Welcome to Biting-Edge, a blog shared by authors and vampire experts, Mario Acevedo and Jeanne Stein. We’ll cover urban fantasy, vampires, pop culture, and all things Joss Whedon. Unlike other fantasy blogs, we don’t insist on body cavity searches (unless you ask politely). Snarkiness is most welcome...though we won't promise not to bite back!
Stacia Kane:
and Molly Harper (something chick-litish from her):
All worthy of your consideration and $ so check them out.
Also, good news for fans of Jeff Shelby's Noah Braddock series. From Publishers Marketplace:
Jeff Shelby's LIQUID SMOKE, the third in the LA Times and Denver Post bestselling Noah Braddock series, (sold) to Benjamin LeRoy and Alison Janssen at Tyrus Books, for publication in Spring 2011, by Stacia Decker at the Donald Maass Literary Agency (NA).
And:
Jeff Shelby writing under a pseudonym's STAY AT HOME DEAD, in the first in the stay-at-home dad Deuce Winters series, Deuce must clear his name with the help of a fedora-wearing midget P.I. after Deuce's former high school football rival turns up dead in his minivan, to Peter Senftleben at Kensington, in a three-book deal, by Stacia Decker at the Donald Maass Literary Agency (World).
Nice!! It's about time!
As for me, I believe there is still time to get in on the Borders Blog give-away for Chosen here .
From the New York Times July 26
The novelist Janet Evanovich has taken her scrappy bounty-hunter heroine Stephanie Plum to Random House leaving her longtime publisher, St. Martin’s Press, after more than two months of negotiations fell through. “We’ve had a good relationship, and I truly am sorry that we’re unable to come to terms,” said Matthew Shear, publisher at St. Martin’s Press. “But it’s a negotiation like anything else and it didn’t work. And I hope it works well for her elsewhere.” Mr. Shear declined to comment on a report on Deadline.com that Ms. Evanovich had sought $50 million as an advance for her next four novels. Random House said on Monday that Ms. Evanovich had jumped to its Ballantine Bantam Dell imprint; it acquired the world rights to four new novels, including two Stephanie Plum tales and two in Ms. Evanovich’s “Unmentionable” series. Random House declined to disclose the financial terms of the contract. Ms. Evanovich has been with St. Martin’s Press since the publication of “Four to Score,” the fourth novel in her Stephanie Plum series, in 1998. Her last 11 novels have made their debut at No. 1 on The New York Times’s best-seller list, and her 33 novels have combined sales of more than 75 million copies worldwide, according to Random House.
As usual, my picture taking at ComicCon was lame at best. But I did snap a few costumes worthy of mention.
This woman was about seven feet tall. I assume she had elevator shoes under all those feathers and I didn't get a good perspective because there were about a gazillion people milling around, but it was something.
They had both one of the machines from Avatar and the Iron Man suit at booths. Pretty impressive.
And I took this kid because he had the most gorgeous face I've seen in a long time--okay, I'm old, but I'm not dead!!
This is the only blurry photo I have of the panel, Fang Girls and Boys:
Left to right: Rachel Caine, Chris Farnsworth, Chris Marie Green, Charlaine Harris, Richelle Mead, Me. Heather Brewer was to the far left and didn't make the shot. Moderator was Brian Truitt who did a terrific job. It was fun. Especially being in such stellar company,
I think that might be it for the day. Off to finish an article for an anthology called Whedonistas. Right up my alley. ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 4:47 AM 20 comments
This last weekend, Jeanne and I deployed to the mother of all fantasy cons: Comic-Con in San Diego. Ginormous. And overwhelming.
I kept hearing that attendance was upward of 150 thousand, which sounds right. This picture is about one twentieth of the exhibition floor, plus there was more on the mezzanine, the second floor, and outside.
It was geek eye-candy HQ for all costume persuasions.
We had super heros, space villains, cartoon confections, but really, what's a fantasy con without pirates! Especially with big hair and smiles!
The con was more than sight-seeing, it was work for us pros. I dropped by the HarperCollins booth and touched base with my editor, Diana Gill.
Here's Lauren Panepinto of Orbit books shamelessly pimping Nicole Peeler.
But the magic of the experience is about friends. Meeting old ones. Making new ones. While the costumes and gee-whiz factor are through the roof, it’s sharing the vibe with friends that makes attending cons such a special treat.
At the signing set up by Maryelizabeth Hart of the awesome bookstore, Mysterious Galaxy, I got to share the stage with several amazing fantasy authors: Merrie Destefano, Jocelynn Drake, Richard Kadrey, Lauren Kate, Marjorie Liu, and Tanya Huff.
I met the excellent comic book artist Dale Berry, of Myriad Publishing.
