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ABOUT THE STORE : NEWSLETTER

DISPATCHES FROM THE BORDER

Events and News from Borderlands Books

June, 2011

Chapter One - Event Information, News, and Special Features

Upcoming Author Events

Ben Macallan (aka Chaz Brenchley), DESDAEMONA (Solaris, Mass Market, $7.99) with special guest Seanan McGuire, Saturday, June 18th at 3:00 pm

James Rollins, THE DEVIL COLONY (William Morrow, Hardcover, $27.99) Saturday, June 25th at 3:00 pm

Steve Englehart, THE PLAIN MAN (Tor, Hardcover, $24.99) Saturday, July 9th at 3:00 pm

SF in SF with authors Mira Grant and John Shirley at the Variety Preview Room in the Hobart Building, 582 Market Street, Saturday, July 9th at 7:00 pm

Rudy Rucker, JIM AND THE FLIMS (NightShade Books, Hardcover, $24.99) Sunday, July 10th at 3:00 pm

Release Party for A DANCE WITH DRAGONS (Del Rey, Hardcover, $35.00) Tuesday, July 12th at midnight. NOTE: THIS IS NOT A SIGNING OR AUTHOR EVENT.

(for more information check the end of this section)

News

*  A note to our newsletter readers, genre historians and geeks-in-general: Bud Webster, SFWA's Estates Liaison, writing in "Black Gate", mentioned that he could use a hand finding out who now represents the work of the following authors.  If you have any information that might assist him, please contact him care of "Black Gate": <http://www.blackgate.com>.  And a further note to writers out there -- please, for the love of dingoes, once you've published some stuff, do some estate planning!  Don't leave future generations to boggle over whom to ask if they can reprint your work.  His article about that is here: <http://www.blackgate.com/2011/05/29/estate-your-business-please/>

Here are the authors for whom Mr. Webster is seeking representation info: Christopher Anvil, Jerome Bixby, Ronald Anthony Cross, Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, Raymond Z. Gallun, Chester Geier, Wyman Guin, Colin Kapp, P. Schuyler Miller, Kris Neville, Rog Phillips, Ross Rocklynn, T. L. Sherred, Wilmar H. Shiras, George H. Smith, George O. Smith, Angus Wells, and Wallace West.

* Steven R. Boyett, <http://www.steveboy.com/> author of ARIEL and ELEGY BEACH, did an amazing reading at FogCon in March.  If you'd like to hear the pieces, the links are below.  You may also hear the first two chapters here: <http://www.mortalitybridge.com/>.

<http://www.steveboy.com/audio/steven_r_boyett_-_mortality_bridge_%28soliloquy%29_-_fogcon_03-11.mp3>

<http://www.steveboy.com/audio/steven_r_boyett_-_mortality_bridge_%28floating_bridge%29_-_fogcon_03-11.mp3>

* Charlie Jane Anders (of Writers With Drinks and i09.com fame) wrote a very flattering article about Borderlands bookstore and Cafe for The Open Bar at Tin House (an online magazine): <http://www.tinhouse.com/blog/>.  Thanks very much!

Overheard in the Store and at the Con

This is a feature that appears periodically, as we attend conventions and overhear things.  The tradition of keeping track of anonymous overheard bits and bobs started for us at the 2002 ConJose in San Jose, where trying (or trying not to) fill in the blanks on overheard conversations made us laugh so much that we made it a tradition.  When we haven't attended any cons recently, we just keep track of outrageous stuff we've heard in the store!  So we heard the following in the store in May:

"Exactly how pregnant are you allowed to be at this wedding?"

"She kidnapped them & fed them bran muffins until they had Stockholm Syndrome.  And were very regular."

"I've seen myself burned in effigy more times than I can count."

"We are going to have haunted Nazi clowns!"

"Do you know any women in open relationships who'd be interested in attending?"

