Results tagged “bantam spectra”

I am almost recovered from the San Diego Comic Con!

Almost.

Next year I think I am going to wear a mile counter on my ankle and find out how many miles I walk per day over the same ground—back and forth, back and forth.

At any rate, I still have a bit of news to bring to you all, and this one is about Terry Brooks. Like many authors who attend a Comic Con, Terry had a panel, had a signing or two and then had some meetings. The panels are always fun. They are made up of a large room filled with people from different backgrounds and reading experiences, and often their questions are even those I have not heard in my ten years as his webmaster.

Suvudu was there to tape the panel.

It comes to you in seven YouTube videos. The opening of the panel is Terry talking about Landover with his editor in chief, Betsy Mitchell, among other things. Later, after Betsy and editor Anne Groell talk briefly about what is coming from Del Rey/Bantam, Terry answers more questions from his fans.

Due to a down microphone, Betsy’s voice is a bit low, but you can hear Terry perfectly.

Hope you enjoy! And remember! A Princess of Landover comes out on August 18th!

Continue onward for the rest of the panel!

So I’m supposed to be working throughout the day—and (if my bosses are reading) I am! But part of my job is to run our @bantamspectra Twitter account. Which I do—with perhaps too great a frequency.

The problem is, I get into some fascinating conversations with my followers (the fact that I consider them my followers is irrelevant for this discussion), and yesterday was a great example of starting with a small topic, and it exploding into something quite fascinating.

It all started with the rather (or so I thought) innocuous query:

Do you know and/or care about the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance?

The response was, while perhaps not overwhelming, surely whelming.

Two camps seemed to set up: those that did know the difference and didn’t care, and those who did know the difference and did.

As @Tupholos said: “Don’t care. I suppose people with strong pos or neg feelings for one or the other might care. I like ‘em both.”

@LynnAAR added: “I read both PR and UF, so no. However, I do like to know what genre I’m buying.” When I asked her if it was so she knew what she was getting into, she replied: “Exactly. If a book is well-written, I’ll like it regardless, but I still like to know what I’m picking up.”

So even those who don’t care actually do care to a degree, in that their immediate selections (what they decided to read) were made fully cognizant that they were holding either paranormal romance or urban fantasy.

For my followers, then, the difference was important, if only so that they were geared up (in the right frame of mind) for the book they were about to read.

(Getting into the meat of things, after the jump—including books that readers of both UF and PR should enjoy)

This long article is about author George R. R. Martin and, more importantly, the misgivings and negativity some of his more vocal fans have concerning the lateness of his forthcoming book, A Dance With Dragons.

George really needs no introduction. Since the release of A Game of Thrones in 1996, he has been a growing fixture in the fantasy genre, his fan base growing with every release of his series, A Song of Ice & Fire. In November 2005, Time magazine branded George the ‘American Tolkien.’ While I believe that remains to be seen—after all the series is not yet finished and I must read the entirety of it to truly give such a grand title associated with J.R.R. Tolkien—the one thing I am certain of is A Song of Ice & Fire is an extremely powerful story that invokes passion in all who read it.

That passion is a double-edged sword, able to cut an enemy as quickly as its bearer. While the four books and two short stories that comprise A Song of Ice & Fire are universally garnered as being some of the best storytelling ever, animosity swirls around George. The fourth book, A Feast For Crows, took five years to be published and it contained only half of the characters fans have come to love. Upon publishing A Feast For Crows, George posted that he was near to completing the other half of the story, A Dance With Dragons, with the novel coming to bookstores quickly.

That was three years ago and A Dance With Dragons is still not complete.

This has aroused a great deal of anger for many of George’s fans. Five years is a long time to wait for a sequel to arguably one of the best fantasy series of all time, especially when most writers are able to produce sequels between one and three years. But as I’ve come to discover, anger is one of the least logical emotions we possess; it can lead people to conclusions that are not wholly accurate—if not down right wrong. Much of the animosity I see written about George and his lateness is colored by that kind of anger and, while I believe there are two instances where fans of A Song of Ice & Fire are more than allowed their ire, most of it lacks any authenticity whatsoever.

This article hopes to dispel some of those erroneous angry feelings and assumptions out there—or at least give a different side to things that most readers probably have not thought of.

Tall order, I know.

Bantam Spectra has just launched the Spectra Pulse Short Fiction Contest, the first fiction contest by the imprint for unpublished writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. One lucky winner will receive $100 and have his/her story published in the Summer 2009 issue of Spectra Pulse, Bantam Spectra’s exclusive magazine distributed at Comic-Con San Diego and select conventions and bookstores (available July 2009). The deadline for entries is January 31, 2009. The winning story will be announced in April 2009.

Click here for full details and entry rules.

In Spring and Summer 2008 Bantam Spectra debuted the premier issue of Spectra Pulse, a special collectible magazine with articles, short stories, and excerpts from its authors.

Bantam Spectra is giving away fifteen autographed copies of this limited edition magazine signed by contributors George R. R. Martin, Jeff VanderMeer, Elizabeth Bear and Catherynne M. Valente.

To enter, become a friend or fan of Spectra Pulse on Facebook or MySpace. On October 27th, fifteen winners will be selected randomly from Bantam Spectra’s Facebook and MySpace fans and friends.

Author Connie Willis signed copies of her novel Passage for fans at the Bantam Spectra booth at San Diego ComicCon. She’ll be returning on Sunday, March 27th at 11:00 AM to once again greet fans and sign copies of her novel Bellwether. Watch the video below of the in-booth signing.

Author Lynn Flewelling (and bodyguard) signing copies of her book Shadows Return at the Bantam Spectra booth at San Diego ComicCon.

Author Greg Rucka signs copies of his book Patriot Acts for fans and talks about what’s next for Atticus Kodiak, Tara Chace, and Queen & Country at the Bantam Spectra booth at San Diego ComicCon.

Author David J. Williams greeted fans at the Bantam Spectra booth and signed copies of his new book The Mirrored Heavens. Check out video of the signing below.

Because learning how to do this is a funny thing. It’s a strange art. A lot of folks out there will tell you get out there, go listen to how people talk. Sit in a bar. Eavesdrop on conversations.

Wrong.

Or at least: mostly wrong. By all means, listen in on conversations. You should be doing this anyway: Alfred Bester once wrote that writers are like magpies—always looking for shiny objects, be they plot threads, ideas, or … dialogue. An overheard phrase can be a nice acquisition. Who knows where you might be able to use it? But as to studying the rhythms of normal speech in order to replicate that on the page …

Forget it.

Because normal speech is tedious. It’s inexact. It’s filled with uhs, ums, and ers. And it’s usually duller than stale dogshit. Which is why in narrative you’re (generally) not going for normal dialogue. You’re going for idealized dialogue. You’re trying to capture what the French call the l’esprit d’escalier:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27esprit_de_l%27escalier

As in, the perfect line that you could have used as a rejoinder at the party had you actually thought of it while you were at the party. Only you didn’t. You thought of it while you were heading down the stairs to leave the building. Real life can suck that way.