Lynda Williams interviews Joe Mahoney for On Spec blog

The first installment of Lynda Williams's contribution to the On Spec blog is now online. Joe Mahoney is the first subject. The idea is to cameo people in the Canadian SF community who bring it to life through their contributions--whether or not that includes writing. Subjects could include writers who volunteer and organize things, supportive journalists, editors, publishers, academics, etc.

Lynda Williams novel Editor's Choice at Deep Magic

Lynda Williams reports that her book The Courtesan Prince, Book 1 in the Okal Rel Universe saga published by Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy, is Editor's Choice for the December 2005 issue of Deep Magic.

The launch for the first Okal Rel Universe Anthology, with authors Elizabeth Woods, Adam Volk, Sarah Trick, Rick Hoggarth and Amanda da Silva, was held in Prince George on December 7. The Okal Rel Universe Anthology 1 was co-edited by Lynda Williams and Virginia O'Dine and published under Windstorm Creative's Fandom Press imprint.

Douglas Smith sells to Baen's Universe

Douglas Smith just sold his short story "Murphy's Law" to Baen's Universe, the new pro online mag from Baen Books. That makes seven first-rights sales this year by Doug to pro markets (four since October) and 25 short story sales counting reprints.

Neile Graham poems now online at Strange Horizons

Neile Graham's poems "The Bones of the Tale" and "In Blood On Stone In Bone" appear on-line in the November 28 and May 3, 2005 issues of Strange Horizons, respectively. His poem "Hunting the Lady Well" appears in Canadian Literature 186 (Autumn 2005) and "1775" (non-speculative) appeared in Litrag 19 (July 2005).

Douglas Smith story upcoming in Weird Tales

Douglas Smith's short story "A Taste Sweet and Salty" will appear in Weird Tales and will also be reprinted later in Cicada. His SF short story "State of Disorder," an Aurora finalist in 2000, will be reprinted in the Russian magazine, Esli.

Cover art for Maggie L. Wood's The Princess Mage

Here's the cover art for The Princess Mage by Maggie L. Wood. It's a sequel to The Princess Pawn, and is set to come out from Sumach Press in May of 2006.

Dave Duncan sells new fantasy to Tor

Dave Duncan rhas sold a proposed fantasy, tentatively entitled The Starfolk, to Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Tor, with the possibility of a series to follow.

Cover art for Dave Duncan's new novel

Here's a preview of the cover art for Dave Duncan's next book, Children of Chaos (Tor, June 2006).

Leslie Carmichael's children's novel Lyranel's Song just released

Leslie Carmichael's children's novel Lyranel's Song has just been published by Blooming Tree Press.

Lyranel's Song is a medieval fantasy. From the cover: "When Lyranel wakes on her twelfth birthday bursting with Song, she is horrified and tries to hide her new gift from her father. Worse still, a terrible plague threatens her land. Lyranel must learn to come to terms with her new talent. If not, her land and her people just may not survive."

Leslie will be holding a launch in early 2006 (details yet to be finalized).

The book is available directly from Blooming Tree Press. The hardcover edition is available at the special holiday price of $16.95 US for a limited time.

Catherine MacLeod sells story to TaleBones

Catherine MacLeod has sold her short story "The Speed of Dark" to TaleBones. It should be in issue 32, due out in March, 2006.

Joe Mahoney-produced documentary on SF airs on The Arts Tonight Nov. 22

Joe Mahoney has produced a half-hour documentary on science fiction (where it's been, where it's at, and where it may or may not be going) that will air this coming Tuesday, November 22, on CBC Radio's The Arts Tonight. The documentary features Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Charles Wilson, Nalo Hopkinson and Jean-Louis Trudel. The Arts Tonight is a daily magazine show about the arts in Canada, covering theatre, dance, books, music and the visual arts. It airs weeknights at 10 p.m. (10:30 in Newfoundland) on CBC Radio One.

Claude Lalumière story up at SciFiction

Claude Lalumière's story "Different Flesh" now online at the soon-to-be-dearly-departed SciFiction.

Suzanne Church, Eric Choi, Derwin Mak promoting anthology at Waterloo Chapters

Suzanne Church, Eric Choi and Derwin Mak will be hosting a reading/signing at Chapters in Waterloo on Saturday, January 28, at 1 p.m., promoting the anthology Northwest Passages: A Cascadian Anthology. Suzanne's story in the anthology is "Free Range." Eric Choi's story is "Plot Device," and Derwin Mak's is "Transubstantiation."

Douglas Smith sells to Cicada for third time

Douglas Smith has sold short story "A Town Called Forgiveness" to Cicada. It will be his third appearance in the magazine.

SF Canada member Sansoucy Kathenor (Walker) dies

SF Canada member Sansoucy Kathenor (Walker) died peacefully at her home in Ottawa on Saturday, November 5, 2005. She had been in ill health for the last year.

Her publications included a book of poetry, Temple into Time, and short stories such as "The Cinderella Caper," a Writers of the Future runner-up in 1985 (and apparently now being taught in a class on creativity and archetypes at a university in Virginia); "Mirror" and "A Spell in Time" in Fantasy Book; "Invasion" in the anthology Arc of Ice; and "Murder Undone," coauthored with Andrea Schlecht, in the anthology Over My Dead Body. At the time of her death she was working to complete a long novel.

In Ottawa, Sahn was the founder of the Lyngarde writers group, which is now in its third decade. Her writing had wit and deftness. Her criticism was direct and often penetrating. She could be eccentric and obdurate, but also kind and funny, and she is dearly missed by those who were close to her.

Leslie Brown sells to ShadowSword 5 anthology

Leslie Brown has sold a 10,000-word story, “The Factor’s Apprentice,” to ShadowSword 5, a serial anthology from Coyote Moon Publications.

Mark Anthony Brennan sells short story to Bondage anthology

Mark Anthony Brennan sold his short story "Red Rain" to the Bondage anthology, which is to be released by Sam's Dot Publishing in early 2006.

Douglas Smith sells novelette, short story

Douglas Smith has sold a novelette, "Memories of the Dead Man," to On Spec, and a short story, "The Dancer at the Red Door," to the DAW anthology Under the Cover of Darkness (from Tekno Books, editors Julie Czerneda and Jana Paniccia).

A translation of Doug's novelette "Enlightenment" (InterZone #194) is up at the Italian webzine, Delos, with a very cool illustration by Luca Vergerio that, says Doug, "actually captures the key themes of the story (how often does that happen?)." Translations of other stories are upcoming in France, Hungary, Netherlands, Ukraine and Bulgaria.

Derryl Murphy sells story to anthology

Derryl Murphy has sold a short story, "Over the Darkened Landscape," for the anthology Mythspring, edited by Julie Czernada. Says Derryl, "This is the first in a projected series of stories about Mackenzie King, Psychic Detective."

Eileen Kernaghan novel earns publisher a Saskatchewan Book Award nomination

Thistledown Press has been shortlisted for a Saskatchewan Book Award, for Publishing in Education, for Eileen Kernaghan's novel The Alchemist's Daughter.

The award is presented to the Saskatchewan publisher of the best book produced as an educational resource, based on its value to educators at primary, secondary or post secondary levels, literary or artistic value, the quality of editing, book design, production and content.

The other nominees are the Canadian Plains Research Center for The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, the Canadian Plains Research Center for Saskatchewan Premiers of the Twentieth Century, Gordon L. Barnhart, ed., the Canadian Plains Research Center for Letters Home, David E. Smith, ed., Hagios Press for Songs to Kill a Wîhtikow by Neal McLeod, and Nature Saskatchewan for Prairie Phoenix (Lilium philadelphicum): The Red Lily in Saskatchewan, by Bonnie J. Lawrence and Anna L. Leighton.

The awards will be presented at a gala evening in Regina on November 25.

Holly Phillips interview in Strange Horizons

There's an interview with Holly Phillips in Strange Horizons.

