The Qwillery

Sunday, October 14, 2012, was the last day of New York Comic Con 2012. It was a lighter day for me mostly because my small humans joined me for Kids Day. In the past Kids Day has not been so crowded. I think that's a testament to how much bigger New York Comic Con has become that Sunday was as busy as Saturday!

We started off by attending the Geek Geek Revolution: The Sequel featuring Myke Cole, Anton Strout, Beth Revis, and Andrea Cremer. Colleen Lindsay, Geek Queen, asked the authors questions including questions submitted by the audience. Answering the questions correctly resulted in points being awarded. I believe that wrong answers resulted in the subtraction of points. The winner was awarded the title of Top Geek!

 Myke writes the Shadow Ops series. The first novel, Control Point, was published in January 2012 and Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops 2) will be out in January 2013.

Anton is the author of the Simon Canderous series and the recently published Alchemystic (The Spellmason Chronicles 1).

Beth writes the YA Across the Universe series. The third book, Shades of Earth, will be published  in January 2013.

Andrea is the author of the YA Nightshade series. Rise (Nightshade Prequel 2) will be published in January 2013.

It came down to a tie between Anton Strout and Andrea Cremer. On the second tie-breaker question Andrea prevailed. She won a Rock'em Sock'em Robot set! Myke Cole came in last and was awarded a cute baby Cthulhu. I hardly see how a cute baby Cthulhu is a booby prize.




After Geek Geek Revolution: The Sequel the small humans and I wandered around...  a lot.



I had the pleasure of meeting Evie Manieri whose debut novel, Blood's Pride, will be published in the US on February 19, 2013. It's already out in the UK.







Capcom was at NYCC. Nintendo was there with Wii U. We did preorder the Limited Edition of Assassin's Creed III by Ubisoft. Often when you preorder at NYCC some extra goodies are thrown in. In this case there was a gorgeous T-shirt. While you could preorder Assassin's Creed III, there was no gameplay.  I was surprised by the video gaming component this year. Some of the big companies had displays but no games to play.




We found this poor fellow expiring in the hallway (not really, he was cosplaying!)


The kids decided to put him out of his misery (not really, he asked them to pose with him.)





















Artist Alley was way down at the end. to the left and through a large passageway. Once you got to the end you turned left and then saw the sign. If you knew where it was it was easy to find. I think that there should have been a sign in this main area at the end with an arrow pointing to the left. This is the first year that Artist Alley was in its own area. Hopefully signage will be better next year. Having the Artists in a separate area was great though. Plus after the main exhibitor floor closed, you could spend some time at Artist Alley which was open later than the exhibitor floor.










We visited a lot of vendors on Sunday as well. The small humans came home with some awesome books and goodies. We can't wait for NYCC 2013!

...and the winners are

Fated by Rebecca Zanetti:



StacieDM who said...

My favorite alpha vampire would be Spike from Buffy/Angel. Lestat from the Vampire Chronicles would be my second choice. I like when the alpha has a sense of humor too. Congratulations on your new release! So glad the second book comes out so soon.







Dead to Me, Deader Still and Dead Matter by Anton Strout:


Cherry who said...


I would have the power of healing so I could take away people's pain.








Late Eclipses by Seanan McGuire:



buddyt who said...

One of my favorite Shakespeare quotes and perhaps less known is:

Absence from those we love is self from self - a deadly banishment.







Accidentally Catty by Dakota Cassidy


Jolene Allcock and Family said...

I would like to become accidentally patient. LOL, I know it's not anything special, but as I am typing this my two boys are fighting, again, and my daughter is yelling and throwing a fit because I said no to ice cream. Jeesh!! I would love to be able to brush of the fits and the things that get under my skin instead of having to take a trip to the bathroom for deep breaths.




Under Wraps by Hannah Jayne



pixie13 said...

Mine would be SCRAps. Supernatural Creatures Removal Agency.








