Archive for March, 2011
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A Sunny Morning in Brisbane!
Wake up Australia! I want to play!
I do, honestly, feel about 5 years old. I’m so excited to be here.
So, today will be my first day at SupaNova! So that is really exciting, as I hear they’ve sold more pre-tickets this year than they did all of last year. Should be a big crowd of very lively people.
And my other bright news this morning is that The Inheritance got a starred review in Publishers’ Weekly!
So, really, what more could I ask of the day?
Robin
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Australia bound!
Well, almost. The plane doesn’t fly until Tuesday, but I’m already packed! A trifle eager? Of course I am!
Thanks to SupaNova and my publisher, HarperCollins Voyager, I’ll be spending the first part of April in Australia. I’ll be visiting Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. In the cities of Brisbane and Melbourne, I’ll be doing the weekend events with SupaNova. Between those cities, I’ll be doing a reading and signing in Sydney.
A quick summary of the appearances is right over there. See? No, over there on the right hand side of the screen.
For details on the events, click on the tab at the to of the page labeled appearances. I’m hoping to meet a lot of readers, both old and new, and help to launch a couple of books by Australian authors; more on that shortly!
My own book that I’ll be reading from and signing is a collection of stories by both Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm. The Inheritance is my collaboration with myself, and in some ways it is a time line of my writing. In addition to stories that include Hugo and Nebula finalists, I’ve added introductions to each tale that give a bit of background on who I was when I wrote each story and what provoked me to write them. There are stories both old and new here, some previously unpublished. (The lovely cover art is by Jackie Morris.)
Some of my Australian readers have received postcards from me to let them know in advance that I’m headed toward their continent. To those who responded to me via email or at my sff.net newsgoup, thanks so much for the warm welcomes. And yes, I do hope to visit Perth again someday!
See you soon!
Robin
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Changes to Website!!!
As a few keen-eyed readers have already noticed, we’ve made a few changes to the website. Many thanks to the courageous Erik the Hulslander for laboring and toiling through the night to make these changes real, despite links that shattered at his touch and graphics that had to be resized!!!!
On to the changes!
Well, you are here, of course, so the first thing you see is this post, and a selection of older posts. Feel free to comment on them as they will. I try to look over the comments at least twice a week and okay them for the site. This keeps us spam free. So don’t worry if you comment does not immediately appear on the site.
To your right, you see a skeleton list of appearances. If you want details for any of my visits, just click on the Appearances tab at the top of the page, and you will go to a more complete listing of where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing.
Now you will probably notice a new feature on the sidebar, a link called Author Tracker. This is a service provided by HarperCollins. If you follow the link and register with them, you will be able to find easily the dates of forthcoming books, author tours and appearances, and all sorts of other information about your favorite writers. This works not just for me, but for any Harper Collins author that you’d like to follow. Feel free to join in on the fun.
Now, on to cover art and actually buying books! At the top of my page, you will see some tabs. If you click on Novels, you will be transported magically to a page that shows our stunning US covers. Next to the covers, you will find buttons that will take you to a variety of venues for purchasing those books. I choose to show a variety of buttons, including several for independent bookstores. I do not receive a ‘kickback’ on any of those sales and thus I am able to put up buttons for a wider variety of book outlets.
But what if you don’t live in the US? If you click on the US bookcover, you will again be digitally transported to a page that shows book covers from around the world, with links to booksellers who can meet your needs. Are you an international bookseller who would like a button on our site? Please contact me and we’ll see what we can do about that!
The FAQ tab takes you, unsurprisingly, to frequently asked questions of all sorts.
The Megan Lindholm tab is the last tab at the top of the page. Clicking there will take you to MeganLindholm.com and a site that mirrors what you have found here at Robinhobb.com, including the US Megan Lindholm covers and a click through to the worldwide covers. I will note here that although most of the Megan Lindholm books are out of print in the US, they are available in the UK and Australia, and thus can be obtained through Amazon.co.uk
The last thing to mention is the ‘links’ group in the sidebar. Those links will take you to other Robin Hobb sites. Of particular note is the newsgroup on SFF.NET. I check in there daily and that is the place to electronically converse with me! You don’t have to be a member of sff.net to chat there, but becoming a member is well worth the fee. Hundreds of SF and fantasy writers make their homes there. You won’t be sorry.
