Liz Strange Writes About the Strange

Hello, World. I’m back. Sorry about the absence but I’ve been swamped. I’m spotlighting Liz Strange today while I ease my brain back into writing. www.lizstrange.com

The Fair Folk in Knob’s end, released in March..

Fair Folk in Knob’s End is about a 16-year-old girl who moves in with her grandma after the death of her mom. At her new school she makes friends with a girl who turns out to be one of three magical sisters from the world of Annwn. She’s in hiding while the people of her land try to find the solution to a terrible curse that’s been placed upon them. Sophie (a human girl) gets swept up in the adventure after it’s discovered she has Tylwyth Teg blood in her ancestry, and in Annwn she has some magical affinity.

It’s a quest-adventure-mythology story, not bogged down by too much romanticism. It’s a fun story with a spunky heroine, and it’s not too preachy, with a unique take on the genre by using Welsh mythology as the foundation for the tale.

I’m often asked where the inspiration for my novels come from, and for the most part I don’t have a clear-cut answer. I’m a voracious reader, a pop culture junkie and a self-confessed nerd. I also have a deep love of horror/sci-fi/action movies and am fascinated with ancient history and world mythology, and I tend to absorb and store away juicy tidbits, images, and phrases from all these sources  to drive and influence future writing. I will also freely admit that I tend to be drawn to the dark side—I love my vampires, ghosts, demons and even the occasional hit man.

So how did a fun, quirky tale about a teenage girl and her involvement with the Tylwyth Teg come about? Like most things it came from a variety of influences and interest; my (admittedly) fanatic devotion to Torchwood (British sci-fi cult fave TV show), my desires to travel through historic Great Britain, and the draw of the unique history/culture/folklore of the often disparaged and overlooked Wales.

Liz Strange

In this pursuit to find my own story with a Welsh mythological background I dove headfirst into reading about the Druids, the folk traditions of pre-Christain/pre- Roman Britain, the enduring Arthurian tales, Tristan and Isolde, and the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, historical accounts, archeological studies, you name it. In the process my curiosity became a passion. I fell in love with the stories, the language, the physical beauty of the land, and the gumption of the Welsh people in hanging on to their distinct identity.

Thus Fair Folk in Knob’s End (the Daughters of Annwn) was born. The first novel in this planned series was released in March by Featherweight Press, and I’d love for you to take the journey with me to this magical land.

I asked Liz a few questions about writing and her life: When you were a child what drew your attention? Was it trucks and dolls? Were you quirky or just a regular kid?

I did love my Barbies, I will admit, but I did not play with babies or with the beautiful doll house my mother had made for me. I loved to read, draw, write, listen to music and spending time with the hoard of animals we had.

I was definitely quirky. Quiet and introverted—a lot more went in than I shared. I had a huge imagination and my comprehension and reading level was always way above my peers. Even back then I was fascinated with learning about the past, other cultures, and “ghost stories.”

How did you view the world and what were you reading?

I viewed the world as an endless source of information and things to make me wonder, I still do. I read pretty much anything. Started with things like the Three Investigators series, Choose Your Own Adventure, Sweet Valley High and very quickly moved on to authors like Stephen King. Once I found horror and fantasy I was hooked.

When did you take that step from being a reader to wanting to write?

I started writing as a very young child. Even before I could physically write, I dictated stories to my mother. She still has this series about a bird family that I thought up at about three-four years old.

What was your first publication?

My Love Eternal, the first novel in my Dark Kiss Series.

Where do you live and do you find your surroundings influence your writing?

I live in Kingston, Ontario. In some ways I am very influenced by where I live, and in others ways not at all. My mind is often chewing on many different images-places, people, art- at once and I find that transports me beyond my physical place and time. There’s that crazy imagination again.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LizStrangeVamp

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Liz-Strange-Fan-Page/112390728847718

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3360700.Liz_Strange

Amazon profile: http://www.amazon.com/Liz-Strange/e/B0032GCOO4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1363962324&sr=8-1

Writing: Chi Reading Series Vancouver

The Chiaroscuro Reading Series Vancouver launches April 10

Beginning April 10th we will launch the inaugural Vancouver Chiaroscuro Reading Series. The ChiSeries began in Toronto with Sandra Kasturi of Chizine Publications organizing the monthly event. Now we’re launching in Vancouver, Ottawa and Winnipeg, with Edmonton and Halifax later on. Vancouver’s launch will be quarterly to begin with. We feature published authors of speculative fiction. If you’re near or around Vancouver come by to this free event and participate in the no-cost raffle.

