Just heard this morning that Terra Insegura, my sequel to last year’s Aurora Award-winning science fiction novel Marseguro, is a finalist for this year’s Aurora Award for best science fiction or fantasy novel in English. Sounds like they had a record number of nominations, too, so that makes it even sweeter. The other finalists are …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/02/Frisbee.mp3[/podcast] Fred Morrison died on Tuesday at the age of 90, one of those people you may never have heard of, but really should have. Morrison invented the Frisbee. Since millions of these and other flying discs have been sold since the 1950s, it’s perhaps a bit humbling to discover, though, that even though throwing …
The deadline for nominating works for a Prix Aurora Award is fast approaching. Today is the day when mail-in ballots must be postmarked by, and the deadline for online nominations is February 15. The Aurora Awards, for the best Canadian works of science fiction and fantasy, are nominated and voted on by fans. Any Canadian …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/02/Spray-on-Liquid-Glass.mp3[/podcast] “Spray-on liquid glass” sounds like a product you’d see advertised at two o’clock in the morning in an infomercial. It sounds even more like a 2 a.m. infomercial product when you see headlines about it that claim it is “about to revolutionize everything.” Maybe it’d sound more impressive if I used its more formal …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/01/Fuel-from-Germs.mp3[/podcast] For years, we’ve been turning crops such as corn, wheat and sugar beets into fuel, using yeast to convert sugar into alcohol. But there’s an obvious problem with this. That stuff we’re turning into fuel is also food for humans and feed for animals. (And as an aside, how come we always call it …
…has already shown up online, even though it won’t appear in print until tomorrow. This is the first time I’ve seen something I’ve written pop up that far ahead of the ink-on-paper version, though maybe I just haven’t noticed until now. The review begins: I confess that I went into the opening night performance of …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/01/Social-Contagions.mp3[/podcast] Parents (I don’t think I’m giving away any parental secrets here) worry about peer pressure–not least because parents remember how much their behavior was influenced by peers when they were young. The fact is, we’re all influenced by the people around us…and we often think of that influence as a bad thing. As the …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/01/Why-Im-Not-Stephanie-Meyer.mp3[/podcast] I’m a full-time writer, but not, alas, a fabulously wealthy and/or successful one. James Cameron isn’t bugging me about film rights; Oprah isn’t plugging me on TV; fans aren’t lugging great stacks of my books around, chasing me for autographs. It’s easy, when you’re one of the little guys in any creative field, be …
…is in today’s Regina Leader Post. It begins: The 18th-century French poet Jacques Delille famously noted that while we can choose our friends, “Fate chooses our relatives.” More than one family has fractured because siblings discover they have nothing in common with each other … which is exactly what has happened to the family in …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/01/The-Scientific-Case-for-Live-Music.mp3[/podcast] Music today is ubiquitous, both in public spaces like malls, elevators and offices and in the very private space between an individual’s ears, courtesy of personal music players. But that’s all recorded music. Live music remains far rarer. Live musicians may occasionally show up in a public space, but you generally have to seek …
Are you a freelance writer in Saskatchewan (or at least knowledgeable about Saskatchewan)? Then it could be I’ve got work for you. Here’s the release I’ve been sending out today seeking additional writers for the magazines I edit, Fine Lifestyles Regina and the about-to-launch Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon: *** Edward Willett, editor of Fine Lifestyles Regina, …
You can view the most recent issue of the magazine I edit, Fine Lifestyles Regina, in its entirety online. I recommend pages 124 and 125, which is where you’ll find the new wine column my wife and I are co-writing, “The Willetts on Wine.” I’m also going to be editing the new sister publication, Fine …
