Archives
Lobster Press Fall/Winter 2010 catalogue released, Song of the Sword gets pride of place
Lobster Press has just made its Fall/Winter 2010 catalogue available, and my new YA fantasy Song of the Sword gets pride of place as the first book listed. Guess I'd better get busy and write the second book...Premiere issues of Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon and Fine Weddings Regina now online
The premiere issues of two more magazines I'm now editing, part of the Fine Lifestyles family, are now online: Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon and Fine Weddings Regina. Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon is the sister publication to Fine Lifestyles Regina, and will be appearing quarterly (the next issue will be out in July, pretty much concurrently with the next Fine Lifestyles Regina), while Fine Weddings Regina will run twice a year. Coming soon: Fine Homes Regina. And eventually, I'm told, Fine Weddings Saskatoon and Fine Homes Saskatoon. Whether I can edit all of them or not, we'll ...Things I Found in My Mother-in-Law’s House (but I actually put there myself): The Army Song Book
OK, this is a rather odd entry in this series because, although it dates from 1941 (pretty much the same time as the paperbacks I blogged about previously), this book was not actually found in my mother-in-law's house: it was actually found in my mother's house, because it belonged to my father, James Willett (whose signature appears on the front). It's the official US Army Song Book from the Second World War. It begins, as you'd expect, with the Star Spangled Banner (three verses!), but the complete contents is eclectic, to say the least: The Star Spangled Banner Alma ...Things I Found in my Mother-in-Law’s House: 1930s paperbacks
From the bookshelves in what is now my office, here are two examples of some of the earliest mass-market paperback books, 1940 printings of The Good Earth and Gulliver's Travels in Pocket Book format. Cover art has come a long way since then, hasn't it?Electronic galley of Song of the Sword available to reviewers
I now have an electronic version of Song of the Sword, Book 1 in The Shards of Excalibur, my new YA fantasy coming out this fall from Lobster Press, available to send to any bona fide book reviewers (for online sites or print) interested in reading and reviewing the novel leading up to its October release. If you review books and you'd like a copy, send me an email or just leave a comment on this post.The grills of summer
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/06/The-Grills-of-Summer.mp3[/podcast] We’ve had at least one nice day so far this spring, and based on previous years (although, of course, as they say about RRSPs, past performance is no guarantee of future results) we may get at least one more before first frost this fall, so there’s just a possibility a few people may break out their barbecues for some outdoor cooking in the near future. In the U.S., the Memorial Day weekend at the end of May is seen as prime barbecuing time, which is probably why LiveScience, one of the science sites I frequent, recently answered that burning (sorry) question: “Why does grilled food turn black?” But in order to build suspense, I’m going to refrain from answering that this early ...Things I Found in My Mother-in-Law’s House: The 1912 Postcard
It's been a while since I did this, but I'd like to resume occasionally posting "Things I Found in My Mother-in-Law's House," which I STILL hope to turn into a book at some point. Mostly I'll post things I can scan. Like this 1912 postcard, which was sent to Sam Goodfellow a few days after the Regina Cyclone, the devastating tornado that killed 28 people, injured hundreds, left 2,500 homeless and destroyed or damaged 500 buildings. It remains Canada's worst tornado disaster. The postcard writer simply says "sincerely hope you weren't injured in Sunday's tragedy," and adds, "It was awful." ...Here’s the cover art for Song of the Sword
I'm pleased to finally be able to show off the cover art for my upcoming YA fantasy, Song of the Sword, Book 1 of five-book series The Shards of Excalibur, coming out in mid-October from Lobster Press. The art work is by Allen Douglas, and I like it a lot. Here's the blurb from the Amazon.ca page (where you can already pre-order the book...and where, obviously, some people have, because it has a remarkably high rating for not actually being in print yet): Before the Lady called her, Ariane's life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different ...A treatment for Ebola?
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/06/A-Treatment-for-Ebola.mp3[/podcast] A few years ago I wrote several books for Enslow Publishers in New Jersey for a series called Diseases and People. I covered meningitis, arthritis, hemophilia...and Ebola. My most recent book for Enslow, Disease-Hunting Scientist, also talks about Ebola, and some of the scientists who travel to the sites of outbreaks to help with containment efforts. Ask someone on the street to name a particularly deadly disease, and there’s a good chance he’ll say “Ebola.” Yet of the diseases I wrote about, the biggest killer by far is meningitis, the bacterial form of which kills some 170,000 people every year, according to the World Health Organization. (And if you want even bigger killers, in sub-Saharan Africa alone tuberculosis kills some 5,000 ...The winners of the 2010 Prix Aurora Awards
The 2010 Prix Aurora Awards for the best Canadian science fiction and fantasy of 2009 were handed out tonight at KeyCon in Winnipeg. My Terra Insegura was nominated for best novel in English, but didn't win (although all the nominees did receive very nice stainless steel mini-Aurora pins, which were much appreciated!). Instead, the best novel in English award went to Robert J. Sawyer's Wake (and well-deserved it is). Here are this year's nominees and winners. I've arranged the list with the winners at the top of each category, starred and bolded: BEST NOVEL IN ENGLISH : *WAKE, Robert J. Sawyer, Penguin Canada THE AMULET OF AMON-RA, by Leslie Carmichael, CBAY Books DRUIDS, by Barbara Galler-Smith and Josh Langston, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy STEEL WHISPERS, ...
Edward Willett is a The Shards of Excalibur, Book 1: Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel, coming in October from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