Here’s a little bit more on our first three authors.

Steven Erikson

Archaeologist and anthropologist STEVEN ERIKSON‘s debut fantasy novel, Gardens of the Moon, was short-listed for the World Fantasy Award and introduced fantasy readers to his epic ten-volume Malazan Book of the Fallen sequence, which has been hailed “a masterwork of the imagination.”  His latest novel, Forge of Darkness begins a new trilogy.  A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, his novels and novellas are published in many languages, and his works have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list.  Find out more at:   www.malazanempire.com and www.stevenerikson.com

Claude Lalumière

CLAUDE LALUMIÈRE (lostmyths.net/claude) is the author of two books from CZP, the collection  Objects of Worship (2009) and the mosaic novella The Door to Lost Pages (2011). He has edited or co-edited twelve anthologies, including three being released in 2013: Bibliotheca Fantastica (co-edited with Don Pizarro, from Dagan Books), Masked Mosaic: Canadian Super Stories (co-edited with Camille Alexa, from Tyche Books), and Super Stories of Heroes & Villains (Tachyon Publications). With Rupert Bottenberg, Claude is the co-creator of the multimedia cryptomythology project Lost Myths (lostmyths.net). Originally from Montreal, Claude now spends most of his time on the West Coast.

Camille Alexa

CAMILLE ALEXA is a Canadian and US author currently splitting her time between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, BC, whose lyrical language and thoughtful prose soften the edges of strange fiction and sharpen the corners of the mundane. She co-edited the anthology MASKED MOSAIC: CANADIAN SUPER STORIES, and her own collection of short works, PUSH OF THE SKY, earned a starred review in Publishers Weekly, was nominated for the Endeavour Award, and was as an official reading selection of the Powell’s Books Portland SF Book Club. More at camillealexa.com.

Women in Horror: Sandra Wickham

Women in Horror Month is over but I’m still featuring Canadian writers. Today’s author is Sandra Wickham whose short stories have appeared in Evolve: Vampires of the New Undead, Evolve: Vampires of the Future Undead, Chronicles of the Order,  Crossed Genres magazine and in the upcoming Urban Green Man anthology.  She blogs about writing with the Inkpunks, is the Fitness Nerd columnist for the Functional Nerds and reads slush for Lightspeed Magazine. Her friends call her a needle crafting aficionado, health guru and ninja-in-training.

Sandra Wickham likes her dark fiction with bite.

SANDRA WICKHAM

1.     Why do you write dark fiction/horror? Some people consider it only a sensationalistic tableau. Why this genre over others or do you span the literary landscape?

I didn’t set out to write horror but for some reason the best things I write come out as dark and often horrible. Even with all of our knowledge and technology there are still many things we fear, including the darkness that resides within all of us and I can’t help wanting to explore those shadowy places. I also write fantasy and often go to the other end of the spectrum with light, humourous stories.

2.     What dark themes do you explore?

Fear of the unknown, including things we can’t explain, as well as the loss of loved ones. I tend to write the underdog, perhaps stemming from being a petite woman in a world that still favors aggression and strength.

3.    Do you feel horror/dark fiction is an important genre and why; what does it bring to the table or allow you to explore? Who inspired you?

It is an important genre for us as writers and readers to deal with the things that frighten us. We know a lot about our world these days, but there are still things that are unknown or unexplainable that we are afraid of and they’re worth exploring. (not to mention loads of fun)

Early on I was heavily inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short stories and of course, Stephen King. More recently, I’m inspired by the darker urban fantasy writers who manage to combine frightening gore with humor. There’s nothing like being scared out of our wits while laughing hysterically.

4.  Do you feel women are under-represented in any way in the speculative arena or do you think there is more focus on them than on men? (or examples of how there is a balance)

Women are underrepresented across the genres of fantasy, science fiction and horror. The old school boys club still rules the roost.  I have to believe that with so many talented female writers currently producing amazing work, this will begin to shift.

5.     Abuse against women is worldwide: the gang rape of the Indian woman, women assaulted in various terrorist attacks or protests against regimes (Egypt, Syria, etc. throughout time), domestic violence and murder at the hands of boyfriends, fathers, families and husbands, sexist representation, being treated as second class citizens or possessions and made to dress in a particular way, etc. With all that’s going on, what do you want to say about where women are or what we can do to stem the tide?