Matt Hughes sells another story to Postscripts

Matt Hughes has sold another story to Postscripts. Says Matt, "It's about my portly fraudster, Luff Imbry, and how he got started on his life of crime."

Karen Abrahamson sells story to Realms of Fantasy

Karen Abrahamson has sold her short story "Lady of Ashuelot" to Realms of Fantasy.

Ahmed A. Khan story in The Sword Review

Ahmed A. Khan's story "My Girl Cindy" has been published at The Sword Review.

Janine Cross novel out November 1 from ROC

New SF Canada member Janine Cross's fantasy novel, Touched by Venom, Book 1 in the Dragon Temple Saga, will be released November 1 by ROC.

From the book jacket:

Like her half-breed mother, young Zarq Darquel can't always hold her tongue as she should. A lowly peasant on a large dragon estate in Malacar, she goes unnoticed by the watchful eye of the Temple of the Dragon, despite her rebellious ways--until she accidentally captures the attention of an eccentric and dangerous dragonmaster and unleashes a storm of tragedy. Her clan is plunged into destitution, her beautiful sister, Waivia, sold into slavery, and her mother lost to madness.

Desperate to find Waivia, Zarq and her delirious mother flee through the underworld of their land--from the Zone of the Dead do a sanctuary for outcast dragons, through discovery and persecution. Consumed with the desire for revenge, Zarq develops a taste for the highly addictive venom drawn from the dragons she has been taught to revere, and sinks into a realm of bizarre magics. Here, influenced by the divine grace of dragon memories, Zarq glimpses possibilities of revenge and social revolution. But to achieve them, she must defy not just the sexual taboos and patriarchal conventions of her society, but the Emperor who rules her nation....

Publishers' Weekly is calling it "a bold debut... a grim but fascinating coming-of-age tale.... richly detailed, a well imagined world," and Jacqueline Carey (author of Kushiel's Dart) says: "Touched by Venom, the first volume in Janine Cross' Dragon Temple Saga, is a compelling and harrowing journey, set in a vividly rendered world alive with detail."

Photos from the SF Canada party at VCon

Honourary Canadians: Seattle writer Bruce Taylor (in the white hat), Bellingham journalist Jim Kling, Jim's wife Ivy, Bellingham writer Alma Alexander, her husband Deck.

Networking is important for writers. Here we see Rhea Rose networking Tesseracts contributor Casey Wolf, Allan Kelly networking Vancouver writer Colleen Anderson, and Seattle writer Bruce Taylor networking Edge publisher Brian Hades.

Lynda Williams, Matthew Claxton, Rick Sutcliffe.

SF Canadians: Matt Hughes, Diane Walton, Dave Duncan, Jennifer Taylor, Donna McMahon, Linda DeMeulemeester, Caro Soles, Alyx Dellamonica, Celu Amberstone, Paula Johanson.

Steven Mills sells novelette to Interzone

Steven Mills has sold his novelette "Blue Glass Pebbles" to Interzone.

Claude Lalumière story sells to SciFiction

Claude Lalumière reports Ellen Datlow has bought his story "Different Flesh" for SciFiction.

Joe Mahoney story up at The Sword Review

Joe Mahoney has a short story, "Moonstone," up at The Sword Review.

Joe also reports that the CBC labour dispute is over and he's back to work. He blogged the entire thing (as he puts it, "in lieu of writing fiction").

Joël Champetier novel now out in France

The French (as in "France") edition of Joël Champetier's fantasy novel Les Sources de la magie is out.

Weird Tales buys short story series from Holly Phillips

Weird Tales is buying a short story series from Holly Phillips. The series will begin with reprints of two "Emily Lake" stories that first appeared in On Spec, but, says Holly,"there's a third one already written and a bunch more to come."

Matt Hughes makes three-book deal for Henghis Hapthorn novels

Night Shade Books has offered Matt Hughes a three-book deal for a series of novels based on his character Henghis Hapthorn, "the Archonate's foremost freelance discriminator."

Nina Munteanu story now online at Another Realm

Nina Munteanu's short story "Neither Here Nor There" is currently online at Another Realm.

Sandra Kasturi wins Arc poetry prize

Sandra Kasturi has won the $1,000 top prize in the 10th annual Poem of the Year Contest, sponsored by Arc Poetry Magazine, with her poem "Old Men, Smoking."

Judge Mildred Tremblay said the piece "powerfully invokes strangeness," adding, "I could not resist this poem."

Sandra's entry was chosen from among more than 1,100 poems submitted by 413 entrants. The second prize of $750 went to Irene Livingston of Vancouver, B.C., and the third prize of $500 to Kamloops, B.C. Honourable mentions went to Rosemary Clewes, Pamela Porter and Diane Reid.

The winning poems. as well as the honourable mentions and six poems chosen from the 50 shortlisted poems by Arc’s editors, will be published in the Winter 2005 issue of the magazine.

Matt Hughes sells (again) to F&SF

Matt Hughes reports he has sold another Guth Bandar novelette to Gordon Van Gelder at The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Interview with Cory Doctorow online

There's an interview with Cory Doctorow up at DoubleFiltered.

Ahmed A. Khan sells story to Dawn Sky

Ahmed A. Khan has sold his story "Synchronicity" to Dawn Sky for publication in January, 2006.

New Cory Doctorow novella being serialized on Salon

Cory Doctorow's novella Themepunks will be serialized on Salon over the next 10 weeks, with one segment running every Monday--starting today. Cory's first story published in Salon, "0wnz0red," received a Nebula Award nomination. "Anda's Game," his most recent, was chosen for inclusion in Best American Short Stories 2005.

Leslie Brown sells to two anthologies

Leslie Brown has sold a 10,000-word story, "The Transmigration Spell," to the anthology Beyond the Blackened Mirror: Tales of Dark Romance (Coyote Moon Publications) and a 1,000-word story to the anthology Thou Shalt Not (Dark Cloud Press), called "Mr. Rutherford’s Journal."

Richard Bartrop art on cover of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine

Richard Bartrop is the cover artist for Issue 21 of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. It should be coming out sometime in November.

SF Canadians at CascadiaCon

SF Canada members at CascadiaCon in Seattle, the 2005 North American Science Fiction Convention. The elevated gentleman is Derryl Murphy. The women, from left to right, are Lynda Williams, Jo Beverly, Donna McMahon (in front of Jo), Linda DeMeulemeester, Karen Abrahamson, Nina Munteanu, and Rhea Rose. Stephanie Bedwell-Grime was nowhere to be found when the pix were taken, and Suzanne Church had been there but left the day before.

Matt Hughes sells to Forbidden Planets anthology

Matt Hughes has sold a story to Pete Crowther for a by-invitation DAW anthology called Forbidden Planets, to be published next year to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the release of the classic movie Forbidden Planet.

Hugh Spencer story now on Shoestring Radio Theatre

At Shoestring Radio Theatre this week you can hear Hugh A. D. Spencer's story "21st Century
Scientific Romance" by clicking on the Listen Now link.

Derryl Murphy sells story to Thou Shalt Not...

Derryl Murphy has sold a 1,000-word short story, "Clink Clank," to the anthology Thou Shalt Not..., from Dark Cloud Press. The anthology is based around the Ten Commandments; Derryl picked honouring your mother and father...and the consequences of not doing so.

Mark Anthony Brennan illustrated chapbook available

The illustrated chapbook of Mark Anthony Brennan's story "Humpback IV" is now available from Sams Dot publishing. Check it out at www.genremall.com.

Nina Munteanu story reprinted in Poland

Nina Munteanu's short story, "A Butterfly in Peking", originally published in Bram Stoker Award-winning Chiaroscuro, was recently translated and reprinted in Poland's Nowa Fantastyka.

Maggie L. Wood sells sequel to The Princess Pawn

Maggie L. Wood’s new YA fantasy The Princess Mage, a sequel to her Red Maple-nominated The Princess Pawn, has just been sold to Sumach Press and is tentatively set for a spring 2006 release date.