Winners have been notified and have until 11:59 PM US Eastern Time on Saturday, March 19, 2011 to contact The Qwillery or the The Qwillery will randomly choose a new winner or winners.

The Qwillery is delighted to welcome Anton Strout, author of the Simon Canderous series. Anton's latest book, Dead Waters, is available today. You can read my 5 Qwill review of Dead Waters here.

TQ:  Describe the Simon Canderous series in 140 characters or less.

Anton:  Man with bat strives to Do Good, fighting evil and staying under budget in paranormally infested New York City

TQ:  How have Simon's psychometric powers evolved since the first book?

Anton:  I think much of his power has stayed relatively the same, it's Simon that has changed... he has better control over it, but there are certain things that have happened over time where we've seen little tweaks to it. In Dead Matter, we saw Simon use his powers in conjunction with Jane's technomancy to broadcast one of his psychometric visions. In Dead Waters, we're going to see Simon struggling with some of the emotional states that he ends up 'feeling' when he does particular emotionally charged readings with his powers.

TQ:  You write primarily Urban Fantasy. In what other genre(s) would you like to write?

Anton:  I'd love to try my hand at more traditional fantasy, but right now I'm having a lot of fun working on a yet unsold YA steampunk book that I keep calling my Dickensian urchin Iron Man book... I dabble a lot. I even do regular fiction, such as my fictional punk band book I keep meaning to get back to, but the UF is the one paying the bills these days, so that's where my time goes.

TQ:  Who is your favorite secondary character or characters?

Anton:  I really have a lot of love for my secondary characters, which is why they either become the topic of books or some of the short stories. I love Godfrey, but that's because I totally see him as John Hodgman. And I love the Inspectre because he's part of the old guard, and with Dead Waters, I wanted to explore his past again, his time in his prime, as well as what it means to get old in the world of fighting evil.

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what it your favorite scene or scenes in Dead Waters?

Anton:  I love all of my scenes out on the Hudson River in the boat... something about floating on the calm water just outside the city as all kinds of paranormal hell breaks loose that makes me giggle like a kindergartener.

TQ:  What is the playlist for Dead Waters?

Anton:  Well, I always have Beat On The Brat by the Ramones in my head while I write, along with the Fight Club soundtrack, the Matrix and some Bach for the lighter moments. I also think I listened to a lot of Alien Ant Farm's The Movies and The Cranberries Zombie.

TQ:  How many books are planned for the Simon Canderous series? Are there any upcoming short stories/novellas set in the Simonverse?

Anton:  Well, I'D like the series to go on, but that's really not up to me at the moment. I have at least two more books semi-planned out, but I may be putting some time into a second series soon... more on that later when I have something to share.

TQ:  What's next?

Anton:  Hopefully I'll get to shop around the YA in a month or so. I have a zombie apocalypse short coming up in the March anthology After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar and I owe two stories to some editors out there... one of them a modern day fairie story and one a Weird West kinda tale. And then there's that little bit of news I can't discuss yet :D



Anton's Books

Dead to Me
Simon Canderous 1
Ace, February, 26, 2008
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 368 pages

A new urban fantasy featuring a man working on the right side of law-with talents that come from left field.

Psychometry-the power to touch an object and divine information about its history-has meant a life of petty crime for Simon Canderous, but now he's gone over to the good side. At New York's underfunded and (mostly) secret Department of Extraordinary Affairs, he's learning about red tape, office politics, and the basics of paranormal investigation. But it's not the paperwork that has him breathless.

After Simon spills his coffee on (okay, through) the ghost of a beautiful woman- who doesn't know she's dead-he and his mentor plan to find her killers. But Simon's not prepared for the nefarious plot that unfolds before him, involving politically correct cultists, a large wooden fish, a homicidal bookcase, and the forces of Darkness, which kind of have a crush on him.

Deader Still
Simon Canderous 2
Ace, February 24, 2009
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 320 pages

It’s hard to defeat evil on a budget. Just ask Simon Canderous.

FROM THE AUTHOR OF DEAD TO ME.