I think the internet has been a useful tool in bringing these issues to light, in bringing awareness to the plight of women all over the world. We’re no longer in an era of hiding these awful things in the dark or turning a blind eye to it. It’s going to take more women and men standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves to make a significant change.

6.     Lastly, this is your space to add anything else you would want to say.

Thank you for highlighting Women in Horror and giving us a chance to spread the fear, I mean, love. 

Women in Horror: Colleen Anderson

Women in Horror Month, sponsored by the Viscera Organization

Yes, today, the last day of February and Women in Horror Month, I’m interviewing myself. After all, it’s only fair to subject myself to questions I gave the other writers. But stay tuned through March as there will probably be more women in horror and even a guy or two as well. I hope to expand on the interviews with some people.

I’m a twice Aurora Award finalist in poetry, and have received several Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror (or Science Fiction) honorable mentions, as well as being shortlisted for the Gaylactic Spectrum Award, the Rannu competition, the Friends of Merril contest and the Speculative Literature Foundation. The anthology Deep Cuts with my story  “Red is the Color of My True Love’s Blood” is hitting the shelves (and the virtual world) as we speak. Check out Evil Jester Press. Bibliotheca Fantastica is about to be released with “The Book With No End” from Dagan Books. Then, by April “Tower of Strength” in Irony of Survival through Zharmae Publishing, and “P is for Phartouche: The Blade” in Demonologia Biblica should also be released through Western Legends Publishing, with a poem out in Bull Spec later this year and a story in Chilling Tales 2 by fall.

COLLEEN ANDERSON

1.  Why do you write dark fiction/horror? Some people consider it only a sensationalistic tableau. Why this genre over others or do you span the literary landscape?

Colleen works for Chizine Publications, full of dark and disturbed things.

I actually span the landscape from fantasy, SF, mainstream, poetry, erotica to horror or dark fantasy. I never did set out to write dark fiction but found even when I thought a story was just fantasy I was getting comments from magazines that they didn’t take horror. A few years ago I sold a dark tale to Evolve and one to Horror Library IV and I realized I was selling more of the dark fiction than other works. In fact, I guess I’m not as funny as I think I am because no one buys my humorous stories. I seem to be more a natural at digging into the viscera of a tale. I’ve only ever written one tale, a flash fiction piece where I set out to write something truly gruesome and horrible. In doesn’t dig much into a person’s psyche but is just a tale of terrible deeds. That’s probably why I could sustain it past 500 words.

2.  What dark themes do you explore in your fiction?

I was asked this once by a fellow writer and I had no clue but in the process of compiling my reprint stories for Embers Amongst the Fallen it became clear that I do a fair number of morality tales. These aren’t overt but the protagonist may be faced with making a hard decision: honor their dying partner’s wish or take revenge, follow the rules of society or satisfy their own desires, become a monster or give compassion, etc. We make decisions every day and many aren’t life or death or defining moral character but I find it fascinating and squirmy to put characters into these dilemmas. Through them, I define myself better and hopefully get people to think.

3.  Do you feel horror/dark fiction is an important genre and why; what does it bring to the table or allow you to explore? Who inspired you?

The fact that we separate tales into genre is a falsified categorization by marketing departments the world over. The dark side is inherently part of our lives. We cannot appreciate the light without the darkness to counterbalance it. This is in every tale from gods and heroes of the ancients to Luke Skywalker confronting his fallen father. If you have conflict, in some ways you always have darkness. Horror for the splatter and gore of it only isn’t that deep but some people enjoy it because of that thrill of terror that lets us know we’re alive and that our lives are better than what we’re watching.

A collection of previously published speculative fiction, available through Smashwords and Amazon.

With the more fantastical tales, it lets me take something to an extreme, to show a story and make one think and ponder the what-ifs. Sometimes there’s too much political finger pointing and the world of the fantastic lets us explore these things or say, you know it could go this way if we’re not careful. Sometimes we write cautionary tales.

As a child I loved reading the Norse myths, then those of Ireland and Greece, and fairy tales of course. Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert, Edgar Allan Poe were probably the first to pull me onto the road of the fantastic. My older brother left a lot of his books behind, and then there were shows like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, not to mention scary movies with Vincent Price and Bela Lugosi.

