#The Night Circus

Books, Wine and Music – Club Fantasci – Guest Blog by David Lowry

Club Fantasci
A great honor, and a great pleasure: my guest blogger today is no one other than the one and only David Lowry, President of Lowry Agency!!
Books, Wine and Music – Club Fantasci brings you your three favorite things (Guest Blog by David Lowry)
If you love to read, think you are a wine connoisseur or love music then Club Fantasci is the new book club for you. A break from the traditional book club as it is held by a Google+ hangout, Club Fantasci endeavors to bring you something new to your reading experience. With live discussion, a sense of humor and also a critical look at books and all things necessary to help a book break through the masses, Club Fantasci will break down everything from its literary merits to its marketing.
Our first meeting will be on August 31st at 7:00pm CST on Google+ with the live feed available to watch on the Club Fantasci website. To participate and share your views or just have fun with the hosts you can interact with us on our twitters pages @lowryagency@ciaraballintyne,@dionnelister and @shannonmillion.
Read more here…

Not Your Traditional Book Club

Club Fantasci

Guest post by David Lowry

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Have you ever been so busy that you don’t have time to attend every book club function you want? Do you love to read but haven’t in a while and don’t even know where to begin when looking for a new book? Do you like fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, erotica or anything in between? Do you want to find others that like the same types of books you do or discover new authors?

If so then Club Fantasci is the book club for you.  A little different from your average meet once a month at the coffee shop book club, Club Fantasci meets once a month on Google+ and we talk about the Book of the Month, Wine of the Month and the music that each host feels best relates to the book we are reviewing that month.

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In Club Fantasci we will discuss speculative fiction and it literary merits. The marketing of it, its effectiveness, and whether or not it shifts to much from it expected outcome from it genre. We wants to bring our members a deeper understanding of not just story telling, but what goes into the book itself on every level.

Our first Google+ hangout is August 31st at 7:00 pm CST. You can interact with us on our individual twitter accounts @lowryagency@ciaraballintyne@dionnelisterand @ShannonMillion to discuss your views on the book or just to have fun with us live. The video feed will be live on the Club Fantasci website.

Read more here…

http://dawnmkirby.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/not-your-traditional-book-club/

How Do You Travel? Explore Club Fantasci and Your Deepest Imagination

Club Fantasci

Enjoy a wonderful creativity guest post from Ciara Ballintyne on Club Fantasci, and travel into the deepest realm of your imagination.

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Join Clube Fantasci and explore the deepest corners of your imagination.

How do you travel? By car, bus, boat, train or plane? Or… by paper and ink, or ereader, teemed with your imagination?

Where do you travel? Venice, Rome, London, New York? Or to the dark emptiness of space, where a vast planet curves out of sight in the vista below you? To a fantastical world where dragons fly, and sunlight pours like syrup?

I have been to hundreds of worlds I could never reach by car or plane, carried by the wings of fancy, aided by the dreams of someone else, written down and shared. I have walked the earth of planets far away, in our galaxy or another, and strode across the landscape of imagination to face the hordes of evil. Without speculative fiction, my life would be immeasurably poorer.

If this sounds like you, you should check out Club Fantasci, a new video book club for speculative fiction. The hosts meet monthly via Google+ Hangout to discuss the book, and you can tune in to watch. You get your say on the discussion boards for the group at Goodreads! There’s a current debate about what ‘traditional fantasy’ means exactly (in a situation where high/epic fantasy is a different category) so come along and have your say. My current view is it might be sword and sorcery, or possibly heroic fantasy. Do you know?

The first G+ Hangout is on 31 August at 7:00pm CST, and the Book of the Month for August is ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern. Feel free to drop by our Facebook Page or Goodreads group and make suggestions for future books. I’ll be revealing September’s Book of the Month at the August G+ Hangout.

Read more here…

http://www.amberrisme.com/2012/08/26/how-do-you-travel-explore-club-fantasci-and-your-deepest-imagination/#

Dragon Lovers Unite! Club Fantasci Understands – Guest Post by Ciara Ballintyne

Club Fantasci

Do you love dragons – or other mythical or fantastical creatures? Ever experienced that moment where, halfway through hotly debating whether the dragons in Harry Potter are in fact dragons or wyverns, you realise everyone is staring at you? Or while discussing the differences between hippogriffs and gryphons, everyone starts edging away?

I have. In fact, it was the Harry Potter debate that did me in. I still staunchly maintain those are not dragons. They’re wyverns – of the pterosaur variety. I see you nodding in agreement… We understand each other.