It’s been 737 days since the Department of Extraordinary Affairs’ last vampire incursion, but that streak appears to have ended when a boat full of dead lawyers is found in the Hudson River. Using the power of psychometry—the ability to divine the history of an object by touching it—agent Simon Canderous discovers that the booze cruise was crashed by something that sucked all the blood out of the litigators. Now, his workday may never end—until his life does.

Dead Matter
Simon Canderous 3
Ace, February 23, 2010
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

Shaking up the spirits of Manhattan

The spirit populace of Manhattan doesn't appreciate its well-deserved RIP being disturbed, and Department of Extraordinary Affairs Agent Simon Canderous is sent in to do damage control. Meanwhile, his vacationing partner, Connor Christos, is in a sorry state, and he tells Simon that each night he's being haunted by visions of his long-lost brother at his window. Simon is worried that his partner may be going crazy-or worse, maybe he's not...

Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

From the back cover:

With Manhattan's Department of Extraordinary Affairs in disarray (forget vampires and zombies -- it's the budget cuts that can kill you), Simon Canderous is still expected to stamp out any crime that adds the "para" to normal." And his newest case is no exception...

A university professor has been found murdered in his apartment. His lungs show signs of death by drowning. But his skin and clothes? Bone-dry. Now Simon has to rely on his powers -- plus a little help from his ghost-whispering partner and technomancer girlfriend -- to solve a mystery that has the NYPD stumped and the D.E.A. shaken and stirred.

Anthologies:




About Anton

Fantasy author Anton Strout was born in the Berkshire Hills mere miles from writing heavyweights Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville and currently lives in the haunted corn maze that is New Jersey (where nothing paranormal ever really happens, he assures you).

He has been a featured speaker and workshopper at San Diego Comic-Con, Gencon, New York Comic-Con, the Brooklyn Book Festival.

He is the co-creator of the faux folk musical Sneezin’ Jeff & Blue Raccoon: The Loose Gravel Tour (winner of the Best Storytelling Award at the First Annual New York International Fringe Festival).

In his scant spare time, his is a writer, a sometimes actor, sometimes musician, occasional RPGer, and the worlds most casual and controller smashing video gamer. He currently works in the exciting world of publishing and yes, it is as glamorous as it sounds.

Anton's Links

Website
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Livejournal
The League of Reluctant Adults

The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win signed copies of the 1st 3 Simon Canderous books: Dead to Me, Deader Still, and Dead Matter.

How:  Leave a comment telling The Qwillery what is your power? Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1) Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2) Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3) Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who & When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 1, 2011. Void where prohibited by law.

It's Monday and it's snowing. Fortunately it's not a big storm. I'm glad because I've things to do today.

The Qwillery will have 2 interviews and giveaways this week: Anton Strout on Tuesday, February 22, 2011, and Rebecca Zanetti on Wednesday, February 23, 2011.  Rebecca's debut novel Fated and Anton's 4th Simon Canderous novel, Dead Waters, will be published tomorrow.

There will be comics on Thursday and photos on Friday unless something unexpected comes up... which happens all the time.

The March 2011 release list was posted yesterday. There is also an album of March covers at The Qwillery's Facebook page.


