Julia Mary Gibson - Tor/Forge Blog

Tor’s Finalists for the Compton Crook Award

April 7, 2015May 10, 2024torforge

Tor Books has three finalists for the 2015 Compton Crook Award for the best debut science fiction, fantasy or horror novel of the year!

The members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, Inc. (BSFS) created the Compton Crook Award in 1982 to honor the best first novel of the year written by an individual author in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror genre. Since its inception, the award has been presented at Balticon — the four-day annual Maryland regional science fiction convention produced by BSFS, currently held on Memorial Day weekend in the Baltimore, MD area.

Here are the 2015 Compton Crook Award Finalists:

opens in a new windowA Darkling Sea by James L. Cambias (Tor Books)
opens in a new windowSalvage by Alexandra Duncan (Greenwillow Press)
opens in a new windowCopper Magic by Julia Mary Gibson (Tor Books)
opens in a new windowMemory of Water by Emmi Itäranta (Harper Voyager)
opens in a new windowThe Bees by Laline Paulln (Ecco Press)
opens in a new windowExpiration Day by William Campbell Powell (Tor Books)
opens in a new windowDarkwalker by E. L. Tettensor (ROC)

See more details about the award here. Congratulations to all of the finalists!

Events / What's New

On the Road: Tor/Forge Author Events in August

August 1, 2014May 10, 2024torforge5 Comments

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

opens in a new windowTor/Forge authors are on the road in August! Once a month, we’re collecting info about all of our upcoming author events. Check and see who’ll be coming to a city near you:

Saturday, August 2

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magiczz
opens in a new windowHorizon Books
Traverse City, MI
1:00 PM

John Scalzi, The Human Division
opens in a new windowBarnes & Noble
Beavercreek, OH
2:00 PM

Glen Hirshberg, Motherless Child
opens in a new windowBorderlands Books
San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM

Brian Herbert, The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma
opens in a new windowWriters’ Workshoppe
Port Townsend, WA
7:00 PM

Wednesday, August 6

Jon McGoran, Deadout
opens in a new windowLaunch Party at the Morris Arboretum
Books provided by opens in a new windowBig Blue Marble Books
Flourtown, PA
6:00 PM

Thursday, August 7

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
opens in a new windowSaturn Books
Gaylord, MI
6:30 PM

Brian Herbert, The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma
opens in a new windowEagle Harbor Book Co.
Bainbridge Island, WA
7:30 PM

Friday, August 8

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
opens in a new windowBetween the Covers
Harbor Springs, MI
2:00 PM

Jon McGoran, Deadout
opens in a new windowBarnes & Noble
Willow Grove, PA
6:00 PM

Saturday, August 9

Jon McGoran, Deadout
opens in a new windowFarley’s Bookshop
New Hope, PA
1:00 PM

A.M. Dellamonica, Child of a Hidden Sea
opens in a new windowBarnes & Noble
Amherst, NY
2:00 PM

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
opens in a new windowMcLean and Eakin Bookstore
Petoskey, MI
2:00 PM

Terry Goodkind, Severed Souls
opens in a new windowBarnes & Noble
Henderson, NV
5:00 PM

Sunday, August 10

A.M. Dellamonica, Child of a Hidden Sea
opens in a new windowBarnes & Noble
Rochester, NY
2:00 PM

Jon McGoran, Deadout
opens in a new windowMoravian Bookshop
Bethlehem, PA
2:00 PM

Monday, August 11

Jon McGoran, Deadout
opens in a new windowMain Point Books
Bryn Mawr, PA
7:00 PM

Tuesday, August 12

Patrick Swenson, The Ultra Thin Man
opens in a new windowUniversity Bookstore
Seattle, WA
7:00 PM

Wednesday, August 13

Tracy and Laura Hickman, Unwept
opens in a new windowIndy Reads
Indianapolis, IN
3:00 PM

Thursday, August 14

Patrick Swenson, The Ultra Thin Man
opens in a new windowThird Place Books
Lake Forest Park, WA
7:00 PM

Friday, August 15

Jon McGoran, Deadout
opens in a new windowEdgartown Books
Edgartown, MA
7:00 PM

Tuesday, August 19

L. A. Campbell, Cartboy Goes to Camp
opens in a new windowBooks of Wonder
New York, NY
5:00 PM

Wednesday, August 20

Patrick Swenson, The Ultra Thin Man
opens in a new windowPowell’s Books
Beaverton, OR
7:00 PM

Thursday, August 21

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
opens in a new windowElk Rapids Historical Society
Elk Rapids, MI
7:00 PM

Thursday, August 21-24

Kevin J. Anderson, The Dark Between the Stars
opens in a new windowChicago Comic Con
Chicago, IL

Saturday, August 23

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
opens in a new windowIsland Bookstore
Mackinac Island, MI
1:00 PM

Gary Kriss, The Zodiac Deception
opens in a new windowBarnes & Noble
Norwalk, CT
2:00 PM

Sunday, August 24

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
opens in a new windowIsland Books & Crafts
Sault Ste. Marie, MI
2:00 PM

Tuesday, August 26

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
opens in a new windowSault Ste. Marie Library
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
2:00 PM

John Scalzi, Lock In
opens in a new windowBrazos Bookstore
Houston, TX
7:00 PM

Jon McGoran, Deadout
opens in a new windowMystery on Main Street
Brattleboro, VT
7:00 PM

Wednesday, August 27

Stephen Baker, The Boost
opens in a new windowBank Square Books
Author Luncheon
Mystic, CT
12:00 PM

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
opens in a new windowSnowbound Books
Marquette, MI
1:00 PM

