Robin Hobb's Blog, page 16

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

I'll leave Tacoma early tomorrow morning! 

My first stop is Houston, where I'll sign at Murder by the Book at 6:30 PM on Thursday night.  They're at 2342 Bissonnet St, Houston, 77005.  The main phone there is 713-524-8597 for any last minute questions.

The next day, Friday, I'll be in Austin.  I'll sign at Bookpeople at 7 PM 603 N. Lamar, Austin, 78704.  The main phone there is 512-472-4288.

Hoping for a good turn out, so please come on by!

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

Gary recently had a conflict of schedule that prevented him from coming to my signing at University Book Store in Seattle. 

What to do?  He sent a friend, asking for a photo of her and me at the event, with room for him to join us later.

So, here is the 'doctored' photo, with Gary joining us at University Book Store:

Amazing what Photo Shop can do !

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

I love watching kids get up and make things happen for themselves.  It's one huge reason I am such a fan of FIRST, the robotics program that encourages kids to get involved with engineering early and make it a part of their lives.

This weekend, at the Barnes and Noble store in Olympia, I encountered another worthy group.  It's called Broaden Your Horizons.  The kids involved were in period dress, and fired up to answer questions about American History as part of their fund-raiser to go to Washington DC (That other Washington) and Boston and New York to visit historical sites and learn more.  Barnes and Noble was donating a portion of sales that day to support these kids in their quest.

It was a pleasure to see the kids there and to discover how knowledgeable they already were!  They were all middle school students from Komachin Middle School.   Their fund raising efforts continue today, so if you are in Olympia and would like to donate painlessly to an excellent cause (as in, buy yourself coffee and a new book or two, and B&N will kick in to the goal) please do drop by the store on Black Lake Boulevard!

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

Let's see if I can do get these links right!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 7, I'll be launching City of Dragons from the University Book Store in the U district of Seattle, Washington at 7PM. That's at 4326 University Way NE. City of Dragons is the third volume in the Rain Wild Chronicles. I'd love to see lots of friendly faces there.  But, if you can't be there in person, you can still listen to the reading and maybe even ask a question. We will have a Livestream of the event.

To read about the Livestream in detail, please visit the HarperCollins Blog  or the Eos Facebook page.

I'm really looking forward to this!

Robin

P.S.  Today, Feb. 5 is the last day to get the e-book of Dragon Keeper at the reduced price!  Don't miss it.

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

For real.

I was up in Seattle last Saturday for the Science Fiction and Fantasy film festival. It's an annual event sponsored by the Science Fiction Museum. This year, Norwescon pitched some support to it, too.  I've attended this festival for years, and I've seen it go from infancy to being a sophisticated collection of international films. This year we viewed films from Bangladesh, Spain, the UK and of coure the US and other locations.  My enjoyment was substantially increased by the company I was keeping.  I had with me Kat Ogden of Sabotage and Dialogue and Seattle AD Tony Becerra, currently working on season two of Journey-Quest  for Zombie Orpheus Entertainment.  Listening to them critique the films and discuss the finer points they noticed made me really think about how story translates to Film.   And there were some amazing films!  Visualize giant chickens, with ninja chefs defending the world from their attacks.  A story of time travel that gives us a peek at obsession gone wrong.  A startlingly beautiful stroll through the tale of Bluebeard.  What would you do if you knew that despite your brilliance, you were doomed to die on your13th birthday. If you were a swan maiden captured by a hunter, could you truly live happily ever after?  All these concepts and more were offered to us. 

At the break, we wandered off for Thai food and then came back for the second round.   Afterwards, we attended the mixer for the directors and producers (where I was a bit over my head!  I'm a words on a screen person!) and then I carpooled home with Kat. 

It had been a great evening with good friends, tasty food and wonderful entertainment.  Nothing could make that better, could it?

Nothing except stopping at a light and glancing over to see that there, right THERE, in the lane next to me was THE PHOENIX!  A black car emblazoned with his name idled next to us for a few moments.   Seattle's own crime-fighting costumed super hero!

Okay, just STOP!  I know there is controversy over costumed super heroes in our cities, and that sometimes the police are less than thrilled with their efforts.  I'm not advocating vigilantiism or anything that approaches it. I am saying that the idea of anyone who gives of his own time and resources to try to help people is a hero to me.

When I glanced over and saw his vehicle with the decals on it,  my heart gave a little leap.  And my faith in humanity, that has been a bit at a low ebb, was suddenly bolstered at the sight of someone who genuinely wants to fight on the side of right, and protect the average citizens of Seattle.  And the fact that his headquarters are in a comic shop makes him a book person, too, and definitely my kind of hero.

So there it was.  My great evening out.  SF and fantasy films with good friends, great food, and a glimpse of a super hero cruising Seattle on my way home.

Go ahead. Just try to beat that for a night on the town!

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

Click Here  to find out if you won the free copy of City of Dragons!  Winners will need to send in an email to claim the prize!

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

A clever reader has suggested it would be good to put this information in a post, as well as under 'Appearances' at RobinHobb.com

So here is a quick summary of where you can meet me in February, 2012.  For more details, such as store addresses and phone numbers and specific times, please do click on the Appearances tab at the top of the Robinhobb.com page.

7          Sign at University Book Store, Seattle, WA

8          Sign at Powells   Books, Beaverton, Orgeon   

9          Sign at Waucoma Books, Hood River     Talk with Community College Students  noon 

10        Sign at JBLM   (Joint Base Lewis McChord, near Tacoma)   4pm 

11        Sign at Barnes and Noble, Black Lake Blvd, in Olympia   2Pm 

16        Houston, Texas   6:30  Murder by the Book 

17        Austin, Texas    6:30   /Bookpeople

I will also be visiting California and Arizona in March, Chicago in April, and I'll be at Elf Fantasy Fair in the Netherlands in April, too.    I may drop in on the Chicago Comic Con, too. Anyone else going to be there?

And of course, July will find me as the Guest of Honor at Westercon, in Seattle, WA! 

I'll post details on those dates as they get closer.

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

Recently, someone told me it was difficult to know when and where I'd be appearing to sign books.  Looking at my website, perhaps it's not as obvious as I'd like it to be.

If you're reading this on Livejournal, you'll need to go to Robinhobb.com to see what I'm talking about.

On the right side of the screen is a quick listing of places where I'll be visiting.  If you think that's the only listing, you'll feel frustrated, as no times or addresses appear there.

To see the complete listing, look at the top of the page and click on Appearances.  Now you will see all dates, times, addresses, phone numbers for all appearances schedules so far in 2012.  For some events, such as Tucson Festival of Books and other multi day conventions, a more detailed schedule will appear when I receive one.   Often the schedule is not set until the final weeks.  But I'll do my best to tell you exactly which panels I'll be on, and when and where they will occur.

And thanks for caring enough to ask!

Robin

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

You can find it here!

Originally published at Robin Hobb. You can comment here or there.

The rules of the contest are simple.  Simply go by the site and make a comment by Monday, January 30th, 2012.  Ten lucky winners will receive the new hardback of City of Dragons early, as well as paperbacks of Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven.

So if you haven't begun to read the Rain Wild Chronicles yet,  this is a great chance to catch up!

This contest is for US residents!