4.  Do you feel women are under-represented in any way in the speculative arena or do you think there is more focus on them than on men? (or examples of how there is a balance)

Demonologia Biblica comes out this spring with “P is for Phartouche: The Blade”

I can see how this could be a problem in the movie industry more, and there is still a predominance in mainstream literature to believe that only if you’re a dead white male was your writing worth studying. That’s shifting both in terms of the living and the non males. I don’t think it’s much of an issue anymore as some of the best writers out there are women. Though I recall a collection being put out last year called something like the Decade’s or the Centuries Best SF. There wasn’t one woman listed and the editors were lambasted so it’s not completely equal yet. But I don’t think I’ve ever run into my stories being taken or rejected because I was a woman.

5.  Abuse against women is worldwide: the gang rape of the Indian woman, women assaulted in various terrorist attacks or protests against regimes (Egypt, Syria, etc. throughout time), domestic violence and murder at the hands of boyfriends, fathers, families and husbands, sexist representation, being treated as second class citizens or possessions and made to dress in a particular way, etc. With all that’s going on, what do you want to say about where women are or what we can do to stem the tide?

I actually worry because some people feel that this is a backlash because women are getting stronger. Contrarily, I think it’s because religion is become less centralized and more dichotomized into fundamentalism. The fact that some men feel they need to fear and/or control women does not mean women are getting a better shake at things. A picture posted going around shows Mogadishu with women in front of a college in the 1960s and one in recent years. Only in the recent one is every single person veiled and covered head to toe. That’s not progress. That’s not giving equality to women but putting them back in the basket where women caused the downfall of mankind, or are vixens or seductresses. We have a very long ways to go yet.

What we can do is to not step back, not be complacent. Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” This goes for women as well. If we pretend or think it won’t happen to us, all you have to do is look to the US and how right-wing fundamentalism is trying to take away women’s rights. It’s partly why dark fiction lends us a canvas where we can paint something as simplistic as a revenge fantasy but we can also show the strength of women and that all people of any gender can be good or evil. We have to continue to speak against this or one day even women will believe they shouldn’t have the right to vote because they should be in the kitchen serving the power of their man. And it makes me sad that some women have no opinion about this. Really?

6.  Lastly, this is your space to add anything else you would want to say.

I have several pieces eligible to be nominated in this year’s Aurora Awards in which Canadians can nominate and vote.

I have three stories:

• “The Brown Woman” in Over the Brink
• “Shoes” published in my collection, Embers Amongst the Fallen
• “What Strange Fruit” in my collection, Embers Amongst the Fallen

The collections is also eligible as well.

There are three poems:

• Mermaid (a villanelle) up at Polu Texn
• Legend in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly
• Queen of Heaven and Earth at Eternal Haunted Summer

THE MISSION

Women in Horror Recognition Month (WiHM) assists underrepresented female genre artists in gaining opportunities, exposure, and education through altruistic events, printed material, articles, interviews, and online support. WiHM seeks to expose and break down social constructs and miscommunication between female professionals while simultaneously educating the public about discrimination and how they can assist the female gender in reaching equality.

THE VISION

A world wherein all individuals are equally given the opportunity to create, share, and exploit their concept of life, pain, and freedom of expression.

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Women in Horror: Sandra Kasturi

Has Elvis entered the building or just possessed Sandra Kasturi? Photo by Weston Ochse

Today’s Canadian woman in horror is Sandra Kasturi. Besides being an award-winning poet, and a fiction writer, Sandra and her husband Brett Savory are co-owners and publishers of Chizine Publications. Not only do they publish dark fiction but they hold a reading series and sponsor the Rannu Fund competition. Women in Horror Month is sponsored by the Viscera Organization.

SANDRA KASTURI

Author of two poetry collections: The Animal Bridegroom (with an intro by Neil Gaiman), and Come Late to the Love of Birds (http://tightropebooks.com/come-late-to-the-love-of-birds-sandra-kasturi/).
I’ve been published in a number of venues, including: Contemporary Verse 2, Taddle Creek, On Spec, TransVersions, Chilling Tales, The Rhinoceros and His Thoughts (titled after my poem), A Verdant Green, Northern Frights 4, Star*Line, Abyss & Apex, Strange Horizons, Body Parts & Coal Dust, Evolve, Evolve 2, Shadows & Tall Trees, and several of the Tesseracts anthologies.
I’ve received the Whittaker Prize, the Lydia Langstaff Memorial Award, the Aurora Award (Best Fan Organizational), the Bram Stoker Award (for editing), and Arc Poetry Magazine’s Poem of the Year (first prize), and have been shortlisted for: the Rhysling Award, Arc’s International Poem of the Year, THIS Magazine’s Great Canadian Literary Hunt, and the Troubadour International Poetry Prize.

