Rhea Rose poem in Tesseracts 9

Rhea Rose’s poem “Mermaid” will appear in the forthcoming Canadian speculative anthology Tesseracts 9.

Mary Choo poems online

You can find Mary Choo’s poem “Christina” on the Chizine website. More of Mary’s poetry appears in the new online SF/F/H anthology Whispering Worlds.

Eileen Kernaghan novel featured at Endicott Studio site

The Alchemist’s Daughter, Eileen Kernaghan’s latest historical fantasy from Thistledown Press, is a featured young adult novel for 2004-2005 on Terri Windling’s Endicott Studio website.

E. L. Chen sells story to Tesseracts 9, short comic to Say...

E. L. Chen has sold a short story ("Fin-de-siècle") to Tesseracts 9 and a short comic to Say...have you heard this one? Her fantasy story "Tickling the Siroko's Chin" is currently in Challenging Destiny.

Dave Duncan turns in new two-part fantasy series to Tor

Dave Duncan has turned in Children of Chaos and Mother of Lies, a two-part fantasy series, to editor Patrick Nielsen Haydn at Tor Books, per agent Richard Curtis.

Holly Phillips book out in January

Holly Phillips's new book, In the Palace of Repose, will be out in January from Prime Books. Holly also recently sold a short story, "The Lass of Loch Royal," to Jabberwocky for its premiere July issue and a Readercon launch.

Ahmed A. Khan science fact article in Visions

Ahmed A. Khan's science fact article "Non-verbal Communication: Fact and Speculation" has been published in the Australian magazine Visions. This is an extensively revised version of an article of his published earlier in Strange Horizons.

Nalo Hopkinson Christmas story online to aid hurricane relief

Nalo Hopkinson has posted a brand-new Christmas story online. From her introduction:

A few days ago, I wrote a Christmas story. I had originally intended to use it as a Christmas card, but to be honest, I've never yet managed to send out group Christmas cards to anyone. And since it is the season of giving, I've decided instead to post the story to be viewed for free. If you appreciate the gesture, please consider using the button...to make a donation to hurricane relief in the Caribbean, which is still very much needed.

Cory Doctorow begins monthly column in Popular Science

Cory Doctorow is now writing a monthly column for Popular Science; his first column appears in the January 2005 issue.

Joe Mahoney, Robert J. Sawyer revamping third pilot of SF radio show Faster Than Light

Joe Mahoney reports that he and Robert J. Sawyer have been given resources to revamp the third pilot for their science fiction radio show Faster Than Light ("We're calling this version FTL 3.1," Joe says), assisted by producer Alison Moss, with whom Joe worked on Nora Young's show NEXT last summer. "The CBC brass definitely believe in Faster Than Light," Joe says. "They've sunk quite a bit of money into developing it. They've told us to take our time and get it absolutely right before handing it in, and we're definitely taking them up on that. Rob was in last week and we were trying to hammer out a number of issues such as tone and overall approach. We're going to finish it after Christmas sometime."

Joe is also producing another project that Sawyer is writing with Michael Lennick, a pilot for a potential series of original SF dramas called Emanations. "The pilot episode is called 'Birth'...we've just approved the outline and they are currently writing the first draft," Joe says.

He also reports that he recently recorded an SF pilot directed by Tom Anniko, a comedy called Steve the First which has been picked up for several episodes. They'll be recorded and aired shortly. Joe says there are several other SF dramas in development, although not all of them will make it to production.

Check Joe's Web site for updates.

Film version of Joël Champetier's La Peau Blanche sold internationally

Rights to the film version of Joël Champetier's novel La Peau Blanche (White Skin), which was directed by Daniel Roby and won Best First Canadian Feature Film Festival at the Toronto Film Festival, have now been sold to Tiberius Film in Germany, Selectavision in Spain, Terra Entertainment for Ex-Yugoslavia and Eureka Entertainment for Thailand. The film has also been sold to Starz Encore in the U.S.

"We are very pleased with the market reception for White Skin, following its successful premiere at the Toronto Film Festival," says Executive Producer John Hamilton, co-president of Seville Entertainment, which produced and distributed the film and is now selling it abroad. "The film continues to gather strong critical praise around the world, which is driving sales internationally."

"We are particularly excited about the re-make potential of the film," adds Seville Co-President David Reckziegel. "There is a huge demand for films in the Horror and paranormal genre. All the major U.S. studios and several independents are considering the film for an English re-make."

Matt Hughes sells novella to F&SF

Matt Hughes has sold a short novella, "The Gist Hunter," to Fantasy and Science Fiction. Editor Gordon Van Gelder says it will be Matt's first cover story.

Ahmed A. Khan story translated into Croatian

Ahmed A. Khan's story "The Presonic Man" is being translated into Croatian and will appear in Futura, A Croatian SF magazine, sometime early next year. The English version of the story is online here.

Matt Hughes short story collection coming in 2005

Night Shade Books of San Francisco will be bringing out a collection of Matt Hughes's short stories in 2005, perhaps as early as July. The title will be The Gist Collector and Other Stories.

Cory Doctorow story online at Salon

Cory Doctorow's story Anda's Game is currently online at Salon.

Nalo Hopkinson nominated for International IMPAC Dublin LIterary Award

Nalo Hopkinson's book The Salt Roads (Warner) has been nominated for the €100,000 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is the largest and most international prize of its kind. It involves libraries from all corners of the globe, and is open to books written in any language. An initiative of Dublin City Council, the award is a partnership between Dublin City Council, the Municipal Government of Dublin City, and IMPAC, a productivity improvement company which operates in more than 50 countries. The award is administered by Dublin City Public Libraries.

The Longlist for the 2005 Award was announced in Dublin's City Hall on Monday by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Michael Conaghan. In all, 147 titles have been nominated by 185 library systems from 129 cities in 51 countries.

Nalo is one of nine Canadians on the Longlist. The Salt Roads was nominated by the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS), Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and by Hartford Public Library in the U.S.

The shortlist will be announced March 8 and the winner will be announce June 15.

Two Ahmed A. Khan stories online

Ahmed A. Khan's story The Book of Pain" has been published by the Online Journal of Dana Literary Society. Another story, "The Best of Everything" is in the November issue of Crossroads Magic.

Several SF Canada members win Auroras

Several SF Canada members won Aurora Awards at CanVention, held in conjunction with Boréal in Montreal over the weekend. Douglas Smith won the Aurora for Best Short-Form Work in English for "Scream Angel." Best Short-Form Work in French went to Élisabeth Vonarburg for "La Course de Kathryn." Joël Champetier received the Aurora for Best Work in French (Other) for editing Solaris, and the Aurora for Fan Achievement (Publication) went to Don Bassie as editor of the Made in Canada Newsletter.

Maggie L. Wood novel short-listed for Red Maple Award

Maggie L. Wood's fantasy The Princess Pawn has been short-listed for the 2005 Red Maple Award.

The Red Maple Award offers Grade 7 and 8 Ontario students who have read a minimum number of nominated titles the opportunity to vote for the nominated title they feel should win. Students are encouraged to view the information about authors and the books on a special web site created for registrants. The site includes e-mail access to most of the authors and a bulletin board through which students may share their thoughts on the books. Voting for most registrants is also electronic.

Dave Duncan sells two-book fantasy series to Tor

Dave Duncan has sold a two-book fantasy series to Tor, per agent Richard Curtis.

Judy McCrosky elected president of Saskatchewan Writers' Guild

Judy McCrosky was elected president of the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild at the organization's annual general meeting in Saskatoon October 17.

Edward Willett biography of Tolkien up for Saskatchewan Book Award

Edward Willett's book J.R.R. Tolkien: Master of Imaginary Worlds (Enslow Publishers) has been shortlisted for a Saskatchewan Book Award in the category of children's literature.

Others shortlisted in the same category--several of which have fantasy elements--are Mary Harelkin Bishop for Tunnels of Treachery (Coteau Books), Beth Goobie for Flux (Orca Books), Rebecca Grambo and Dianna Bonder for Digging Canadian Dinosaurs (Whitecap Books), Judith Silverthorne for Dinosaur Breakfast (Coteau Books) and Arthur Slade for Ghost Hotel (Coteau Books).

In all, 52 Saskatchewan authors and eight provincial publishers have been shortlisted for Saskatchewan Book Awards in 13 categories; a total of 92 titles were submitted, a record number. The awards, which include a cheque for $2,000, will be handed out at a gala dinner on November 27.

Mark Shainblum story online at Would That It Were

Mark Shainblum's story "The Break Inspector" has gone online at Would That It Were; read it here.

Nina Munteanu sells story to Erotic Tales

Nina Munteanu has sold her SF short story "Five Minutes" to Justus Roux's Erotic Tales, for the December 2004 issue.

