Wednesday, April 21 – 7:30PM
Clayton Books SFF Book Club reads Spellwright by Blake Charlton
Special appearance by the author!!
Clayton Books – Clayton

Wednesday, April 28 –  6:30PM
The Other Realms F&SF Book Club meets – call store for book title
Books Inc. – Burlingame

Sunday, May 9 – 5:00PM
The QSF&F Book Club will discuss Passage at Arms by Glenn Cook
Borderlands Cafe – 870 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Please contact Chris at cobalt555@earthlink.net, for more info.

Wednesday, April 21
Blake Charlton – Spellwright
Clayton Books – Clayton

Thursday, April 22
Paul Davies – The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence
Kepler’s – Menlo Park

Thursday, April 22 – 7:00PM
Yann Martel – Beatrice & Virgil
Book Passage – Corte Madera

Saturday, April 24 – 9:00Am- 1:00PM
WORKSHOP – How To Find the Right Agent for Your Book With author Meg Waite Clayton
Cost: $45 / Class Size: Limited to 25 people
To Register: call Capitola Book Café at 831.462.4415 or visit the store. Prepayment required.

Monday, April 26
Ellen Klages – The Green Glass Sea, Portable Childhoods, White Sands Red Menace
Come laugh and play with writer-entertainer Ellen Klages!
Remember when writing was fun? If you’re stuck, out of ideas, or if your Editor/Critic keeps shutting down your muse, come join the amazing Ellen Klages for the most productive fun you’ve had in ages! We’ll improvise, play with our imaginations, and rediscover our creativity. We’ll explore characters, settings, plot twists, and dialogue, all using simple theater games. What bubbles up will be the basis for great take-home writing exercises. Come prepared to laugh. AND there’s plenty of room for anyone who just wants to sit and laugh and learn by watching and not even peeping a single word!
Ellen Klages is a writer and entertainer. Her first novel, The Green Glass Sea, won the 2007 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and was a BookSense #1 pick.  Learn more about this wonderful writer at www.ellenklages.com.

Kid Lit Salon
Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Salon
Led by Lissa Rovetch
4th Monday each month 7:000-9:00 pm $120 per year
The Kid Lit Salon for both established and beginning children’s book writers and illustrators. Come socialize with like-minded, creative types in your field. Our evenings include a wildly diverse array of speakers, member updates, events, conferences, and insider tips.
Book Passage – Corte Madera

Monday, April 26 – 7:00PM
Omnidawn Publishing (Paraspheres anthology) brings us an exciting evening of poetry with George Albon, Robin Caton, Norma Cole, Gillian Conoley, Lyn Hejinian, Paul Hoover, Bill Mayer, Craig Santos Perez, Bin Ramke and Aaron Shurinas. Join us in our celebration of National Poetry Month.
Pegasus Books – Berkeley

Tuesday, April 27 – 12:30PM
Luncheon with author Isabel Allende – The Island Beneath the Sea
$55 – includes luncheon with the author and a copy of the book
Book Passage – Corte Madera

Tuesday, April 27 – 1:00PM
Ridley Pearson – Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadow
Book Passage – Corte Madera

Tuesday, April 27 – 5:30PM
Megan Whalen Turner – join her for a great book club style discussion of her books The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia and the brand new A Conspiracy of Kings.
If you know you are coming, please write to Megan@keplers.com
Kepler’s – Menlo Park

Tuesday, April 27 – 7:30PM
Daniel Handler, Tom Barbash, Nick McDonell – McSweeney’s Release Party for Issue 34
Books, Inc. – Marina

Wednesday, April 28 – noon
Isabel Allende – Island Beneath the Sea
Rakestraw Books – Danville

Wednesday, April 28 – 7:00PM
Isabel Allende – Island Beneath The Sea
Books, Inc. – Mountain View

Wednesday, April 28 – 7:00PM
The Allure of Hayao Miyazaki
A slide lecture with authors Frederik L. Schodt and Beth Cary
If you have been thrilled by the images and touched by the heartwarming stories of Hayao Miyazaki’s animations, you may count yourself among the vast numbers of fans of this revered filmmaker. One of the greatest animators of all time, his legions of fans include the viewing audience as well as those working in the field of manga and anime, both in Japan and around the world. He is also a prolific writer and speaker whose volume of writings has been translated into English as Starting Point: 1979-1996, published by Viz Media. In an illustrated talk, Beth Cary and Frederik Schodt, the translators of this work, will explore the reasons for the appeal of Miyazaki and his films, in both Japan and the United States.
$5 suggested donation
Cartoon Art Museum – San Francisco