(1) "You just don't wear six-inch heels to a show with a mosh pit."
(2) "Hell, no.  Maybe two inches; just enough to kick someone!"

"Which one do you hate better?"

"It's unfortunately much more rare that old favorite books, re-read, are visited by the Awesome Fairy than by the Suck Fairy."


And these gems were sent to us by our Anonymous Intrepid Reporter (thanks, AIR!) from BayCon:


"Yes, that's my service cat; I've lost my sense of ennui, and now he looks bored for me."

"OF COURSE I know who Michael Moorcock is; I just didn't know he was an author."

"The mask used to belong to my mother; she wore it at her wedding."

"I'm finally making money, and now you tell me the place is on fire?"

"Dude, don't you know to use painter's tape? Duct tape will pull all your hairs out."

"I'm sure there's a pretty nice person there, behind all the boredom I feel when talking with her."

"He said the high heels hurt him only when he's sleeping."

Top Sellers At Borderlands

1. Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
2. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
3. Mind Storm by K.M. Ruiz
4. Embassaytown by China Mieville
5. Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
6. Welcome to Bordertown edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner
7. Dancing With Bears by Michael Swanwick
8. Scratch Monkey by Charles Stross
9. Tiassa by Steven Brust
10. The Crippled God by Steven Erikson

Mass Market Paperbacks
1. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
2. Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
3. Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
4. Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
5. Infernal Devices by K.W. Jeter
6. Old Man's War by John Scalzi
7. Ark by Stephen Baxter
8. Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey
9. Taint in the Blood by S.M. Stirling
10. Equations of Life by Simon Morden tie with
      Late Eclipses by Seanan McGuire

Trade Paperbacks
1. Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks
2. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
4. Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh
5. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Book Club Info

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club will meet on Sunday, July 19th, at 6 pm to discuss A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT by Mark Twain.  Please contact bookclub@borderlands-books.com for more information.

Upcoming Event Details

Ben Macallan (aka Chaz Brenchley), DESDAEMONA (Solaris, Mass Market, $7.99) with special guest Seanan McGuire, Saturday, June 18th at 3:00 pm - Join us for the the urban fantasy debut of Ben Macallan (aka Chaz Brenchley) with special guest Seanan McGuire!  Ben's author bio informs us "Ben Macallan is the boy your mother warned you about, the one with the motorbike and the cool clothes and the dangerous superpowers. He shoots round corners without looking, can put on his socks without bending and finds new planets as a Sunday afternoon hobby. He may be watching you, but you’ll never know."  Here's the cover copy from DESDAEMONA:  "Jordan helps kids on the run find their way back home. He’s good at that. He should be – he’s a runaway himself.  Sometimes he helps the kids in other, stranger, ways. He looks like a regular teenager, but he’s not. He acts like he’s not exactly human, but he is. He treads the line between mundane reality and the world of the supernatural.  Desdaemona also knows the non-human world far too well. She tracks Jordan down and enlists his aid in searching for her lost sister Fay, who did a Very Bad Thing involving an immortal. This may be a mistake – for both of them. Too many people are interested now, and some of them are not people at all.  Ben Macallan’s urban fantasy debut takes you on a terrifying journey, lifting the curtain on what really walks our city streets."  Join us to meet these two awesome urban fantasy authors.  You really won't find a better way to spend two hours on a June Saturday, and that's saying something!