John Scalzi, Lock In
opens in a new windowBook People
Austin, TX
7:00 PM

Thursday, August 28

Patrick Swenson, The Ultra Thin Man
opens in a new windowMysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA
7:00 PM

John Scalzi, Lock In
opens in a new windowQuail Ridge Books & Music
Raleigh, NC
7:30 PM

Friday, August 29

John Scalzi, Lock In
opens in a new windowFlyleaf Books
Chapel Hill, NC
7:00 PM

Friday, August 29-September 1

Kevin J. Anderson, The Dark Between the Stars
opens in a new windowDragoncon
Atlanta, GA

Saturday, August 30

Jon McGoran, Deadout
opens in a new windowBuffalo Street Books
Ithaca, NY
2:00 PM

Patrick Swenson, The Ultra Thin Man
Brian Herbert, The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma
opens in a new windowBorderlands Books
San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM

John Scalzi, Lock In
opens in a new windowDecatur Book Festival
Decatur, GA

Events / What's New

On the Road: Tor/Forge Author Events in July

July 1, 2014May 10, 2024torforge

opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window opens in a new window

opens in a new windowTor/Forge authors are on the road in July! Once a month, we’re collecting info about all of our upcoming author events. Check and see who’ll be coming to a city near you:

Thursday, July 3

Jo Walton, My Real Children
opens in a new windowFlights of Fantasy
Albany, NY
7:00 PM

Thursday, July 10

Kevin J. Anderson, The Dark Between the Stars
opens in a new windowConnecticon, July 10-13
opens in a new windowConnecticut Convention Center
Hartford, CT

Saturday, July 12

Jane Lindskold, Artemis Awakening
opens in a new windowBookworks
Albuquerque, NM
3:00 PM

Sunday, July 13

Paul Park, All Those Vanished Engines
Brian Staveley, The Emperor’s Blades
Max Gladstone, Full Fathom Five
Felix Gilman, The Revolutions
opens in a new windowBarnes & Noble
Burlington, MA
3:30 PM

Monday, July 14

D. B. Jackson, A Plunder of Souls
opens in a new windowBooKnack
Rock Hill, SC
6:00 PM

Tuesday, July 15

D. B. Jackson, A Plunder of Souls
opens in a new windowBooks A Million
With authors Faith Hunter and A. J. Hartley
Gastonia, NC
6:30 PM

Max Gladstone, Full Fathom Five
opens in a new windowPandemonium Books & Games
Cambridge, MA
7:00 PM

Thursday, July 17

D. B. Jackson, A Plunder of Souls
opens in a new windowFountain Bookstore
Richmond, VA
6:30 PM

Paul Park, All Those Vanished Engines
Barnes & Noble
Holyoke, MA
7:00 PM

Friday, July 18

Tracy and Laura Hickman, Unwept
Barnes & Noble
Orem, UT
7:00 PM

Paul Park, All Those Vanished Engines
Amherst Bookstore
Amherst, MA
7:00 PM

Monday, July 21

Glen Hirshberg, Motherless Child
opens in a new windowLiterati Bookstore
Ann Arbor, MI
7:00 PM

D. B. Jackson, A Plunder of Souls
opens in a new windowQuail Ridge Books
Raleigh, NC
7:30 PM

Wednesday, July 23

Max Gladstone, Full Fathom Five
opens in a new windowBarnes & Noble
Framingham, MA
7:00 PM

Saturday, July 26

Jane Lindskold, Artemis Awakening
Steven Gould, Impulse
opens in a new windowBarnes & Noble, Coronado Mall
Albuquerque, NM
2:00 PM

Julia Mary Gibson, Copper Magic
opens in a new windowBenzie Shores District Library
Frankfort, MI
3:00 PM

Sunday, July 27

Tobias Buckell, Hurricane Fever
opens in a new windowBorderlands Books
San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM

Monday, July 28

Tobias Buckell, Hurricane Fever
opens in a new windowUniversity Book Store
Seattle, WA
7:00 PM

Tuesday, July 29

Tobias Buckell, Hurricane Fever
opens in a new windowMysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA
7:00 PM

What's New

Starred Review: Copper Magic by Julia Mary Gibson

June 17, 2014May 15, 2024torforge

“An impressive debut that’s both historical fiction and enchanted realism… Fresh, subtle, daring: well done indeed.”

Julia Mary Gibson’s Copper Magic got a starred review in Kirkus Reviews!

Here’s the full review, from the June 15 issue:

An impressive debut that’s both historical fiction and enchanted realism.

The protagonist opens the book by proclaiming: “[t]here wasn’t one soul who knew how I made up things.” Thus begins the story of Violet Blake, accomplished 12-year-old liar and proud of it. Violet is also angry, feeling abandoned by her mother, who left, taking Violet’s beloved younger brother but leaving her daughter behind. However, hope arrives in the form of a hand made of copper that Violet believes can grant wishes. First she finds a friend in Mercy, a girl who summers in Violet’s Lake Michigan–side town. Then she gets a job as an assistant to the (remarkably for 1906) independent-minded photographer Miss Zalzman. But Mercy’s despicable older brother soon steals the hand, and a plan is hatched to retrieve it that has unforeseen consequences. The magic of the hand is presented in such a way that readers have the option of believing in it or not—it’s always a pleasure when an author trusts her readers to come to their own conclusions. Gibson examines race, ethnicity, class and tragedy without didacticism or oversimplification, and while all of the characters are well-crafted, the imperfect protagonist is particularly refreshing. Furthermore, Violet’s poor choices have real-world consequences, and those negatively affected are not blissfully forgiving but instead help Violet feel the depth of her transgressions.

Fresh, subtle, daring: well done indeed.

Copper Magic will be published on July 1.