Wednesday, April 28 – 7:00PM
Ridley Pearson – Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadows
Books Inc. – Berkeley

Wednesday, April 28 – 8:00PM
Sarah Vowell & Daniel Handler
City Arts and Lectures, San Francisco
Tickets available here

Wednesday, April 28 – 7:00PM
Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Dominican University of California, Angelico Hall
Sponsored by Book Passage

Thursday, April 29 – 6:00PM
Ridley Pearson – Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadow
Kepler’s – Menlo Park

Saturday, April 17, 2010

SF in SF is pleased to present authors

Gail Carriger – Soulless
and
Blake Charlton – Spellwright

Each author will read a selection of their work, followed by Q & A moderated by author Terry Bisson.   Booksigning and schmoozing in the lounge afterwards.

Books will be for sale at event, courtesy of Borderlands Books

Gail Carriger – Ms. Carriger began writing in order to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She escaped small town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in Higher Learning. Ms. Carriger then traveled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in her handbag. She now resides in the Colonies, surrounded by fantastic shoes, where she insists on tea imported directly from London. She is fond of teeny tiny hats and tropical fruit. The Parasol Protectorate books are: Soulless (Oct. 2009), Changeless (March 2010), and Blameless (September 2010). Soulless won the ALA’s Alex Award for 2009; given to 10 books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. Ms. Carriger is also a finalist for the prestigious John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, which does not involve tea but does have a tiara. She is here as a result of a Steampunk Tea Party that featured the best petit fours that SF in SF has ever eaten, and we look forward to reading her story included in the forthcoming Tachyon Publications’ Steampunk: Reloaded, due out in October.

Blake Charlton – when not frivolously moonlighting as a Stanford medical student, Blake is juggling about ten different careers in the air.  There is a wonderful long essay at his web site, well worth reading, but the short version is that in 2006 Tor gave Blake a 3-book deal – Spellwright is the first in this series.  Joy ensued.  Stanford Medical School, seeing the value of a career in writing and medicine, offered Blake admission.  Dilemma ensued.  So he decided to do both.  When life gives you lemons, you know?  When not obsessing about medicine or literature, he can be found cycling all over the San Francisco Peninsula, swimming in Stanford’s pools, or backpacking through the Sierras. A wonderfully helpful person, who’s written a great book (already in its second printing!), and we’re delighted to add him to the list of SF in SF authors.

Bar proceeds and tips benefit Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California

Reception begins, and cash bar opens at 6:00PM
Author readings begin at 7:00PM

The Variety Preview Room, 582 Market St. @ Montgomery, 1st floor of The Hobart Bldg. in San Francisco. Don’t drive, we are right on top of the Montgomery BART station.

How To Train Your Dragon

Saturday, April 24th
Lunch – 11:30AM, 2-D Film starts at 12 noon

$15 per adult with one child; additional adult, $5, additional child, $10 – includes lunch, popcorn and candy for the movie; each child will be entered in a raffle for some special items to be given away before the movie

You must RSVP for this event – please email Rina Weisman at sfinsfevents@gmail.com.

Proceeds from this fundraising event will go to purchase wheelchairs for children in need – ask us about our new mobility programs.

Wednesday, April 14th

SF in SF is delighted to present a very special SF in SF Film Night and Book Launch Party!

6:00PM Book Launch

The Bleeding Edge anthology is edited by William F. Nolan and Jason V. Brock, containing contains original, never before published works by Ray Bradbury, Jason V Brock, Norman Corwin, Cody Goodfellow, Earl Hamner, George Clayton Johnson, Nancy Kilpatrick, Joe R. Lansdale, Richard Matheson, Richard Christian Matheson, William F. Nolan, Dan O’Bannon, Frank M. Robinson, John Shirley, Steve Rasnic Tem, and many others.