During this past year, Maggie did many school presentations for the Red Maple program. She also went to Frankfurt, Germany to do workshops for the Young Authors’ Conference held for American children on the Rhein Main Air Force Base. And this summer she will be a presenter and the author liaison for the first London Book Camp to be held in London, Ontario from August 15-19.

The Princess Pawn was also recently short-listed for B.C.’s new teen choice Stellar Award.

Simon Rose book launch in Calgary August 27 & 28

The official Calgary book launch for Simon Rose's third novel for young readers, The Clone Conspiracy, will be held Saturday, August 27, and Sunday, August 28, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, at Starbucks Coffee at Glenmore Landing, 131D, 1600 90 Avenue SW (the corner of 14 Street and 90 Avenue SW). Simon describes The Clone Conspiracy as "a fast-paced, suspenseful spellbinding thriller for all children ages seven to 12."

Stories from Claude Lalumière-edited anthologies are Year's Best honourable mentions

Claude Lalumière reports several stories from the two Canadian-themed genre anthologies he edited received honourable mentions in Gardner Dozois's The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Second Annual Collection: from Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic "Burning Day" by Glenn Grant and "Endogamy Blues" by Mark Shainblum were named, while honourable-mention stories from Open Space: New Canadian Fantastic Fiction were "Growing Up Sam" by Melissa Yuan-Innes, "Hold Back the Night" by Colleen Anderson and "More Painful than the Dreams of Other Boys" by Derryl Murphy.

Eileen Kernaghan novel a MYRCA nominee

Eileen Kernaghan's historical fantasy The Alchemist's Daughter is a nominee for the 2006 Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award. Eileen is one of the keynote speakers at this summer's Canadian Book Camp at the Vancouver Public Library, August 15 to 19.

Peter Andrew Smith story in premiere issue of Farthing

Peter Andrew Smith's short story "The Fine Print" has been picked up for the premiere issue of Farthing, which will be launched at the World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, Scotland, in August. As well, Peter's short story "Late Because of the Rabbit" will appear in an upcoming issue of Escaping Elsewhere.

SF Canada members at Westercon

SF Canada members at Westercon 58 in Calgary. Back row, left to right: Mark Anthony Brennan, Diane Walton, Rhea Rose, Richard Bartrop, Edward Willett. Second row, left to right: Linda DeMeulemeester, Donna McMahon, Paula Johanson, Elizabeth Trenholm, James Beveridge. Kneeling, left to right: Karl Johanson, Derryl Murphy, Barb Galler-Smith, Hayden Trenholm, Stephanie Ann Johanson.

Simon Rose's third novel now available

Simon Rose's third novel for young readers, The Clone Conspiracy, published by Tradewind Books, is now available.

The story, in brief: "At the dawn of the twenty-first century, governments around the world banned human cloning. However, the genetic genie had already escaped from the bottle. When Luke's best friend Patrick vanishes and the police quickly close the case, Luke is determined to uncover the truth. Tantalizing clues lead Luke and Patrick's sister Emma to LennoxGen, where they stumble across a shocking international conspiracy."

Simon's second novel, The Sorcerer's Letterbox, has now sold more 13,000 copies in Canada and was one of the top 10 nominated books for this year's Silver Birch Award in Ontario. The novel was also a finalist in Alberta's Golden Eagle Awards and is short-listed for the Diamond Willow Award in Saskatchewan. His first novel, The Alchemist's Portrait, published in 2003, has also been nominated for awards in Canada and continues to gather great reviews.

Mark Anthony Brennan-edited anthology gets good review

There's a very positive review of The Best of SDO (edited by Mark Anthony Brennan) is in the July issue of Swords & Scribes. Some snippets...."I can say without reservation that the stories in this volume are topnotch......With the talented writers present in this book, I'm sure this will become a collector's edition someday."

Among the writers featured in the collection are Claude Lalumière and Joe Mahoney. It's available through Project Pulp and Genre Mall (and soon from Clarkesworld and Shocklines).

Michèle Laframboise wins two Aurora Awards

Michèle Laframboise won two Aurora Awards at the ceremony held at Westercon last week. Her novel Les Mémoires de l'Arc (Médiaspaul, 2004) was named Best Long-Form Work in French/Meilleur livre en français, and her short story "Ceux qui ne comptent pas" (Solaris 149) was named Best Short-Form Work in French/Meilleure nouvelle en français.

Complete results are at the Prix Aurora Awards home page.

Cory Doctorow, Karl Schroeder books SCI FI Essentials

Tor Books has teamed up with SCI FI Channel to bring readers SCI FI Essentials, books that will be cross-promoted on SCIFI.COM, SCI FI Magazine and the SCI FI Channel.

Each month, one Tor title will receive the SCI FI Essential stamp of approval, which will mark it as a title to be promoted with such special features as sample chapters and sneak peeks of upcoming books on SCIFI.COM, possible promotion on SCI FI's handheld AvantGo channel, a highlight in SCI FI Magazine's books section and on-air coverage of select titles.

First up: Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, described as "a novel of wrenching oddity, heartfelt technological vision and human pity set on the streets of Toronto today."

In August, the SCI FI Essential book is Karl Schroeder's Lady of Mazes, set in the distant future and centering on Teven Coronal, a huge multiplicity of human civilizations inhabiting a ringworld.

September's selection is The Road to Dune by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

Claude Lalumière story in erotica anthology

Claude Lalumière's story "Secretly Wishing for Rain" has been selected to appear in Maxim Jakubowski's The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 5 (published by Carroll & Graf in North America and by Robinson in the UK). This is Claude's second consecutive appearance in this annual "year's best" series. "Secretly Wishing for Rain" is Claude's only non-fantasy published story, although readers familliar with some of his other stories will notice connections that refer to his "Lost Pages" series of fantasy stories.

Joe Mahoney-produced SF radio drama premieres Friday

"Birth," an original half-hour science-fiction radio drama written by Robert J. Sawyer and Michael Lennick, and produced by Joe Mahoney, premieres tomorrow night, Friday, July 8, 2005, at 10 p.m. (in all time zones) across Canada on CBC Radio One and simultaneously worldwide on the Internet.

Ahmed A. Khan story wins award from Ragged Edge

Ahmed A. Khan's story "The Book of Pain," reprinted recently at Ragged Edge Publishing, has won their Best of the Best award.

Matt Hughes interview at Fantasybookspot

An interview with Matt Hughes is up at Fantasybookspot, a new fan forum and review site.

Joël Champetier novel to be published in France

Joël Champetier's latest novel, Les Sources de la magie, published in Canada by Alire, will also be published in France this autumn, at Bragelonne.

Cory Doctorow, Jo Beverley eligible for Quills Award

Cory Doctorow's novel Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town (Tor) is one of the science fiction novels eligible for the new Quills Award. Jo Beverley's romance novel A Most Unsuitable Man (Signet) is eligible in the romance category.

To be eligible, a book must have been published in English in North America and marketed to the United States between August 1, 2004, through July 31, 2005, and must meet one of the following criteria:

• Received a starred review in Publishers Weekly
• Named to Barnes and Noble's Discover Great New Writers Program
• Named to BookSense Picks
• Named to Borders' Original Voices
• Appeared on bestseller lists from Publishers Weekly, BookSense, Barnes & Noble, and Borders

The 6,000 members of a by-invitation-only national board of booksellers and librarians will each nominate one finalist in each of the 19 categories. The five titles in each category that get the most votes will become the consumer short-list. Consumers will then vote on the short-listed books from August 15 to September 15, online at www.wnbc.com/quills and at Borders book stores across the U.S. Consumers will also vote for a Book of the Year from all nominees, and a special Quills committee will choose a winner in the Design and Books into Film categories. Finally, a special Book Club Award category winner will be selected by Bookspan.

On October 11 a black-tie gala to be held at New York’s Chelsea Piers to present the awards; NBC Universal Stations will carry a one-hour special on October 22.