1.  Why do you write dark fiction/horror? Some people consider it only a sensationalistic tableau. Why this genre over others or do you span the literary landscape?

Because I read fairy tales and mythology in their original versions at way too early an age. I didn’t get the cleaned-up Disney versions til much later. Plus, my parents didn’t always think about whether or not some movies were appropriate for children…I saw a lot of Hitchcock and other sinister films before I was ten, for which I’m grateful! I do write in other landscapes, but I think my work always has a darker edge. Books about cheery shopaholics really don’t interest me the least bit.

2.  What dark themes do you explore in your fiction?

Women in Horror Month, sponsored by the Viscera Organization

Love, marriage, unhappy endings, the dark side of fairy tales, the absurdities of mythology, the humour in anthropomorphizing animals.

3.  Do you feel horror/dark fiction is an important genre and why; what does it bring to the table or allow you to explore? Who inspired you?

I think it’s the first genre that existed. When we first started telling stories (as a species), we talked about gods and monsters–those are horror stories. Horror allows us to explore the breaking of boundaries. It’s also domestic: it hits us where we live.

4. Do you feel women are under represented in any way in the speculative arena or do you think there is more focus on them than on men? (or examples of how there is a balance)

Of course they are. The genres (SF, fantasy, horror) still trend toward white men, at least in the English-speaking/reading world. Is it just that more white men are drawn to these arenas? Who knows. But there are certainly terrific women out there that are helping redress the balance. One hopes that attention is being paid to them.

5.  Abuse against women is worldwide: the gang rape of the Indian woman, women assaulted in various terrorist attacks or protests against regimes (Egypt, Syria, etc. throughout time), domestic violence and murder at the hands of boyfriends, fathers, families and husbands, sexist representation, being treated as second class citizens or possessions and made to dress in a particular way, etc. With all that’s going on, what do you want to say about where women are what we can do to stem the tide?

How about we teach boys not to rape anybody? Teach them at a young age. Boys are still raised with a sense of entitlement–that they will grow up to own everything, that they are special. I’m not sure hammering it into any kid’s head that he (or she) is the most special little snowflake that ever lived is a great idea. Growing up thinking that the world is there for the taking is kind of a rape mentality. So, how to raise boys (and girls, for that matter) so they grow up confident by don’t turn into rapey douchebags? Wish I had a real, workable answer to that. Maybe we should start with a question: Why do so many men still hate and fear women so much?

6.  Lastly, this is your space to add anything else you would want to say.

Buy my wee bookie-wook! It’s poetry that doesn’t suck.

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Women in Horror: Liz Strange

Liz Strange likes to explore the vampire myth.

February is Women in Horror Month, sponsored by the Viscera Organization. Its purpose is to highlight women who are under-represented in the artistic field. Today’s Canadian woman in horror is Liz Strange.  What a great name for writing speculative fiction, don’t you think? Liz has published the following novels: Love Eternal, A Second Chance at Forever, and Born of Blood and Retribution (The Dark Kiss Trilogy), a paranormal/horror series. She also has the following short stories: “Night of Stolen Dreams” (Bonded By Blood II: A Romance in Red), “The Memory Thief” (Unspeakable), and forthcoming,  “Riel’s Last Stand” (Dark  Harvest). www.twitter.com/LizStrangeVamp

1. Why do you write dark fiction/horror? Some people consider it only a sensationalistic tableau. Why this genre over others or do you span the literary landscape?

I am fascinated with world mythology, folklore, urban legends, all of it, and the idea that all people contain some level of “darkness.” The medium can be sensational and even exploitative, but it can also be a beautiful, gut-wrenching metaphor about human nature, fate, and triumph. In particular I am drawn to the vampire legend, in its many guises throughout history and cultural presentations.

I also write in fantasy and mystery genres, with a dash of romance/eroticism, but I find that all my works have a darker edge to them. I enjoy the freedom to let my mind take the story where it will, and to push the envelope a bit, make people react and think.

