World meet OUTCAST, OUTCAST meet world

I mentioned in my first blog post back last Monday, after my rather long hiatus, that I had some book news and that I might or might not write a wee bit more about it anon.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is anon.

And here is the official Publisher's Marketplace announcement about my next book (!):

Adrienne Kress's OUTCAST, a quirky romantic YA, set in the deep south, about an unlikely pair of heroes leading a band of misfits against a host of "angels" that have been kidnapping their fellow townspeople, to Mary Cummings at Diversion Books by Jessica Regel at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Inc. (World English). 



Yes. I have a new book coming out, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

I am also thrilled to be working with Diversion Books. The world of ebooks is definitely a new one for me, and I am looking forward to learning a lot about it. I am especially excited to be working with Mary, who loves OUTCAST as much as I do. I also like how the book will be available Print on Demand – so if you want to you can get a paper copy.

And you'll get a chance to get a copy. Soon.

Because it'll be out in JUNE of this year.

Yes, you read that right. That's the amazing thing about ebooks, the quick turnaround.  It's kind of crazy :) .

I love this story. It's funny, it's sweet, it's a little sad in places too (apologies ahead of time). And it's the first romance I've written. Though true to Adrienne form, it's very . . . me: a romance based on mutual respect and shared interests. To me, there's nothing more romantic :)

I'll share more about OUTCAST in future blogs (maybe even a sneak peek or two).  And of course I'll be sharing all about the process and everything I learn about the world of ebooks with all of you. We'll be learning together, and I think it's going to be – dare I say it? – fun.

Steampunk Tuesday - A most successful gala!!

Last Friday was the book launch for THE FRIDAY SOCIETY.

Or rather THE FRIDAY SOCIETY gala!!

It was held at The Gladstone Hotel here in Toronto, and organised by yours truly - and IT WAS SO TOTALLY AWESOME.

We had displays of steampunk props and inventions by Messrs Smith and Bodine.  We had a demonstration of Bartitsu (with EW Barton Wright himself explaining the technique).  We premiered the trailer.  And of course I read.

People came in costume.  People posed in the photo area with awesome props.  People ate cake.  Oh yes.  I let them eat cake.  Not just one cake but FOUR CAKES.


How did it all come to be?  Well first of all I had insane amazing help from Chris Reed at Small Print Toronto and Adam Smith with Steampunk Canada.  And of course the amazing support from the staff at The Gladstone.

Second of all I had awesome help from my parents.  They drove me to the hotel at 4:30pm that afternoon, and my mom and I (along with some very helpful folks from The Gladstone) helped set up the room in a way that I thought worked best (yes we moved couches across the room, and then back again when I changed my mind).

Then the hotel technician came by to see what I wanted tech wise and he was just fantastic: highlighting certain areas of the room with light, and making sure the reading/trailer screening/fight demo ran smoothly.

Adam (along with adi, a fellow Adrienne and one of the organisers of the Ad Astra convention) showed up at 5pm, and set up a table where he could show off his amazing Steampunk props.  They also helped me set up the stage area which was where the photo area was.  I always get annoyed that stages take up so much space and are underused at events like this.  They are used for the reading and then there's this big empty space.  So I decided to set up one end to be a photo area.  The room has amazing exposed brick walls and lovely deep red curtains over the windows so it worked really well.  Prop a Penny Farthing (one of those oldy-timey bikes with the one giant wheel and one little one) against the wall and you're good to go! Adam helped set up a table of Steampunk props that people could pose with.  And let me tell you, it went over gangbusters.  People loved it.  And the stage was well used over the course of the evening. :)

Then Mr. Bodine (his character name) showed, and set up another table with his fantastic Steampunk devices.

The fight team who were doing the demonstration came a little early to run through the fight on the stage.  And then helped put up some twinkle lights.  Because twinkle lights make everything awesome.


And of course Chris Szego and her team from Bakka Phoenix Books were there by then to set up the books (they also very kindly helped sell some of my friend Katie's jewelry - I've shown you some of her work before).

And then people arrived and everything went beautifully (I was seriously stunned by this, usually something goes wrong. . . but no!  So crazy!).  People took pictures on the stage, they loved the trailer and the Bartitsu demonstration (and were rather fond of the reading if I do say so myself :) ).  And OMG, the costumes!  People really outdid themselves.

