As I’m approaching an inevitable embrace of Canada (oh, sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found you!) I’m aware that I have very little knowledge of Canadian literature. A poor citizen is one who does not know his country’s stories. It is how we speak to one another–a cultural physiography and language that connects [...]
Archive for the ‘fiction’ Tag
My Year of Canadian Reading: what stories are you made of? 6 comments
Flash Fiction Challenge: Inhuman 2 comments
INHUMAN: Absolute Xpress, owned by Edge Books (the makers and owners of the Tesseracts series of science fiction and fantasy anthologies), have announced their fourth flash fiction challenge: 1000 words on what humans are like from a non-earth based, non-human perspective. The title of the anthology is called “Inhuman” and details are here In their words: [...]
Toronto Launch of Evolve: the all-Canadian Vampire anthology, April 9-10 Leave a comment
Bondsmen, my story, up at Metazen: James Bond meets himselves Leave a comment
Wolverine: You can’t hurt him, so you can’t hurt us Leave a comment
While Wolverine looked promising, it was a confusing mess of action with never a moment of tension. The problem was established early–in the credits–and this hindered us from caring about the characters. If you make your characters indestructible, then you eliminate us from caring. It was the problem with Superman many years ago–he had no [...]
Live Words: Yukon Writers Festival, April 28-May 8 Leave a comment
In conjunction with the Young Authors Conference, Live Words brings five authors up to the Yukon, and this year they are offering a few more appearances in Whitehorse and the communities for readings and workshops. Yay! I applaud Joyce Sward and other organizers for their efforts to bring these writers to the community. Schedule [...]
Repair-adise: The Myth of the Self-Cleaning Earth 4 comments
Okay, I’ve seen the trope enough. Yes, it is a hopeful image, but it perpetuates a myth. End of movie: three or four people after post-apocalyptic disaster come out to “healed” Earth. 200 years in City of Ember. 700 years in Wall-E. Gaia is a nice idea–that the Earth is bigger than us and will [...]
From 1914, Merry Christmas by Stephen Leacock Leave a comment
I was browsing the Fantasy Magazine website, and found this gem from 1914. Even if you’re tired of Christmas, this will surprise you and warm you. A beautiful story. Merry Christmas, by Stephen Leacock.
Online SF Market: Futurismic–for near future stories Leave a comment
Another great market for Science Fiction writers, especially those dabbling in near future fiction. Check out the full Guidelines here. Here’s an excerpt of what they’re looking for. Futurismic seeks contemporary, near future science fiction for online publication. We’re looking for innovative, exciting stories that use the tools of speculative fiction to examine contemporary issues [...]
Writing Classes at Yukon College–Get Your Novels Out 1 comment
Hey, Novelists! For some of you Nanowrimo was a great experience–but what next?? Or some of you have an old novel kicking around in your closet. Dust it off, get it ready. I’m teaching two courses at Yukon College in the Winter, both of them are Fiction Writing Workshops. You can read more about them [...]