This is the only Northern California appearance for this book, so please come and help welcome authors William F. Nolan, John Shirley, Frank Robinson, Jason Brock, and Cody Goodfellow. Authors will be signing books for sale; if you are a collector, please feel welcome to bring your own books for signatures as well.

7:00PM Movies

Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man

Join us for the Northern California premiere! Beaumont was a prolific American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres. He is fondly remembered as a writer of many classic Twilight Zone episodes, such as “The Howling Man”, “Miniature”, and “Printer’s Devil,” but he also penned the screenplays for several cult horror and science fiction films, among them The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (based on the book The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles Finney), The Intruder and The Masque of the Red Death. As best-selling novelist Dean R. Koontz has said, “[Charles Beaumont was] one of the seminal influences on writers of the fantastic and macabre.” He’s a writer you should know.

We will follow the documentary with a showing of The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao.

The Variety Preview Room, 582 Market St. @ Montgomery, 1st floor of The Hobart Bldg. in San Francisco. Don’t drive, we are right on top of the Montgomery BART station.

FRIDAY, APRIL 9TH – 6:00PM – 9:00PM
.
Artist & author Rudy Rucker will be hosting a reception at Variety showcasing his original artwork.

“Some good news on the painting front. I’ll be having a six-week show of my recent paintings and prints in San Francisco from Friday, April 9, through Saturday, May 22. The show will be in the Variety Preview Room on the first floor of the Hobart Bldg. at 582 Market St., @ 2nd St. and Montgomery St., San Francisco.

We’ll have an opening night party at the Variety Preview Room on Friday, April 9, from 6-9 PM — I’ll be posting more info as the event draws near. The room is generally open during weekdays as well, so you can view the paintings at other times. And we’ll have a closing event on Sat. May 22, from 6-10 PM, where I’ll read with author Michael Shea as part of the SF in SF author series.

Paintings and prints will be for sale at the show during the opening and closing events, or via my painting website. 30% of all sales during the show will go to support Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California.”

Monday, April 5 – 7:30PM
The Night of the Living Book Club will discuss The Keeper, by Sarah Langan
Books Inc. – Mountain View

Sunday, April 11 – 5:00PM
The QSF&F Book Club will discuss Murder of Angels, by Caitlin Kiernan
Borderlands Cafe – 870 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Please contact Chris for more info.

Sunday, April 18 – 6:00PM
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club will discuss Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.  Please contact bookclub@borderlands-books.com for more information.
Borderlands Books – San Francisco

Tuesday April 27 – 7:00 PM
M is for Mystery Book Club will be discussing This Is Not A Game by Walter Jon Williams
M is for Mystery – San Mateo

Wednesday, April 7 – 7:30PM
Blake Charlton – Spellwright
Books Inc. – Mountain View

Friday, April 9 – 7:00PM
Dan Wells – I Am Not A Serial Killer
Borderlands Books – San Francisco

Friday, April 9
Yuri’s Night Bay Area 2010
Yuri’s Night is an international celebration of the orbital flight of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, on April 12, 1961. It also marks the first space shuttle flight in April 1981. An annual event, Yuri’s Night is celebrated at more than 90 events in 30 countries. It is a global celebration of human space achievement, designed to raise awareness and support for space exploration.

Education Day – Friday, April 9 – 9:00AM – 3:00PM
Attend Education Day at NASA Ames Research Center and explore art and science exhibits, attend workshops and listen to scientists and experts from NASA Ames Research Center.  To participate, call Dana Bolles at 650.604.3145, or email

Saturday, April 10, 2010
Yuri’s Night Celebration – 12:00 noon to 12:00 midnight
A full day of creativity, featuring large and small art installations, groundbreaking technology exhibits and speakers from NASA Ames Research Center. Significant aircraft from the history of aeronautics will be on hand as both static displays with tours and flying demonstrations. There will be music acts on two stages including, N.E.R.D, Les Claypool (bassist from Primus), Common, The Black Keys, Glitch Mob and DJ Qbert.

