This coming weekend, Angry Robot authors and Overlords will be strutting their funky stuff (Oh, no!) to the musical stylings of Mr Craig Charles as well as lounging in various bars and appearing on panels and signing books – you know the drill.

Authors appearing:
Dan Abnett, Adam Christopher, Anne Lyle, Andy Remic, David Tallerman, Lavie Tidhar, Guy Haley and Ian Whates

And the Angry Robot office crew:
Marc Gascoigne, Lee Harris, Darren Turpin, and Amanda Rutter

These are the various panels/signings we’ll be taking part in (Angry Robots are listed in bold):

FRIDAY

12.00pm – The Bar is Open

3.00pm – Elf Preservation
Gav Thorpe, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Graham McNeill, Juliet McKenna and Joe Abercrombie ponder if it’s really fantasy if it doesn’t have magic and monsters. Jared Shurin hosts.

3.00pm – Signing: Dan Abnett and Adam Christopher

4.00pm – Using History
Adam Christopher, Paul Cornell, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Pat Kelleher and Maria Dahvana Headley talk about how the past can help your fiction. Hosted by Sandy Auden.

5.00pm – How do you put the Punk into Steampunk?
Lavie Tidhar, Stephen Hunt and Robert Rankin talk to Jonathan Green.

5.00pm – Signing: Guy Haley and Gav Thorpe

6.00pm – How to get Published
Anne Lyle, Anne Clarke and others. Guy Haley hosts the discussion.

6.00pm – Signing: Andy Remic and Lavie Tidhar

SATURDAY

12.00pm – Space Opera
Dan Abnett, Peter F Hamilton, Jaine Fenn, Michael Cobley and Aaron Dembski-Bowden ask if books are the only medium flying the flag for spaceships. Alastair Reynolds hosts.

1.00pm – Ready, Steady, Flash!
Lee Harris challenges Paul Cornell, Stacia Kane, Tony Lee and Juliet E McKenna to write short stories in just five minutes.

4.00pm – It’s not a Story – It’s a Map!
David Tallerman, Ian Whates, China Miéville and Gaie Sebold wonder: does fantasy place world-building over character? Juliet E McKenna hosts.

5.00pm – Signing: David Tallerman and Ian Whates

_____________

*Disclaimer: Applicable only to people near Prestatyn, Wales.

It’s that time of the year, again – FantasyCon is once more upon us.

As ever, Angry Robot will be out in force. If you’re in Brighton this weekend, do pop along and say “Hi.” It’s well-worth attending.

Here’s where we’ll be (other folk will also be on these panels, of course):

Friday
2.00pm
Adam Christopher and Lee Harris on the panel Maintaining Your Online Presence

3.00pm
Guy Adams in Making a Living as a Writer

4.00pm
Gary McMahon in Has Crossover Overtaken Genre?
Adam Christopher – Reading from his debut novel, Empire State

10.30pm
Gary McMahon Reading

Saturday
10.00am
Marc Gascoigne in Judging a Book by its Cover

11.00am
Peter Crowther – Book Launch: Darkness Falling
(Pre-order your copy of the Limited Edition Hardback here with FREE eBook!)

1.00pm
Dan Abnett in Where Next in SF?

2.00pm
Adam Christopher in New Genre Voices

2.30pm
Anne Lyle Reading

4.00pm
Dan Abnett in Comics: Indies vs Majors

4.30pm
Mike Shevdon Reading

5.00pm
Ian Whates interviews Guest of Honour, Gwyneth Jones

9.00pm
Peter Crowther in Favourite Books

10.00pm
Guy Adams in Tie-In and Series Fiction

11.00pm
Guy Adams – guest DJ in Sarah Pinborough’s Disco of Doom*

Sunday
10.00am
Ian Whates in How to Market your Novel/Book

11.30am
Guy Adams Reading

1.00pm
BFS Banquet and Awards Ceremony
Includes Best Novel category, in which Pretty Little Dead Things by Gary McMahon is shortlisted.

___

*Might not be the actual title

If you’re going to Conflux, Australia’s premier SF convention, at the end of the month, be sure to join a trio of our best authors for some metallic fun and games. Out in force and pressing the flesh of all you grateful meat-things will be local Robot representatives Jo Anderton, Trent Jamieson and Kaaron Warren, for a full hour of meet & greet & readings plus (we’re told/warned) some appropriately AR-themed refreshments.

Oh, if only we could be there too… (don’t finish that sentence).

So head on over thattaway for an exclusive sneak-read of a chapter from Adam Christopher‘s wondrous Empire State, a whole five months before it’s published.

Yes, really. Fly, fly now!

Lauren Beukes

Wed 16:00 – 17:00
Social Media, Online Technologies, and the Way We will Live

Wed 18:00 – 19:00
Literary Beer: Hall 2 Bar

Thu 09:00 – 10:00
Stroll with The Stars

Thu 12:00 – 13:00
Where to Start With Comics E1

Thu 16:00 – 17:00
Futuristic Fashion and Wearable Art D05

Fri 10:00 – 12:00
Writers Workshop (Already fully booked, sorry!)

Fri 14:00 – 14:30
Reading: Lauren Beukes A15

Fri 17:00 – 18:00
The Future of Cities A01+6

Sat 12:00 – 13:00
Meet the Campbell Award Nominees A03

Sun 12:00 – 13:00
Autographing: Sun 12:00 Hall 2

Aliette de Bodard

Wed 13:00 – 14:00
Molecular Gastronomy: When You have more Gadgets in Your Kitchen than Your Mom (Panel), A04 (RSCC)

Wed 16:00 – 17:00
Interview with Aliette de Bodard (Interview), A09 (RSCC)

Thu 14:00 – 15:00
Autographing: Thu 14:00 (Autographing), Hall 2 Autographs (RSCC)

Thu 15:30 – 16:00
Reading: Aliette de Bodard (Reading), A14 (RSCC).