First novel from Holly Phillips coming next year

Holly Phillips reports that Prime Books, imprint of Wildside Press, the publisher of her short story collection In the Palace of Repose, is going to publish her first novel, a dark fantasy called The Burning Girl. It should be appearing spring or summer of 2006.

Lynda Williams featured on Great Writing Web site

Lynda Williams is the featured author on the U.K. Web site Great Writing Web site; the article includes the composite picture above, which uses images from the web that feature Lynda's Okal Rel Universe.

Lynda's new book is Courtesan Prince, published by Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Edward Willett's Tolkien bio makes VOYA Honor List

Edward Willett's children's biography of J.R.R. Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien: Master of Imaginary Worlds, published by Enslow Publishers, has been named to the VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) 10th annual Nonfiction Honor List. VOYA is a library magazine aimed at the librarians who serve young adults. The Nonfiction Honor List contains just 21 books published in 2004.

Two more SF Canada members among Aurora nominees

Two more SF Canada members are among the nominees in the French and fan categories of the Prix Aurora Awards.

In the Meilleur livre en français/Best Long-Form Work in French category, Les Mémoires de l'Arc by Michèle Laframboise (Médiaspaul, 2004) is one of the nominees, along with Terre des Autres by Sylvie Bérard (Alire, 2004), Les Jours de l`ombre by Francine Pelletier (Alire, mai 2004), Oniria by Patrick Senécal (Alire, 2004), and Suzanne, ouvre-toi by Yves Steinmetz (Éditions de la Paix, 2004).

Michele is also nominated in the Meilleure nouvelle en français/Best Short-Form Work in French category for "Ceux qui ne comptent pas" (Solaris 149). Other nominees in that category are "Galdana" by Richard Blanchette (Solaris 150), "Anne de la Terre" by Mehdi Bouhalassa (Solaris 148), and "Poussière de diamant" by Mario Tessier (Solaris 151).

Meanwhile, Don Bassie is nominated in the Fan Achievement (Other)/Accomplissement fanique (autre) category for his Web site Made in Canada. Other nominees in that category are filksinger Karen Linsley, the Bright Weaving CD by Martin Springett, entertainer Larry Stewart and filksinging group Urban Tapestry.

The complete Aurora Award nominations are posted here, and you can find links to a few of the nominated stories by SF Canada members here.

Douglas Smith stories in several magazines

Douglas Smith's short story "Out of the Light" will be published in the US dark fantasy magazine The Book of Dark Wisdom. A reprint of his humourous fantasy story "What's in a Name" appeared recently in the SDO Fantasy webzine. Translations of his Aurora-winning novelette "Spirit Dance" will be published in the Spanish magazine Sable and the Greek magazine Cosmic Dimension. Translations of his Aurora-finalist short story "State of Disorder" will be published in the Portuguese webzine e-Nigma, and in a yet-to-be-titled anthology in Hungary along with stories by Neil Gaiman, Ian Watson, and Larry Niven.

Prix Aurora Awards nominees (so far) include several SF Canada members

The Prix Aurora Awards finalists in the English pro categories have been announced, and include work by several SF Canada members. (French finalists will presumably be forthcoming very soon...)

Three members' books are among the finalists in the Best Long-Form Work in English category: Fallen Angel by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime (Telos Publishing), Black Brillion by Matthew Hughes (Tor) and The Alchemist's Daughter by Eileen Kernaghan (Thistledown Press). The remaining finalists are Survival by Julie E. Czerneda (DAW Books), Radiant by James Alan Gardner (Eos HarperCollins) and Wolf Pack by Edo van Belkom (Tundra Books)

Four works by members are among the finalists in the Best Short-Form Work in English category: "The Smile on the Face" by Nalo Hopkinson (Girls Who Bite Back: Witches, Mutants, Slayers and Freaks, Sumach Press); "Enlightenment" (Interzone 194, Sept.-Oct./2004) and "Jigsaw" (Odyssey, Trifolium Books), both by Douglas Smith, and "The Luck of Willie Lumen" by Hayden Trenholm (Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine #3). The other finalists in that category are "The Forgotten Ones" by Karin Lowachee (So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy, Arsenal Pulp Press) , "Mikeys" by Robert J. Sawyer (Space Stations, DAW) , and "When the Morning Stars Sang Together" by Isaac Szpindel (ReVisions, DAW) .

In the Best Work in English (Other) category, Nalo Hopkinson (with Uppinder Mehan) is a finalist for editing So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy (Arsenal Pulp Press), and so is Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine, edited by Karl Johanson. The other finalists are Julie E. Czerneda and Isaac Szpindel for editing ReVisions (DAW Books), Odyssey: Tales From the Wonder Zone, edited by Julie E. Czerneda (Trifolium Books), and Relativity: Essays and Stories, by Robert J. Sawyer (ISFiC Press, Nov/2004).

Finally, in the Artistic Achievement category, the finalists include Stephanie Ann Johanson. Other finalists are Lar deSouza, Jean-Pierre Normand, Martin Springett and Ronn Sutton.

Two SF Canada members up for Locus Awards

Books by Cory Doctorow and Charles de Lint are among the finalists for this year's Locus Awards, to be presented at Westercon in Calgary over the July 1 weekend.

Cory's novel Eastern Standard Tribe (Tor) is one of the finalists for Best Science Fiction Novel, while Charles's The Blue Girl (Viking) is a finalist for Best Young Adult Book.

The other SF novel finalists are The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks (Orbit), Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson (HarperCollins UK, Bantam), The Baroque Cycle: The Confusion; The System of the World by Neal Stephenson (Morrow) and Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross (Ace).

The other YA finalists are Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War by Clive Barker (HarperCollins), The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (Viking), Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt) and A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK; HarperCollins).

Ahmed A. Khan reprint now up at Ragged Edge Publishing

Ahmed A. Khan's short story "The Book of Pain" has been reprinted at Ragged Edge Publishing. The story has been published twice before, in Anotherealm in 1999 and in the Dana Literary Society Journal in 2004.

Sarah Totton sells story to Tales of the Unanticipated

Sarah Totton has sold her short story "The Secret Lives of Puppets" to Tales of the Unanticipated #26, to appear in August.

Nina Munteanu romantic SF thriller due out in fall

Nina Munteanu's new novel The Cypol

Nina Munteanu's romantic SF thriller The Cypol will be released by eXtasy Books this fall. Her novel Collision with Paradise was just released through Liquid Silver Books (Liquid Silver Books (a review appears in Ecata Romance). Nina's interview with Gotta Write Network will appear shortly.

Ahmed A. Khan story online at Anotherealm

Ahmed A. Khan's story "The Meaning of Life and Other Clichés" is now online at Anotherealm.

Steven Mills sells novel to Cosmos Books

Steven Mills has sold his novel Burning Stones to Sean Wallace for Cosmos Books (an imprint of Wildside Press), with a hardcover/paperback release scheduled for early 2006.

SF Canada main page updated

The SF Canada home page has been updated. It features short fiction by Douglas Smith and Joe Mahoney and a short science article by Edward Willett. There's also a complete (we hope) list of members' 2004 works to explore, compiled by Mici Gold.

Three stories from Michèle Laframboise so far in 2005

Michèle Laframboise has three published stories for 2005 (so far): "Pollen," in Horrifique # 43 - Femmes de l'Etrange #7, "Les Fées de la source" in Solaris 154, and "Petite Musique de nuit," in Brins d'Éternité, #5.

Douglas Smith story in Hebrew e-zine

Douglas Smith's novelette "Scream Angel," which won an Aurora Award last year, has been published in the Hebrew e-zine Bli Panika, translated by Inbar Greenstein. In Hebrew, the title is "Mal'ach Tze'aka."

First novel by Mark A. Rayner out next month

Mark A. Rayner's first novel is coming out early next month from ENC Press. The Amadeus Net is a science fictional satire, in which Mozart has never died, briefly considers having his "sprouter" snipped off, and then finds other ways to keep his immortality a secret. Excerpts can be found, and preorders can be made, at the ENC site.