Alyx Dellamonica story up at SciFiction

Alyx Dellamonica's story, "Ruby, in the Storm," is now officially out on SciFiction. Says Alyx, "The direct link to the story is the usual long thing, but you can get there quickly and easily from my site."

Ahmed A. Khan story in British mag

Ahmed A. Khan's story "My Girl Cindy" has been accepted by the British magazine Leafing Through. The story will appear in the December issue.

An article by Ahmed about non-verbal communication, originally published in Strange Horizons, has been accepted (after a major re-write) for publication in Visions, an Australian magazine. The article will be published in the February issue.

Three Mark Anthony Brennan tales appearing soon

Mark Anthony Brennan's story "Freezer Burn" will be featured in the horror anthology Monsters Ink, which will be available before Christmas. His story "Humpback IV" is scheduled to appear in Here & Now, also due out before Christmas. Early in 2005, the short story "der Wahrsager" can be seen in Hadrosaur Tales.

Michael Libling story in December F&SF

Michael Libling's short story "Christmas in the Catskills" will be appearing in the December issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Four stories out soon from Mark A. Rayner

One of Mark A. Rayner's cyberpunk tales, "The Ghost and Its King," was published by Neometropolis in September. In addition, Mark has just sold three other stories: "A Reluctant Emcee" will be in Abyss & Apex this month, "The Feet Feelers of Frigheim Nine" will be on the Fortean Bureausite, probably in December, and Trunk Stories will soon be publishing what Mark calls "one of the silliest things I've ever written": "The Monkey's Tail, as Told by Marcel Duchamp the Day After Charles Lindbergh Landed at Le Bourget Field."

2004 MiC Newsletter Prix Aurora Award Supplement online

The 2004 edition of the MiC Newsletter Prix Aurora Award Supplement is now online. The supplement, prepared by Don Bassie, is designed to help Canadians vote on the 2004 Prix Aurora Awards. There you will find links to as much information on the nominees as Don could gather, including excerpts and cover art from all of the English Long-Form works, full texts of all of the English Short-Form works, samples from the Artistic Achievement nominees, and lots more.

Simon Rose novel up for Silver Birch Award

Simon Rose's second novel, The Sorcerer's Letterbox, has been short-listed for the 2005 Silver Birch Award, presented by the Ontario Library Association.

The Sorcerer's Letterbox has also been short-listed for the 2005 Golden Eagle Award, nominated by school students in Southern Alberta.

Book launch for Matt Hughes's new novel November 13

Matt Hughes's new Archonate novel, Black Brillion, will officially be launched with a reading and signing at White Dwarf Books, Vancouver's oldest SF bookstore, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 13. The address is 3715 West Tenth Avenue (at Alma).

Eileen Kernaghan reading and book launch October 2

Eileen Kernaghan will be reading from her new novel The Alchemist's Daughter (Thistledown) at a book launch at White Dwarf Books in Vancouver on October 2 at 3 p.m. As well, this Sunday, September 26, Eileen will be in the YO Canada (young adult) tent at the Vancouver Word on the Street, from 1:40 to 2 p.m.

Dave Duncan book launch and reading October 7

Dave Duncan will be reading from his new novel The Jaguar Knights at a book launch on Thursday, October 7, at 7 p.m. at Memorial Park Library in Calgary. Refreshments will be courtesy of HarperCollins Canada and books will be made available by Sentry Box bookstore.

You can read the publisher's announcement and reader reviews of The Jaguar Knights here.

Film based on Joël Champetier novel wins award at TIFF

La Peau Blanche, directed by Daniel Roby and based on a novel by Joël Champetier, received the Citytv Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. The film won "for its audacious genre bending as well as its mix of race politics, romance and horror." The award carries a cash prize of $15,000.

First review of Matt Hughes's new novel online

Challenging Destiny has posted the first review of Matt Hughes's new novel Black Brillion.

Review of Simon Rose's latest online

Here's a recent (and very positive) review of Simon Rose's latest young adult fantasy, The Sorceror's Letterbox.

Cory Doctorow's new novel out in February

The Dave McKean cover art for
Cory Doctorow's upcoming
novel Someone Comes to Town,
Someone Leaves Town.

Cory Doctorow has delivered the final manuscript of his next novel, Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, to his editor at Tor. The book comes out in February.

Says Cory (on his blog Boing-Boing), "Someone Comes to Town is longest thing I've ever written -- longer than Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and Eastern Standard Tribe put together. It's a kind of Little, Big-meets-Crypotonomicon story, a contemporary fantasy about free, unlicensed wireless networking, set in Toronto's bohemian Kensington Market."

Cory will eventually be posting the full text of the new novel under a Creative Commons license, along with some supplementary artwork to go with the Dave McKean cover. "McKean provided five digital paintings to Irene Gallo, Tor's brilliant, award-winning art director, and he's kindly granted me permission to use them all on the book's website when I ship it," Cory says.

In the meantime, there's an excerpt or two online already.

Sherry D. Ramsey story reprinted in Simulacrum

Sherry D. Ramsey's story "Signs & Portents" has been reprinted in the current issue of Simulacrum from SpecFicWorld. The story orginally appeared in Oceans of the Mind.

Ahmed A. Khan story online at Story Station

Ahmed A. Khan's story "The Comic Thief" is now online at Story Station.

Hugh Spencer stories upcoming in Interzone, On Spec, and on NPR

Hugh Spencer's story "Problem Project" was recently acquired by Interzone magazine and his story "Pornzilla" will be appearing in an upcoming issue of On Spec. His story "Robot Reality Check," originally published in Noesis magazine in 2000, will soon be dramatized by Shoestring Radio Theatre in San Francisco for the Satellite Network of National Public Radio. Shoestring Radio Theatre is the same group who performed Hugh's comedic mini-series on the history of science fiction: "Amazing Struggles, Astonishing Failures and Disappointing Success" in the summer of 2003. Hugh has also just finished a creative consulting assignment with the BBC and the US Discovery Channel for a new SF television series.

Deborah Jackson novel Ice Tomb launches October 23

Deborah Jackson's novel Ice Tomb, published by Invisible College Press, is out now; a book launch will be held October 23 at Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa.

Ice Tomb is described as "techno-thriller wrapped up in a mystery that can only be unraveled in the very depths of the planet and the outer reaches of the moon." The book's launch will be held in the middle of the museum's space exhibit--an appropriate setting since half of the story takes place on the moon.

Ice Tomb is distributed by Ingram and is available on Amazon.com, as well as Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters, and other chain bookstores. The ISBN is 1-931468-19-2.

Several SF Canada members among Aurora finalists

The finalists for this year's Aurora Awards have been announced, and include several SF Canada members. Here's the complete list:

Best Long-Form Work in English
Meilleur livre en anglais

* Hidden in Sight, Julie E. Czerneda
* Burndive, Karin Lowachee
* Humans, Robert J. Sawyer
* A Telling of Stars, Caitlin Sweet
* Scream Queen, Edo van Belkom
* Blind Lake, Robert Charles Wilson


Meilleur livre en français
Best Long-Form Work in French

* Phaos, Alain Bergeron
* La Cage de Londres, Jean-Pierre Guillet
* Le Stratège de Léda, Michèle Laframboise
* La Chevauchée des hippocampes, Robert Tessier

Best Short-Form Work in English
Meilleure nouvelle en anglais

* "Stars," Carolyn Clink
* "The Siren Stone," Derwin Mak
* "Come All Ye Faithful," Robert J. Sawyer
* "Scream Angel,"Doug Smith
* "Porter's Progress," Isaac Szpindel

Meilleure nouvelle en français
Best Short-Form Work in French

* "La Nuit," Sylvie Bérard
* "Volvox," Marie-Josée L'Hérault
* "Du clonage considéré comme un des beaux-arts," Mario Tessier
* "La Course de Kathryn," Élisabeth Vonarburg

Best Work in English (Other)
Meilleur ouvrage en anglais (Autre)

* Julie E. Czerneda for editing Space, Inc.
* From the Files of Matthews Gentech, Bruce Ballon
* May Queen, Heather Dale (Amphisbaena Music, 2003)
* Neo-Opsis Science Fiction Magazine
* Robert J. Sawyer, Writer-in-Residence (Merril Collection)
* The Stars As Seen from this Particular Angle of Night, Sandra Kasturi, ed.

