Spring is almost here but we’re already looking forward to summer and autumn 2013! That’s because we’ve got some amazing books coming up for the rest of this year with freshly designed covers to share with you. This isn’t our whole list of published titles for the year – just the covers we think you might not have seen before.
Click on the individual cover images below to see the larger version and let us know your favourites!
A little late this month, but here’s what Orbit authors will be up to for the rest of February!
February 6 (today!): Jesse Bullington at Tattered Cover, Denver, CO, 7:30 PM
February 7: Miles Cameron at the Book Lover’s Ball, Toronto, ON
February 8-10:
Gail Z. Martin at ShevaCon, Roanoke, VA
Amanda Carlson at Olde City, New Blood, St. Augustine, FL
February 15-17: Jaye Wells at Con DFW, Addison, TX
February 15: Gail Z. Martin at Books-a-Million Cotswold, Charlotte, NC, 1 PM
February 16: Gail Z. Martin at B&N Carolina Place Mall, Pineville, NC, 2 PM
February 19: Kate Locke at John Fluevog Shoes for “Shoepunk: Fashion and Fantasy,” New York, NY, 6:30 PM
February 22-24: Gail Z. Martin at Mysticon, Roanoke, VA
October 4-7: Jaye Wells and Nicole Peeler at Bouchercon, Cleveland, OH
Friday, October 5: N.K. Jemisin at Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN, 6:30 PM
October 11-14: Kate Elliott at Sirens, Stevenson, WA
October 12-14: Rachel Neumeier at Archon, St. Louis, MO
October 19-20: Amanda Carlson at Florida Writers Association Annual Conference, Orlando, FL
Stay tuned for information about what Orbit will be up to at New York Comic Con this year!
We’re back with Part II of the Urban Fantasy Interview session with authors Amanda Carlson and Kristen Painter.
To recap, last week, Amanda debunked any rumors of sparkling werewolves, and told us about her new novel FULL BLOODED (UK| US | AUS). You can read the full interview here. Now it’s Kristen’s turn to dish about her writing life. Look for Kristen’s fourth House of Comarré novel, OUT FOR BLOOD (UK| US | AUS) this October.
Amanda Carlson: I want to know about your “before I was a writer” life. I’ve read your bio and it sounds like you’ve done some fun things. Pick two (and I hope I laugh).
Kristen Painter: I’ve never been a stand up comedian, so I can’t promise laughs. I’ve held all sorts of jobs, from working in a candy store (the summer of my expansion) to walking a runway in a NYC fashion show. My favorite job has to be writer, though. It’s also the toughest I’ve ever had.
Amanda Carlson: Your House of Comarré series is awesome. I love the mythos behind it all. How did it come to you? Was it a dream? Were you eating pizza? Or, perhaps, playing bingo?
Kristen Painter: There was no bingo involved, I swear. Mostly my overactive imagination and the inability to legally kill people in real life. Wait, did I just type that out loud?
Amanda Carlson: You have quite a shoe obsession. I’ve seen them with my own eyes. Who’s your favorite designer? Describe your favorite pair of kickass shoes (for the ladies who love UF in the house).
Kristen Painter: My favorite shoe designer right now is probably Christian Louboutin. The craziness/sparkliness/wear-me-if-you-dare kind of attitude those shoes put off is like crack to me. Unfortunately, the prices of those shoes means I don’t actually own any of the truly stellar examples. I recently picked up some Vince Camutos leopard print and gold studs that are kind of amazing.
Amanda Carlson: You started Romance Divas, correct? How did that come about?
Kristen Painter: Jax Cassidy (fellow author) and I needed a place to hang out online and talk about writing and life after we (sort of) got kicked out of the writing forum where we met. What can I say? We bonded and it upset people. Romance Divas was our mutual dream that became a reality a lot of writers now enjoy.
Amanda Carlson: You tower over me, yet you’re cute like a snuggle bear. (For the audience, Kristen has the heart of an angel, when continually fed and nurtured.) Give us a deep, dark secret of Chrysabelle & Mal’s. Something juicy.
Kristen Painter: A snuggle bear? You really want to be killed off in a book, don’t you? Let me see, a deep dark secret of Chrysabelle and Mal’s…I guess you’ll just have to read OUT FOR BLOOD this October and see for yourself.
Amanda Carlson: Okay, some quick bullet questions to end. They give us a sense of who you are, like a picture. Ready?
Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi. Preferably Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi. Yep, that’s how I roll.
Hellboy or The English Patient: Hellboy, movie or graphic novel
Tolkien or Rowling: Old school. Tolkien
Tom Hardy or Johnny Depp? (Tom’s mine, but you can pretend) I’m going to go left of center and say Benedict Cumberbatch.
Elvis or The Beatles: Young Elvis.
Jimmy Choo’s or Manolo Blahnik’s: Jimmy Choo’s, but if you see above you’ll know I swing toward Christian Louboutin.
Disco or Salsa? When it comes to dancing, I’m down for anything! I love to dance. It’s a great workout that doesn’t feel like a workout.
Amanda Carlson: Thanks for playing along, Kristen! I had a blast and you are awesome.
Fall is right around the corner, and with it comes crisp weather, pumpkins, goblins, and ghouls. It’s the best time to be a supernatural, and also a great season to be an Urban Fantasy reader.
