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I make the news in Meadow Lake!
The Meadow Lake Progress has posted an article about my visit to that community the weekend before last for a library reading. It's a good article, although I wouldn't take the quotation marks around what I supposedly said very literally...You can read the whole thing here, but here's how it starts:Regina-based science fiction author Edward Willett isn’t your average writer. Actually he’s not average at all.The literary dynamo and actor stopped by the Meadow Lake Library during the evening of November 15. He did a reading from one of his books, but also interacted with the crowd and answered questions.Willett has ...Live from Meadow Lake!
I know intellectually Saskatchewan is a big province (it's only slightly smaller than Texas, and you know the old rhyme about that: "The sun done riz, the sun done set, and we ain't outta Texas yet!") (OK, maybe you didn't know that old rhyme, but now you do.) Still, you get a really good feel for it driving north, because the province is much taller than it is wise. So, I drove roughly northwest from Regina about 580 kilometres today to get to Meadow Lake, and I know darn well that about half the province ...Where I’ll be next weekend
I've got so much to get done this week that it's hard to look ahead to next weekend, but I thought I should mention that next Saturday I'll be reading at the Meadow Lake Public Library at 7 p.m.Oh, look, here's a link! (The photo is the one they're using to promote the reading; I believe it's from the launch of A Safe and Prosperous Future in the Saskatchewan Legislature Library.)If you're in the area, I hope to see you there!Yes, I’m still alive…
...I just haven't been blogging. Busy, busy busy busy, is why. And what have I primarily been busy with? Well, I'm currently the writer-in-residence at Michael A. Riffel High School here in Regina.This is a program sponsored by the Saskatchewan Writers Guild, and it's been an interesting experience. I've primarily been doing classroom presentations--more than a dozen, each an hour long--where I talk about myself and my writing, answer questions, and occasionally read.Oh, and sing: more often than not I've finished off my presentation with "Me," Gaston's song from the stage version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. This seems appropriate since it comes at the end of an hour when I've talked of ...Toronto Reading: Centennial
Last night's reading at the Centennial branch of the Toronto Public Library was certainly very different from the one the night before. We had a small (but high-quality!) crowd at the Beaches, Candas and I, in a quiet, intimate setting. At the Centennial branch, Alison Baird (that's her reading in the picture at right) and I were in a large multi-purpose room packed with more than 100 teens, members of an incredibly popular after-school library group (YAG, it's called--Youth Action Group, if I remember correctly). They were boisterous, but still generally attentive and they asked great questions. It was fun!Long way ...Toronto Reading: The Beaches
I know, I know, I've hardly been blogging at all for the last little while, except for posting my science columns. I went to Winnipeg for KeyCon and didn't say a word about it. I've seen all kinds of interesting science articles and haven't commented or linked. I've been a bad, bad blogger.But I'll try to do better, honest! Beginning with this exciting report on the first of two readings I'm doing in Toronto as part of the Toronto Public Library's series of readings by Canadian speculative fiction writers, called Foresight: Speculative Fiction in Canada.Tonight I read with Candas Jane ...We came, we saw, we chapbooked
Today was the final day of the 2008 Saskatchewan Writers' Guild's Online Youth Mentorship Program, and a fine day it was. The twelve teens who have been taking part in the program and the four mentors (of whom I was one) met this morning at St. James's Anglican Church in Saskatoon and, with the guidance of the fine folks from Jack Pine Press, preceded to construct chapbooks containing pieces created by all of the young writers.That went well--I really enjoy the process, myself, possibly because its focus on scissors, paper and glue takes me back to halcyon ...My KeyCon schedule
I'll be at KeyCon in Winnipeg over the Victoria Day weekend, and they're going to keep me busy! Here's my schedule (still tentative at this point); if you're attending, seek me out and say hi!Friday9pm to 10pm: Mundane SF and Space Opera with Hayden Trenholm.Saturday10am to 11am: Aliens in SF with Nick DiCharioNoon to 1pm: Freedom of Speech and Social Responsibility with Nick DiChario and Virginia O'Dine1pm to 2pm: Autograph Session for all who wish to participate.3pm to 4pm: Writing for All Ages with Jane Yolen.Sunday1pm to 2pm: But Is It Art? with Danielle Hubbard, Liz Westbrook-Trenholm, and Justyn Perry.3pm to 4pm: Reading from Marseguro.4pm ...Foresight: Speculative Fiction in Canada
That's the name of a Canada Council-funded reading and discussion series starting up soon at the Toronto Public Library--and I'll be one of the 26 featured authors.Here's how my two events are described:Candas Jane Dorsey and Edward WillettTwo of Canadian SF’s most fearless explorers of big ideas, Candas Jane Dorsey (A Paradigm of Earth) and Edward Willett (Marseguro) will read from recent work and discuss what science fiction can tell us about the personal and political worlds we live in now. Followed by Q&A and book-signing; books for sale by Bakka-Phoenix Science Fiction Bookstore.Wednesday, May 28, 7 p.m.Beaches BranchEdward ...Photo of the (Yester)day: Me reading in Saskatoon
I made the trek up to Saskatoon yesterday, killing two birds with one stone: I met with two of the girls I'm mentoring through the Saskatchewan Writers Guild's Youth Mentorship Program, and then read from Marseguro at McNally Robinson bookstore. Both events were successful, although you have to wonder if it's worth it when you're reading to, in this case, nine people.Here I am in the "art alcove" (because it's the alcove where all the art books are), either reading something very serious or worrying that that pizza I had for supper is about to turn bad.
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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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