James Rollins, THE DEVIL COLONY (William Morrow, Hardcover, $27.99) Saturday, June 25th at 3:00 pm - Don't miss this opportunity to meet bestselling author James Rollins!  Rollins' novels straddle the blurry lines between "science fiction" and "thriller"; here's the jacket copy for his newest novel, THE DEVIL COLONY. "Deep in the Rocky Mountains, a gruesome discovery - hundreds of mummified bodies - stir international attention and fervent controversy. Despite doubts to the bodies’ origins, the local Native American Heritage Commission lays claim to the prehistoric remains, along with the strange artifacts found in the same cavern: gold plates inscribed with an unfathomable script.  During a riot at the dig site, an anthropologist dies horribly: burned to ash in a fiery explosion in plain view of television cameras. All evidence points to a radical group of Native Americans, including one agitator, a teenage firebrand who escapes with a vital clue to the murder and calls on the one person who might help: her uncle, Painter Crowe, director of Sigma Force.  To protect his niece and uncover the truth, Painter will ignite a war across the nation’s most powerful intelligence agencies. Yet, an even greater threat looms as events in the Rocky Mountains have set in motion a frightening chain reaction, a geological meltdown that threatens the entire western half of the U.S.   From the volcanic peaks of Iceland to the blistering deserts of the American Southwest, from the gold vaults of Fort Knox to the bubbling geysers of Yellowstone, Painter Crowe joins forces with Commander Gray Pierce to penetrate the shadowy heart of a dark cabal, one that has been manipulating American history since the founding of the thirteen colonies. . ."  Hear James Rollins discuss the history & origins of the book here: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5CcCXilb_g&feature=youtu.be>

Steve Englehart, THE PLAIN MAN (Tor, Hardcover, $24.99) Saturday, July 9th at 3:00 pm - Borderlands welcomes the return of comics sensation Steve Englehart & the triumphant return of Max August! From the book jacket: "Max August is not invulnerable, but he never ages -- a gift he earned while studying under the legendary alchemist Cornelius Agrippa. August, now an alchemist himself, is using his magickal abilities to fight the right-wing conspiracy known as the FRC, which seeks to control all aspects of society. At the top of the FRC is a nine-member cabal, each member of which is a powerful force in one area of society, such as media, politics, finance . . . and wizardry.  When Max learns that two members of the cabal are en route to Wickr, a Burning Man–like festival held in the American Southwest, he stages a plan to gather information from them and, he hopes turn one member against the others. Max has been careful not to leave a trail, but the cabal sees all, and an 'accident' at a nuclear waste facility just 100 miles from the festival would send a clear message to those who oppose the FRC. Max may be timeless, but he is running out of time to stop the FRC and save millions of lives."

SF in SF with authors Mira Grant and John Shirley at the Variety Preview Room in the Hobart Building, 582 Market Street, Saturday, July 9th at 7:00 pm - More details to come.

Rudy Rucker, JIM AND THE FLIMS (NightShade Books, Hardcover, $24.99) Sunday, July 10th at 3:00 pm - Rudy Rucker:  author, artist, mathematician and one of the godfathers of Cyberpunk!  Be here to meet him and check out his new novel, JIM AND THE FLIMS, which in typical gonzo Rucker style, is set in Santa Cruz and the afterlife.

Release Party for A DANCE WITH DRAGONS (Del Rey, Hardcover, $35.00) Tuesday, July 12th at midnight. - NOTE: THIS IS NOT A SIGNING OR AUTHOR EVENT.  Join us for coffee (sure, we'll have decaf) and cookies, and witness what some of our more cynical employees thought would never happen: the next George R.R. Martin book goes on sale at midnight!

Borderlands event policy - all events are free of charge.  You are welcome to bring copies of an author's books purchased elsewhere to be autographed (but we do appreciate it if you purchase something while at the event).  For most events you are welcome to bring as many books as you wish for autographs.  If you are unable to attend the event we will be happy to have a copy of any of the author's available books signed or inscribed for you.  We can then either hold it until you can come in to pick it up or we can ship it to you.  Just give us a call or drop us an email.  If you live out of town, you can also ship us books from your collection to be signed.  Call or email for details.


Dispatches from the Border
Editor - Jude Feldman
Assistant Editor - Alan Beatts

All contents unless otherwise noted are the property of

Borderlands Books
866 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA  94110
415-824-8203
http://www.borderlands-books.com

Comments and suggestions should be directed to editor@borderlands-books.com

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