Saturday, April 10 – 3:00PM
Gail Carriger – Soulless, Changeless
Borderlands Books – San Francisco

April 10 – April 16
It’s the inaugural year of National Robotics Week!
–Celebrate the US as a leader in robotics technology development
–Educate the public about how robotics technology impacts society, both now and in the future
–Advocate for increased funding for robotics technology research and development
–Inspire students of all ages to pursue careers in robotics and other Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math-related fields

A whole host of events is going on all week in the Bay Area to celebrate – in fact, great stuff is happening all over the world, so check this website to see what’s going on nationally

In the SF Bay Area, have fun attending:
RoboGames Preview / Amazing Robotic Projects by young innovators / Robot Block Party / Robots in Action / Made-on-Macs-Bots / and more!!!

On Wednesday April 14th, Stanford University, in connection to NRW, will hold an event between noon and 6PM in Paul Brest Hall (directly behind Stanford Law School). This event, sponsored by Willow Garage and Adept Technology, will showcase cutting edge robotics technology, including robots that drive cars, climbs walls, assemble delicate parts, and help perform medical procedures. Robots will be displayed all day, with demos scheduled on the hour.

Wednesday, April 14 – 1:00PM
Katherine Howe – The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Book Passage – Corte Madera

Wednesday, April 14 – 7:00PM
Steve Englehart – The Long Man – Batman writer Steve Englehart celebrates the release of his new novel
$5 sugested donation
The Cartoon Art Museum – San Francisco

Wednesday, April 14 – 7:00PM
Christopher Moore – Bite Me: A Love Story
Book Passage – Corte Madera

Thursday, April 15 – 7:00PM
Daniel Alarcon – The Secret Miracle: The Novelist’s Handbook
In this book, the world’s best contemporary writers — from Michael Chabon and Claire Messud to Jonathan Lethem and Amy Tan — engage in a wide-ranging, insightful, and oft-surprising discussion on the art of writing fiction.
Book Passage – Corte Madera

Here’s some advance warning about April events.

Our April reading will be on Saturday 17th and will feature Gail Carriger and Blake Charlton. To get an idea of the sort of thing that will be in store for you, read this blog post, in which Gail interviews Blake and a fair amount of chaos ensues.

As usual, doors open at 6:00PM and the battle readings commence at 7:00PM.

Before that, however, will be our film night, on Wednesday 14th. Our first film will be a documentary about the life and work of The Twilight Zone’s Charles Beaumont (cunningly titled: Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man). This will be followed by one of Beaumont’s most famous works, The Circus of Dr. Lao.

But that’s not all, because prior to the movies we will have a book launch. William F. Nolan, John Shirley, Jason Brock and Cody Goodfellow will be on hand to sign copies of the new anthology, The Bleeding Edge.

The book launch will be from 6:00PM to 7:00PM and the films start immediately thereafter.

We’re still not done, because we also have a very special event. Rudy Rucker will have a selection of his art on display at our venue through to the end of May, and there will be a launch party for the exhibition on Friday April 9th from 6:00PM to 7:00PM.

All of these events are at The Variety Preview Room, 582 Market St. @ Montgomery, 1st floor of The Hobart Bldg. in San Francisco. Don’t drive, we are right on top of the Montgomery BART station.

Wednesday, March 24 – 7:30pm

Free event, co-sponsored by PM Press

From H.G. Wells to Octavia Butler, from New Wave to Cyberpunk to the Slipstream of today, SF has been a tool to agitate, organize speculate and explore Utopian alternatives. Join a panel of working SF pros in a lively discussion of the perils and possibilities. Co-sponsored by PM Press.

Panelist include authors:

John Shirley – Bram Stoker award winnner, cyberpunk pioneer, author of Bleak History , Black Glass

Richard Kadrey – Comix pro, celebrated Wired journalist, author of Sandman Slim, Metrophage

Lisa Goldstein – American Book Award winner, charter member of SF’s “Brazen Hussies,” author of The Red Magician, The Divided Crown

Amelia Beamer – Locus magazine editor, critic, author of The Loving Dead

Terry Bisson (moderator) Hugo-winning author of “They’re Made out of Meat,” “Fire on the Mountain,” biographer of Mumia Abu Jamal.

No Reservations Necessary

This event takes place at: CounterPULSE, located at 1310 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103 (at 9th Street in SoMa)

CounterPULSE is a non-profit theater, performance space, community center, and gallery with roots deep in the Bay Area’s provocative performance and dance scenes. CounterPULSE produces its own shows, helps support local artists and activists with its programs and can be rented for productions and rehearsals.