Mark also reports that Aoife's Kiss has just bought a cyberpunk tale, "The Onus of Survival," which will probably appear in June. He says he also had a spate of publications in the fall, and recommends anyone interested check out his new Web site, "tarted up for the discerning primate."

Several members' stories on Between the Covers

Weekdays from May 16 through May 27 CBC Radio's Between the Covers will feature a special series of short speculative fiction, hosted and curated by Nalo Hopkinson. The series, entitled "Six Impossible Things," will include fiction by Marcie Tentchoff, Penn Kemp, Nancy Kilpatrick, Pam MacLean, Wade Bell, Terence M. Green, Nalo Hopkinson, Phyllis Gotlieb, Rhea Rose-Fleming, Sandra Kasturi, Dora Knez, Edward Willett, Ashok Mathur, Dan Rubin, Larissa Lai, Wilma Kenny, Yves Meynard, Nega Mezlekia, Candas Jane Dorsey, and Ven Begamudre. You'll have two opportunities to hear the work--weekday afternoons in the second half hour of the RoundUp (2:30 p.m.) and weeknights on Between The Covers at 10:40 p.m.

Jo Beverley novella wins Sapphire Award for SF Romance

Jo Beverley's novella “The Trouble With Heroes...”, which appeared in the anthology Irresistible Forces, has won the short-fiction Sapphire Award for SF Romance.

Second place in the short-fiction category went to “Winterfair Gifts” by Lois McMaster Bujold, also from Irresistible Forces; third place went to “The Night Owl” by Emma Holly, from Hot Blooded.

Simon Rose novel nominated for Golden Eagle Book Award

Simon Rose's novel The Sorcerer's Letterbox has been nominated for the 2005 Golden Eagle Book Award, chosen by school students in Southern Alberta.

As noted in earlier posts, The Sorcerer's Letterbox is also up for the Silver Birch Award in Ontario and the Diamond Willow Award in Saskatchewan.

Marie Jakober's Even the Stones up for best Alberta novel

Marie Jakober's novel Even the Stones has been short-listed for the Georges Bugnet award for best Alberta novel in this year's Alberta Book Awards.

The winners will be announced at the annual Book Awards banquet in Edmonton May 14. The prize is $1,000 and a leather-bound copy of the winning book.

Mark Anthony Brennan's first book is out!

Shelter from the Storm by Mark Anthony Brennan

Shelter from the Storm and other speculative tales, a collection of short stories by Mark Anthony Brennan previously published in various mags and anthologiess (plus one never-before-seen story), is now available from Project Pulp and the Genre Mall. SF Canada members should order it directly through perplexedpuffinpress@gmail.com to receive a special discount.

Lynda Williams book to launch at Westercon

Lynda Williams's book Courtesan Prince: Book #1 of the Okal Rel Universe Saga, published by Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy, will be launched at Westercon in Calgary in July.

Okal Rel Universe Anthology #1 and Guide to the Okal Rel Universe are both being published by Windstorm Creative of Port Orchard, WA. Both are expected to launch (with a bit of luck) at CascadiaCon in August.

New stories and essays from Ursula Pflug

Ursula Pflug's story "The Wizard of Wardenclyffe" is in Leviathan 4, while "Black Lace" appeares in OnSpec's "Addictions" issue.

Recent fiction sales by Ursula include "The Eyes Of Horus," to an as-yet-untitled invitational anthology from Wheatland press, for women speculative writers, and "Telepathic Fish," a reprint from Leviathan 1, to Moist.

Her review of A Girl Named Sugar by Emily Pohl-Weary recently appeared in The Peterborough Examiner; recent non-fiction sales include an essay on on Nalo Hopkinson’s Salt Roads, Maya Deren’s Divine Horsemen, Wade Davis’s The Serpent And The Rainbow, Angela Carter’s Black Venus, Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire and The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara to New York Review of Science Fiction and, also to NYRSF, an essay on Elizabeth Vonarburg’s Dreams Of The Sea, Ursula Leguin’s The Telling and Kathleen Ann Goonan’s (and the author’s) memoirs of travel to Kauai, in Hawaii.

The Jean-Louis Trudel report...

Jean-Louis Trudel's short story "Les outils de l'ombre" (The Shadow's Tools) appeared in Solaris 154. He also sold reprint rights for his short-short "Des anges sont tombés" (Where Angels Fall) to the new French publisher Les Moutons électriques for an anthology to be released in October, Les Anges électriques. His translation of Jean-Claude Dunyach's short story "Le temps, en s'évaporant..." will appear in David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer's Year's Best SF 10 (Eos) as "Time, As It Evaporates" following its publication in The Night Orchid from Black Coat Press. (Here's a review.)

La nouvelle "Les outils de l'ombre" de Jean-Louis Trudel est parue dans Solaris 154. Il a aussi vendu les droits de réimpression de sa nouvelle "Des anges sont tombés" au nouvel éditeur français Les Moutons électriques pour une anthologie intitulée Les Anges électriques, à paraître en octobre. Sa traduction de la nouvelle "Le temps, en s'évaporant..." de Jean-Claude Dunyach paraîtra dans l'anthologie Year's Best SF 10 (Eos) réunie par David G. Hartwell et Kathryn Cramer sous le titre "Time, As It Evaporates" après avoir été publiée dans le recueil The Night Orchid de Blackcoat Press.

Brett Savory nominated for Stoker for ChiZine

Brett Savory has been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in the Alternative Forms category as editor of ChiZine. Other nominees in the same category are The Devil's Wine, Tom Piccirilli (CD Publications), the magazine Flesh & Blood, Jack Fisher (Flesh & Blood Press) and The Goreletter, Michael Arnzen.

The Bram Stoker Awards, for superior achievement in the field of horror writing, are presented by the Horror Writers of America. Winners will be presented at the HWA Annual Conference and Bram Stoker Awards banquet, to be held in Burbank, California, on June 25.

Eileen Kernaghan interview up at Strange Horizons

The March 28 edition of Strange Horizons has an interview with Eileen Kernaghan by Vancouver writer C. June Wolf.

Mary Choo chapbook makes Stoker preliminary ballot

Mary Choo’s chapbook Dream Tribes, from Gnometree West Books, has made the preliminary ballot for this year’s Bram Stoker Awards, in the poetry collection category. Mary’s poem "Christina" will receive honourable mention by Ellen Datlow in the 2005 edition of The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror. Her short story "The Ragged Man" appears online in the January 2005 edition of Sintrigue Dot Org.

SDO the webzine dies, SDO the anthology lives!

Mark Anthony Brennan and David Bowlin have decided not to re-launch SDO after the original domain became unavailable. However, they are launching a series of print anthologies (through Perplexed Puffin Press). The first project is The Best of SDO, which features works by the likes of James Van Pelt, Tyree Campbell and Leah R. Cutter. It also features a couple of SF Canada members: Joe Mahoney and Claude Lalumière. Projected publication date is May 2005. Future anthologies will be open to submissions.

Derryl Murphy's book is out!

Derryl Murphy's book Wasps At the Speed of Sound is now officially out! Read all about it here.

Alyx Dellamonica story up at SciFiction

Alyx Dellamonica's story "The Spear Carrier" is now online on SciFiction.

New Douglas Smith fantasy story in upcoming DAW anthology

Douglas Smith will have a new fantasy story, "The Last Ride," in an upcoming anthology from DAW entitled Hags, Harpies, Sirens & Sorceresses, edited by Denise Little of Tekno Books.

Two of Doug's stories will be reprinted in Italian by Delos Books. "Scream Angel" (Low Port anthology, 2003), winner of the 2004 Aurora Award, will appear in their quarterly print magazine, Robot, which has recently featured fiction by Ian Watson, Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Sheckley, and Neil Gaiman. The related story, "Enlightenment" (InterZone #194), will appear in Delos, their well-known online magazine and multiple winner of the Italia and Europa awards. "Scream Angel" will also be translated and reprinted in Science Fiction Magazine in Denmark.