Meilleur ouvrage en français (Autre)
Best Work in French (Other)

* Solaris, Joël Champetier, réd.
* Sur le Seuil, Réalisation: Éric Tessier; Scénario: Patrick Senécal et Éric Tessier (Go Films)

Artistic Achievement
Accomplissement artistique

* James Beveridge
* Lar deSouza
* Stephanie Ann Johanson
* Michèle Laframboise
* Jean-Pierre Normand
* Martin Springett
* Ronn Sutton
* Mel Vavaroustos

Fan Achievement (Publication)
Accomplissement fanique (Publication)

* Made in Canada Newsletter, Don Bassie, ed.
* Zine-Zag, Direction: Salvador Dallaire

Fan Achievement (Organizational)
Accomplissement fanique (Organisation)

* Roy Miles
* Martin Miller
* Marah Searle-Kovacevic
* Joan Sherman
* Brian Upward

Fan Achievement (Other)
Accomplissement fanique (autre)

* Peter de Jager
* Eric Layman
* Gord Rose
* Larry Stewart
* Urban Tapestry

Nalo Hopkinson wins Gaylactic Spectrum Award

Nalo Hopkinson's novel The Salt Roads (Warner) has won the 2003 Gaylactic Spectrum Award for the best science fiction, fantasy or horror novel originally released in North America during 2003 with significant positive gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender content.

The Salt Roads beat out a long list of finalists: Elf Child by David M Pierce (Southern Tier), Faked to Death by Dean James (Kensington), From the Ashes by Meghan Brunner (1stbooks), Hidden Warrior by Lynn Flewelling (Bantam), Humans and Hybrids by Robert J. Sawyer (Tor), Icehole by Kiera Dellacroix (Fortitude Press), Lords of Rainbow by Vera Nazarian (Wildside), Lust by Geoff Ryman (St. Martin's), The Magister by Sally Miller Gearhart (Spinsters Ink), Manners and Means by Julia Talbot (Torquere Press), Moonsword by Diana Hignutt (AmErica House), The Other Side Of Love by Carole Lenzy Daniel (1stbooks), Perfect Hope by S Hardy Brondos (Wayward), Perfect Trust by S Hardy Brondos (Wayward), The Red Line of Yarmald by Diana Rivers (Bella), The Sorcerer's Web by T P Macer (Wayward), Spin State by Chris Moriarty (Bantam Dell), Storyteller by Amy Thomson (Ace), The Substance of God by Perry Brass (Belhue), Trickster by Steven Harper (Roc), Tritcheon Hash by Sue Lange (Metropolis Ink), Troll: A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo (Grove), Turning The Storm by Naomi Kritzer (Bantam), Vampire Thrall by Michael Schiefelbein (Alyson) and The Wrong Trail Knife by Jane Fletcher (Fortitude Press).

Jean-Louis Trudel sells time-travel tale to Solaris

Jean-Louis Trudel has sold a time-travel short story called "Les outils de l'ombre" to Solaris for a forthcoming issue.

Rave review for Island Dreams in Asimov's

A rave review for the Claude Lalumière-edited anthology Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic (Vehicule Press) in the October/November issue of Asimov's. Paul Di Filippo writes:

With Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic...editor Claude Lalumiere has assembled one of the best original anthologies of the year. Pleasingly heavy on cyberpunk visions of the future, yet with a fair smattering of slipstream and fantasy, this book strikes a beautiful balance among fabulist modes. Yves Menard hits notes of Ballardian excellence in 'In Yerusalom,' his tale of an alien city plonked down in the middle of North America, while Glenn Grant roars on overdrive through his future police procedural, 'Burning Day.' Melissa Yuan-Innes delivers a Bradburyian shocker in 'Mrs. Marigold's House' and Mark Shainblum does military SF intelligently and gracefully in 'Endogamy Blues.' The other eight countributors are no dull mooseheads either. Highly recommended.

Cory Doctorow wins 2004 Sunburst Award

Cory Doctorow has won the 2004 Sunburst Award for his short-story collection A Place So Foreign and 8 More (Four Walls Eight Windows Press).

The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a prized and juried award that is presented annually. It is based on excellence of writing, and awarded to a Canadian writer who has published a speculative fiction novel or book-length collection any time during the previous calendar year. Named after the novel by Phyllis Gotlieb, one of the first published authors of contemporary Canadian speculative fiction, the award consists of a cash award of $1,000 and a hand-crafted medallion, which incorporates a "Sunburst" logo, designed by Marcel Gagné.

The Sunburst jury said, "A Place So Foreign and 8 More opens with Cory Doctorow's signature piece, "Craphound," which perfectly showcases the qualities that so impressed us: an energetic narrative drive; an infectious love of storytelling; intriguingly imagined outcast characters; unusual ideas explored with verve and intelligence; a charming wit; a desire to take chances rather than to retread safe ground; and a generous amount of chutzpah. This collection of nine stories is an excellent example of science fiction pushing forward and evolving, while casting a critically pertinent eye towards the past, the present, and the future."

Cory currently lives in London, England, where he works for the civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation. He is the author of two novels, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and Eastern Standard Tribe.

The other short-listed works for the 2004 Sunburst Award were The Bone House by Luanne Armstrong (New Star Books), Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (McClelland & Stewart), Initiation by Virginia Frances Schwartz (Fitzhenry & Whiteside), and Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson (Tor Books).

There will be an award ceremony on September 23, 2004, at 7 p.m. in the Merrill Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy, at the Lillian H Smith Branch of the Toronto Public Library, 239 College Street. The event is open to the public and free of charge. All five nominees will be honoured.

Jurors for the 2004 Sunburst Award were Caterina Edwards, Claude Lalumière, Yves Meynard, Lyle Weis, and Michelle Sagara West. They selected five short-listed works as representing the finest of Canadian fantastic literature published during the 2003 calendar year. However, this year's jury requested that the following additional books be listed because they felt very strongly that they merit special attention:

Struck by Geoffrey Bromhead (Anvil), The Mermaid of Paris by Cary Fagan (Key Porter), The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson (Warner), A Telling of Stars by Caitlin Sweet (Viking), and The Assassins of Tamurin by S. D. Tower (HarperCollins).

The 2005 Award jurors will be Deirdre Baker, Nancy Baker, Aritha van Herk, Nicholas Ruddick, and Rodger Turner. For additional information about the Sunburst Award, the nominees and jurors, as well as previous awards, eligibility and the selection process, please visit the Web site.

Steven Mills stories in Dreams & Visions, sub-Terrain

Steven Mills's story "Jubilee" can be read in Dreams & Visions #33 (Summer 2004) and will be forthcoming in the reprint anthology SkySongs II from Steve Stanton's Skysong Press. In addition, Steven's non-SF story "The Postmodern Man" is in the current issue of sub-Terrain (#39; Spring 2004).

Ahmed A. Khan's first book, Ghelenden, launches

Ahmed A. Khan's first book, Ghelenden, was launched today as an e-book by Whortleberry Press, to be followed in the near future by a print edition. The press's Web site is offering a free story from the book online.

Mark Shainblum sells "Twain" story to Would That It Were

Mark Shainblum has sold his story "The Break Inspector" to the online SF magazine Would That It Were.

The story (under a different title) was originally written for the 2001 International Mark Twain Writing Competition, where it was a finalist. That contest was sponsored by the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library and the Mark Twain Foundation in honour of the discovery of a previously unpublished Twain manuscript, "A Murder, a Mystery and a Marriage." Several months prior to the story's publication in The Atlantic Monthly, the first two chapters were published on the Internet and writers were challenged to write their own, 5000-word conclusions. "I believe they had over 700 entries in the end," Mark says.

Mark points out that Would That It Were is ideal (and indeed, perhaps the only) market for this story, because specializes in science fiction set in the 19th century, and it's an online magazine. The latter is extremely important in this case, since Mark does not have the rights to Twain's original first two chapters, still protected by copyright because the story was unpublished between 1876 and 2001. "An online magazine can easily link to the existing story still posted on the Buffalo and Erie County Library's website," Mark notes. "A print publication would be liable for fairly hefty reprint fees."

Sandra Kasturi reading this Friday

Sandra Kasturi will be reading with Myna Wallin this Friday, September 3, at 8 p.m. at the Renaissance Cafe, 1938 Danforth Ave., in Toronto. The reading is hosted by Valentino Assenza and there will also be an open stage. There is a $3 cover charge.

On Sunday, October 3, at 7:30 p.m. at the Victory Cafe, 581 Markham St. in Toronto, four poetry chapbooks are being launched, including Clara Blackwood's Visitations, which Sandra edited. The other chapbooks to be launched are Brick and Bone by Alex Boyd, Shapeshifter by David Clink, and Midnight Grocery by Dani Couture. The launch will feature short readings by Blackwood, Boyd, Clink, Couture and Myna Wallin, and live music.

Matt Hughes novel SF Book Club featured alternate

Matt Hughes's new novel Black Brillion will be a Science Fiction Book Club featured alternate in the December mail-out (three months later in Canada).

Michèle Laframboise story to appear in Italian mag

A short story by Michèle Laframboise will appear in translation in the Italian magazine Carmilla (issue #7) in November. In Italian, the story's title is "Il tappeto." It's Michèle's first story to appear in another language, and her first fantasy story.

Deborah Jackson's new Web site goes live

Deborah Jackson's new Web site is now live! Find out more about her new book Ice Tomb and other writings.

