Off to Wiscon

First things first: Go and buy Valiant now!

Well, maybe not now, because it officially hits the shelves on June 1. But you can always order it now, or go bug your local bookseller. I read it a couple of weeks ago, and let me tell you it is great stuff. For those of you who don’t know Holly Black’s work, it’s elegantly written urban fantasy. Black really knows her fey folk: They’re psychologically real, though otherworldly in that genuinely inhuman (and creepy) faerie way. Her human teenagers, on the other hand, are firmly grounded in the here and now. I love the collision of old-school phantasmagoria and gritty realism, which makes her universe a real pleasure to inhabit.

And this book is her best so far, which makes it a must read.

So, while you’re reading, I’m headed off to Wiscon, my favorite sf convention of the year. It’s billed as “the world’s leading feminist sf convention,” which it certainly is. It consists of lots of panels and conversations about this crazy world we live in, and various imaginary worlds we don’t live in, but might one day.

But it’s also summer camp for smart kids–but with adults, and beer. Or another way of putting it: It’s 800 of my favorite writerly and readerly people all packed into one hotel for a long weekend. We do formal things like sit on panels talking about writing and sf, and informal things like cocktail parties (in which we pretty much talk about writing and sf).

Here’s the schedule of my public events:

40 Common Questions for Pros
Saturday, 10:00–11:15 A.M. Room 623
Every pro writer has answered a million questions from interested amateurs. What are the most common questions you’ve fielded? The most uncommon? Share the questions and the answers with those who are interested. M: Lauren Ann McLaughlin, Jack Byrne, Scott Westerfeld, Ysabeau Wilce

This looks like fun. I love talking about the publishing business, and these kinds of panels always have a big audience of people with very wide eyes.

Pretty Magic Butlers of Roanoke
Sunday, 10:00–11:15 P.M. Readings Conference Room 2
Young adult fiction comes in many forms. Some of it involves the Pretty Magic Butlers of Roanoke who will read for your pleasure and offer spectacular cookies and prizes. Gwenda Bond, Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Ysabeau Wilce.

Me reading from PRETTIES with three other fabulous YA authors. Plus cookies and prizes.

The SignOut
Monday, 11:30am-12:45pm in Capitol Room

Come here with stacks of books and I will sign them. They don’t even have to be my books, I’ll sign anything.

(Note that one of my events starts at 10AM! What kind of revenge-is-a-dish-best-served-cold crap is this, anyway! Don’t they know no one goes to bed until 4AM at Wiscon! Okay. Deep calming breath.)

I may be blogging a bit from the con, or perhaps posting embarrassing pictures (see 4AM comment above). But if case I don’t, I’ll leave you all with some fine writing advice . . . later tonight.

Have a nice Memorial Day, and don’t steal my stuff while I’m not at home.

3 thoughts on “Off to Wiscon

  1. Oooo, Valiant! Another one of my “had to have an ARC” books. Seriously though, if you haven’t read something by Holly Black, go read it now. I love her books. Just like what my mom used to tell me, but darker and more real.

  2. Just like what my mom used to tell me, but darker and more real.

    Now that’s a cover blurb. And right on target.

    The thing about Valiant and Tithe is that Holly really knows what faeries are all about: creepy, arrogant, self-absorbed, and yet weirdly attractive, like you want to throw yourself at them and dissolve into a pathetic plaything. But she makes her faeries relevant to very real human characters as well.

    So yeah, darker and more real.

  3. The creepy thing is, the day I bought Uglies (amazing, by the way), is also the day I got Valiant. I havn’t dug into it yet, but it’s next.

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