February 22, 2011

American Vampire	Jennifer Armintrout	PNR
Serpent's Storm	Amber Benson	UF - Calliope Reaper-Jones 3
The Remembering	Steve Cash	F - The Meq 3
A Touch Mortal	Leah Clifford	YA
This Side of the Grave	Jeaniene Frost	UF - Cat & Bones 5
Xombie: Apocalypso	Walter Greatshell	UF - Xombies 3
Unnatural	Michael Griffo	YA - Unnatural 1
Flirt*	Laurell K. Hamilton	UF - Anita Blake 18
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf	Molly Harper	PNR - Naked Werewolf 1
Pale Demon	Kim Harrison	UF - The Hollows 9
Dragon Haven	Robin Hobb	F - Rain Wilds 2
Darkness Becomes Her	Kelly Keaton	YA
The Iron Thorn	Caitlin Kittredge	YA - The Iron Codex 1
The Red Heart of Jade*	Marjorie M. Liu	PRS - Dirk & Steele 3
Truth or Demon	Kathy Love
Darkest Mercy	Melissa Marr	YA - Wicked Lovely 5
Resolve	Melissa Marr	YA - Wicked Lovely Desert Tales 3
Healing the Highlander	Melissa Mayhue	PHR - Daughters of the Glen 7
Iron Crowned	Richelle Mead	UF - Dark Swan 3
Hunger Untamed	Pamela Palmer	PNR - Feral Warriors 5
Etched in Bone	Adrian Phoenix	UF - Maker's Song 4
Tortall and Other Lands	Tamora Pierce	F - Tortall (short stories)
Dead Waters	Anton Strout	UF - Simon Canderous 4
The Raven Queen	Jules Watson
Green-Eyed Demon	Jaye Wells	UF - Sabina Kane 3
Rogue Oracle	Alayna Williams	UF - Delphic Oracle 2
Fated	Rebecca Zanetti	PNR - Dark Protectors 1

*reprint or MMPB release

F - Fantasy
PHR - Paranormal Historical Romance
PM - Paranormal Mystery
PNR - Paranormal Romance
PRS - Paranormal Romantic Suspense
UF - Urban Fantasy
YA - Young Adult

Dead Waters
Author: Anton Strout
Series: Simon Canderous 4
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 352 pages
Publisher: Ace (February 22, 2011)
Price: $7.99
Language: English
Genre: Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 9780441020119
Review Copy: Provided by Publisher

Cover and Description:

From the back cover:

With Manhattan's Department of Extraordinary Affairs in disarray (forget vampires and zombies -- it's the budget cuts that can kill you), Simon Canderous is still expected to stamp out any crime that adds the "para" to normal." And his newest case is no exception...

A university professor has been found murdered in his apartment. His lungs show signs of death by drowning. But his skin and clothes? Bone-dry. Now Simon has to rely on his powers -- plus a little help from his ghost-whispering partner and technomancer girlfriend -- to solve a mystery that has the NYPD stumped and the D.E.A. shaken and stirred.




Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Borders


My thoughts:

Dead Waters is the 4th book in the Simon Canderous series and the very best of the series so far.

Simon is a psychometrist. He can read the history of an object by touching it. In Dead Waters, Simon is still somewhat impulsive and reckless but he is maturing. He still makes his trademark wise-cracks, but he is growing emotionally as he must deal with some personal issues. I always find that Simon's heart is in the right place... despite the various creatures that want to remove it. Simon is a very likable protagonist.

I adore the supporting characters in this series: Jane Clayton-Forrester (Simon's technomancer girlfriend), Connor Christos (Simon's partner), Inspectre Argyle Quimbley (Simon's and Connor's boss), and Godfrey Candella (the D.E.A. Archivist). While Simon is the main character, the book really feels like an ensemble piece. I love the back and forth between the characters. There is genuine camaraderie.

Simon, Jane, and Connor must solve the mystery surrounding a university professor's unusual death. The murder deeply affects Inspectre Quimbley as he used to know the professor well. The storyline dealing the aging Inspectre is very well done. I really enjoyed learning more about his past.

Anton Strout deftly continues to lampoon bureaucratic red tape with New York City's Department of Extraordinary Affairs. I find the inner workings of the D.E.A. both fascinating and amusing. While the D.E.A. is facing severe budget cuts, fortunately none of my favorite characters lose their jobs. New York City is a great backdrop for this series.

Dead Waters borrows from mythology in an inventive way. I won't reveal which mythology or what was borrowed as it would be a major spoiler.

This is the darkest of the four books. I cried at one part of the story though there are far more moments that brought laughter. The pacing is excellent with a lot of action. The plot is really engaging. The mystery and its conclusion are handled beautifully. Dead Waters is a tasty mélange of murder, mystery, and mythology, with a dash of mayhem thrown in for good measure.