La Peau blanche film festival screenings set

The movie La Peau blanche, adapted from the novel by Joël Champetier, will be screened twice at the Toronto International Film Festival, September 17 at 9:30 p.m. in Cumberland 2, and September 18 at 9:30 a.m. in the same venue. The movie will be in French, with subtitles.

Both Joël and the director, Daniel Roby, will be on hand on September 17 and probably the next morning, as well.

Jean-Louis Trudel story in Italian mag

The new issue of the Italian magazine Carmilla contains a translation of Jean-Louis Trudel's story "Des anges sont tombés" (Where Angels Fall).

Jean-Louis Trudel sells 22nd YA novel

Jean-Louis Trudel's 22nd young adult novel, La princesse de Tianjin (The Princess of Tianjin), has sold to Montreal publisher Médiaspaul and should come out by the end of October. His 23rd YA book, Les insurgés de Tianjin (The Tianjin Insurgents), the sequel of La princesse de Tianjin, was handed in typescript form to his editor today.

An essay by Jean-Louis on the Singularity (quoting Cory Doctorow on the "rapture of the geeks") should appear in a French-language SF mag "eventually."

Ahmed A. Khan reprint to online journal

Ahmed A. Khan's "The Book of Pain" (which was also recently translated into Danish), has been accepted by Dana Literary Society and will be appearing in its online journal in November.

Nina Munteanu article on AI in Strange Horizons

Nina Munteanu's article on artificial intelligence, "AI: changing us, changing them," will appear in the August 23 issue of Strange Horizons.

Ahmed A. Khan story translated into Lithuanian

Ahmed A. Khan's story "The Presonic Man" is being translated into Lithuanian for publication in the Lithuanian SF 'zine Dorado Raganos.

That makes five languages Ahmed's stories have been translated into: Urdu, Greek, Finnish, Danish and Lithuanian.

Ahmed A. Khan sells story to Crossroads Magic

Ahmed A. Khan has sold a short story, "The Best of Everything," to Crossroads Magic. It is scheduled to appear in the November issue.

Matt Hughes sells two more to F&SF

Matt Hughes has sold two more stories to Fantasy & Science Fiction. "Finding Sajessarian" is another episode in the career of Henghis Hapthorn, foremost freelance discriminator of Old Earth in the penultimate age, in which the sleuth's increasingly fractious integrator completes another step in its development; "Shadow Man" is a brief, time-travel piece set in the present day and framed in a laconic, hardboiled style.

Several stories from Claude Lalumière's anthologiesincluded in Year's Best Fantasy & Horror

The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror 17 anthology lists several Canadian stories in its honorable mentions, including a number of stories from anthologies edited by Claude Lalumière. From Open Space, honorable-mention stories were "Hold Back the Night" by Colleen Anderson; "Chimère" by Marcelle Dubé; "Leavings of Shroud House: An Inventory" by Richard Gavin, "Appetite" by Nicholas Knight, "The Traumatized Generation by Murray Leeder, "The Banshee of Cholera Bay" by Jes Sugrue, and "The Woman Who Danced on the Prairie" by Steve Vernon.

Honorable-mention stories from Island Dreams were Dora Knez's "The Dead Park," Martin Last's "Carnac," Elise Moser's "Human Rites" and Shane Simmons's "Carrion Luggage." Stories from Witpunk that received honorable mentions were Elise Moser's "The Seven-Day Itch" and "Kapuzine and the Wolf: A Hortatory Tale" by Laurent McAllister (a.k.a. Yves Meynard and Jean-Louis Trudel).

Claude Lalumière story to be translated for Solaris

Claude Lalumière's story "The Lost and Found of Years," which first appeared in the 2003 anthology Intracities, has been acquired by Joël Champetier for Solaris. The story will be translated into French and will appear in mid-2005 or so. This is the first of Claude's stories to be translated; he notes, "I can't help but find it ironic that an English story by the lapsed Francophone that I am will be translated into French."

La Peau blanche to be featured at Toronto International Film Festival

The movie La Peau blanche, adapted from the novel by Joël Champetier, will be featured at the Toronto International Film Festival. The festival runs September 9 to 18. The schedule is not done yet, it should be available on the festival's website on August the 24th.

Le film La Peau blanche fera partie de la sélection des films présentés au Toronto International Film Festival. Le festival est du 9 au 18 Septembre.

Élisabeth Vonarburg story to be reprinted in France

A short story of Élisabeth Vonarburg's (translated as "Amber Rain") will be published next year in France in a mammoth anthology of SF.

Elisabeth also reports that a novella of hers will be published in a special fiction issue of Solaris for its 30th anniversary this fall.

Ahmed A. Khan story to appear in Danish SF mag

Ahmed A. Khan's story "The Book of Pain" will be translated into Danish and published in Novum, a Danish SF magazine.

Nina Munteanu story in scifidimensions

Nina Munteanu's short story "Mark of a Genius" will appear in the August 2004 issue of the webzine scifidimensions.

Catherine MacLeod sells story to OnSpec

Catherine MacLeod has sold her short story "Assumption" to OnSpec for its "Addiction" theme issue.

So Long Been Dreaming review in Quill & Quire

So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy, an anthology edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan, has received an excellent review in the August issue of Quill & Quire. Among the writers included in the anthology is Celu Amberstone, whose story "Refugees" is among those singled out by reviewer Tracey Thomas.

Nalo Hopkinson reading at Omiala, A Festival of New Black Culture

Nalo Hopkinson will be reading from her novel The Salt Roads at Omiala, A Festival of New Black Culture, this weekend at Toronto's Harbourfront. This is a new initiative being produced by Harbourfront that organizers hope will become a permanent event in the city. This year the theme of the festival is "HOME."
 
Nalo will be reading Sunday, July 25, at 4:30 p.m.  Joining her on the podium will be Bernadette Dyer, who will read from her latest work Waltzes I Have Not Forgotten.

Derryl Murphy sells story to YA anthology

Derryl Murphy has sold his homage to Thornton W. Burgess, "The Day Michael Visited Happy Lake," to Julie Czernada for her young-adult anthology Fantastic Companions.  Says Derryl, "I'm thrilled that I've sold something that I don't have to hide from my kids."

Mary Choo article on magic realism online

You can read Mary Choo's article, "On Magic Realism," on the Magic Realist Writers International Network (MRWIN). Click on MR.MAGIC REALISM, then on MRWIN, Artists, Writers, Publishers and People of Interest.
 
Mary will also have three poems, "Christina," "Keepers," and "Jig" in upcoming issues of the Bram Stoker Award-winning online magazine, ChiZine.

Cover art for new Eileen Kernaghan YA fantasy

 
Eileen Kernaghan's third young adult fantasy, The Alchemist's Daughter, will be published by Thistledown Press in September.  The setting is Elzabethan England a year before the Armada.  Sidonie Quince, the alchemist's daguther, is caught up in a web of Renaissance magic, dire portents and dangerous secrets.
 

Cory Doctorow/Charles Stross novella in Argosy

The second issue of the new incarnation of the classic magazine Argosy includes a separately-bound novella by Charles Stross and Cory Doctorow, "The Rapture of the Nerds," with a foreword by Lou Anders, an introduction by James A. Owen, and a glossary of terms. (The first part of the story, "Jury Service," was previously published in Sci Fiction in 2002.)

Claude Lalumière story online at Fishnet

Mere days after being accepted, Claude Lalumière's new story "Secretly Wishing for Rain" has been posted at Fishnet.

Interview with Peter Watts online

Rick Kleffel's The Agony Column has published an interview with Peter Watts.

New Books page updated

The new books page has been updated; it includes the vast majority of books published by SF Canada members in 2003 and 2004, complete with links to Amazon.ca so you can purchase them easily. And if you do buy books from the SF Canada site, SF Canada gets a small referral fee--so please do!

New Web site for Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes has a new web page. Though he says it's "still bare bones," you can read the first chapter of his new novel Black Brillion there.

"Stellar review" for Elisabeth Vonarburg

Elisabeth Vonarburg's novel Dreams of the Sea got a "stellar review" in Strange Horizons in June.

Paula Johanson writing Will Hobbs biography

Paula Johanson is writing a biography of Will Hobbs for Rosen Publishing Group's "Library of Author Biographies." Among his 11 novels Hobbs has one fantasy book, Kokopelli's Flute; as well, Beardream, one of his two picture books, has fantasy elements. "All Hobbs's novels are strongly realistic, whether historical or contemporary, but have a sense of wonder a little like Bradbury's Dandelion Wine," Paula notes. The book should be out in January 2005.

Ahmed Khan story in Kenoma

Ahmed Khan's story "The Crystal Fruit" has been published in the June 2004 issue of Kenoma. The same story has been translated into Greek and is scheduled to appear in the special Olympic Games issue of a Greek SF magazine, The Dramaturges of Yan.

