Archives
Saturday Special from the Vaults: Sins of the Father
OK, this is an interesting one. As I have often recounted, Marseguro, which won the 2009 Aurora Award for best Canadian science fiction novel in English, began with a single opening line penned as a morning exercise in the Writing With Style program at the Banff Centre, in a science fiction-writing class taught by Robert J. Sawyer (at 9:15 a.m. on September 20, 2005, to be precise--I love computers). That opening was: Emily streaked through the phosphorescent sea, her wake a comet-tail of pale green light, her close-cropped turquoise hair surrounded by a glowing pink aurora. The water racing through her gill-slits smelled of blood. As the week progressed, ...Saturday Special from the Vaults: Picking the Bones
This is an unpublished and, as far as I know, never-submitted short-short I rediscovered in my files. I think I may have written it at Banff during the Writing With Style workshop on writing science fiction with Robert J. Sawyer, the same workshop out of which came Marseguro. The landing pod settled in the middle of the alien battlefield in an expanding cloud of copper-colored dust, its antigrav moaning away to nothing and its liftjets sighing into silence. Vultor Caruso watched the pod’s descent through binoculars from the ancient camouflaged pillbox buried in the nearest hill, his lips set in a thin, tight sneer. “Damn claim-jumpers,” he muttered; after years ...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, ...Alberta bound
Well, got a couple of nice bits of news this week. First, I've been asked by Pure Speculation, a science fiction convention in Edmonton, to be their Author Guest of Honour, filling in for Spider Robinson, who has had to bow out because of the need to concentrate on helping his wife, Jeanne, as she undergoes a round of chemotherapy. I'm hardly in the same league as Spider, writer-wise, which makes it doubly an honour to be asked. I don't know too many details about programming yet, except that I'll be singing in the Friday night cabaret and I'll be interviewed by Barb Galler-Smith at some point. Pure Speculation runs October 2 to 4 at the Shaw Convention ...An interview with Robert J. Sawyer
The following article was just published in the July/August issue of FreeLance, the newsletter of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild. *** Robert J. Sawyer: The Philosophical Science Fiction Writer By Edward Willett The Canadian Light Source, the giant synchrotron in Saskatoon, does not immediately spring to mind as a likely venue for a writer-in-residence. Unless, perhaps, that writer is renowned Canadian science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer. Then it seems like a perfect fit. “Most of my books involve working scientists,” Sawyer notes. “I have often visited science institutions, but I've never been immersed for weeks on end in the ...Insight into the theory of mind
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/07/Theory-of-Mind.mp3[/podcast] This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention, but in addition to writing nonfiction, I also write fiction—specifically, science fiction and fantasy. Now, the writing of fiction is a very odd thing, in that it involves the making up of characters: people who don’t really exist, but for whom the illusion of existence is created by the words the author puts on the page. Quite often, these people are very different from the author. I recently interviewed renowned Canadian science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer for FreeLance, the magazine of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild. The main character in his latest book, Wake, is a blind teenage girl, Caitlin Decter. Now, although Sawyer can draw on some experience at ...An Aurora display at McNally Robinson in Saskatoon
Robert J. Sawyer spotted (and photographed) this "end-cap" display of Aurora Award finalists at McNally Robinson in Saskatoon. Note the multiple copies of Marseguro!* *Oh, have I mentioned recently that Marseguro is an Aurora Award finalist? The voting deadline is July 15! Don't delay, vote today!The first sentence I wrote today…
...is from Blue Fire: The wagons rolled on through the day. Words today: 2,121 Total thus far: 19,676 You can add to that another 480 words (actually more like 980 to start with, but then I had to cut it by half) previewing the Regina Fringe Festival for Thursday's LeaderPost, and another 1,400 words (which represented a 1,000-word cut from the first draft) of an interview with Robert J. Sawyer for the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild magazine FreeLance. A productive day. I still need to write a science column and try to do some work on Magebane, but it's getting late, so...no promises.Photos of the (yester)day
I don't usually feel the need to unburden myself of deep philosophical musings on politics, the meaning of life, or the place of humanity in the universe, but after deep soul-searching, I have come to the point where I simply must--oh, look, a squirrel! Sorry. As I was saying, I don't usually feel the need to unburden myself of deep philosophical musings on politics, the meaning of life, or the place of humanity in the universe, but after deep soul-searching, I have come to the point where I simply must--oh, look, Robert J. Sawyer! Where ...The first sentence I wrote today…
Mother Northwind's smile faded. Words today: 1,072 Total thus far: 21,062 I only had about thirty-five minutes of actual writing time today, although I did a lot more typing than that: at 2 p.m. I went to the Book & Brier Patch, our local independent bookstore, for Robert J. Sawyer's reading from his new novel Wake (a copy of which I bought, of course), and then after that I interviewed Rob at the request of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild, which plans to run the interview in the next issue of its news magazine Freelance. (I'll be sure to post that interview online as well, of course.) Rob, of course, is someone I've known for years now, and as I've ...
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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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