Tag Archives: books

Book Launch Events for “Burnt Ice”

There are two Wellington book launches planned for “Burnt Ice” by New Zealand author Steve Wheeler.

1  Saturday, 14 April noon until 2pm at the Weta Cave, 1 Weka St Miramar

2  Tuesday, 1 May at 7pm at Whitcoulls Lambton Quay.

To find out more about “Burnt Ice”, why not take a look at the SFFANZ review of it over here. Or read this article about Steve on Stuff.

Some Notes
- Yes we do know there are two Whitcoulls on Lambton Quay. [EDIT] We checked, it is the one that used to be Borders.
- There may be some other events around the country for “Burnt Ice”, we will update those as we find out more.
- Can’t make the events above? Why not attend unCONventional. Steve will be there and you can have a chance to hear him read his work and do signings.

Blog Tour for “The Gathering of the Lost”

Helen Lowe has been out and about taking a tour to promote the launch of her latest book “The Gathering of the Lost”. The tour in question is an electronic one, going around the blog world. Check out the following destinations:

On the Harper Voyager Site announcing the launch.

Chatting on Plains FM – this is an audio download.

On Trent Jamiesons Blog – Helen Lowe on Romance vs Reality: War & Conflict in Epic Fantasy and “The Gathering of the Lost”.

On the Orbit site – Celebrating “The Gathering of the Lost” & The Power of Environment.

On John Scalzi’s Whatever – The Big Idea & “The Gathering of the Lost”.

And finally on SF Signal – Celebrating Epic Fantasy (PLUS: Giveaway for “The Gathering of the Lost”!)

Ray Guns & Rocket Ships

In early December 2010, Fred Fastier, inaugural Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Otago, donated a 1200 strong collection of Science Fiction titles (magazines and books) to the Special Collections, University of Otago. This collection forms the basis of the exhibition ‘Ray Guns & Rocket Ships. The Fred Fastier Science Fiction Collection’, which begins in the de Beer Gallery, Special Collections, University of Otago, on 23 March 2012 and runs through to 15th June 2012. Hours: 8.30 to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday

Tales From The Bell Club is open for submissions.

‘Tales from the Bell Club’ anthology is open for submissions. Paying US$25.00 for each story accepted. Open until December 23rd at the moment. Click
here for more information.

Release date: April 2012
Genre: Horror
We are now inviting submissions within the following guidelines for ‘Tales From The Bell Club’

Gentleman’s Clubs were fine establishments made famous by various books, radio play series’ and films. The clubs were places where explorers and adventurers would gather and tell stories of their adventures in exotic locations.

The Bell Club is different. Instead of being an adventurer’s club – it is an establishment that restricts its membership to those who have experienced unspeakable horror.

Successful membership requires the applicant to tell a story – and if the members find it disturbing enough – the applicant is granted access. It’s like a nascent support group for the traumatised.

No one judges or questions the stories told – because all the members have seen such things as no man can rationalise – and who are they to judge if a fellow storyteller is lying, mad or hallucinating?

By its nature the stories are set in the early years of the 20th Century, with male or female protagonists.

The submission guidelines are:

1. Stories must be suitable to be told in The Bell Club. A Gentleman’s Club (which does allow women members) where the members relate their personal stories of horrors they have witnessed or experienced.

2. The stories are being told in a setting between the years 1885 and 1935. The story should reflect this time setting, with exceptions suitable to the specific narrative.

3. Each story must be of a personal horror nature (and can include supernatural, monstrous, and other weird fiction elements). Tales that are told are where the protagonist experienced horror personally.

4. The stories are being narrated by the protagonist to other club members. This means stories should be told in the first person perspective (unless an exception fits the particular narrative style) but MUST be told from personal experience..

5. Stories should be in keeping with the setting in which the stories are told – so turn of the century knowledge, beliefs, cultural norms (1885-1935)

6. Story length should be between 3-10K words

7. No pornography. Gore, offensive language and sexual content should be within the context of the setting and cultural norms of the time period.

What rights do we want?

First publishing rights (print digital and audio), the right to use the story for as long as there is demand for the book, the right to edit each story for any missed grammatical errors, and the right to use parts of the book and the author’s name for promotion. You will keep all other rights and can republish the story anytime you choose after publication.

This is currently an open submission period. Submissions to remain open until filled or closing date is chosen. The anthology will be published by Knight Watch Press in Spring 2012.

Send submissions with standard manuscript formatting to:

paul@brokensea.com

Payment for your accepted submissions will be $25, one contributors copy (eBook) and a 25% off the cover price when buying at least 5 copies directly from KnightWatch.

ISBN – 978-0-9876914-5-3
Publisher: KnightWatch Press
Website:http://knightwatchpress.info/bell.html

Michael Hart – Project Gutenberg

Michael Hart, who died on September 6 aged 64, was the father of Project Gutenberg, a seemingly quixotic scheme to copy the texts of tens of thousands of books into electronic form and distribute them for free; he thus gave birth to what has become known as the ebook revolution.
View the obit here.

Book Launch: Too Many Zeros

Geoff Palmer and Penguin Books invite you to the launch of Too many Zeros. The book is described as “A Sci-Fi adventure for young adults”.