Cover art for Simon Rose's new novel

Here's the cover art for Simon Rose's new novel, The Sorcerer's Letterbox.

And, from Simon's Web site, here's the cover blurb: "In a hidden drawer in the base of an old wooden box, Jack discovers a letter from a boy calling himself Edward. Penning a reply, Jack is astonished to be corresponding through time with the boy king Edward V, one of the famous Princes in the Tower, murdered by King Richard III. Travelling back in time, Jack attempts to rescue Edward V and his brother from their fate, but is soon fighting for his life in the terrifying London of 1483."

Sherry D. Ramsey story now online at The Martian Wave

Sherry D. Ramsey's story "Accidents Happen," is currently online in the July issue of The Martian Wave.

Michèle Laframboise featured in French engineering magazine

PLAN magazine (a French professional engineer's magazine with a circulation of 20,000) recently featured an article on engineers-turned-writers that included a long section about (and photo of) Michèle Laframboise.

Michèle's next YA novel, Les Mémoires de l'Arc, has also been annonced.

SF Canada Web site Wooden Rocket runner-up

The SF Canada Web site has been named a runner-up for one of the Wooden Rocket Awards for best SF Web sites, in the category of Best Convention/Society Site: Sites that support an annual SFF event or a regional SFF society.

The winner in that category was Dragon*Con; The British Science Fiction Association was also a runner-up.

Joe Mahoney working on new CBC Radio show Next

Joe Mahoney is working on the CBC radio summer replacement show Next, hosted by Nora Young. Beginning July 2, it will air Fridays at 9:30 a.m. on CBC Radio One, and will be repeated at 6:30 p.m. Sunday (half an hour later in Newfoundland, of course). It runs through September 5.

Next has a definite SFnal angle: it's a look at where the culture is headed, through technology, trends, and Big Ideas. It will track emergent technology and culture not for their own sakes, but to explore their effect on our psyche and on our ommunity, recognizing that the "next big thing" might not be a thing at all, but an idea, trend, or revolution. Through Next, listeners will meet the scientists, artists, and designers shaping and commenting on our future.

Joe Mahoney story in July SDO Fantasy

Joe Mahoney's short story "The Wizard's Castle" will be included in the July issue of SDO Fantasy.

Cory Doctorow wins Locus Award for Best First Novel

Cory Doctorow's novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom has won the Locus Award for Best First Novel of 2003. The Locus Award is based on a popular poll of readers of the science fiction trade magazine Locus. As Cory says on his blog, this is "a larger group than even the Hugo voters, making it the largest beauty contest in the field. I couldn't be any happier: thanks everyone! Hope to see you at the World Science Fiction Convention in Boston, where the award will be presented."

E. L. Chen story up at Ideomancer

E. L. Chen's short story "The Senses Pentaptych" is up at Ideomancer, in the slipstream category:

Cover art for Eileen Kernaghan's new novel

Here is the cover for Eileen Kernaghan's new novel, Winter on the Plain of Ghosts: a novel of Mohenjo-daro, published by Flying Monkey Press.

Latest news from Jean-Louis Trudel

Jean-Louis Trudel's most recent publication is a short story that may qualify as unobtrusively fantastical, "Les branches cassées du hasard" (Broken Branches of Chance), in the anthology Des nouvelles du hasard from the Éditions du Vermillon in Ottawa. His story "The Falafel Is Better in Ottawa" (originally published in the Lesley Choyce anthology Ark of Ice) was translated into Greek by P. Koustas and H. Karakouda and published in 9, a weekly supplement to the major daily Eleftherotypia, on April 21. Earlier this year, he sold an original story in French to the Banff New Media Institute webzine ZéroHorizon, "L'écho d'une musique abolie." It was published in Issue 14 and is also available in English as "Gathering the Echoes," in a translation by Timothy Barnard and the author. Forthcoming this summer, an anthology of stories for young readers put out by Soulières Éditeur in Montréal will include two reprints of (non-SF) stories originally published in the science magazine for kids Les Débrouillards, "Le métal incorruptible" (The Incorruptible Metal) and "La mort au programme" (Death on the Menu). On the translation side, four short stories written by Jean-Claude Dunyach and translated by Jean-Louis Trudel (one of them previously published in Interzone) were included in Dunyach's English-language short fiction collection The Night Orchid from Black Coat Press in Encino, with a foreword by David Brin. On May 15, Trudel read a paper at the annual meeting of the North American Jules Verne Society on the influence of Jules Verne on French-Canadian science fiction. The meeting was held at the Library of Congress in Washington. On June 11, he read a paper on catastrophes in French-Canadian science fiction at an international conference on francophone literatures in Milan, Italy.

*

Empreinte d'un fantastique discret, la nouvelle "Les branches cassées du hasard" de Jean-Louis Trudel est parue dans l'anthologie Des nouvelles du hasard réunis par Monique Bertoli pour les Éditions du Vermillon à Ottawa. Sa nouvelle de science-fiction "The Falafel Is Better in Ottawa" (Le falafel est meilleur à Ottawa), d'abord parue dans l'anthologie Ark of Ice, réunie par Lesley Choyce en 1992), a été publiée le 21 avril en traduction grecque (par P. Koustas et H. Karakouda) dans 9, un supplément hebdomaire au grand quotidien athénien Eleftherotypia. Cet hiver, il a vendu une nouvelle inédite au webzine ZéroHorizon de l'Institut des nouveaux médias du Banff Centre, "L'écho d'une musique abolie," parue dans le numéro 14. La nouvelle, traduite en anglais par Timothy Barnard et l'auteur, est également sortie dans le numéro 14 de HorizonZero sous le titre "Gathering the Echoes." Une anthologie de nouvelles pour jeunes publiée par Soulières éditeur sortira cet été à Montréal et inclura deux histoires policières déjà parues dans le magazine Les Débrouillards, "Le métal incorruptible" et "La mort au programme." Du côté des traductions, quatre nouvelles signées par Jean-Claude Dunyach et traduites en anglais par Jean-Louis Trudel (l'une d'elle parue auparavant dans Interzone) ont été au nombre des textes inclus dans le recueil The Night Orchid publié ce printemps par Black Coat Press et préfacé par David Brin. Le 15 mai, Trudel a lu une communication portant sur l'influence de Jules Verne sur la science-fiction canadienne d'expression française, lors de la réunion annuelle de la North American Jules Verne Society qui se tenait a la Bibliothèque du Congrès à Washington. Le 11 juin, il a lu une communication intitulée "De l'ère post-atomique au déclassement de l'humain: Imaginer le désastre total dans la science-fiction canadienne d'expression française" lors d'un colloque international de langues, littératures et civilisations des pays francophones, tenu à Milan en Italie.

Submissions sought for The Lost Pages 2004 Halloween Special

Claude Lalumière has issued a call for submissions to The Lost Pages 2004 Halloween Special. He's seeking short fiction and, for the October 2004 update of the column "The Lost and Found," Halloween/horror-themed contributions. General guidelines are here; "The Lost and Found" guidelines are here.

Donna Farley awarded The World Guild Canadian Christian Writing Award

Donna Farley has been awarded The Word Guild Canadian Christian Writing Award 2004 in the Short Story category for her science-fiction story "TreeDance" in Dreams & Visions #31. In a tie for first place was Sonya Vander Veen Feddema for her story "First Guitar" in Christian Home and School. The third finalist was Steve Stanton for his fantasy story "In Defense of Angels" in Dragons, Knights and Angels. More than 300 writers attended the award ceremonies on June 18 at the annual Write! Canada convention in Guelph, Ontario. Donna's award-winning story is available on the Skysong Press website during the Aurora Award nomination season and will be reprinted in the Sky Songs II SF&F anthology (targeted for 2006).

Cory Doctorow in TIME and before U.N. in same week

Cory Doctorow was just featured in a TIME Magazine article on blogging, for his blog BoingBoing. The very same week, he made a speech to the United Nations in opposition to the Broadcasters' Treaty underway at the World Intellectual Property Organization, arguing that laws that make it illegal to break technological locks suppress creativity, speech and freedom.

Cover for Dave Duncan's Jaguar Knights

Here's the cover for Dave Duncan's next novel, Jaguar Knights, due out in October from Eos.

Derryl Murphy book due out this fall

Here's the cover for Derryl Murphy's new book, Wasps at the Speed of Sound and Other Shattered Futures, due this fall from Wildside Press. The cover is by Elaine Chen.

Celu Amberstone story in new anthology

Celu Amberstone's story "Refugees" is in So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy, a new anthology from Arsenal Pulp Press in Vancouver. So Long Been Dreaming, edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan, features original new stories by African, Asian, South Asian, and Aboriginal authors, as well as North American and British writers of colour.

