Page 9 of posts by: montsamu

The Hardest Part: Alex J. Cavanaugh on Dragon of the Stars

Posted on 2015-07-07 at 18:40 by montsamu

North Carolina author Alex J. Cavanaugh already has three Amazon bestsellers under his belt with his first trilogy, as well as a sizzling review from Library Journal which praised the series as one which "calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels." After the publication of CassaStorm in late 2013, I'd been on the lookout for his next book, but it wasn't until I e-stumbled onto it in late December

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged alex j cavanaugh, dancing lemur press, dragon of the stars

Paul Kincaid's From the Other Side, June 2015: David Mitchell, Al Robertson's Crashing Heaven, Chris Beckett, Neal Stephenson, Terry Pratchett, Laura Barnett, and more

Posted on 2015-07-04 at 11:52 by montsamu

From the Other Side, June 2015 By Paul Kincaid

[Editor’s Note: From the Other Side is Paul Kincaid’s monthly column on books and news from the other side of the Atlantic.]

It has turned out to be something of a David Mitchell month for me. First to the glorious setting of the Union Chapel in North London where Mitchell and Neil Gaiman were in conversation, with Erica Wagner, the Literary Editor of The Times as a (fairly unnecessary) moderator. It turns out that, though they admire each other’s work, this

Posted in From the Other Side | Tagged adrian tchaikovsky, al robertson, chris beckett, david mitchell, laura barnett, neal stephenson, paul kincaid

Coming to Town: Nathan Ballingrud for "Noir at the Bar" at 106 Main in Durham

Posted on 2015-06-18 at 14:53 by montsamu

Tonight (Thursday, June 18) at 6:30 pm, Downtown Durham's 106 Main hosts the city's second Noir at the Bar event, with eight authors of dark fiction from across North Carolina holding court over drinks to talk about their work, including Durham's Eryk Pruitt (Dirtbags, Hashtag) and Chapel Hill's Jeremy Hawkins (The Last Days of Video), as well as Asheville's Nathan Ballingrud who took the time for an email interview ahead of tonight's event. Ballingrud is the author of the award-winning 2013 collection Nort

Posted in Coming to Town | Tagged nathan ballingrud

Friday Quick Updates: Red Adept, Brian Posehn, Noir at the Bar, and a crowdfunding roundup

Posted on 2015-06-13 at 12:32 by montsamu

Saturda, June 13, 2015: Upcoming events, books on sale, new podcasts, a new writing contest, and a crowd-funding roundup await you in this belated Saturday installment of "Friday Quick Updates". But let's be quick about it, because there are three (count 'em) events today alone:

• June 13 (Saturday) 11 am to 2 pm -- Raleigh's Event Horizon Games hosts a multi-author book signing event for Garner-based publisher Red Adept along with publisher Lynn McNamee. Among those appearing will be local author Karissa

Posted in Friday Quick Updates | Tagged kickstarter

Coming to Town: John L. Deboer, Erica Lucke Dean, and Stephen Kozeniewski for Red Adept Publishing’s annual book signing event at Event Horizon Games, interviewed by Karissa Laurel

Posted on 2015-06-11 at 13:42 by montsamu

On Saturday, June 13, Event Horizon Games welcomes authors, John L Deboer, Erica Lucke Dean, Stephen Kozeniewski, Kelly Stone Gamble, Mary Fan, Claire Ashby, and Karissa Laurel for Red Adept Publishing’s annual book signing event.  John is the author of Skeleton Run, a mystery thriller. Stephen will be signing his horror mystery, Braineater Jones, and Erica’s newest release is Ashes of Life, a women’s fiction novel. Here, Karissa Laurel interviews John, Erica, and Stephen about their books, writing, North

Posted in Coming to Town | Tagged Erica Lucke Dean, Event Horizon Games, John L. Deboer, Karissa Laurel, Red Adept Publishing

June newsletter: Darin Kennedy, Stacey Cochran, Karissa Laurel, Brian Posehn, "Noir at the Bar", the Manly Wade Wellman Award nominees, and more

Posted on 2015-06-06 at 15:29 by montsamu

Vol 5 No 4. Saturday, June 6, 2015: Well, maybe this is turning into a bimonthly thing instead of monthly, as I didn't manage a newsletter in May, either. Since late April we've seen plenty of local writers have stories, books, and audiobooks published, added a pile of new events to the upcoming readings calendar, and! found out this year's nominees for The Manly Wade Wellman Award.

As usual, let's start with some highlights from events that are right around the corner:

• June 6 (Saturday) 8:15 pm

Posted in newsletter

Coming to Town: Darin Kennedy for The Mussorgsky Riddle, at Flyleaf Books this Sunday

Posted on 2015-06-05 at 20:10 by montsamu

As I wrote in the intro for his The Hardest Part essay: "Charlotte “doctor by day, novelist by night” Darin Kennedy‘s debut novel, The Mussorgsky Riddle, is squarely right up my alley. “The Great Gate of Kiev” (part of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition) is one of my favorite pieces of Russian symphony, and Kennedy turns the mythopoeity up to “11” combining music, paranormal mystery, and classical mythology in a heady, panpsychic mix. All set in Charlotte — and the infinite mindscapes therein." In that

Posted in Coming to Town | Tagged darin kennedy, flyleaf books

The Hardest Part: David Afsharirad on The Year’s Best Military Science Fiction and Space Opera

Posted on 2015-06-03 at 16:18 by montsamu

I think that I first met David Afsharirad at an NCSU MFA get together a year years ago now, ahead of fall classes getting started one late summer. With his trademark thick-black-rimmed glasses and friendly, casual air, I looked forward to seeing him around at readings and other events, catching up on what he was reading, how his writing and teaching were going. I was beyond thrilled when he joined Baen Books as a consulting editor and copywriter, and still, my eyes opened pretty widely when Baen announced A

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged baen, david afsharirad

Paul Kincaid's From the Other Side, May 2015: The Clarke Awards and new releases from Kirsty Logan, Peter Higgins, and Paolo Bacigalupi

Posted on 2015-06-02 at 16:09 by montsamu

From the Other Side, May 2015 By Paul Kincaid

[Editor’s Note: From the Other Side is Paul Kincaid’s monthly column on books and news from the other side of the Atlantic.]

One of these days I will discover why literary events in Britain are so drawn to venues like this: large but low-ceilinged, so that it is hot and loud. I came out of this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award, held on the top floor of the new Foyles bookshop in London, with a sore throat because every conversation had to be shouted. At least

Posted in From the Other Side | Tagged paul kincaid

Coming to Town: Marie Brennan for Voyage of the Basilisk, at Quail Ridge Books and Flyleaf Books, with Mary Robinette Kowal

Posted on 2015-05-11 at 14:33 by montsamu

Fantasy author Marie Brennan is on tour for Voyage of the Basilisk, the third novel in her Memoirs of Lady Trent series which began with the World Fantasy Award nominated A Natural History of Dragons. Once again, she's touring with fellow fantasy novelist Mary Robinette Kowal, and this time, as Kowal and I hoped at about this time last year in Kowal's now-yearly return to her Raleigh hometown, Brennan will be joining Kowal for not one but three reading in North Carolina next week: Monday (May 18th) at

Posted in Coming to Town | Tagged flyleaf books, lady trent, malaprops bookstore, marie brennan, mary robinette kowal, quail ridge books