Friday, November 29, 2013

New York Comic Con 2013 Day 1 plus The Qwillery's 5th Anniversary Giveaway



New York Comic Con 2013 was held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City on October 10 - 13, 2013.  It's an amazing con replete with delights for pop culture and genre lovers of all kinds. It's incredibly fun, slightly overwhelming and a Con I absolutely love. Now that the dust has settled it's time for me to tell you about NYCC Day 1.

Trinitytwo and I spent Friday at NYCC. We had a great day. We recorded our first video interview ever and spoke with many authors, as well as wandered around taking it all in. If you ever have a chance to attend NYCC you should go! Tickets sell out quickly so do not delay when they go on sale. Here's a link to the NYCC site, bookmark it! You can still watch the recorded live stream of the panels so it's definitely worth spending some time at the site.

What I love most about New York Comic Con is the variety of programming: TV and movies; comics (of course); novels and things bookish; and video games. On top of that if you are looking for a Sonic Screwdriver, an Ocarina, replica props, etc. it's all there. One building full of genre goodness, 3 1/2 days, and a lot of people who have a shared enthusiasm for pop culture and genre.

I spent much of the first day seeing authors I'd met before and meeting some new ones. We also collected some goodies to giveaway both in celebration of NYCC and The Qwillery's 5th Anniversary in  October. Sharing a month with NYCC is fantastic. Of course NYCC is A LOT bigger than The Qwillery.

On Saturday, my teens and I went to NYCC together. More on that in an upcoming post.

So here are the authors that we saw on Day 1:

Immediately upon arriving we were thrilled to see Scott Lynch, the author of the Gentleman Bastard series: The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies, and The Republic of Thieves.

Scott Lynch with the bat - Photo by Trinitytwo


M.L. Brennan, Myke Cole and Benedict Jacka shared a signing of their first novels.  Benedict Jacka writes the Alex Verus series: Fated, Cursed, Taken, and Chosen. Myke Cole writes the Shadow Ops series: Control Point, Fortress Frontier and Breach Zone (2014). M.L. Brennan writes the American Vampire series: Generation V and Iron Night (2014).

ML Brennan, Benedict Jacka and Myke Cole - Photo by Trinitytwo

ML Brennan with the bat - Photo by Trinitytwo

Myke Cole with the bat - Photo by Trinitytwo


I spotted Christopher L. Bennett and Max Gladstone and stopped to say hello. Max Gladstone writes the Craft Sequence novels: Three Parts Dead, Two Serpents Rise and Full Fathom Five (2014).  Christopher L. Bennett, has written 3 Star Trek novels: Star Trek: S.C.E. 29: Aftermath, Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures, and Rise of the Federation: Tower of Babel (2014) as well as Only Superhuman.

Max Gladstone with the bat - photo by Trinitytwo

Christopher L. Bennett with the bat - Photo by Trinitytwo

(Are you wondering about the bat yet?)


I ran into (not literally) Michael R. Underwood at one of the publisher's booths. Michael is the author of Geekomancy and Celebromancy and has a new novel, Shield and Crocus, coming out from 47North in 2014. 

Michael R. Underwood with the bat - Photo by Qwill


Peter V. Brett was signing some Red Sonja comics as well as The Warded Man. He is the author of the Demon Cycle novels: The Warded Man, The Desert Spear and The Daylight War as well as some Red Sonja comics.

Peter V. Brett - Photo by Trinitytwo


Jason M. Hough was signing at NYCC. Jason wrote The Dire Earth Cycle: The Darwin Elevator, The Exodus Towers and The Plague Forge. Jason recently announced that he'll be penning 3 more novels for Del Rey.

Jason M. Hough - Photo by Qwill


Victoria Schwab was signing her young adult novels and later on Friday signed as V.E. Schwab for her first adult novel Vicious.

Victoria Schwab - Photo by Qwill


We had a lovely chat with Michael J. Sullivan right after his signing and Sam Sykes was there also! Michael writes the Riyria Revelations series which were collected in 3 omnibus editions:
Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire and Heir of Novron. He's also the author of Riyria Chronicles:
The Crown Tower and The Rose and the Thorn. The Hollow World will be published in 2014.

Sam Sykes is the author of the Aeon's Gate series: Tome of the Undergates, Black Halo and The Skybound Sea. His next novel, The City Stained Red will be published in 2014 (at least that is what the novel is titled in the UK.)

Sam Sykes and Michael J. Sullivan with the bat - Photo by Trinitytwo


We also stopped by the signing of upcoming debut author Brian Staveley. Brian's debut novel, The Emperor's Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne 1), will be published by Tor Books in January 2014.

Brian Staveley with the bat - Photo by Trinitytwo


(Still wondering about the bat, aren't you?)