At my signing in the IDW booth, I heard those words that so warm the cockles of our little writerly hearts: Hey, aren’t you? I have your books!
Here I am with Leah, one such fan.
Later on, I sat on two of IDW’s panels where I basked in the limelight reflected off are Max Brooks (World War Z) and Chris Ryall, IDW Publisher.
At the Military in Comics panel, I met the talented Billy Tucci, who’s the man behind the award-winning Sgt Rock The Lost Battalion graphic novel. Billy and Army captain Justin Hurt (in civilian drag) in Tucci’s booth.
As amazing as the con was, it became too much and you needed a breather. (And a drink. Or two.)
Fortunately, the convention center is beside the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego, street party central.
Random celebrity sightings included the affable Rob Lowe.
Rachel Marks, Jocelynn Drake, John Picacio, and Merrie Destefano huddle for the camera at the Harper party.
The Penguin party brought out the sultry Leaguer Diana Rowland and Night Shade publisher Jeremy Lassen, who got their groove on.
And a night on the town without music and dancing? Especially Brazilian style. Unforgivable! Shake it baby!
See you next year!
Wait! There's more!
Jeanne is guest blogging at Borders.com for her new book, Chosen. Drop by and you might win prizes.
Welcome to io9
Will True Blood's Sookie ever become a vampire? Charlaine Harris has the answer.
Labels: Charalaine Harris, io9
¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 6:52 AM 7 comments
Anyway, off to the con today. Will bring my camera and see what comes up (or passes by).
PS Been here three days already and no sun!! Course coming from Denver, I love it!!
Here's the view from my friend's condo and the anniversary dinner we shared at Azuki--best sushi bar in San Diego. Note the cucumber martinis... yum!!!
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Pam is the conference chair (twice in fact) for the annual Colorado Gold Conference. Her debut novel, Chances, won the Holt Medallion Award and was a Willa Finalist. Hoo-rah!
On other news, Charlie Huston's novel, The Mystic Arts for Erasing All Signs of Death, has been green lighted by HBO. Those of you with Hollywood experience know this means simply, stay tuned. Until then, do yourselves a favor and read Huston's hard-boiled prose in a weird, horrific, and funny tale about the people who do crime scene clean-up.
Labels: Charlie Huston, Comic Con, DASFA, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Sweet Action
¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 6:19 PM 5 comments
Okay, first-- Book Chick City is doing a series called "Where Stories Are Made" and I'm the featured author this week! Hop on over for a peek at my inner sanctum. It was a fun piece to work on. In fact, you might want to bookmark this site because it's always full of fun things.
Second, July is Sci Fi/ Fantasy month over at Tor. One of my stories, The Ghost of Leadville, can be read for free here . Thanks to editor Heather Osborn for inviting me. Heather and I had some fun at RomCon this past weekend. I believe Mario will post pics on Monday.
Third, I heard from my editor that Chosen will have the largest initial print run of all my books so far...that's good news and bad news...Now the nail biting starts. I have to SELL all those books!!! Thanks to everyone who has preordered. That has a lot to do with how many books they decide to print and I appreciate your support.
And last but not least, next week is ComicCon in San Diego. I haven't had a chance to look over the entire program, but this panel jumped right out at me:
Thursday 3:30-4:30 Entertainment Weekly: The Visionaries— A discussion with geek gods J. J. Abrams (Star Trek) and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) on the future of pop culture. EW presents an in-depth conversation with these two creative geniuses about how technology, gaming, and global culture are reshaping how we tell and consume stories on television, film and the web. Plus: Is the superhero movie waning, or is it on the cusp of reinvention? And what do they think the pop culture universe will look like a decade from now? Moderated by Jeff "Doc" Jensen. Hall H
Can you say WOW!!
And speaking of wow, here's my panel:
Saturday 12:00-1:00* Fang Girls and Fang Boys: The Popularity of Vampire Lit *
Authors of vampire fiction for young adults and adults discuss the appeal of their worlds and characters. Authors include: GOC *Charlaine Harris* (The Sookie Stackhouse Series), *Heather Brewer* (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod), *Rachel Caine* (The Morganville Vampires series), *Christopher Farnsworth* (*Blood Oath: The President’s Vampire*), *Chris Marie Green* (The Vampire Babylon series), *Richelle Mead* (The Vampire Academy series), and *Jeanne C. Stein*(The Anna Strong series). Moderator: *Brian Truitt*, Associate Editor | *USA** Weekend Magazine/USA Today* Room 7AB
What a line-up. I can hardly wait. If you'd like to peruse the entire schedule, go here .
I am going to miss my pal Kris Bochum this year, though. She and I had fun star gazing.