It was an amazing evening, full of fun - and it wouldn't have been what it was without all the amazing people who came.  I was so overwhelmed by the support, and I say it all the time, but it's well worth repeating . . . I know the most talented, most generous, and most awesome people on the planet.  Yes.  I am just that lucky.  So thank you, again, all of you.  It meant the world to me to share this evening with you all.

But enough words, the best way to share the evening is through pictures.  Bear with me.  There are a lot of them :) .

Me all oldy-timey.

my books!

some of the crowd (photo credit The Renaissance Paparazzi)

Me again.  In colour this time.

My friends Heather and Tyler and me.  I think we look like a trio of Victorian con artists.  I think that's awesome.

Raven with a wee gun. (photo credit The Renaissance Paparazzi)

(photo credit The Renaissance Paparazzi)

Me signing (in the background you can see Chris Szego from Bakka books). (photo credit The Renaissance Paparazzi)

Steampunk bird (photo credit The Renaissance Paparazzi)

Lisa (photo credit The Renaissance Paparazzi)

Messrs Smith and Bodine setting up (with Raven standing elegantly to the side) (photo credit The Renaissance Paparazzi)

The amazing steampunk confetti I ordered from Whimsey Dimples on etsy. (photo credit The Renaissance Paparazzi)

SHOWTIME!

Lesley Livingston introducing me.  She made me all teary and stuff.

 

Me reading and being rather theatrical doing so.

The end of the trailer (which you will all get to see very soon!)

THE BARTITSU DEMONSTRATION

L to R: Erick, Nate, Scott

EW Barton Wright himself!

Nice Bartitsu collage courtesy of Heather

Adam's table with his Steampunk props!

A slightly blurry me and Adam.

The four cakes. 

Me signing.

Another angle of me signing.

Four dapper gents (with Mr. Bodine on the far left)

Heather.

Author J.M. Frey

 Me and my cousin Emma!

Me and Lesley in the fantastic oldy-timey elevator in the lobby of the hotel!

The photo area of the stage.

Mr. Bodine's table of Steampunk inventions!

Mr. Bodine explaining his inventions.

Stephanie and adi

Megan

Todd and Dave (and the Penny Farthing)

Priscilla and Tisha

One last shot of the crowd!

The Friday Society Book Launch Info!

So it has finally been decided and the book launch for THE FRIDAY SOCIETY will be . . .

December 7th, 2012  at The Gladstone Hotel (doors open at 7pm and reading is at 7:30pm).

And all of this so wouldn't be possible without the help of the amazing Chris Reed at Small Print Toronto and Adam Smith from Steampunk Canada (oh, and I guess Penguin Books have kind of sort of been awesome too).  These two gents have helped me find a venue space and book acts, and let me tell you, it is going to be a FANTASTIC evening.

We'll have a demonstration of Bartitsu (the first mixed martial arts technique, invented by Sir Edward Barton Wright back at the turn of the century - uh, not the most recent turn, the one before that) by members of the incredible stunt team Riot A.C.T.  We'll also have some amazing Steampunk props/inventions on display courtesy of Mr. Smith himself and R. Phinius Bodine.  The book trailer will have its premiere public screening, and of course, I, Adrienne Kress, will be doing a reading.

Huzzah!

Dress in your Steampunk finest (or whatever you feel like, but know you won't be out of place either dressed up all Steampunky, nor will you be the only one in street clothes), and be prepared for a delightful time.

(for tips on how to dress Steampunk using items from your existing wardrobe, check out my post here)

Also all ages are welcome!

And in honour of the occasion, here's the poster I designed for it (click for a larger version):

New York Comic Con

I was in NYC over the weekend, attending New York Comic Con, and I thought I'd give as brief a summary of the events as I could now.
Brief for me being . . . not so much.  But I'll try.

View from plane.

Thursday

Arrive in New York, head immediately to meet with my editor, Nancy and my publicist Jessica.  But I was a little early.  So I sat in the Pret a Manger [because a) yum and b) free wifi] and creeped on the Penguin building across the street.