Writers invited to contribute to Okal Rel Universe anthology

Pros and aspiring pros alike are invited to engage with the first Okal Rel Universe anthology process. There is no entry fee and about six short stories in the 6,000 word range will be selected for inclusion. Authors will be paid a modest fee but rights will reside with the anthology editors, Lynda Williams and Virginia O'Dine. Stories must be set in the Okal Rel Universe. Authors are encouraged to make contact, if interested, for coaching assistance in connection with the setting. See the website for more details.

New Eileen Kernaghan novel out this month

Eileen Kernaghan's adult historical fantasy, Winter on the Plain of Ghosts: a novel of Mohenjo-daro , is being released this month by Flying Monkey Press.

Cover art for new Matt Hughes novel

Here's the cover art for Matt Hughes's new novel Black Brillion, due out from Tor in November.

In other news, Matt has a story, "Relics of the Thim," in the August issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction. He will also have stories in the September issues of three major fiction magazines: Asimov's Science Fiction, Fantasy & Science Fiction and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

Cory Doctorow on Sunburst shortlist

A Place So Foreign and 8 More by Cory Doctorow (Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003), is among the five books on the short list for this year's Sunburst Award, Canada's only juried and prized award for Canadian literature of the fantastic.

The other finalists are The Bone House by Luanne Armstrong (New Star Books, 2002), Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (McClelland & Stewart, 2003), Initiation by Virginia Frances Schwartz (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2003) and Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson (Tor, 2003).

The award itself consists of a cash prize of $1000 and a hand-crafted stainless-steel medallion of the Sunburst, from a design by Marcel Gagné, and will be presented to the winner in September 2004.

The jurors for the 2004 award were Caterina Edwards, Claude Lalumière, Yves Meynard, Michelle Sagara West and Lyle Weis.

Throne Price a finalist for Benjamin Franklin Award

Throne Price by Lynda Williams and Alison Sinclair, published by EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy, has been selected as one of three finalists for the 2004 Benjamin Franklin Awards competition, for best book of the year in the popular fiction category.

The 2004 Benjamin Franklin Award winner will be chosen from one of the three finalists and will receive the Benjamin Franklin Award during a ceremony on Wednesday evening, June 2, 2004 at the Chicago Marriott Downtown.

Nina Munteanu story in ULTRA! premiere issue

Nina Munteanu's short story "Arc of Time" will be reprinted in the premiere issue of ULTRA! (Aardworlf Publishing), to be released in summer 2004. Sales from this issue will go toward a charitable donation for cystic fibrosis.

Simon Rose on tour in November

Simon Rose will be part of TD Book Week, the annual Canadian Children's Book Centre event. He'll be in Ontario in the first week in November, and should know which towns and cities in the next month or so. He'll also be in the UK at the Northern Children's Book Festival the week afterwards.

Douglas Smith story sells to Interzone

Andy Cox, the new editor at InterZone, just informed Douglas Smith that his novelette "Enlightenment" is one of six stories that Cox has bought so far.

Good review for Edward Willett's Spirit Singer

Edward Willett's YA fantasy novel Spirit Singer recently received an excellent review in Canadian Literature, a quarterly magazine of criticism and review.

Ed has just received copies of his latest non-fiction book, J.R.R. Tolkien: Master of Imaginary Worlds, published by Enslow Publishers. This is a children's biography of the author of The Lord of the Rings, written for Enslow's Authors Teens Love series.

Robyn Herrington passes

Robyn Herrington died in Calgary this morning (May 3, 2004) after a multi-year battle with cancer. She will be sorely missed by her many friends and acquaintances within the SF community.

Robyn's friend and mentor Robert J. Sawyer has prepared this obituary.

Joe Mahoney short story online at SDO Fantasy

Joe Mahoney's short story "John's Worst Enemy" is now up at SDO Fantasy.

Joe also reports that "the most recent incarnation of my CBC science fiction radio show Faster Than Light, hosted by Robert J. Sawyer, got a positive review from CBC Radio management recently. But we won't be on the schedule this summer; we're going to tweak it just a little bit more before the series becomes a reality, hopefully in the fall or January."

Updates at Made in Canada

Don Bassie has just added quite a bit of new content to his Made in Canada Web site, including "Eight Random Thoughts," Robert Charles Wilson's Guest of Honour speech from Ad Astra; reviews by Pat Forde of two stories from Julie E. Czernada's anthology Space Inc., "Porters Progress" by Isaac Szpindel and "I Knew a Guy Once" by Tanya Huff, and a new entry on H.L. Gold.

Claude Lalumi�re story chosen for erotica anthology

Claude Lalumi�re's fantasy story "Dregs" (Interzone #186, February 2003) has been selected for Maxim Jakubowski's Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica. The book should be out around December 2004.

Nina Munteanu's critique of Solaris in IROSF

Nina Munteanu's critique of Solaris is in the current Internet Review of Science Fiction, Vol. 1., No. 4. The issue also has an interview with Gordon Van Gelder and a review of The Dark: New Ghost Stories by Ellen Datlow.

Sherry D. Ramsay story in July issue of The Martian Wave

Sherry D. Ramsay's story "Accidents Happen" is scheduled to appear in the July issue of The Martian Wave.

Ahmed A. Khan wins honorable mention in flash fiction contest

Ahmed A. Khan's story "crime" won an honorable mention in the Cody James Wolfe contest for flash fiction (stories under 100 words) and has been published in the Cody James Wolfe Newsletter.

Nicole Luiken wins Golden Eagle Children's Choice Award

Nicole Luiken's young adult SF novel Violet Eyes has won the 2004 Golden Eagle Children's Choice Award.

The Golden Eagle Book Award is a relatively new literary award given annually to an Alberta writer whose book is selected by children in Grades 4 through 7 from schools in the southern Alberta communities of Claresholm, Nanton, Stavely, Granum, Fort Macleod, Pincher Creek and Lundbreck. The other nominees were also SF or fantasy: Shadows of Disaster by Cathy Beveridge (a time travel story) and Turning Time by Linda Smith (a fantasy).

"They had me and the other two finalists up for two days of school readings before the winner was announced at a gala," reports Nicole. "A wonderful experience!"

Derryl Murphy elected SFWA Canadian Regional Director

Derryl Murphy has been elected Canadian Regional Director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Nina Munteanu story to be reprinted in Neo-opsis

Nina Munteanu has sold reprint rights for her story "Virtually Yours" to Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine, to appear in Issue #3, April, 2004. She also sold her critique of Stanislaw Lem's book (and Soderberg's remake of) Solaris to The Internet Review of Science Fiction, Vol. I No. 4, April, 2004.

Eileen Kernaghan sells poem's radio rights to CBC

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has bought radio rights (for broadcast five times over the next five years) to Eileen Kernaghan's poem "Running Out of Time," which appeared in the anthology The Stars As Seen from this
Particular Angle of Night, edited by Sandra Kasturi.

Eileen also reports that it appears that her Elizabethan novel The Alchemist's Daughter will be out by early September.

Douglas Smith sells novelette to Cicada

Douglas Smith has sold a 9,400-word novelette entitled "Going Harvey in the Big House" to the U.S. teen literary magazine Cicada.

La Peau blanche, based on Jo�l Champetier's novel, hits movie screens

The movie La Peau blanche, based on the novel by Jo�l Champetier, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Roby, opens today, Friday, April 9. The premi�re was held Thursday, April 8, and, in Jo�l's words, "was a mix-bag of fun and stress."

You can find links, interviews and advance reviews here.

Spider Robinson a finalist for Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Novel

Callahan's Con by Spider Robinson is a finalist for Best Anthropomorphic Novel in this year's Ursa Major Awards, which recognize excellence in anthropomorphic SF and fantasy. The awards will be presented at the Canadian Anthro & Cartooning Expo (C-ACE) in Ottawa June 4-6. The Ursa Major Awards recognize excellence in anthropomorphic sf and fantasy.

Other nominees in the novel category are Between Darkness and Light by Lisanne Norman, Cerulean Sins: An Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novel by Laurell K. Hamilton, The Iron Star by Brock Hoagland and Long Hot Summoning by Tanya Huff.

Bruce Ballon RPG book makes Stoker Award final ballot

Bruce Ballon's role-playing game book From the Files of Matthews GenTech (Silver Age Sentinels) is an official finalist for a Bram Stoker Award in the Alternative Forms category. This is only the second RPG book to ever be named a Stoker finalist.

Other finalists in the Alternative Forms category are The Goreletter (email newsletter) by Michael Arnzen; Ghosts of Albion (webcast script) by Christopher Golden and Amber Benson (BBC Online; and Horror World (webzine) edited by Nanci Kalanta and Ron Dickie (Nanci Kalanta and Ron Dickie).

Sheryl Curtis, Jean-Louis Trudel translateJean-Claude Dunyach stories for new collection

The Night Orchid: Conan Doyle in Toulouse, a new collection of stories by award-winning French author Jean-Claude Dunyach just released by Black Coat Press, features translations by SF Canada members Sheryl Curtis (who translated nine of the 14 stories) and Jean-Louis Trudel.