The launch event, including drinks and nibbles, is to be held at 6pm on Wednesday 17th August. The venue is The Children’s Bookshop, 26 Kilbirnie Plaza, Kilbirnie, Wellington.

If you wish to attend, please RSVP to books@thechildrensbookshop.co.nz

Too Many Zeros

Tales for Canterbury

Radio New Zealand’s ‘Art on Sunday’ programme has an item on Tales for Canterbury at 2.30.

Have a listen and order your copy here.

(replay radio MP3 link here.)

The Southern Cross Novel Challenge

The Southern Cross Novel Challenge (SoCNoC, pronounced “sock-nock”), hosted by KiwiWriters.org, encourages aspiring and veteran novelists alike to write a 50,000 word novel (or add 50,000 words to an existing novel or story collection) in the 30 days of June. At midnight on June 1st writers will dive into a no holds barred month of creation, manic typing, frantic plotting and late nights of fantasy.

Kiwi Writers co-founder Kerryn Angell says that sometimes the hardest thing is to just sit down and write. “Online challenges were a huge help to my own writing, but there just weren’t enough out there and some of them didn’t fit in so well with the southern hemisphere calendar. In the 4 years since Kiwi Writers began, I’m amazed at what our members have achieved.”

Staff member Anna Caro adds that it’s about more than just the 50,000 words. “There’s a great sense of community on the site, with members discussing everything from initial ideas to publication. Plus we run challenges all year round, for short stories, novellas, poetry and some planning exercises.”

The Kiwi Writers website is at: http://www.kiwiwriters.org.
Contact Kiwi Writers by email at: kiwiwriters@gmail.com

Steampunk Podcast

 

 

Tales from the Archives, the official podcast of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences (an upcoming series of steampunk novels by SpecFicNZ member Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris) has launched.

The MOPO website will feature installments of stories from the wonderful steampunk world Pip and Tee have created, starting with episode one which is available HERE.

Coming from Harper Voyager books in May 2011, the first of the books Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series is Phoenix Rising.

 

 

 

An Interview with Mary Victoria, author of “Samiha’s Song” – with giveaway

Tymon’s Flight author, Mary Victoria, is interviewed on Helen Lowe’s ” … on Anything, Really” blog today, talking about the newly released Samiha’s Song (HarperVoyager), the second in her Chronicles of the Tree trilogy—and discusses the characters, the expansion in focus, and the ideas driving both this new book and the series.

To celebrate the release of Samiha’s Song, Mary will be giving away a signed book set of both Tymon’s Flight and Samiha’s Song, to be drawn from those who comment on the interview.

To read the interview, click here.

Preview of Samiha’s Song available

As reported last week, Samiha’s Song by Mary Victoria will be released on February 1st, 2011 with a launch party on Saturday 5th February at the Weta Cave.

Now Harper Collins have made the first few chapters of Samiha’s Song available on their web site for you to get a preview before the launch. A preview of the first book in the Chronicles of the Tree series, Tymon’s Flight, is also available on the site.

Buy a NZ Book Day -5 March 2011

kiwiwriters.org.nz and NZ Book Month brings you Buy a NZ Book Day.

You can support New Zealand authors and booksellers by purchasing a book by a Nw Zealand author on March 5th.

Before then, spread the word any way you can so we can all support the New Zealand book industry.

For more information on Buy a NZ Book Day please visit www.kiwiwriters.org.

Book Launch – Samiha’s Song by Mary Victoria

Samiha’s Song by Mary Victoria is the second book in The Chronicles of the Tree. It will be released on February 1st, 2011.

There will be a launch party on Saturday 5th February at 1pm at the Weta Cave (cnr Weka st and Camperdown Rd) in Miramar, Wellington. Come one, come all!

Meet the Artists Behind White Cloud Worlds

Weta Cave is hosting a Signing Session/Question & Answer for White Cloud Worlds on Sunday Nov 14th 1-4pm.

White Cloud Worlds is “An Anthology Of Science Fiction And Fantasy Artwork From Aotearoa New Zealand” edited by Paul Tobin. It has been produced by Weta and publishers Harper Collins. The book is available now for sale.

The event will be held at Weta Cave, 1 Weka St, Miramar, Wellington. Admission to the signing/Q&A is free. An exclusive competition is also running at Weta Cave in November for customers who purchase the slipcase edition of the book.

NZ Speculative Fiction Gift Guide

With the gift giving season looming, the question has to be asked, “why not give a book as a gift?” Anna Caro has produced a NZ Speculative Fiction Gift Guide. This guide list a group of recently produced and readily available works by New Zealand authors and publishers. The list has a deliberate spread of styles – science fiction, fantasy, YA, humour, poetry, art etc. Notes are provided to help you choose, as well as tell you where you can find these books.

Of course, books aren’t just for giving. You should think about buying them as a treat for yourself too. The PDF of the guide is available here.

Vote for your favourite books with New Zealand Book Month 2011

New Zealand Book Month wants readers across the country to go online and vote for their five favourite books, and share their story of the book that changed their life. Voting is open until the end of October, and reader votes will then be collated into a series of reading recommendations for New Zealand Book Month in March 2011.

Voting is open to everyone in New Zealand, and NZBM is offering a prize every day for voters – including new book releases, themed book packs worth over $100, and book vouchers to help with Christmas shopping – thanks to generous support from publishers and booksellers.