Blue Magic Interview and other bits of Wednesday

M.K. Hobson, author of the amazing The Native Star, asks me three questions about Blue Magic.

Her questions and my answers are here.

If you liked The Native Star or its sequel, The Hidden Goddess, you may want to check out Hobson’s Kickstarter campaign, which seeks to fund the next installment of the Veneficas Americana series.

Take cover! Blue Magic escapes into the wild

It’s out! After all those countdown posts, we may have been lulled into complacency, but my second novel, Blue Magic, is now officially available in bookstores online and in the real world.

Blue Magic picks up Astrid Lethewood’s story about six months after the initial, devastating outbreak of enchantment in Indigo Springs. As it opens, Sahara Knax is about to go on trial for treason, along with a number of her closest followers. One of those followers is Will Forest’s wife Carolyn–she’s been arrested, but their children are still missing. The US Air Force is firebombing Indigo Springs in an attempt to eliminate the magical contamination spreading outward from Oregon, and everyone in the world, from politicians to vigilantes, has an opinion about whether magic should be used, contained, or eliminated entirely from the world.

And you can get in on the fun! Buy the book, tweet the mystical outbreak, take pictures of it in bookstores, and let me know if you want to come to the launch in Vancouver on April 19th. Any sightings or mentions, positive or otherwise, would be very welcome. And watch this blog–I’ll keep you in the loop on contests, signings and chances to win the book itself (and perhaps other things too!)

But wait–there’s more! Here’s what Starmetaloak thought of the novel, in case you’re curious.

Everyone loves a werewolf, am I right?

If it’s Tuesday, my Buffy essay must be up at Tor.com. It’s called “The Wonderful World of Oz,” (it’s about “Phases”) and if the overall lycanthrope vibe pleases you on this fine spring morning, consider having a look at my baby werewolf has two mommies story, “The Cage,” also at Tor.

This weekend I will be appearing at Norwescon in Seattle. I will be reading from Blue Magic, which is out in one short week (I hope to have a few advance copies to give away to lucky con-goers!) Here’s the rest of my schedule:

Friday, 10 am – Adventure Stories
Swashbucklers, pirates, oh my? What makes an adventure story different from other science fiction and fantasy stories? And, do most adventure stories get the action right?

Friday, 11:30 am A.M. Dellamonica reads Blue Magic
A reading from the sequel of the Sunburst Award-Winning Indigo Springs (Rated PG)
A.M. Dellamonica

Friday, 2 pm Interview and Q&A with Guest of Honor Stephen Baxter
Not gonna be there? Want me to ask Baxter something? Comment soon, comment often!

Saturday, Noon, The Blogger Effect
Has blogging ruined the fine art of editing? What do we gain (and lose) with publishing spontaneous writing? There is a growing network of SF/F professional and aspiring writers connected via a variety of blogging communities. Is it breaking down the barriers between pro, amateur, and fan-ficcer? Does it function as an informal online writers’ workshop, a support group, or a black hole of cat-vacuuming?

Saturday 3 pm Autograph Session

Saturday, 6 pm. What I Wish Someone Had Told Me
Established SF/F writers discuss lessons they learned the hard way that they wish someone had told them when they were first starting out.

Sekrit Project Unveiled!

I’m extremely pleased to announce that Jim Frenkel of Tor Books has bought the first three books in my next ecofantasy series. We haven’t quite settled on a title for the series yet, but the first book’s working title is CHILD OF STORMS and it takes place on Stormwrack, the same world as my story “Among the Silvering Herd,” which features adventuress Gale Feliachild and a handsome young sailor named Garland Parrish.

The first book is tentatively scheduled for release next year. I’m revising it right now.

In Tuesday Tor news, my Buffy rewatch this week is “A Very Unhappy Birthday, Take One.” Tor.com, as I’ve mentioned, also has the first chapter of Blue Magic up, if you want a peek. (The giveaway of five copies of Indigo Springs and Blue Magic ARCs ended Friday, I’m afraid, but I think you can safely expect other opportunities to win copies.)

Here, there, everywhere!

Save the date, local peeps! There are now three short weeks to April 10th and the release of Blue Magic in trade paperback and electronic editions. If you’re here in Vancouver, there will be a launch on April 19th at the UBC Bookstore downtown, 800 Robson Street, 7:30 p.m. I’ll read, there will be at least one prize draw, and I’m working on getting in a special guest artist. Come one, come all!

In other news–if it’s Tuesday, Buffy must be in retrograde. I mean danger. Or is that Dawn? My rewatch of “Ted” and “Bad Eggs” is up at Tor.com.

Speaking of Buffy, my fellow BtVS fans and good friends Lizben gave me this fabulous Buffy TeeFury t-shirt on the weekend, by way of a belated birthday present. Isn’t it awesome?

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