Among the stories in the collection are "Unravelling the Thread," which was voted Best Story of 1998 by the readers of Interzone and selected to be in the 1999 Year's Best Science Fiction anthology, and "Watch Me When I Sleep," which was included in the 2002 Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthology. The collection includes a new foreword by David Brin and a cover by Gilles Francescano.

Nicole Luiken novel nominated for Golden Eagle Book Award

Nicole Luiken's YA SF novel Violet Eyes has been nominated for the 2004 Golden Eagle Book Award. The Golden Eagle Book Award is a literary award given annually to an Alberta writer whose book is selected by children in grades four through seven from schools in the southern Alberta communities of Claresholm, Nanton, Stavely, Granum, Fort Macleod, Pincher Creek and Lundbreck. The other nominees are both YA fantasy novels: Shadows of Disaster by Cathy Beveridge and Turning Time by Linda Smith. The winner will be announced April 7.

Rick Sutcliffe wins EPPIE Award for best SF

Rick Sutcliffe's novel The Friends, Volume II of The Interregnum, his alternate history series, won the 2004 EPPIE Award for best electronically published science fiction novel of 2003 at the annual EPICon, held March 12 to 14 in Oklahoma City. Volume III of The Interregnum, The Exile, was a finalist for the same award.

The books are available in eBook form from publisher Writers Exchange or retailer Fictionwise, and in paper from Bowker's Booksurge.

Made in Canada newsletter returns

Don Bassie's Made in Canada Newsletter has returned after a year-long hiatus. In the current issue, you can read Douglas Smith's novelette "Scream Angel" from the 2003 anthology Low Port; enjoy Dennis Valdron's essay "The Starlost: A New Perspective," an examination of the Canadian perspective of "The worst SF series ever," and peruse Velvet Delorey's review of Humans, the sequel to Robert J. Sawyer's Hugo-winning novel Hominids. Many authors' pages have also been updated.

Ahmed Khan sells story to H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine

Ahmed Khan has sold his short story "Hello Dolly" to H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine, edited by George Scithers.

Simon Rose launching The Sorcerer's Letterbox May 8

Simon Rose's second novel for young readers, The Sorcerer's Letterbox, will be officially launched at Chapters, 9631 Macleod Trail South, Calgary, on Saturday, May 8 at 1 p.m. The afternoon will feature an introduction to The Sorcerer's Letterbox, a reading, a question and answer session, book signing and prize draws.

Sherry D. Ramsey poem in Astropoetica

Sherry D. Ramsey's poem "Ghosts and Dark Objects" will appear in the next issue of Astropoetica.

Three SF Canada members up for ForeWord Magazine's SF Book of the Year Award

�lisabeth Vonarburg's novel Dreams of the Sea (Tesseract Books) and Lynda Williams and Alison Sinclair's novel Throne Price (Edge) are finalists for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Award in the science fiction category.

The ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards were established six years ago to bring increased attention to the literary achievements of independent presses and their authors. There are Gold, Silver and Bronze awards in each category, plus Editor's Choice Prizes for fiction and nonfiction. The awards will be presented at BookExpo America in Chicago on June 4.

Other finalists in the science fiction category are Arcalian Apocalypse by Michael Anthony Cariola (1stBooks), The Hand in the Mirror by M. Bradley Davis (1stBooks), Younger by Judith Sulzberger (Apple Trees Productions), The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock (Bethany House), and Ring by Koji Suzuki (Vertical Inc.).

Good reviews for Canadian anthologies

There have been lots of good reviews for two anthologies edited by Claude Lalumi�re and featuring work by a number of SF Canada members. Paul Di Filippo reviewed Open Space: New Canadian Fantastic Fiction for Science Fiction Weekly and gave it an A; other reviews have been posted at Challenging Destiny and SF Site.

Reviews for Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic are online at Challenging Destiny and BiblioTravel. In Locus Magazine, Rich Horton called Island Dreams "one of the best original anthologies I've seen in 2003."

Nina Munteanu story nominated for Fountain Award

Nina Munteanu's short story "Angel's Promises," which is currently online at GateWay SF, has been nominated for the SLF (Speculative Literature Foundation) Fountain Award for 2004.

Claude Lalumi�re resells story to SDO Fantasy, announces new Lost Pages

Claude Lalumi�re's 2002 story "Let Evil Beware!" has been bought by Mark Anthony Brennan for republication in the forthcoming April 2004 "Monsters" issue of SDO Fantasy. This is Claude's first reprint.

Claude's 'zine Lost Pages just posted its latest update, dated March 21.

Finally, Claude wrote the introduction for the just-released Spanish edition of Paul Di Filippo's collection Lost Pages (P�ginas Perdidas, Grupo Editorial AJEC). The introduction will appear in English in a forthcomnig issue of The New York Review of Science Fiction.

�lisabeth Vonarburg's Dreams of the Sea reviewed

There's an excellent review of �lisabeth Vonarburg's novel Dreams of the Sea on SF Site.

Cory Doctorow makes cover of NOW

Cory Doctorow is on the cover of NOW magazine. Says Cory, "It's a great story; unfortunately, I got substantially misquoted here and there, including in some ways that are potentially hurtful to friends, so I wanted to post some errata:  My thesis was about fringe culture and the Internet; I got a job programming, not advertising, CDROMs; and the entertainment industry is worth $60 billion, not million; I was considered the best writer in my school workshops, not my professional ones."

UPDATE: Cory's latest novel, Eastern Standard Tribe, is reviewed here by the Onion A.V. Club. Entertainment Weekly also reviewed it, giving it a B-. Cory is offering free downloads of Eastern Standard Tribe from his website.

Lynda Williams adds to Okal Rel universe

Lynda Williams has three publications coming out in the next year. Courtesan Prince, prequel to Throne Price, published by Edge, will appear in the fall
of 2004. This is Novel #1 in the 10-part series. Novellas Kath and Mekan'stan, additional stories set in the Okal Rel Universe, are forthcoming from Windstorm Creative in April.

Lynda is hosting a writing contest for stories set within the Okal Rel Universe. Prizes will include publication in an anthology. Details are available here.

Another Asimov's sale for Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes reports another sale to Asimov's Science Fiction, his 10th sale to a professional magazine since July.

Brett Alexander Savory-edited West Memphis Three anthology coming in October

Brett Alexander Savory and M. W. Anderson's West Memphis Three anthology will be published in early October by Arsenal Pulp Press .

The anthology is called Last Pentacle of the Sun: Writings in Support of the West Memphis Three. Sales of the book will raise money for the defense of the "West Memphis Three," young men tried and found guilty of a murder through what many people see as a disturbing pattern of public hysterics, official misconduct, and completely illogical judicial conclusions, not because of evidence, but because they wore black, listened to heavy metal music, and liked horror fiction. This site has been created to raise awareness of the case. Two films about the case are also coming out later this year--a feature film, West Memphis Three, and Devil's Knot, based on Mara Leveritt's book.

Last Pentacle of the Sun: Writings in Support of the West Memphis Three will be made up of 13 works of fiction and eight works of non-fiction, plus one set of lyrics, some black-and-white photos, and several black-and-white illustrations. Contributors are (in alphabetical order): Peg Aloi, Clive Barker, Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky, Gary A. Braunbeck, Poppy Z. Brite & Caitlin R. Kiernan, Stephen Dedman, Adam Greene & David Niall Wilson, James Hetfield, Brian Hodge, Gerard Houarner, Philip Jenkins, Mara Leveritt, Bentley Little, Simon Logan, Michael Marano, Elizabeth Massie, James Morrow, Scott Nicholson, Mike Oliveri, Grove Pashley, John Pelan, Adam Roberts, Burk Sauls, Peter Straub, and Paul G. Tremblay.

Bruce Ballon's game supplement on preliminary Stoker ballot

Bruce Ballon's role-playing game supplement "From the Files of Matthews GenTech" has made it on to the preliminary ballot for a Bram Stoker Award. "It ended up the highest recommended work of the year in Alt Forms (must have been all those shoggoths with brass tentacle attachments I let loose), " Bruce notes.

Donna Farley's story "Egg" in current Cicada

Donna Farley's short story "Egg" is in the March-April issue of the teen literary magazine Cicada.

Cory Doctorow a Nebula Award finalist

Cory Doctorow's story "0wnz0red" (Salon, August 2002) is one of the finalists in the Best Novelette category for this year's Nebula Awards. Other nominees for Best Novelette are "Mask of the Rex" by Richard Bowes (Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 2002), "Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs" by Adam-Troy Castro (Imaginings, edited by Keith R. A. DeCandido, Pocket Books, August 2003), "The Empire of Ice Cream" by Jeffrey Ford (SCI FICTION, February 26, 2003), and "The Wages of Syntax" by Ray Vukcevich (SCI FICTION, October 16, 2002).