Women in Horror Month, sponsored by the Viscera Organization

2. What dark themes do you explore in your fiction?

I like to explore what it is that draws people to darkness, madness and violence, what are the triggers that make people step over the line. I think there is a “breaking point” in all of us, it just takes the right circumstances or even just the right combinations of personalities to bring our hidden monsters to  light.

I’m also interested in the shared fascination with dying, death, the afterlife and the chance of immortality. Folklore and religion have delved into and speculated about this since the dawn of humanity.

3. Do you feel horror/dark fiction is an important genre and why; what does it bring to the table or allow you to explore? Who inspired you?

I do feel it’s an important genre, and one that is often overlooked and/or de-valued over other genres, as though horror writers are somehow less talented or legitimate. I think it gives writers the opportunity to get right to the core of what makes us human, or inhuman as the case may be. There is an opportunity to delve into our baser instincts: fear, lust, rage.

Authors that have inspires me are: Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Anne Rice, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael Slade, Clive Barker, Richard Matheson and many others!

Born of Blood and Retribution, by Liz Strange

4. Do you feel women are under-represented in any way in the speculative arena or do you think there is more focus on them than on men? (or examples of how there is a balance).

Like many of the creative/artistic mediums I do feel woman are under-represented. Whether the focus is on men, or simply that not as many woman write/work in darker genres I can’t say, but suspect it’s a bit of both. Maybe it’s a bit of a hold on the traditional view that women are the “fairer sex,” and therefore not of the capacity to write stories to scare, repulse, and titillate?

I also dabble in screenwriting and see an even bigger discrepancy there.

5. Abuse against women is worldwide: the gang rape of the Indian woman, women assaulted in various terrorist attacks or protests against regimes (Egypt, Syria, etc. throughout time), domestic violence and murder at the hands of boyfriends, fathers, families and husbands, sexist representation, being treated as second class citizens or possessions and made to dress in a particular way, etc. With all that’s going on, what do you want to say about where women are what we can do to stem the tide?

I would like to see women own their place in society, be proud and true to themselves. Don’t accept second-class status, or abuse, speak up for yourself.

And most importantly, never be afraid to try.

6. Lastly, this is your space to add anything else you would want to say.

I’d just like to say thank-you for including me in such great company, and for taking the time to highlight the many wonderful, talented Canadian ladies we have writing in the horror genre.

Writing Year in Review

Creative Commons: Drew Coffman, Flickr.

Well, it’s time to reflect on my year before I run off for the New Year’s celebrations. I did start the year with the three-month Apocalypse Diet, which I blogged about. It was an interesting experiment and I didn’t have to eat brains or truly battle zombies.

This year I was determined to write more and send out more. I can say I had a record year for submissions and rejections, and maybe even for acceptances. In some ways I call this my bridesmaid year, as in always a bridesmaid, never a bride. I think I had a record number of stories held for final selection or shortlisted, but in the end did not make the cut. In some ways this is more painful, yet encouraging. So that this is not hyperbole I’ll give a list of those places where my stories and poems were held past the first reading:

• Writers of the Future honorable mention for Monstrous Aberrations
• Friends of Merril fiction contest (one of ten shortlisted) for The Ties That Bind
• Aurora Award nominee (poetry) A Good Catch
• Punchnell’s (literary fiction)
• Pedestal Magazine (poetry)
• New Quarterly (poetry & literary fiction)
• Gulf Coast (poetry)
• Tesseracts 16 (fiction)
• Whitefish Review (poetry)
• Stupefying Stories (fiction)
• Dark Faith 2 (fiction)
• Penumbra–Dreams issue (fiction)
• Scape (fiction)
• Plasma Frequency (fiction)
• Abyss & Apex (fiction)
• Heroic Fantasy Quarterly (fiction)
• Horror World anthology (fiction)

But…it was also a year for acceptances and works published, though in the end I’ll see most of these out next year. The first four were published and the rest are out next year I hope.