I give Dead Waters 5 Qwills.


I do recommend that you read this series in order.


Prior books in the Simon Canderous series:

Dead to Me
Book 1
(February, 26, 2008)
A new urban fantasy featuring a man working on the right side of law-with talents that come from left field.

Psychometry-the power to touch an object and divine information about its history-has meant a life of petty crime for Simon Canderous, but now he's gone over to the good side. At New York's underfunded and (mostly) secret Department of Extraordinary Affairs, he's learning about red tape, office politics, and the basics of paranormal investigation. But it's not the paperwork that has him breathless.

After Simon spills his coffee on (okay, through) the ghost of a beautiful woman- who doesn't know she's dead-he and his mentor plan to find her killers. But Simon's not prepared for the nefarious plot that unfolds before him, involving politically correct cultists, a large wooden fish, a homicidal bookcase, and the forces of Darkness, which kind of have a crush on him.

Deader Still
Book 2
(February 24, 2009)

It’s hard to defeat evil on a budget. Just ask Simon Canderous.

FROM THE AUTHOR OF DEAD TO ME.

It’s been 737 days since the Department of Extraordinary Affairs’ last vampire incursion, but that streak appears to have ended when a boat full of dead lawyers is found in the Hudson River. Using the power of psychometry—the ability to divine the history of an object by touching it—agent Simon Canderous discovers that the booze cruise was crashed by something that sucked all the blood out of the litigators. Now, his workday may never end—until his life does.



Dead Matter
Book 3
(February 23, 2010)
Shaking up the spirits of Manhattan

The spirit populace of Manhattan doesn't appreciate its well-deserved RIP being disturbed, and Department of Extraordinary Affairs Agent Simon Canderous is sent in to do damage control. Meanwhile, his vacationing partner, Connor Christos, is in a sorry state, and he tells Simon that each night he's being haunted by visions of his long-lost brother at his window. Simon is worried that his partner may be going crazy-or worse, maybe he's not...

I have over 500 books in my To be Read pile. Technically it's not a pile. It's really a bunch of boxes and bags filled with books. I keep track of my TBR using Readerware. It comes with a barcode scanner, which makes it incredibly easy to add books. Each box has a number on it. The numbers correspond to a set of books on the TBR list. That worked for a while. The problem is that I keep buying books. The new books are in bags. They are waiting for me to put them in the appropriate box. It's an endless loop. I buy more books, I reprint the list, I rearrange the boxes, etc. Once read the books move to another set of boxes. Those books are waiting for me to set up my new office. After that the books will be sorted and somehow fit onto bookshelves. My new office already holds nearly 1,000 cookbooks. I may need more bookcases or consider putting bookcases somewhere else in the house. I don't like getting rid of books. When I moved overseas in the mid-90s, I had to get rid of 1/2 of my books. I don't think I've ever gotten over that. I pine for my English-Russian and Russian-English dictionaries.

So I have a dilemma of sorts. Do I stop buying books until I catch up with my reading sometime in the next 30 years? Do I continue to buy books to support the authors that I like to read especially during this time of economic uncertainty? And do I keep everything?

I decided that yes, I will continue to buy books and support authors because I want them to be able to keep writing more books for me to read. Does one book sale make a difference? I don't know the answer to that, but I'd like to think that every book sold helps. I know that there are at least 3 new releases that I will buy this week: Mario Acevedo's Jailbait Zombie, Mark Henry's Road Trip of the Living Dead, and Anton Strout's Deader Still. These three books will be released on February 24, 2009. I need to look at my To Be Bought list for the rest of the month.

I've also decided to keep everything for the time being. My 13 year old daughter has recently become hooked on paranormal YA. In a few years she'll be old enough to read the grown-up books. Then she can worry about where to store them.

Qwill's Qwestions: Have your book buying habits changed over the last few months? Do you keep everything? What books are you buying in February 2009?

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