Doug's YA SF story "Jigsaw," which first appeared in Odyssey (#4 in the anthology series Tales from the Wonder Zone, edited by Julie Czerneda), will be reprinted in the Fall 2005 "SF Mysteries" issue of Oceans of the Mind. Doug's novelette "Spirit Dance" (Tesseracts 6 and The Third Alternative #22) will be reprinted for the 17th time in Dragão Quântico in Portugal.

Doug has also recently posted the March update to his foreign market list on his web site.

Two Steven Mills stories find good homes

Steven Mills's non-SF story, "Shit Magnet," appeared in Event's Spring 2005 issue, while "Jubilee" (originially published in On Spec) has found a new home in Steve Stanton's anthology, Sky Songs II.

Sarah Totton story accepted for Polyphony 5 anthology

Sarah Totton's short story "Dog on a Loose Chain" has just been accepted by Deborah Layne and Jay Lake for publication in the Polyphony 5 anthology from Wheatland Press due for release in September, 2005.

First book of new Elisabeth Vonarburg novel out next week

Reine de Memoire
1. La Maison d'Oubli
by Elisabeth Vonarburg

La Maison d'oubli, the first book of Elisabeth Vonarburg's new novel Reine de Mémoire, will be released next week by Alire.

Derwin Mak article in Ricepaper

Derwin Mak's article "Manga Madness," about how North Americans have adopted Japanese and East Asian anime and pop culture, accompanied by photos also by Derwin, appeared in the Fall, 2004, issue of the magazine Ricepaper.

Alyx Dellamonica alternate history story now online

Alyx Dellamonica's contribution to the alternate history anthology Alternate Generals III, edited by Harry Turtledove, has been posted online in its entirety by Baen as an inducement to get readers to buy the book. "A Key to the Illuminated Heretic" is about a middle-aged Joan of Arc.

Jabberwocky premiere issue has Holly Phillips story

The premiere issue of Jabberwocky, to be launched at Readercon in July, will include Holly Phillips's story "The Lass of Loch Royal." Holly has also sold a non-SF story, "Mr. Allweather's Piano," to The New Quarterly in Waterloo, and, as noted below, short story"Virgin of the Sands" to the anthology Lust for Life.

The trade paperback edition of her short-story collection In the Palace of Repose will be launched by Prime Books in July. ("And it has been getting kick-ass reviews, by the way," Holly notes. "A happy year so far for me.")

Claude Lalumière buys, sells stories

Claude Lalumière reports he and Elise Moser have accepted Holly Phillips's "Virgin of the Sands" for their forthcoming anthology, Lust for Life. (He also says there are plenty of slots left to fill; see the writers' guidelines.)

Claude has teamed up with Matthew Cheney to co-edit a special issue of Lost Pages; they are seeking fiction submissions in three categories: SF, fantasy, crossgenre. Guidelines are here.

Claude's own story, "A Visit to the Optometrist," will be included in the forthcoming anthology The Best of SDO, edited by Mark Anthony Brennan. As well, the French translation (by Yves Meynard) of his story "The Lost and Found of Years" appears in the current Solaris (#154) under the titles "L'Écume des années."

Three SF Canada members were on Tiptree Award Long list

Three stories by SF Canada members have made the 2004 Tiptree Award Long List: "Burning Day" by Glenn Grant, Hopeful Monsters by Hiromi Goto, and Even the Stones by Marie Jakober.

"Burning Day" was originally published in Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic (Vehicule Press), edited by Claude Lalumière, and will appear in Year's Best SF #10, edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.

The Tiptree committee doesn't announce a list of nominees, but once the winner is announced they do release a Long List of recommended novels and stories, with comments from the judges, who were Margaret McBride, Judith Clute, Alan DeNiro, Ursula K. LeGuin and Cecilia Tan.

Here were the posted comments for the SF Canada members on the list:

For Glenn Grant's "Burning Day":

I love a story that goes right through exploring what it means to be male or female and ends up getting at what it means to be human. This is a stylish, action-laden science fiction story, not a navel-gazer.--Cecilia Tan

A well-plotted story in Hardboiled Mode -- people smoking cigarettes even though they're androids, and cracking wise, and driving cars in cities, all very TV-cop show. More about species than gender, but has an original twist in the emphasis on the desire/compulsion to reproduce one's kind.--Ursula K. LeGuin

An interesting examination of sexuality and gender-how do expectations still influence "post-humans"-with film noir detective-story tropes.--Margaret McBride

For Hiromi Goto's Hopeful Monsters:

Goto writes with vigor and energy, in a voice very much her own. "Night" and "Tales from the Breast," are both real Tiptroid fantasies, though you mightn't think so till right towards the end of both.--Ursula K. LeGuin

For Marie Jakober's Even the Stones:

No gender bending, but a serious, realistic, and grown-up novel of male-female power relationships, which is so unusual in "high fantasy" as to be practically invisible to many readers.--Ursula K. LeGuin

The 2004 Tiptree winners were Joe Haldeman and Johanna Sinisalo for Camouflage and Not Before Sundown, respectively.

Sherry D. Ramsey unpublished novel second in Atlantic Writing Competition

Sherry D. Ramsey's unpublished SF novel One's Aspect to the Sun has been awarded second place in the 28th Annual Atlantic Writing Competition's novel category, the H.R. (Bill) Percy Prize. The competition is open to writers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador in five categories for unpublished works; novel, short story, writing for children, poetry, and article/essay.

First prize in the novel category went to Dave Cameron of Halifax for The Bottle Collector; Honourable Mention went to Charlotte Mendel of Enfield, NS, for Unlike the Great Majority.

Sherry's poem "Ghosts and Dark Objects" is in the current issue of Astropoetica.

Six SF Canada members in Sky Songs II anthology

The cover of Sky Songs II

All six Canadian contributors in the new anthology Sky Songs II (due out June 1) are members of SF Canada: Douglas Smith, Donna Farley, Nina Munteanu, Steven Mills, Steve Stanton and Peter Andrew Smith. Other notable contributors include British novelist Cherith Baldry, American novelist Andrew M. Seddon, and award-winning author Fred McGavran.

Sky Songs II, edited by Steve Stanton and published by Skysong Press, presents spiritual speculative fiction from England, Canada, USA and Brazil.

Eileen Kernaghan novel shortlisted for BC Book Prize

Eileen Kernaghan's novel The Alchemist's Daughter (Thistledown Press) has been shortlisted for the Sheila Egoff Children's Literature Prize, one of the annual BC Book Prizes. The other finalists are Sandy Frances Duncan for Gold Rush Orphan (Ronsdale Press), Shelley Hrdlitschka for Kat’s Fall (Orca Book Publishers), Susan Juby for Miss Smithers (HarperCollins Canada), and Sylvia Olsen for White Girl (Sono Nis Press).

Several stories forthcoming from Sarah Totton

New SF Canada member Sarah Totton has several upcoming short stories. Her fantasy story "The Pear Thief" will appear in April in the anthology Fantastical Visions III (Fantasist Enterprises). "The Teasewater Five" will appear in May in the anthology Muses (Wheatland Press), and "Jimmy Away to Me" is due out in Tesseracts 9 (Edge) that same month. (Sarah characterizes both stories as magical realism.) Finally, in June, her mainstream short story "Match Point," originally published in Love Stories: A Literary Companion to Tennis (Kensington Press, 2003) will reappear in a paperback anthology edition entitled Tennis Shorts in June.

Tesseracts Nine anthology features many SF Canada members

Tesseracts Nine, the latest edition of the long-running anthology of Canadian speculative fiction, about to be released by EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, will feature work by several SF Canada members.