Embers Amongst the Fallen available through Smashwords

• Mermaid (poem) in Polu Texni
• Legend (poem) in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly
• Queen of Heaven an Earth (poem) in Eternal Haunted Summer
• The Brown Woman (fiction) in Over the Brink from Third Flatiron Publishing
• Red is the Color of My True Love’s Blood (fiction) in Deep Cuts
• The Highest Price (fiction) in Heathen Oracle: Artifacts and Relics
• P is for Phartouche: The Blade (fiction) in Demonologica Biblica (Britain)
• The Book With No End (fiction) in Bibliotheca Fantastica
• Gingerbread People (fiction) in Chilling Tales 2
• Lady of the Bleeding Heart (fiction) in Fantastic Frontiers 2
• Tower of Strength (fiction) in Irony of Survival, Zharmae Publishing
• Visitation (poem) in Bull Spec (I hope next year…it’s been 2 years now)

My goal was to get at least 12 items accepted and while Visitation was accepted previously, as was Gingerbread People I believe, I think I ha a pretty good year of near acceptances. While it’s disappointing on one side it means my writing is getting closer. I’ve also identified one of my issues. I put in too much backstory up front and now that I know this, I can try to chop frugally.

Carolyn Clink and I edited and chose some fine poems for Chizine. I also drove out to Calgary and attended theconvention When Words Collide, where I read a bit of fiction an poetry, and was asked by Brian Hades to co-edit Tesseracts 17 with Steve Vernon. We’re working our way through many stories right now.

Nova Scotian Steve Vernon will be co-editing Tesseract 17, a collection of Canadian speculative fiction.

I also flew to Toronto and did a poetry reading at the Art Bar Poetry Reading Series and thank them for inviting me. I attended the Specfic Colloquium and World Fantasy Con. I met some new writers and had a blast visiting old friends Sandra Kasturi and Brett Savory of Chizine Publications an getting to know some new people. Another project started to germinate there but I can’t mention it yet until we have more details to make sure it’s happening.

I almost forgot but I also self-published a collection of my reprint stories, Embers Amongst the Fallen. It is available through smashwords and Amazon.com. I also put up two erotic stories under T.C. Calligari. I plan to put up the rest of them in the new year and get a bit more speculative fiction up. Should you have read a copy, please leave a review on those sites as well as Goodreads.

As well, I hosted a specfic cocktail party for writers an it was a success. I’m trying to build community here in

Not hard to guess what this one is about.

Vancouver and I’ll be hosting another one at the end of January or early February. I’m also looking for the right venue to see if we can spring the Chiaroscuro Reading Series, which happens monthly in Toronto. We’re hoping to launch it in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver in April so I’m looking for the right type of bar for a Wednesday evening.

I and continued to write and read. For my holidays (ending tomorrow, alas) I decided to catch up on Tesseracts reading, but also get working on that novel I’ve been working on for ten years. Yes, ten years! I watched all of Game of Thrones seasons one and two to inspire me and then hunkered down. By tomorrow I will have completed the story arc for one of three viewpoint characters, and I’ll have half of my chapters written. This is good considering how slow it’s been up until now. I have a deadline of April to finish the first draft and hopefully the rewrite. Then it’s off to the agent and editor who expressed interest nearly two years ago. Yes, I’m stupid.

When it comes to writing and reading, just do it! Creative Commons: Eric Guiomar

Doing this review helps when I begin to think of all those rejections I’ve received, and that the stories that were shortlisted or received honorable mentions won’t sell anywhere, or that what I consider are my best three-four stories also won’t sell. But then, some of my stories, that I thought were good have taken ten years to sell. There is hope and maybe I’ll look at those four again and see if there is too much up front for all of them.

The main thing is to persevere and not get depressed. I’ve wanted to edit an anthology for a long time and now I’m doing it. I’m hitting some of my goals and therefore are setting new ones. To all of you who write, edit or read, continue doing so. Support writers and buy books and magazines. Give your input, give your reviews. We all need each other. So have a great new year. May it be productive and fulfilling and may all your endeavors bring you success.

Happy New Year! Creative commons: Flickr Champagne Toast

Writing Update: Toronto

I’m having a writerly vacation in Toronto, with readings, colloquium and convention. Creative Commons: Drew Coffman, flickr

This will be a short post. I’m in Toronto, where the winds were deadly yesterday.

I attended the Specfic Colloquium on Sunday, held at the Gladstone Hotel and put on by the Chiaroscuro Reading Series. Guest speakers included Robert Runte, Rob Shearman, Karen Lowachee, Peter Watts, Scott Bakker and Helen Marshall. These speakers are all published writers as well as giving insights into different aspects of being human or “Beyond Human” which was the theme for the day. This is the third colloquium and it makes me think we could do the same out west. The lectures made me think, which they’re designed to do, as well as made me curious about the authors’ works. If you live in and around Toronto, check out next year’s colloquium.