Fri 11:00 – 12:00
Minority Representation in SF Art and the Ugly Reality (Panel), D05 (RSCC)

Fri 16:00 – 17:00
F*** Your Knight and the Horse He Rode in on: Fantasy Series not Based on Medieval European Culture (Panel), A10 (RSCC)

Sat 11:00 – 12:00
KaffeeKlatsch: Sat 11:00 (KaffeeKlatsch), KK1 (RSCC)

Sat 1:30pm-3:00pm
Lunch meeting

Sat 16:00 – 17:00
Cross-Cultural Influences in SF (Panel), A03 (RSCC)

Lee Harris

Thu 11:00 – 12:00
Angry Robot (Publisher Presentation), A11

Thu 15:00 – 16:00
KaffeeKlatsch: Thu 15:00 (KaffeeKlatsch), KK1

Fri 11:00 – 12:00
Minority Representation in SF Art and the Ugly Reality (Panel), D05

Fri 16:00 – 17:00
Beyond _Doctor Who_: The Rest of British SF on TV (Panel), A05

Sat 10:00 – 11:00
Web Publishing and the Future of Magazines (Panel), A16

Sun 11:00 – 12:00
There’s a Bimbo on my e-Book! (Panel), A09

We hope to see some of you there.

Aliette de Bodard
Signing at Borderland Books in San Francisco on Sunday Aug 7th, 3.00pm-4.30pm.
Various panels and kaffeklatches at Renovation (WorldCon) from Aug 17th-21st.

Lauren Beukes
Appearance on FCC Free Radio, 14th Aug, between 12.00 and 2.00pm
Reading at Mid-Manhattan Library, NY, Monday 15th Aug, 6.30pm
Appearance at KGB Bar, NY, Tuesday Aug 16th, 7.00pm
Signing at Borderland Books in San Francisco, Sunday Aug 21st, 7.00pm-8.00pm
Appearance on Studio 360, airdates to be confirmed.
Various panels and kaffeklatches at Renovation (WorldCon) from Aug 17th-21st.
Possibly more to come…

Matt Forbeck, Maurice Broaddus
Attending and signing at Gen Con, Indiana, Aug 4th-7th.

If you are at any of these events, make sure you stop and say Hi.

Ian will be signing copies of both of his books in the City of a Hundred Rows series, (City of Dreams and Nightmare and City of Hope and Despair) while Gary will be signing copies of Pretty Little Dead Things (the first book in his Thomas Usher series – keep an eye out for book two Dead Bad Things) later this year.

After the signing there will be a chance for a quick panel discussion, followed by a short meet and greet in the bookstores own bar.

A bunch of other authors and SF personalities will be in attendance, including Mike Wild, Pat Kelleher, Alwyn Turner and Nev Fountain.

Don’t forget – we’ll be launching all three of these titles at Waterstones Birmingham High Street tomorrow at 12.30, and repeating the signing at Camp Stulag EasterCon at 4.00pm, for those of you incarcerated for the weekend. Dan and Andy will be on-hand to sign (unfortunately, Matthew Hughes will be stuck in Italy – when he could be in Birmingham!).

Also signing their books, of course, are: Lauren Beukes, Thomas Blackthorne (John Meaney), Aliette de Bodard, Colin Harvey, Ian Whates and Lavie Tidhar.

And to get you in the mood (not saying what mood), there’s a trailer below for Vampire Warlords made by the author.

Un:Bound Video
After a few teething problems, the team at Un:Bound have launched their pilot video magazine, Un:Bound Video Editions. There’s a lot crammed into the half-hour, including a behind-the-scenes at Tor, some author interviews, Alasdair Stuart being kind and mean at the same time, and yours truly, giving the first in a series of publishing tips.

Access the fun and mayhem here.

First up, Andy Remic (author of Kell’s Legend and Soul Stealers as well as a bunch of stuff for other folk). Andy will be popping into Waterstones, Lincoln this Friday (12th November) to sign some stock. He’s not doing a formal signing, as Katie Price (the model formerly known as Jordan) is doing one, instead. So, do pop along – he’ll be happy to chat and sign something for you.

Staying with Rem for the moment, he’s also involved in a three-way (signing) with Frazer Hines and Sam Stone at Bookmark - an independent bookstore on The Crescent in Spalding. That’s from 11am-1pm on Saturday 20th November.

A little further down the line, Pretty Little Dead Things author Gary McMahon will be signing with fellow horror scribes, Paul Kane and Joseph D’Lacey at Waterstones, Nottingham on Friday 10th December. Tickets are £3 (redeemable against books bought on the night) – and the first 20 ticket purchasers will receive a free book on arrival! Gore-off is at 6.30pm! To reserve tickets call: 0115 948 4499 or email:events@nottingham.waterstones.com

And a new review has just come in:

SFX Magazine says of Pretty Little Dead Things:

“A scene where Usher is menaced by hooded figures is vividly executed… there’s some genuinely revolting material.”

WarpCore SF tells us:

the mood in Gary McMahon’s Pretty Little Dead Things is heavy with grief, foreboding, and the taint of weird magic, and it’s so thick you can stir it with a spoon. It’s the taste of ash in your mouth, and it’s absolutely delicious…

It’s the graveyard atmosphere and the strong, credible emotions of the main character that will leave Thomas Usher indelibly inked on your consciousness.

5 *****