Introduced by editors Nalo Hopkinson and Geoff Ryman, Tesseracts Nine features Anthony MacDonald and Jason Mehmel, Jerome Stueart, Yves Meynard, Candas Jane Dorsey, E. L. Chen, Sandra Kasturi, Steve Stanton, Élisabeth Vonarburg, Timothy J. Anderson, Daniel Sernine, Dan Rubin, Nancy Kilpatrick, Alette J. Willis, Rhea Rose, Casey June Wolf, Sarah Totton, Marg Gilks, Claude Lalumière, Peter Watts and Derryl Murphy, Sylvie Bérard, Rene Beaulieu, Pat Forde, Allan Weiss, Sheryl Curtis, Howard Scott, Nalo Hopkinson and Geoff Ryman.

Since the publication of Tesseracts One, edited by the late Judith Merrill, the entire Tesseracts series has presented works from over 150 Canadian speculative fiction writers, many of whom have built brilliant careers: Margaret Atwood, William Gibson, Robert Sawyer, Élisabeth Vonarburg and others.

Edward Willett's new novel is out

Edward Willett's new novel Lost in Translation
(cover art by Jill Bauman)

Edward Willett's new novel Lost in Translation is now out from Five Star in hardcover (ISBN 1594143056). Order directly from the publisher or your favorite online bookstore. You can read the Prologue and Chapter One online here.

Matt Hughes sells Archonate story to Postscripts

Matt Hughes has made his first sale to the British magazine Postscripts -- another Archonate story, this one featuring con man and forger extraordinaire Luff Imbry, introduced in Matt's novel Black Brillion. The story will run in September, just in time for the release of the Black Brillion mass-market paperback.

Several stories coming in 2005 from Mark Anthony Brennan

After a relatively quiet 2004, Mark Anthony Brennan has several things in the works for 2005. His short story “Jacob: A Winter’s Tale from Copping Moors” will be featured in the April issue of Writers Post Journal. Sometime in 2005, “Humpback IV” will appear in the magazine Here & Now and “Freezer Burn” will appear in the anthology Monsters Ink. Later this year “der Wahrsager” and “Drot Detail” are scheduled for issues of Tales of the Talisman. Finally, Mark’s first collection of short stories, Shelter from the Storm, and other speculative tales, is due out before summer.

Dave Duncan moves from Calgary to Victoria

After 50 years in Calgary, Dave Duncan has moved full-time to Victoria.

Nina Munteanu story to be republished in Greek

Nina Munteanu's short story "Butterfly in Peking," previously published in the Bram Stoker Award-winning magazine Chiaroscuro, will be translated into Greek in The Dramaturges of Yann. Nina's critique of the I, Robot book and motion picture is currently in Strange Horizons.

Don Bassie posts Made in Canada update

A new update of Don Bassie's Made in Canada Newsletter is now online.

Cory Doctorow novel on final Nebula ballot

Cory Doctorow's novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (Tor) has made the final ballot for the 2004 Nebula Awards. Other finalists in the best-novel cateogry are Paladin of Souls (Eos) by Lois McMaster Bujold, Omega (Ace) by Jack McDevitt, Cloud Atlas: A Novel (Sceptre) by David Mitchell, Perfect Circle (Small Beer Press) by Sean Stewart, and The Knight (Tor) by Gene Wolfe.

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. The Awards will be announced at the 2004 Nebula Awards Banquet to be held at the Allegro Hotel in the heart of Chicago's Loop Theater District on Saturday, April 30.

Ahmed A. Khan story reprinted by Ragged Edge

Ahmed A. Khan's story "The Presonic Man" has been reprinted by Ragged Edge Publishing.

Holly Phillips interviewed in infinity plus

A lengthy interview with Holly Phillips is now online at infinity plus.

Simon Rose novel short-listed for Diamond Willow Award

Simon Rose's second novel, The Sorcerer's Letterbox, has been short-listed for the Diamond Willow Award, the primary Readers Choice Award chosen by upper elementary students in Saskatchewan.

Joël Champetier nominated for Genie Award

Joël Champetier and Daniel Roby have been nominated for a Genie Award in the category of Adapted Screenplay for their script for La peau blanche/White Skin, adapted from Joel's novel.

Other nominees in the same category are Jerry Ciccoritti for Blood, Luc Dionne and Sylvain Guy for Monica la mitraille/Machine Gun Molly, Todd Klinck, Jaie Laplante and John Palmer for Sugar, and Jacob Tierney for Twist.

The Genies are the film awards of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. They'll be presented March 21 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Andrea Martin will host the televised ceremony.

Dennis Valdron sells Godzilla story to Australian anthology

Dennis Valdron has sold short story "Fossils" to Kaikaiju! Giant Monster Tales, an anthology focusing on Japan's Kaiju Eiga (giant rubber-suit monsters: Godzilla, Gamera, etc.) cinema. The anthology is being edited by Robert Hood and Robin Pen and published by AGOG! Press, based out of the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, in Australia.

Nina Munteanu romantic thriller out this spring

Nina Munteanu's romantic thriller Collision with Paradise is scheduled to be released by Liquid Silver Books this spring.

Here's the cover:

Claude Lalumière's Best of 2004 list up at Locus Online

Claude Lalumière's annual "best of" retrospective is up at Locus Online. It includes a few Canadian titles, including Eileen Kernaghan's Winter on the Plain of Ghosts: A Novel of Mohenjo-daro.

CBC Radio to feature Canadian speculative fiction this spring

This spring CBC Radio's Between the Covers will feature a two-week special series of short speculative fiction, hosted and curated by Nalo Hopkinson. The series will include fiction by Ashok Mathur, Dan Rubin, Larissa Lai, Edward Willett, Nalo Hopkinson, Wilma Kenny, and others. The exact date will be announced later.

Nina Munteanu reviews the "New Jedi Order" series in NYRSF

Nina Munteanu's review of 19 books in the Star Wars "New Jedi Order" series is in the January, 2005, issue of the New York Review of Science Fiction.

Jean-Louis Trudel translation may be in Year's Best anthology

Jean-Louis Trudel reports that there's a possibility that one of his SF translations of French author Jean-Claude Dunyach will be in David Hartwell's Year's Best Science Fiction anthology. In other news, Jean-Louis's story "Ailes d'acier, griffes de lumière" finally came out in the most recent issue of the French magazine Galaxies (along with a story by Nalo Hopkinson).

Joe Mahoney developing new SF anthology show Emanations for CBC Radio

Joe Mahoney reports that the science fiction radio show Faster Than Light that he's been developing for the last couple of years "is no more." Says Joe, "I've also been developing another SF show with Rob Sawyer and Michael Lennick called Emanations, which is more of a straight-up SF anthology series, and we've opted to go with it as opposed to FTL, at least for the time being. We'll be producing the first episode of Emanations, an original half-hour drama called "Birth," in March, to be broadcast (hopefully!) shortly
afterward."

Joe notes he is also producing a non-genre piece called "Worms For Sale," written by Stacy Gardner, "a wonderfully charming piece set in Newfoundland." He adds, "I'm trying to convince Stacy to include some spaceships or aliens, but so far she's not biting."

Edward Willett to lead Sage Hill Teen Writing Experience

Edward Willett will be leading the Sage Hill Teen Writing Experience in Regina July 25 to 29--and plans to give it a science fiction/fantasy spin, of course! Teen Writing Experiences are being held in Saskatoon, Moose Jaw and Regina this summer. Each experience accepts 14 promising young writers. Activities include group discussion, critiques, talks, readings, and writing assignments. Co-sponsors are the Saskatoon Public Library, Regina Public Library, the City of Regina, and the Living Skies Festival of Words. The Moose Jaw Teen Writing Experience will be led by Donna Caruso and the Saskatoon Experience by Dave Glaze. Keynote speakers will be Warren Cariou in Moose Jaw, Judith Krause in Regina, and Barbara Klar in Saskatoon. E-mail sagehill@sasktel.net for information or an application form.

