…from Ken McConnell. Here’s a bit: Well developed characters with clear motives prevailed in the story and once the plot got going, it rolled right along at a nice clip right to the end.Ken was one of the winners of a copy of Marseguro from my give-away when the book first came out, so I’m …
Ever try to list a series of interesting things you’ve heard or own or read about for someone else, only to end up saying something like, “and…and…and I forget the other thing.” There’s a good reason why we often “forget the other thing”–because our conscious mind, or what is sometimes called our “working memory,” has …
It was called “the Green Fairy” Among the bohemian artists and writers of late 19th-century Paris, it took on legendary status for its supposed ability to enhance consciousness and bring on s inspiring hallucinations. Its strange reputation was only enhanced when, in the early 20th century, country after country in Europe banned its production in …
I’ll be part of the Saskatchewan Playwrights’ Centre’s Spring Festival of New Plays this month–but not as a writer (although I like the idea of writing plays, somehow I rarely get around to actually doing so): rather, I’ll be one of the actors. Here’s how the festival is described: Local actors work with directors from …
SF writer Richard Morgan has a terrific post about the curious need within the SF&F community to denigrate those within the community who write or read stuff that we, ourselves, might not choose to write or read. Me, I’m pretty eclectic in my SF&F tastes, as both a writer and a reader, so I’m with …
Further to yesterday’s post about the workshop and reading that wrapped up the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild’s Online Youth Mentorship program last night, here’s what the chapbook looked like (well, here’s what one chapbook looked like, one of the ones I assembled: every one was a bit different, depending on who made it). The image on …
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 …
I have a six-year-old daughter, which means in the past few years I’ve been reintroduced to the wonderful world of fairy tales. I’m as willing to suspend disbelief as the next guy–more so, probably, since I’m a reader and writer of fantasy–but I also have a scientific bent, and every once in a while I …
…this time from the Eclectic Writer blog. Generally favorable, concluding with: With good characters and an interesting story that looks at very difficult issues that are important to the world we live in today, Willett managed to elevate the story to a good read. What I saw as its flaws in story telling were not …
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 …
…from roughly the last three weeks: One wandering planet can ruin your whole day Universal translator a possibility? Uncrashable cars…and one that definitely isn’t Sailing, sailing, over the bounding interplanetary main Moving beyond turning food into fuel Microsoft creates an algorithmic accompanist NASA tests giant robot that could pick up and move a Moon base …
The terms “soft condensed matter physics, biochemistry, and molecular biology” are not usually associated by the average person with “bread, cheese fondue, and the mystery of milky sambuca,’ but as Rachel Ehrenberg recently pointed out in Science News, they should be. That’s because (and if you watch the Food Network, this won’t come as a …
