I don’t usually repeat columns quite as soon as I’m repeating this one on bias, but my big brother Jim recently suggested this might be a good time, with the Canadian election on, and I always do what my big brother tells me to. (Right, Jim?) Also, I’m swamped with editorial revisions on two novels …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2011/04/Political-Irrationality.mp3[/podcast] This week, in honour of the Canadian federal election coming up May 2, I’m revisiting a column from a few years ago that seems apropos. It’s all about political irrationality, and if you read that phrase and immediately assume it’s referring to the obvious irrationality of the political beliefs of those who plan to …
Here’s the latest of my SF/fantasy columns for the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild’s magazine Freelance. *** For most of the world, Charlie Brown is only a beloved cartoon character with a round head. But for those immersed in the science fiction and fantasy genres, Charlie Brown was also the nickname (though he hated it) of Charles …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2011/03/Accidental-Politicians.mp3[/podcast] Canada is about to enter a federal election campaign, and you know what that means. Platforms, proclamations, partisanship, preening, pretending, pandering and pestering, not to mention politicians on your porch. It’s enough to make you tired, but at least here that knock on the door is a smiling politician and not the secret police. …
…this one coming from Vilate at the Young Adult Literature Review blog, who was not particularly disposed to liking it, since she’s “not particularly fond of Arthurian tales, as a rule. Arthur is done too often and there aren’t that many new ways to look at him,” as she puts it. And she found it …
Well, it looks like the official announcement has been made: I’m going to be writer-in-residence at the Regina Public Library this September 1 through the end of next May. The Regina LeaderPost has the story here. I’m very excited about it. It’s a paid position, $35,000 over the nine months, and 70 percent of my …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2011/03/Basketball-Bank-Shots.mp3[/podcast] Basketball skills ought to run in my blood. My father won multiple provincial high school basketball championships as coach of the Western Christian College Mustangs, and my brother was both a good player and championship-winning coach himself. But, alas, basketball and I never got along very well. I could sort of dribble (if I …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2011/03/Stretching-the-Truth.mp3[/podcast] Exercise is good for you. It’s a shame, since I personally find the whole sweating/breathing hard/ hurting thing a (literal) pain, but I don’t believe I can mount a successful argument as to why sitting on your rear end eating junk food all day is actually better for you, even though evolution seems to …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2011/02/Atomic-Oxygen-Art-Restoration.mp3[/podcast] Whenever you visit an art museum that houses really old paintings, you may find yourself underwhelmed by their appearance. Case in point: the Mona Lisa. Although I haven’t seen it recently, when I did see it, back in the 1980s…well. It was small, dark, and hard to see inside its climate-controlled compartment. That darkness …
A great review of Song of the Sword has appeared on McNally Robinson Booksellers’ website. Chadwick Ginther begins: If you think you know Arthur, Merlin and the Lady of the Lake guess again. Ariane is a troubled teen, starting a new life with her aunt in Regina. A new school would be hard enough, but …
A while back I discussed a variety of ideas for new projects with my agent, Ethan Ellenberg. There was one in particular he liked, which is tentatively titled Masks. It’s a YA fantasy, and since he’s anxious to see some sample chapters, I’ve plunged into it. Here’s how it begins: A week before her thirteenth …
My latest column for Freelance, the magazine of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild. *** Ever heard of Sturgeon’s Law? It does not, as you might think at first glance, regulate the caviar industry in Russia; rather, it is a general description of the world around us. Formulated by the late science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, it …