Claude Lalumière story to be in debut issue of Red Scream

Claude Lalumière's second Vinny Demon story, "Motherfucker," has sold to new print horror magazine Red Scream for its debut issue. (The first Vinny Demon story was "The World's Forgotten Boy and the Scorpions from Hell.")

Several stories out (or out soon) from Holly Phillips

Holly Phillips has sold two stories, "The Lass of Loch Royal" and "canvas, mirror, glass," to a new invitation-only US literary magazine called Jabberwocky. Her story "A Beggar in Shadow" is now in print in Alchemy, and another story, "Luck of the Gods," is in the current issue of Black Gate. She also have a couple of poems that should be showing up in Asimov's very soon.

Holly will be giving a class on publishing as part of the Canada Writes! weekend workshop in Castlegar, B.C., in April, and she says her dark fantasy novel the burning girl will be tidied up and ready to send to publishers soon.

Mary Choo story in January SDO Fantasy

Mary Choo has sold a short story, "The Ragged Man," to SDO Fantasy.

Nina Munteanu story nominated for Fountain Award

Nina Munteanu's short story "Virtually Yours" has been nominated for a 2005 Speculative Literature Foundation Fountain Award. "Virtually Yours" appeared in Issue #3 of Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine, edited by Karl Johanson, who nominated the story.

Michael Libling novelette in April F&SF

Michael Libling's novelette "The Gospel of Nate" should be appearing in the April issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Jo Beverley novella up for SF Romance Sapphire Award

Jo Beverley's novella "The Trouble With Heroes," published in the anthology Irresistible Forces (NAL) is a nominee for the SF Romance Sapphire Award for short fiction. Other nominees in the short fiction category are "Dead Girls Don’t Dance" by MaryJanice Davidson (Cravings, Jove), "The Night Owl” by Emma Holly (Hot Blooded, Jove), "Originally Human" by Eileen Wilks (Cravings, Jove), "Stained Glass Heart" by Catherine Asaro (Irresistible Forces, NAL), "Winter Born" by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Stroke of Midnight, St. Martin’s) and "Winterfair Gifts" by Lois McMaster Bujold (Irresistible Forces, NAL). The Sapphire Awards (which also include a novel category) will be announced in April.

Matt Hughes sells another story to F & SF

Matt Hughes has sold another "Guth Bandar" novelette to Gordon Van Gelder at The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It's Matt's 10th sale to F&SF since he started submitting to the magazine 18 months ago.

New books from Nancy Kilpatrick

Here's the cover art for Nancy Kilpatrick's newest book, Near Death, part of the Power of the Blood series, just published by Mosaic Press:



Nancy has two more books coming out this year. Jason X: Planet of the Beast is due out in October from Black Flame, and Outsiders: Stories on the Edge of the Fantastical, an anthology Nancy co-edited with Nancy Holder, will be out that same time from Roc/NAL.

Nancy has also sold short story "Our Lady of the Snows" to Tesseracts 9, and has just contracted to write another novel in the Jason X world for 2006. She's currently working on Mercedez - Day of the Dead for Blue Moon/VIVID, to be released "eventually."

Joe Mahoney story in SDO Fantasy

Joe Mahoney's story "The Coming Home" (co-authored with Julian Ford) will be included in the January-March issue of SDO Fantasy.

Matt Hughes story selected for Year's Best SF

Matt Hughes's first Henghis Hapthron story, "Mastermindless," has been chosen to sppear in The Year's Best SF #10, edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, coming in 2005 from Harper/Eos.

Donna Farley story accepted by Cicada

Cicada has accepted Donna Farley's story "Jettator", pending some final small revisions which I am about to send them. Says Donna, "I like to describe this one as 'my big fat quasi-Greek fantasy story'."

Hugh Spencer play on Shoestring Radio Theatre in March

Hugh Spencer's play "Robot Reality Check" is scheduled for broadcast on Shoestring Radio Theatre on (or around) March 2. If you click on "listen now" on their site you can hear that week's show.

Nina Munteanu story in Sky Songs II anthology

Nina Munteanu's short story, "Angel's Promises" (2004 SLF Fountain Award nominee) will be joining the ranks of award-winning stories by fellow SF Canada writers Donna Farley (2004 Word Guild Award for "Tree Dance") and Douglas Smith (2004 Aurora Award finalist for "The Red Bird") in the spiritual SF anthology Sky Songs II (Sky Song Press), scheduled to be launched March 11 to 13, 2005, at ConSecration (an SF convention in Chicago, Illinois).

Numerous reprints for Douglas Smith stories

The US magazine Cicada will be publishing Douglas Smith's SF novelette "Going Harvey in the Big House" in its January/February 2005 issue. Doug's martial arts fantasy "The Red Bird," which first appeared in the Canadian speculative magazine On Spec in 2001 and was an Aurora finalist in 2002, will be reprinted in the anthology Sky Songs 2, publication date likely late in 2005.

Doug's short story "State of Disorder," which first appeared in Amazing Stories in 1999 and was an Aurora finalist in 2000, will be reprinted in the upcoming Australian anthology An Alternative Time from Altair Books, and his novelette "Scream Angel," which first appeared in the US anthology Low Port in 2003 and won the 2004 Aurora Award, will be translated and reprinted in Ukraine (Real'nost' Fantastiki) and Israel (Bli Panika).

His novelette "Spirit Dance," which appeared in Tesseracts 6 and The Third Alternative #22 and was an Aurora finalist in 1998, will be translated and reprinted in Croatia (Futura), Poland (Nowa Fantastyka), and Lithuania (Dorado Raganos), bringing the number of sales for this story to sixteen.

Finally, Doug's short story "Symphony," which first appeared in Prairie Fire in 1999 and was an Aurora finalist in 2000, will be translated and reprinted in Croatia (Via Galactica).

Two Claude Lalumière stories republished

Two of Claude Lalumière's stories are being republished. "Njàbò" (originally from On Spec, Fall 2003), appeared online in the December 2004 issue of Kemona, while "Dregs" (originally from Interzone #186) is included in Maxim Jakubowski's The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 4 (Carroll & Graf), which hits bookshops this month.

Glenn Grant novella chosen for best-of-year anthology

Glenn Grant's novella "Burning Day", originally published in Claude Lalumière's anthology Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic, has been selected to appear in The Year's Best SF #10, edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, to be published in 2005 by Harper/Eos.

Cory Doctorow novel on preliminary Nebula ballot

Cory Doctorow's novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (Tor) is on the Preliminary Ballot for the 2004 Nebula Awards®. Other novels on the preliminary ballot are Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (Eos), Omega by Jack McDevitt (Ace), Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart (Small Beer Press), Conquistador by S.M. Stirling (Roc) and The Knight by Gene Wolfe (Tor).

The Nebula Awards® are voted on, and presented by, active members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. The prelimnary ballot will be mailed to all active SFWA members (of which there are more than 1,400). Each member may nominate no more than five works in each category on the preliminary ballot. The final ballot will then be drawn up and mailed February 15. The Awards will be announced at the Nebula Awards® Banquet to be held at the Allegro Hotel in the heart of Chicago's Loop Theater District on Saturday, April 30.

Cory is also on the cover of (and interviewed inside) Locus Magazine this month, along with Charles Stross.

Two Kate Riedel short stories appearing soon

Kate Riedel has two stories upcoming for publication, "And a Pony" in On Spec's addictions-themed issue, and "Trying to be Kind" in Not One of Us.

Ahmed A. Khan story online and book in print

Ahmed A. Khan's story "Shores of Id" has been published in Kenoma. As well, his book Ghelenden, previously published as an e-book) is out now as a
paperback and can be ordered from Whortleberry Press. A signed copy can be ordered by e-mailing Ahmed.

Cover art for Edward Willett's new novel

It's only available in black and white so far, from the Five Star catalogue, but there's the Jill Bauman cover art for Edward Willett's upcoming novel Lost in Translation:



UPDATE, March 1: This cover art was originally incorrectly attributed to Alan M. Clark.