2012 Comic-Con International convention in San Diego!

You’ll find Orbit Books at booth #1118.   Mira Grant, Gail Carriger and N.K. Jemisin will also be in attendance this year.  See below for a full list of their panels and signings.

In addition to these events, there will be giveaways at the booth throughout the weekend. So stop on by  to say hello and pick up some awesome buttons, posters, and books while supplies last.

THURSDAY

Panel: Witty Women of Steampunk with Gail Carriger
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM in Room 5AB

Panel: creating Spaces for Diverse Characters and Representations with N.K Jemisin
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM in Room 23ABC

Spotlight Panel: N.K. Jemisin
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM in Room 7AB

Panel: Not With A Bang, With A Bite with Mira Grant
1:15 PM – 2:15 PM in Room 6A

Signing: Mira Grant
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM in Autograph Area (AA09)

FRIDAY

Panel: Epic Fantasy War with N.K. Jemisin
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM in Room 6A

Signing:  Mira Grant
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM at the Orbit Booth, #1118
Complimentary Books While Supplies Last

SATURDAY

Panel: Urban Fantasy w/ Mira Grant (As Seanan McGuire)
10:30 AM – 11:30 in Room 5AB

Signing: N.K. Jemisin
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM at the Orbit Booth, #1118
Complimentary Books While Supplies Last

Spotlight Panel: Gail Carriger
1:30 – 2:30 pm in Room 5AB

Signing: Gail Carriger
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM in the Autograph Area

SUNDAY

Panel: Foes with Fur and Fangs with Gail Carriger
1:45 PM – 2:45 in Room 5AB

Signing: Gail Carriger
3:00 PM – 4:oo PM in Autograph Area AA19

 

 

SFX Weekender 2012

The stormtroopers wasted no time in commandeering the decks . . .

After last year’s shenanigans at the SFX Weekender, we couldn’t wait to do it all over again. Excitement levels were therefore approaching unstable levels last Friday, as the Orbit UK team – along with THE FALLEN BLADE author Jon Courtenay Grimwood and FATED author Benedict Jacka – caught a train to Prestatyn, to attend the third SFX Weekender. The convention – run by top British science fiction magazine SFX – has quickly become one of the most anticipated events in British SFF, and this year was again well-attended by authors, editors, scriptwriters and journalists, as well as TV stars of shows such as Red Dwarf, Torchwood and Doctor Who – not to mention hundreds of happy fans and cosplayers!

Orbit's Anne Clarke on the publishing panel

After settling into our chalets (an upgrade on last year, as they had double-glazing!) we watched our very own Anne Clarke on the How To Get Published panel and enjoyed the Kitschies Awards presented by Pornokitsch’s Anne Perry and Jared Shurin. Later, we met up with INTRUSION author Ken MacLeod and SEEDS OF EARTH author Michael Cobley, and headed to a party thrown by our friends at Tor UK.

On the Saturday, once we’d recovered from our cake and alcohol intake from the previous night, we really got stuck in to the panels and signings. Mike, Ken and Benedict all signed books for fans at the Forbidden Planet booth, and took part in some pretty packed panel discussions! Benedict debated genre definitions with other urban fantasy authors on the What is Urban Fantasy? panel, Mike asked whether literature is the only place still flying the flag for space opera, and Ken MacLeod discussed apocalyptic fiction on the We’re All Doomed! panel, making interesting points about the class aspects of survivalist fiction and the ‘cosy catastrophe’. (more…)

San Diego Comic Con!

It’s here – the annual crush of awesome that is San Diego Comic Con. This year Orbit is hunkering down in booth #1116, right across from the fabulous Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore. After the jump you’ll find some Orbit events and programs you won’t want to miss.  And be sure to come by the Orbit booth #1116 to say hello – we’ve got lots of fun stuff to share!
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Kate Griffin and Jon Courtenay Grimwood at Forbidden Planet in London and SFX Weekender

 

Kate Griffin and Jon Courtenay Grimwood will both be signing at Forbidden Planet London on Thursday 3rd Feb to launch their new books: The Neon Court and The Fallen Blade.  Shaftesbury Avenue, 6-7pm.