Okay--enough about me. How about some screen news?
These tidbits are from Shelf Awareness and Variety:
Television: All Signs of Death
Alan Ball (Six Feet Under, True Blood) will direct the pilot episode of All Signs of Death, which has been greenlighted by HBO. The project is based on Charlie Huston's novel The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death. Variety reported that Ball will also serve as executive producer and Huston is writing the screenplay for the pilot, with production set to begin during August in Los Angeles. No cast has been named thus far.
Movies: Vampire Academy
Don Murphy (Transformers) will team with Michael Preger (Village of the Damned) to produce a film version of Richelle Mead's six-part Vampire Academy series for young adult readers, Variety reported. "The joy of these books is that in the wake of Twilight they offer a chance to create a movie franchise that guys will want to see as well as girls," Murphy said. "Michael and I plan on positioning the films as something both sexes will enjoy together, expanding the genre of sexy young vampires to a whole new audience. We are beginning discussions with studios immediately."
This is great news for pal Richelle Mead because the series was optioned once before by Fox TV and went nowhere. This time it sounds like it's a go. You can catch up with all of Richelle's news here .
And just for fun, a "Which one is right for you?" galley highlighting popular vampires. Guess who my choice is?
I know, I know, he's getting married. But I guess I'll forgive him that one little transgression...
Labels: Anna Strong, Book Chick City, ComicCon, Richelle Mead, Tor
¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 6:12 AM 6 comments
Labels: RomCon, Roswell, syringe, UFOs
¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 6:59 AM 1 comments
The big news in the book world this week was Borders Group (launching) its e-bookstore yesterday, with titles provided by Kobo , the e-book and e-reader retailer in which Borders has a stake. The Wall Street Journal observed that for consumers, "the entrance of Borders into the e-book marketplace may mean lower prices on some titles. Although five of the six major book publishers have converted to an 'agency' pricing model, setting their own retail prices, Bertelsmann AG's Random House publishing group and many smaller publishers still employ the traditional wholesale model--meaning Borders could choose to discount some titles aggressively from these publishers in a bid to drive traffic to its website."
"Borders is late, but not too late, because this is an emerging market. As a publisher, this is one more outlet for us," said Jane Friedman, CEO of Open Road Integrated Media. "It's going to mean more choice for readers, and an opportunity for Borders to build loyalty with their customers."
Anyway, not too much on the burner this week. Getting ready for RomCon-- pals Nicole Peeler and Carolyn Crane are coming in and after the con festivities, we have a signing at WhoElse! Books with newcomer Lori Lapekes and NYT Bestseller Nalini Singh. That will be at 3 PM Sunday 200 S. Broadway (one block north of Alameda), in Denver; phone 303-744-BOOK (2665). Hope to see you there.
Mario made it back (evidently) and should have lots of stories to share on Monday. Whether or not they will be TRUE stories is anyone's guess. Anyway, happy belated birthday to my blog partner. I tried to send him a card on Facebook and still can't make things work right.
I'm not sure why this sprung to mind when I thought of Mario but here's this year's winner of the Bulwer-Lytton Wretched Writers Fiction Contest :
For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity's affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss--a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity's mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world's thirstiest gerbil.
The winner of the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is Molly Ringle of Seattle, Washington. The author of one published and two soon-to-be-published novels, Molly Ringle only writes bad fiction when she fails at good fiction. She'd rather not say how often this happens. She lives in Seattle with her family, and her vices include uncalled-for moments of sarcasm, excessive consumption of Nutella, and an unladylike avidity for the raunchy films of Mel Brooks
Go here for more fun.
Couple of tidbits from Shelf Awareness this week:
James Patterson has sold 1,141,273 ebook units, Hachette Book Group reports, "making him the first novelist ever to surpass the 1-million mark." Of course that compares to total worldwide sales throughout Patterson's career of over 205 million printed books.
Stephen King promotes "six must-reads for summer" via Entertainment Weekly:
The Millennium Trilogy, by Stief Larsson
THE PASSAGE, by Justin Cronin
THE UNNAMED, by Joshua Ferris
STRIP, by Thomas Perry
STORM PREY, by John Sandford
ORDINARY THUNDERSTORMS, by William Boyd
So there you have it. No fancy graphics, no pics. Dullsville, huh? Hope next week is better. It should be with Mario spinning tales of his travels....
Have a good one.
Happy Birthday and love to JEL!!!! ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 4:52 AM 3 comments
If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Suffice it to say, he's out of the country. Let's hope the powers that be let him back in...I don't want have to keep covering for him. I'm running out of excuses and the bill collectors aren't buying the "check is in the mail" thing anymore. It's getting desperate. ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 6:02 AM 3 comments
