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The catch-all post: recent reviews and other bits
You may have noticed that blogging pretty much dried up after WorldCon. Heavy-duty vacationing will do that to you. And now that I'm back home I'm so completely snowed under by things that need doing that blogging generally falls pretty far down the list. Heck, I'm barely managing a Tweet now and then. Still, I've grabbed a few minute this evening to post a few things. First, here's some video of me winning the Aurora Award for Marseguro, courtesy of of Neo-Opsis Science Fiction editor Karl Johanson (who won one himself that evening): A couple of additional stories on the win ...A new book to brag about: The Bounty Mutiny
I knew it was coming, but I didn't expect it to arrive so hard on the heels of Disease-Hunting Detective: my latest children's non-fiction book, The Bounty Mutiny: from the Court Case to the Movie, showed up Monday from Enslow Publishers. Here’s the description from the back of the book: “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 ...Page proofs of my book about the Bounty mutiny arrive
I received the PDF page proofs of one of my upcoming children's non-fiction books, The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie, from Enslow today. That's the title page. It's part of a series called Famous Court Cases That Became Movies--among the others in the series are books dealing with the Amistad mutiny (Amistad), Watergate (All the President's Men), and the Scopes "Monkey" trial (Inherit the Wind). In my case, the movie in question is the 1984 Dino De Laurentiis epic The Bounty, starring Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian and Anthony Hopkins as Bligh.There's some typo-finding and editorial query-answering to go, but I must say it's ...Hugo Awards final ballot released
The Hugo and John W. Campbell Best New Writer final ballot has been announced. Alas, Marseguro is not on it. (I and everyone else would have been shocked if it had been!)What I find most interesting about it is that three of the Best Novel nominees are young adult books: Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (which just won the Newbery Medal) and John Scalzi's Zoe's Tale. Rounding out the list are Neal Stephenson's Anathem (which will my first choice!) and Charles Stross's Saturn's Children.You can read the complete list of nominees here. To vote, you have to be a member of Anticipation, the 67th World Science Fiction Convention, being held ...What I’ve Just Read: Queste
Actually, I finished this a couple of weeks ago--I've just been slow blogging about. Maybe because I don't have much to say. If you liked the previous Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage, I'm sure you'll like this one. If you haven't read them, there's not much point in reading this one.I've enjoyed them all, but not quite as much as I think I should--and I'm saying this as someone who, despite my advanced age, still enjoys a good YA novel (and still hopes to write more of them, as well). I think the tone is just a little ...Title page of my next children’s non-fiction book
Just got the PDF of the rough layout of what will probably* be my next-published children's non-fiction book, Disease-Hunting Scientist: Careers Hunting Deadly Diseases--that's the title page at left. It's part of a series from Enslow Publishers called Wild Science Careers.It's been interesting to work on, since I got to interview several scientists who have studied diseases as varied as Marburg, Ebola, bird flu, SARS and black-band disease in coral. The focus of the series is on scientists who work "in the field," as opposed to just in a lab, so these men and women have travelled all over the world, waded through swamps, camped out in the ...What I Just Read: Jolted: Newton Starker’s Rules for Survival
I thoroughly enjoyed Arthur Slade's Jolted: Newton Starker's Rules for Survival. Slade is a terrific writer of children's and young adult fiction (check out his Governor General Award-winning Dust) and he doesn't disappoint with this tale of a boy who comes from a long line of people who die from lightning strikes.There aren't any answers forthcoming as to why that should be the case, nor does Newton Starker somehow miraculously find the cure (and I use that word advisedly: you could read this as a kind of metaphor for any child with a handicap or illness, though I ...What I’ve Just Read: The Big Chunk of Ice
Subtitled "The Last Known Adventure of The Mad Scientists' Club," this is the posthumously published novel by Bertrand R. Brinley that continues the escapades of the better-prank-playing-through-science-and-engineering youngsters told in the short story collections The Mad Scientists' Club and The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club.I enjoyed it, but probably only because I'd read those other collections first and have a soft spot in my heart for the first one in particular, which I read when I was the target audience: about twelve. I think the Mad Scientists' adventures work better when they're confined to mythical small town Mammoth Falls, and I ...A good year for Ransome fans!
That would be Arthur Ransome, author of the Swallows and Amazons series, one of the greatest writers of children's books ever, and a personal favorite of mine from a very young age (I saved up my allowance and ordered the entire 12-book series, one a month, all the way from Jonathan Cape in England, when I was about 12; they have a place of honour on my office bookshelves and I'm looking forward to reading them to my daughter very soon).And why is this a good year? Because:Arthur Ransome fans have two theatrical performances, a film and possibly two ...An astonishing example of telepathy on my part
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be finishing up the sequel to Marseguro? How come I haven't seen a 'first line I wrote today' update for a while?"The reason, dear reader, is simple: I have been fleeing a deadline for ages, but it finally caught up to me, mugged, and ordered to me to make a choice: a finished manuscript or my life.So for the past few days my focus has had to be entirely on finishing a children's book for Enslow Publishers on the mutiny on the Bounty. Which I have now done, submitting it not ten minutes ago.Now there's nothing between me and finishing Terra ...
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
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
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel 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….
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).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
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.
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