Archives
Announcing the Hayden Trenholm interview
I'm currently interviewing Aurora Award nominee Hayden Trenholm on the discussion board of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Facebook group, and will be all week. You can follow along over there (if you're on Facebook), or check back here: I'll be posting the interview here as it develops.My Facebook interview, Part 4 (the conclusion)
Part 1 is here; Part 2 is here; Part 3 is here.The interviewer is Dr. Robert Runte.The Facebook version is here.RR: So the next obvious question is how do you ensure "characters who are as much like real people as you can?" Are they based on people you know? (and do they know they are those characters?) or are they composites of people you know? Or do you just draw them from your head but try hard to work out the details in a consistent way?Me: I've never knowingly based a character on a real person (although I do borrow people's last names without shame). In a ...My Facebook interview, Part 3
Part 1 is here; Part 2 is here.The interviewer is Dr. Robert Runte.The Facebook version is here.RR: I'm always interested in a writer's process. Some writers write by just sitting down at the keyboard and letting things develop as they may; at the other end of the continuum are those that don't set pen to paper until they have a completed outline, a white board filled with timelines and thematic analysis, and a stack of index cards detailing each character, his/her growth, and their interaction with every other character. You've mentioned that Marseguro grew out of a scene you developed in a workshop, but that it was also the first ...My Facebook interview, Part 2
Part 1 is here.The interviewer is Dr. Robert Runte.The Facebook version is here.RR: Oh, let us say rather that you are the embodiment of the modern day renaissance man!One of the things I liked about Marseguro was the complexity of the main, and even a few of the secondary, characters. (This is in sharp contrast with a lot of SF where the viewpoint character is essentially flawless Hero, or at best a Peter Parker flawless Hero-with-angst.) Your viewpoint characters are either slightly damaged individuals or ordinary people (well, aside from the whole gill thing) who have to try to rise to the occasion. And every time they succeed, you ...My Facebook interview, Part 1
This week I'm being interviewed on Facebook on the discussion board of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy group. If you're on Facebook, you can see the interview here. For those who aren't, though, I'm going to post it here as it goes along.My interviewer is Dr. Robert Runte.RR: Okay, let's get this interview started.In my review of Marseguro for Neo-Opsis Magazine, I said that "As the stakes continually rise, the protagonists have to constantly up their game to overcome yet greater obstacles and confront yet more profound ethical issues...As in Lost in Translation the characters have to confront their prejudices, overcome their justifiable hatreds, examine their loyalties and -- even more ...You can have my Scrabulous when you pry it from my cold dead fingers
Hasbro has sent letters to Facebook asking it to remove Scrabulous, the popular online version of Scrabble.SOS! Save our Scrabulous!I are a group
No, not a groupie--a group. Specifically, a Facebook group. In my ongoing quest to try to get anyone, anyone at all, to buy any (or all) of my books, I've decided to try setting up a Facebook group to which I'll post writing news. Yeah, I know, that's what I do here, but I have this sneaking suspicion not all of my Facebook friends read my blog regularly, hard though that is for me to fathom.If you're on Facebook, and you'd like to join the Edward Willett Writing News group (and who wouldn't?) you'll find it here. And if you're not on Facebook, dude, what century are you living in?Privacy? Bah. We don' need no ...A Facebook group dedicated to Canadian SF & Fantasy…
...has been set up by SF Canada member Donna Farley. You can find it here.Its purpose:To promote SF and fantasy by Canadian authors. To put readers and people in the Canadian SF writing and publishing community in touch. And maybe to find out if Sasquatch is online yet....Authors, editors, publishers, artists, academics, teachers, journalists, readers and anyone else with an interest in Canadian SF (even if you aren't Canadian yourself) is welcome to join.Of course, you have to become a member of Facebook first.A Facebook group dedicated to Canadian SF Fantasy…
...has been set up by a href="http://www.sfcanada.ca/"SF Canada/a member a href="http://raftersscriptorium.blogspot.com/"Donna Farley/a. You can a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2504522110"find it here/a.br /br /Its purpose:br /br /emTo promote SF and fantasy by Canadian authors. To put readers and people in the Canadian SF writing and publishing community in touch. And maybe to find out if Sasquatch is online yet....Authors, editors, publishers, artists, academics, teachers, journalists, readers and anyone else with an interest in Canadian SF (even if you aren't Canadian yourself) is welcome to join.br //embr /Of course, you have to become a member of Facebook first.
Edward Willett is a Subscribe to my weekly science column for free!
Advertisement
Donate
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.
Facebook
Flickr
GoodReads
RSS
Twitter
Email