Let us know what you think of our updates, and please, yes, if you encounter any difficulties with the site or discover a dead link, do let me know!
Thanks for visiting!
Robin
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Happy Birthday, Blood Memories!
Just taking a moment to wish a happy second birthday to Blood Memories, an Italian Robin Hobb fan site.
Many thanks for making me so welcome during my visit to Italy last year, and for creating a home for Italian Robin Hobb fans. Thank you for so many thoughtful gifts, for rides to where I needed to be, and for several lovely meals shared with friends. I hope you will have many happy returns of this day!
There is also a Blood Memories page on Facebook.
I am still very enamored of the compass rose navigator on the website. Very clever!
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US signing for The Inheritance
Just a very quick update here as I’ve been getting a few queries about this.The US launch of The Inheritance will be at the University Book Store in Seattle, with the honorable Duane Wilkins, Bookseller, presiding.
I hope to make this special, so do keep checking back here for updates. The date for this is May 5, 2011 and the time will be 7PM, so do reserve these slots on your calendar! I will do a reading, take some questions and sign some books. I hope to see many of you there.For Oregon readers, please plan to meet me at Powells at Beaverton on May 14 in the afternoon. I’ll add details here when I know the exact time.
As an aside, Iwill add that I am always very grateful for the bookstores that invite me (and other authors) to come in and sign. They do so at expense to themselves, with an investment of time and money as they prepare a space, make sure stock is on hand and that they have personnel for the event. Sometimes we even keep them late after the store would ordinarily have closed. I request that readers who enjoy these events please purchase the book at the venue hosting the signing. I do realize that some people simply come to hear the reading and meet the author and others who are there, and that is fine and you are always welcome. But if you can make a purchase of some kind that evening, it helps to let the store know that you value what they do, and it increases the chance that there will be more events for you to attend.
So, thanks again, Duane and University Book Store for inviting me to launch yet another book from your store.
Robin
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My Birthday Present
With the gracious permission of Jen, I am sharing my birthday present here. A little background. For many years now, I have had a newsgroup over at sff.net and some longtime internet friends gather there.
Jen is one of them, as are Karen and Helen. Karen, Helen and I share a birthday, and this is Jen’s Happy Birthday from Jen for us.
Makes me grin every time I play it!
Robin
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Gorgeous Book!
I’m sure you’ll agree! My first hardback copy of The Inheritance arrived today. As you can see, it has a dual cover, one for each of my writing names. And dual Jackie Morris cats as well. I’m very pleased with how this came out!
Tonight, I’ve updated my upcoming appearances, too. (For those of you reading this on LiveJournal, the information appears on my website at www.robinhobb.com) In addition to visits to SupaNova Pop Culture Expo in Brisbane and Melbourne, I’ll be making a stop in Sydney to sign at a Dymocks there. I’m very excited to be making this trip, and I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of Australian friends, old and new. There is quite a line up of talent guesting at SupaNova, from music to illustrators, actors to writers, and well, all sorts of amazing people. It’s well worth a visit to their website to learn all the particulars.
In other news, I’m in the process of yet again splitting one book into two volumes. What was going to be the third installment of the Rain Wild Chronicles will now be the third and fourth installments. Tonight I just finished adding the additional material, and I’ll be sending the first half of it back to the editors to see what they think of it. To be absolutely honest, I’ve relished the chance to expand the tale even more. I love these characters and I’ve really enjoyed spending time with them. Malta and Reyn both get a bit more space to play in these books. so if you enjoyed those characters in Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven, or if you’re a long time reader and remember Malta as the spoiled little hoyden from The Liveship Traders, I hope you’ll welcome her back. We haven’t yet settled on a title for either volume, but when we do, I’ll report it here immediately.
And now, back to work!
Robin