But ten years later, my friends still remember that incident. Don’t start on the dragons again, they say. Or the other objection I encounter is ‘You do know dragons aren’t real, right?’ So what? Why does that matter? The mythology, and even more recently, the fantasy classifications, do exist.

If you know what I’m talking about, you should check out Club Fantasci, a new video book club for speculative fiction. We’ll be discussing the literary merits of each selected book, but also the extent to which a book deviates from or meets genre expectations – anything and everything that impacts on a book’s effectiveness. The hosts meet monthly via Google+ Hangout to discuss the book, and you can tune in to watch. You get your say on the discussion boards for the group at Goodreads!

The first G+ Hangout is on 31 August at 7:00pm CST, and the Book of the Month for August is ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern. Feel free to drop by our Facebook Page or Goodreads group and make suggestions for future books. I’ll be revealing September’s Book of the Month at the August G+ Hangout.

Read more here…

Friday Spotlight: Ciara Ballantyne Puts Exotic in Erotic

We have one of my favourite people joining us today to discuss Club Fantasci, a brand spanking new book club she is co-hosting. Please welcome Ciara Ballintyne.

Want some Exotic With Your Erotic?

Do you like spaceships with your erotica? Beautiful, non-human sirens to tempt your hero?

I confess I am a relative newcomer to the genre of erotica. My early forays left me feeling a bit flat. Some of them (not D.C.’s of course!) seemed to revolve entirely around the sex. Now I understand that’s what erotica means (I’m not that silly), but where was the story? Surely this was supposed to be a story with sex, not just…um…. pointless, repetitive sex?

 Read more here…

(Guest Blog) The Evolution of Reading by Ciara Ballintyne

We’re all familiar with the rise of the ebook. It took a little while to take off, longer than it took the music industry to accept the idea of ‘digital files’ being downloaded to a device, but they are now well and truly here.

And it’s not just the way we read books that is changing with technology.

Once upon a time, a book club would meet at a location, with paperbacks in hand, to discuss the literary merits of the book of the month. There might be coffee and cake. Or maybe wine, depending on the time of the meeting.

Now we have video book clubs, where the ‘hosts’ meet via video link-up of some kind – Skype, or Google+ Hangout. I’m sure there are others with which I’m unfamiliar. Members can interact via a discussion board. Now, people who have never met face to face, may never meet face to face, and could never have participated in the same book club, are meeting to talk about books. Because of technology, the internet, websites and forums like Goodreads, and innovations like online video link-ups.

Read more here…

http://hmjacobs.com/guest-blog-the-evolution-of-reading-by-ciara-ballintyne/

Guest Rant: “Let’s Rock this Book Club!” by Ciara Ballantyne

Club Fantasci

Do you listen to music while you write? Or while you read? Love speculative fiction – and music?

Have I got the book club for you!

Club Fantasci is a new video book club. Just like a normal book club – except your hosts ‘meet’ via Google+ Hangout to discuss the book. You get your say on the discussion boards for the group at Goodreads!

So where does the music come in?

Club Fantasci is the brainchild of David Lowry of the Lowry Agency, representing musicians and voice-over artists. With a heavy background in music, David conceived the idea of each co-host picking a song that fits, in some way, with the Book of the Month. You can offer your suggestions, and discuss suitable songs, at the Goodreads discussion page or on the Club Fantasci Facebook page.

Read more here….

http://derekflynn.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/guest-rant-lets-rock-this-book-club-by-ciara-ballantyne/

Illusions of Intimacy: Author Martha A. Moore gives Club Fantasci a Nod!

Club Fantasci

Speculative Fiction Video Book Club – All Comers Welcome

Today, I’m delighted to help spread the word about a wonderful new video book club called Club Fantasci. My good friend, fantasy author Ciara Ballintyne, is here to explain more about this new and exciting group. I’m looking forward to it!
Read more here!

Club Fantasci Featured on InClassicStyle.com

Club Fantasci

Book Club Recommendation from Culture Correspondent Justin Bog
San Juan Islands, Washington, USA

With no further ado, I am happy to bring the news of a brand new Book Club venture to the readers of In Classic StyleCiara Ballintyne is a fellow writer and book enthusiast, and she will tell you all about Club Fantasci. The first book the club picked to read is a very popular title around the world, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus.

Please grab a copy, a nice glass of wine, and join the launch of Club Fantasci later in the month. Welcome news, Ciara, and thank you for sharing,

Justin

http://inclassicstyle.com/books-authors/club-fantasci/