This fall we’ve got two great urban fantasy novels to look out for by a pair of fantastic authors. Amanda Carlson’s FULL BLOODED (UK | US | AUS) officially releases tomorrow. It’s a new urban fantasy debut featuring a tough as nails female lead, and did I mention she’s a werewolf too?
Then in October, the fourth House of Comarré novel, OUT FOR BLOOD (UK| US | AUS) by Kristen Painter will be published. Find out more about this dark and seductive series from the House of Comarré website.
But enough about the future (exciting as it may be). Today we thought we’d bring both authors here and let the fur and fangs fly . Come back next week for the second half of this series where Amanda will be interviewing Kristen about her life and books.
Kristen: Amanda, I hear you have a book coming out. Can you tell us more about Full Blooded and what interested you in writing about werewolves that sparkle?
Amanda: Well, sparkling werewolves hadn’t been done yet, so I thought I’d jump in and give it a try and…no…wait. There are no sparkling werewolves in my book. Wrong series, KP. My book is about the only female werewolf ever born. The book starts out with the worst wake-up call ever and takes off from there, like a fun romp through the woods. It’s full of action, adventure and the right amount of snark. Just the way you like it.
Kristen: So there’s no sparkling? Not even a tiny bit, like they wear fancy jeweled collars?
Amanda: Nope, no sparkling, except if you count the “pow” moments where Jessica gives someone a shot to the face. The bad guys may see a sparkle or two in their mind’s eye, but that’s about it. She doesn’t even wear a ring. Bling is not her thing. But it does have sparkling prose.
Kristen: Werewolves that don’t sparkle. Okay, got it. Besides writing, what do you do in Minnesota? Doesn’t it snow there like every day? Are there a lot of werewolves in Minnesota?
Amanda: It snows quite a bit in Minnesota and I have a huge hockey rink in my backyard every winter to prove it. Thankfully it doesn’t snow every day. Just every other. There are actually a lot of wolves in Minnesota, including the Timberwolves—Go, Wolves! (There’s some good basketball if you’re a fan.) I’ve yet to see an actual werewolf here, since they’re make believe, but I always have my fingers crossed when I’m hiking in the backwoods.
The start of a simply irresistible new urban fantasy series, FULL BLOODED (UK | US | ANZ) by Amanda Carlson, is released today in the UK, and worldwide within a week!
If you’re into shifters, paranormal girls who know how to kick some ass, sexy supernatural men and all the good things that come along with them, then this book is for you. (Check out an extract here to confirm!)
To celebrate the release, Amanda is doing a mega-epic blog tour, visiting every corner of the interwebs. So you’re likely to see her stopping by at a pixel near you . . .
Check out all of the dates she’s already done below, as well as what’s still to come!
August 23: Goldilox and the Three Weres
August 26: Review at Literary Escapism
August 27: Between Dreams and Reality
In honour of the sizzling new urban fantasy, FULL BLOODED (UK | US | ANZ) by Amanda Carlson – out this September – we’ve put together a fun Friday quiz for you. If you, just like Jessica McClain, are new to being a werewolf and to the supernatural world, you might need just a few handy tips on how to read the signs when dating a shifter . . .
(Click on the quiz to see a larger version.)
So how did you do? Check your results here!
For more steamy supernatural action, check out FULL BLOODED (UK | US | ANZ) by Amanda Carlson, out in September (you can already read the action-packed opening chapter online here). If you think you just can’t wait for it to come out, the fantastic prequel novella BLOODED, is already available.
This year’s hottest new urban fantasy will be released this September, and excitement is already building on the interwebs! It’s from debut author Amanda Carlson, and is called FULL BLOODED (UK | US | ANZ), book one of the Jessica McClain novels.
Jessica’s the only female in an all-male werewolf race – and unlucky for her, it seems her very existence might spell out the doom of the werewolf race. It certainly ain’t easy being a girl sometimes . . .
Shown above are the shiny, shiny covers for FULL BLOODED and HOT BLOODED (out next April). They should give you a glimpse of the sexy excitement and adventure in store.
But if you just can’t wait until September to read book 1, don’t forget that you can get your hands on a piece of shifter Jessica McClain already! There is a novella available called BLOODED which gives an insight into her world, and it in fact acts as a great prequel to FULL BLOODED. (more…)
Sunday, August 5
T.C. McCarthy and Michael J. Sullivan at Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC, 2 PM
August 8 – 12
Nicole Peeler, Kristen Painter, Jaye Wells, and Amanda Carlson at Authors After Dark, New Orleans, LA
August 17
The Orbit team will be attending Blackwells’ High Fantasy Night, and, because he’s in London on a rare visit from Australia, Ian Irvine will be signing books at the event!
August 24 – 27
Simon Morden at the Greenbelt Festival, Gloucestershire, UK
August 31 – September 2
A number of Orbit authors will be attending either Chicon and DragonCon over Labor Day weekend!
Come by the Orbit booth (#3633) at BEA for giveaways, free books, and exclusive signings!
Wednesday, June 6
1 PM: N.K. Jemisin signing The Killing Moon (while supplies last)
4 PM: Kate Locke signing God Save the Queen (while supplies last)
We’ll also have a limited quantity of galleys for Lilith Saintcrow’s The Iron Wyrm Affair and Amanda Carlson’s urban fantasy debut, Full Blooded. We hope to see you there!