They will also both be at the SFX Weekender in Camber Sands for panels on Saturday 5th Feb. Here’s their schedule:

11am: Main Void – Essential SF, fantasy and horror classics – with Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Joe Abercrombie, David Wingrove, Peter F Hamilton, Adrian Tchaicovsky and Kevin J Anderson.

11.45: Screening Zone – Dual Brittania: creating alternate Englands – with Kate Griffin, China Mieville, Al Ewing and Stephen Baxter.

12.30: Main Void – What’s next for TV vampires?  Pitching a new vampire show – with Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Toby Whithouse and Sarah Pinborough.

(Exact schedule and line-ups all subject to possible change)

And the Winner Is…

And the winner is…….Bountiless! The contest really did come down to the wire between Bountiless and Breathless, but in the end, Boba Fett took the prize. And speaking of prize, we were SO impressed with the quality of the contestants, and the feverish commenting, that we decided to award the winner with a $100 gift certificate to Clockwork Couture, helmed by none other than expert panelist and Alexia model, Donna Ricci.

Mr. Fett, please contact me at lauren (dot) panepinto (at) hbgusa (dot) com and we’ll work out the details on the prize.

Of course, ’tis true that Boba Fett is a bit of a tough fit for the world of the Parasol Protectorate, but I think it can work if you think of it like this: If you forget that this is a reimagining of Boba Fett, and just take the costume fresh and just on Steampunk merit, it is absolutely a fine piece of craftsmanship and design. And a hell of a lot of manpower. And I think there is definitely room in the Parasol Protectorate for a helmeted bounty hunter.

And, you know, besides that, it’s freaking Boba Fett in Steampunk. That’s awesome.

You can find out more about the mysterious Mr. Fett at his facebook page. I hear he is available for parties!

Truth be told, all of our finalists — and really all of the contestants — embodied the best aspect of Steampunk: they had fun. I love Steampunk and other “retrofuturism” because you really can bring so much of yourself to it, and look awesome doing it. Your own background, look, culture, your own nerdy obsessions. And it takes chutzpah to dress up on a day not related to Halloween, even for a convention where a whole lot of other people are dressed up too. I applaud the entire Parasol Protectorate Class of 2010. And get working on your costumes again for next year!

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…)

New York Comic Con: Joe Abercrombie and Mira Grant

If you’re in the Big Apple for New York Comic Con, be sure to stop by the Orbit booth (#2315) to meet authors Joe Abercrombie and Mira Grant.

Joe (BEST SERVED COLD) will be signing Friday 10/8 from 3-4 PM, and on Saturday 10/9 from 12-1 PM in the Orbit booth.  And, don’t miss the fantasy writer’s panel Friday night from 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm in Room 1A15.  Joining Joe Abercrombie on the panel will be Peter V. Brett (The Warded Man), Jim Butcher (Changes), Naomi Novik (His Majesty’s Dragon) Brandon Sanderson (The Way of Kings) and Deborah Harkness (A Discovery of Witches) – making this panel full of about as much awesome as the fire department will allow.

FEED fans! Mira Grant (a/k/a Seanan McGuire) will be signing on Saturday 10/9 from 3-4 pm in the Orbit booth. On Saturday night she’ll be on the panel “Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep?”  from 7:45 pm – 8:45 pm in Room 1A23. Her fellow panelists will include  Alaya Dawn Johnson (contributor to Zombies Vs. Unicorns), Robin Becker (Brains: A Zombie Memoir), Alan Goldsher (Paul is Undead), and Richard Kadrey (Kill the Dead). Again, not a panel to be missed.

So unless of course while in attendance at NYCC you find yourself a) in the midst of an very, very blood-drenched sword battle, or b) in the midst of a ravenous gaggle of brain-chomping zombies — we’ll see you there!