When it was time, I went across and ran into Morgan Rhodes (author of FALLING KINGDOMS and a delightful person with whom I've spent time at cons with in the past) waiting in the lobby too.  We hugged.  And then she was whisked off and I never saw her again.  Well, that day.

Nancy came down to get me and we went to her office which is even more amazing than it was the last time I saw her.  Honestly she's a woman after my own heart in the way she decorates.  Little drawings everywhere, little collectable toys too.  It's so nice to meet a fellow chachka lover.  Jessica joined us and we had a wonderful chat about TFS plans.  Then Nancy and I chatted a bit longer.  And then I was off. . .

. . . To face rush hour traffic and cross the city from the downtown west side, to the upper east side.  Eventually I made it to my friends' place just in time to say goodnight to their adorable daughter and hang out a bit as they packed for a conference in New Oreleans.  I was very happy I got to see them before they left.


Friday

5:00am - sounds of the family departing are heard.

Later.

I get ready to head to New York Comic Con.  I wanted dress a bit Steampunk so I wore my lace top and brown cords with knee high brown boots.  I also wore the customed made TFS necklace that Lady Lilleigh had made for me, and also my goggles.

There's a similarity to be found in all Comic Cons, and it happens upon your approach.  You always know you're going the right way as colourful costumed characters start to replace the day to day wear of the average person, until you have unwittingly joined a parade of quirk.  It's very fun.  But also a little clausterphobic.

I arrived and finally made my way to the Penguin booth where I stashed my stuff and went on a tour of the hall.  Now I realise from my pics it looks like this was "Oldy-Timey Convention 2012", but there were other booths for all manner of geekitude: comic books, games, T-shirts, costume pieces etc etc.

Self explanatory

Apothecary Stand

Oldy-Timey fun times!

Hats!

Ah ha!  One non-oldy-timey geek picture!

Gandalf and Bilbo in lego!

Then at 2pm I signed ARCs.  It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of lovely people, in costume and in plain clothes.  And whenever the line dwindled Colleen Lindsay would turn into a carnival barker and the line would be replenished.  You see it's a different experience at a Comic Con.  At BEA everyone knows the books are free, and you have to be careful not to take one accidentally for sale.  But at a Comic Con almost everything is on sale.  So people were very stunned to learn they would be given a free book.  Stunned but quite pleased.  I don't really have any pics of me signing, but once again I ran into Morgan Rhodes, who took a picture!

Then Thea from The Book Smugglers came by and we stood in the corner of the booth as she interviewed me.  Let me tell you, she's just delightful, and I kind of hope she got something coherent from the interview.  I do go on.  As you all know.  We shall know how she managed when the interview goes up on Thursday.

Then I went home to rest.  But first I took a picture of myself with my one purchase from Comic Con - a wooden mustache on a chain (bought from the booth pictured above).  One can't be dignified without one:

 

And then I changed to meet author/illustrator Peter Brown for dinner . . . at the place used for the exterior establishing shots for Riff's in MAD ABOUT YOU!  Very cool for me.

Letter proving it.

Late evening my friend Carrie finally arrived from Boston and we caught up.  Then went to sleep.


Saturday

All about the hanging out.

We slept late, then spent the afternoon walking around the Park and talking. 

The famous Angel statue fountain in the park.

Then in the evening we went for dinner in the West village with her cousin (at a place called Moustache . . . note the running theme of the weekend . . . ).

 

And then Carrie and I went to this bar called Marie's Crisis and sang musical songs until the wee hours of the morning.

IT WAS THE BEST.

It's not like karaoke, nor like a piano bar, where individuals get up one at a time and perform a song.  No, everyone sings together (the odd waiter/waitress/regular did do a solo).  So you aren't nervous, you don't worry if you're any good.  And in some of the larger group numbers (think "One Day More" from Les Mis or "Downtown" from Little Shop) people take on different parts and sing in harmony and let me reiterate . . .

IT WAS THE BEST.

Singing.  With the top of Carrie's head in the foreground

Then we went home.  I went to sleep.  Four hours later I was heading to the bus to Newark airport.



So that was my weekend!  And it was much fun.  I love NYC.  SO much.  But as always, good to be home.  And of course Atticus the cat is all needy and stuff which makes me feel good.  And a little annoyed.