Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Daughter Of Smoke And Bone, Laini Taylor, london, vertigo

Laini Taylor To Write For Vertigo? The Daughter Of Smoke And Bone Launch Party

Last night, in an amazing new bar near Liverpool Street in London, Laini Taylor held a book launch for her new novel, Daughter Of Smoke And Bone. And I was there because of my wife.

I get lots of books sent to me, far more than I could ever read, comics, prose, that kind of thing. Most get given away, some get given as presents, and some are stolen by my wife. Such was the case this time. A couple of days later, she descended telling me this was the best book she's read all year, and what was I going to write about it, and what was this letter accompanying it talking about a book launch? So I also started reading it and am really enjoying myself half way though…

Now, novels are not really Bleeding Cool's usual territory, unless there is a comic book connection, often from the author.

However fantasy author Laini Taylor and her partner and illustrator Jim Di Bartolo have exactly that, best known in comics circles for their period horror series The Drowned from Image Comics.

So that was an in. And so we were whisked into the night to The Whistling Shop on Worship Street, modelled after the old gin palaces of the Victorian era and serving intriguingly old fashioned cocktails with the de rigeur modern twists in a basement bar lit by candlelight and in a London of old. We found the large spacious sofas and settled in, as period waiters arrived with pork belly on crostini, and dry ice meringue, that exploded in your mouth, white smoke bellowing out of our mouths and nostrils, sipping a toffee-esque cocktail invented for the evening, the Smoke And Bone.

Oh yes, we were there because of the book, a modern day Prague-set fantasy horror with witches, demons, angels and teenagers, that's dark, smokey and beautiful. Visiting Prague always reminds me of the older parts of London, so the venue made for a rather engaging match.

We talked at length with Laini and Jim, visibly across the bar, Laini's bright pink hair shining through the candle light, Jim towering above it, about the joys of Prague, and how Laini had been trying to find book to suit its location since she first visited there. How Laini uses Jim as a sounding board, but only gets to see first drafts, never any of the working out. About the possibility of collectible teeth. About comic books – how she had just been talking to Vertigo about a project. How the sequel to Daughter Of Smoke And Bone is coming along, although possibly not as quickly as her editor Kate thought it was. Kate told us she was hoping for a draft in January, Laini told us April… and that's all she'd tell us about the next book, save that she was having a lot of fun writing it. And yes there's a movie possibility. And yes there may be a graphic novelisation is there's demand.

And to spark that demand, Jim showed us several pages of Daughter Of Smoke And Bone in comic book form, painted by himself, being used as a giveaway this week at conventions. I have already been talking to Hodder about Bleeding Cool showing these later. Hopefully today, maybe tomorrow, fingers crossed, his new work reminds me so much of Enki Bilal and my wife was astounded at how well he'd captured the scenes in the novel.

Laini also graciously signed a copy of the UK edition of Daughter Of Smoke And Bone for my wife – and also for a lucky Bleeding Cool reader. I'll be giving that away tomorrow.

And that was that, the witching hour was upon us, we snuck into the empty City streets of London and hailed a cab, whizzing us through the smoke and the bone of the city and across the Thames. Anything wanting to take us into the night had a long walk ahead of it.

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