The Nebula Awards will be awarded the weekend of April 15-18 in Seattle.

Ahmed A. Kahn sells three stories

Ahmed A. Khan's short story "Close Encounters of the Prepostrous Kind" has been accepted for publication at The Writers Publishing, and is scheduled to appear in their summer issue.

Ahmed's stories will also appear in Spin (Finland) and The Dramaturges of Yann (Greece), thanks to Douglas Smith's Foreign Language Market List.

Kate Riedel story online at Anotherealm

Kate Riedel's story "Brother's Keeper" is online at Anotherealm; read it here.

Mark Anthony Brennan sells story to Neverary

Not to be outdone by the other two Marks, Mark Anthony Brennan just sold his alternate history short story "Loyalists" to Neverary.

Catherine MacLeod sells story to On Spec

Catherine MacLeod just sold her short story "Stick House" to On Spec.

Mark Shainblum scripting new webcomic

Mark Shainblum has taken a step back into writing comics and superheroes with Canadiana, a new webcomic created by PEI illustrator Sandy Carruthers. Sandy is inking over pencils by fellow Island artist Jeff Alward. Mark scripted the first six pages of the weekly web series over Sandy's outline and existing artwork, but has since taken over writing the storyline from scratch. New pages appear weekly at www.sandycarruthers.com/canadiana.html.

Mark A. Rayner story in latest Paradox

Paradox published Mark A. Rayner's alternate history tale, "The Consolation of Victory," in its January issue.

E. L. Chen sells two short stories

E. L. Chen has recently sold stories to Challenging Destiny ("Tickling the Siroko's Chin") and Ideomancer ("The Senses Pentaptych").

La Peau blanche considered for Cannes

The movie La Peau blanche, based on the novel by Jo�l Champetier, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Roby, is one of the three Canadian movies being considered to compete in the Cannes Festival in the category "La Quinzaine des r�alisateurs." This is a pre-selection--they are not assured yet that the movie will compete. But, says Joel, "since those three movies were preferred by the pre-selection judges in a pool of 49 English and French Canadian movie, it is very comforting on a personal level."

You can read about the process of bringing La Peau blanche to the screen here. The film will open Friday, April 9; a trade paperback reissue of the novel, with the movie poster as the cover, is due out this month.

Ahmed A. Khan story now online

Ahmed A. Khan's story "The End" has been published in Anotherealm; read it here.

Celu Amberstone sells to anthology

Celu Amberstone's short story "Refugees" has sold to Nalo Hopkinson's anthology So Long Dreaming. The anthology will be out sometime in late spring or early summer.

Members' News Winter 2004

Bruce Ballon's latest roleplaying book is "From the Files of Matthews GenTech" for the superhero role-playing game "Silver Age Sentinels," published by the Canadian company Guardians of Order Inc. "It's a blend of SF, horror and superhero elements put together as a tribute to mad scientists and mutant monsters (plus a dash of Cthulhu to get just the right flavour)," Bruce says. It has garnered a few Stoker recommendations and is on the preliminary ballot for an Origins Award.

Mark Anthony Brennan's story "Return of the Native" is scheduled to appear in the upcoming issue of Andromeda Spaceways In-flight Magazine. The soon-to-be-released Monsters Ink anthology will feature his story "Freezer Burn." His work will also be appearing in Here & Now, Shadowland and Once Upon a World sometime in 2004.

E. L. Chen has a short story ("White Rabbit Triptych") in the current issue of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet as well as a short comic ("The New Girl") in Say...aren't you dead? She recently sold another comic (as well as cover artwork) to Say...why aren't we crying? and her short story "The Moment of Truth" will likely appear in the spring issue of OnSpec.

Candas Jane Dorsey was elected president, Susan Mayse vice-president and Annette Mocek secretary-treasurer of SF Canada at the annual general meeting held December 29 in Toronto.

Dave Duncan's latest novel, Impossible Odds: A Chronicle of the King's Blades, was published in November by Eos.

Matt Hughes's "very mild" horror short story, "Mean Mr. Mustard," is the cover story for the winter edition of Storyteller, the leading Canadian quarterly magazine of genre fiction. In addition, Matt has made his first sale to Gardner Dozois at Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, a time travel story called "The Hat Thing," and sold a third Henghis Hapthorn story, "Relics of the Thim," to Gordon Van Gelder at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Tor will release his novel Black Brillion in November.

On the suspense side, Matt sold a novella, "Muscle," to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. It's about three socialite women who inadvertently find themselves hiring out as enforcers among the country club set.

The Stars As Seen from this Particular Angle of Night (Red Deer Press/The Bakka Collection, 2003), a speculative poetry anthology edited by Sandra Kasturi and featuring several SF Canada members among its contributors, was listed among November and December's "New and Notable Books" by Locus Online. It has also received several recommendations for the Stoker Award ballot.

Ahmed A. Khan recently sold short stories "The Maker Myth" to Kenoma e-zine and "The End" to Anotherealm (where it's scheduled to appear in March). Meanwhile, he's keeping himself busy with his Web site of short SF reviews.

Eileen Kernaghan has sold her third YA fantasy novel, The Alchemist's Daughter, to Thistledown Press; it will be out later this year.

Joe Mahoney's speculative fiction radio show Faster Than Light is proceeding to the next stage with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "We're going to make yet another pilot (this will be number three)," Joe says, "but that's okay because this time it's more about establishing content and structure than auditioning. And it looks like we'll be given the time and money to do it up right."

Steven Mills's article "Story Resuscitation" appeared in the Spring/Summer issue of WordWorks.

Nina Munteanu sold a reprint of her short story "Angel's Promises" to Gateway-SF for its print issue #8 (Website Issue #9), scheduled for spring of 2004 (she thinks).

Sherry D. Ramsey's "On The Road With Fiamong's Rule" will be reprinted in the anthology Dark Highways, due out in 2004 from Cyber-Pulp.

Mark A. Rayner has sold his first novel, The Amadeus Net, to Emperor's New Clothes Press. It will come out "sometime early in 2005."

Spider Robinson has been asked by the Heinlein Trust to collaborate on a novel with Robert A. Heinlein. Called "Robert A. Heinlein's Variable Star by Spider Robinson," it will be based on a lengthy detailed outline Heinlein drew up in 1955--"Eerily," Spider notes, "the very year I first discovered his work, at age 6"--which was just discovered among his papers by the official Heinlein archivist, Bill Patterson. The book is being marketed by Spider's (and Heinlein's) agent, Eleanor Wood, using a proposal by Spider, Heinlein's original outline and handwritten index-card notes, and a 10,000-word sample Spider has already written. Spider isn't the novel's only Canadian connection: the novel opens in Surrey, B.C.

Says Spider, "No words can describe the flood of emotions I've experienced since I got the news--but joy unspeakable is definitely uppermost in the mix. Followed closely by mortal terror. My primary hope in this project is to avoid being torn limb from limb by the Ghost of The Beast. Pray for me, folks. And share my joy."

An interview with Spider will be featured in the February, 2004, issue of Locus Magazine.

Simon Rose's novel The Alchemist's Portrait received a very positive review in the Canadian Review of Materials.

Jean-Louis Trudel sold two short stories to the Italian magazine Carmilla. One is "Des anges sont tombés" (Where Angels Fall), which Jean-Louis says is "probably my most published (more than seven times) translated (more than three times) and pirated (twice) story," and the other is an original, "Soldats des bois, de la mer et du ciel" (Soldiers of the Woods, the Sea and the Sky).

Jean-Louis's short story "Le second carnet de Villard" (Villard's Second Notebook), first published in imagine... and reprinted in a French best-of anthology, will be reprinted in a "Franco-Ontarian anthology-cum-writers' repertory" sometime this year.

Élisabeth Vonarburg sold reprint rights for her story "Readers of the Lost Art" to a "fiction/theory volume" from MIT Press entitled reskin. Élisabeth notes, "I'll be rubbing shoulders with modern feminist SF luminaries like Raphael Carter, Nalo Hopkinson, Jewelle Gomez and L. Timmel Duchamp."

Edward Willett has sold his first adult SF novel, Lost in Translation, to Five Star. No publication date has yet been set. Lost in Translation is based on this short story of the same name, which appeared in the premiere issue of TransVersions in 1994.

On the non-SF side, Ed's children's non-fiction book Ebola Virus (Enslow, 2003) has been chosen as one of the 2004 Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12 by the National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council. His non-fiction children's books The Iran-Iraq War (War and Conflict in the Middle East) and Ayatollah Khomeini (Biographies of Arab World Leaders) are both now out from Rosen Publishing Group, and he's still looking forward to the spring release of J.R.R. Tolkien: Master of Imaginary Worlds from Enslow Publishers. In progress is a children's biography of bestselling SF and fantasy author Orson Scott Card, also for Enslow.