Diana Gabaldon and the the Producer of Outlander on Starz, Ron Moore, also had a signing. Diana is the author of the Outlander and Lord John series. Outlander is being made into a series on Starz for broadcast in 2014. The Outlander series presently consists of 7 novels: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, The Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and An Echo in the Bone. The 8th novel in the series, Written in My Own Heart's Blood, will be published in 2014.

(No photo, but both Diana and Ron signed the bat!)


We also took time to video interview Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross from Rooster Teeth Productions. You may watch the video here.


All in all the first day at NYCC was exhilarating, exhausting, and exceptional. If you can go to NYCC you really, really should.






The Qwillery's 5th Anniversary Giveaway

What:  One commenter will win a lot of books (some from NYCC) and NYCC goodies along with an awesome wooden bat signed by Christopher L. Bennett, M.L. Brennan, Myke Cole, Diana Gabaldon, Max Gladstone, Jason M. Hough, Benedict Jacka, Scott Lynch, Ron Moore (the Producer of Outlander on Starz), Victoria Schwab, Sam Sykes, Brian Staveley, Michael J. Sullivan, and Michael R. Underwood. This is truly a one-of-a-kind bat that you will never find elsewhere (unless someone tracks down everyone and has them sign another bat)!

The Books - some of the books are signed!

The Goodies


The Bat


How:   To enter you must log into the Rafflecopter and below. There are several ways to enter including answering the following question: Which author living or not living would you like to meet?

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59 PM US Eastern Time on January 2, 2014. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.


*Giveaway rules and duration are subject to change without prior notice.


a Rafflecopter giveaway



26 comments:

  1. I would love to meet Terry Brooks or Seanan McGuire.

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  2. Harlan Ellison. I think he is such a fascinating author.

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  3. The one author I'd really love to meet is no longer living, Frank Herbert, so I suppose I'll have to invent a time-machine for that. That should be a challenge right? :D

    In lieu of the amazing Frank Herbert, I'd love to meet Matt Forbeck, who is my top favourite author right now and since he's also a great industry know-how.

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  4. There are so many authors I would like to meet, many of them are no longer with us, but if I had to pick one it would be Gene Wolfe

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  5. The author that I would want to meet is Anne McCaffery. Reading DragonDrums in 7th grade opened a whole new world of reading to me. I'm sad she has passed, but I will still enjoy re-reading all of her worlds. (And though they're not quite the same, I'll continue reading the new Pern novels written by her son.)

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  6. Yikes to pick just one is tough. I guess I would go with JR Ward since the BDB series was the first series I read and I still love it!

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  7. It wounds like you had a wonderful time at New York Comic Con! I loved all the pictures and it almost made me feel like I was right there with you!

    The one author I would love to have been able to meet is Cervantes who wrote The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha which I first read back in the 1960's as a High School student and required reading in my English class. It was my first time reading Historical Romance but then without Cervantes that genre may never have existed at all!

    Before that I had read a lot of books that were biographies and other genres but the only other historical fiction I had ever read was A Nun's Priest Tale which only made me want me to finish reading as fast as possible and be able to finish a class assignment!

    Don Quixote made me realize that could be more than just experience a book but made me think more about what the challenges of life might present to me in the future. It was truly a time of encouraging me to explore my life and to reach for the stars no matter how hard that might be!

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  8. I would love to meet Jacqueline Carey. I think her books are amazing!

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  9. Awesome!!!!!!!! thanks so much for sharing :) I'd have to say Nora Roberts. She was my gateway into romance.

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  10. Easy answer to your question: J.R.R. Tolkien. I love his work and would love to pick his brain.

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  11. Anne McCaffrey. I love her Pern series.

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  12. Would have loved to meet Charles Dickens.

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  13. Ilona Andrews.

    Thanks for the amazing giveaway!
    elizabeth @ bookattict . com

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  14. I would love to meet Paulo Coelho. Not because I am a huge fan of her books but because I believe that he is a big personality and a discussion with him, it would be very interesting.
    Not living author, Jane Austen. I admire her!

    Happy Anniversary and thank you for the great giveaway!
    Raffle name: Demitra Giote

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  15. I'd love to meet Laura Bickle and Jeffe Kennedy.

    As for the impossible: Oscar Wilde

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  16. JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts), Nalini Singh and Ilona Andrews!

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  17. Thank you so much for sharing with us!! i would love such a prize.
    Which author i would love to meet: tolkien, i really would love to chat with him a little as for living author...; Suzanne Johnson

    Happy Holidays to you and your family and thank you once again for this opportunity to win

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  18. I've met quite a number of authors, but one I'd like to meet is Cherie Priest. She seems like such a sweet and genuine person and she's such a fantastic author.

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  19. I would love to meet John Green. I'm a huge fan of his and I would probably die if I met him.

    Thanks for the opportunity to win stuff!

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  20. Thanks for this contest! Can we pick only one author? :) I would have to say I would love to meet Stephen Lawhead. Or David Gemmell or Susan Cooper.

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