Tonight I’ll be reading at the Art Bar Poetry Series at the Pauper’s Pub on Bloor St. Yes, it’s poetry and I’m going to read

The World Fantasy Award is an image of H.P. Lovecraft. There is some controversy about the image as Lovecraft was a known racist.

mostly speculative poetry since it’s the night before Hallowe’en. There are two other featured readers so this should be a lot of fun. Poems and pints, what more could  one need?

Wednesday night is the Halloween party at Bakka Phoenix for attendees of the World Fantasy Convention. I have never been to this famous science fiction bookstore so it will be a treat and some pre-mingling with people. I have to remember not to go crazy and buy too many books as I have a luggage allowance for the flight.

Thursday will kick off the convention. I will be doing a reading on Saturday at 5:30 and will read “The Book with No End” being launched in Bibliotheca Fantastica by Dagan Books. Their launch party is before my reading from 2-4 pm. Chizine Publications will also be having a party on Saturday evening around 9 pm. There are other parties as well, as well as readings and panels. You have to be a member of the convention to attend any of these but it’s always a great event. Northern Gothic and Urban Fantasy is this year’s theme. On Sunday is the World Fantasy Awards banquet. Chizine is up for a special award professional. Brett Savory and Sandra Kasturi have created a great imprint with high quality books. The authors have been up for awards and receive many great reviews, which stands for the expertise of the titles selected.

I doubt I’ll get to post much else this week as I’m trying to finish a story by tomorrow and then will be busy with the con. This is a week of writing related events and I wish I could do this all of the time. Some day, maybe.

Writing: Speculative Fiction Tropes

From Tesseracts 15, Edge Publications.

Steve Vernon and I have started reading some of the submissions for Tesseracts 17. This is a yearly anthology of speculative fiction, usually by Canadians, those living in Canada and expats. The theme this year is “Speculations: From Coast to Coast to Coast.” We’re trying to highlight fiction and poetry from all provinces and territories, but quality will be the prime criteria.

Another thing to mention: Know, and I mean really know (don’t just presume you know) what proper manuscript format is. It’s not single spaced, it’s not a block of text with no indents, it’s not tabbing across the page instead of hitting “Enter” to move to a new paragraph, it’s not using the space bar instead of the Tab key, it’s not justifying both sides, it’s not using bizarre fonts. We haven’t received all these errors yet, but we have received most of them. If you’re not sure what proper manuscript format is, go to William Shunn’s Proper Manuscript Format for short stories. You can’t go wrong if you do this.

As in many genres of writing, speculative fiction has some popular tropes. If you write something in a familiar trope (a common or overused device), then you have to make sure it has a unique twist or that the language sings. We’re at the beginning of the submission window so stories are only trickling in right now, but here are a few tropes I’ve seen here and at other times when editing.This isn’t saying they’re bad, but if you’re writing a story that hits any of the ones I’m about to mention, make sure they’re really good and have something new to tell.

• vampires–yes they have been done to death (haha!), and I’ve done a few myself so what is new about this version?
  

  Luke, I am your trope. Star Wars is a classic good vs evil but it’s more than that.

• the underdog wins the day–it doesn’t matter if it’s Jack and the Beanstalk, the geeky computer nerd, the scrawny barbarian or an actual dog; it better be good and/or truly funny (and humor isn’t easy to write).
• transformations–I was a human and turned into something else, I was something else and became human. Sometimes the metamorphosis is fascinating but it’s not the full story. I’ve written a few of these myself. The outer conflict is what the body goes through; the inner conflict is the psyche and these tales need both. How does a transformation change the protagonist and the world?
• ghost story–the dead haunt us in different ways or commune among themselves. What’s new with your spook?
• visiting your past/future–whether it’s time travel, a shamanic journey or body transferral, you better be doing more than just avoiding yourself so you don’t cancel you.
• Eureka! I’ve discovered/invented it–Is the discovery the main story or should it be a tale of what happened after it was used?
• the secret garden/the world beyond–whether you (you, meaning the character) create it, find it or can’t get back to it, how does it impact on you and your world beyond Alice in Wonderland?
• the magic being–whether a genie, an angel, the devil you know or the robot you don’t, it’s not about their difference so much as it is about you react to them and integrate or destroy them.
• descent into madness–is it Dante’s inferno, or just your sick twisted mind? Maybe we’ll never know but it better be entertaining.
• the quest or journey–hi ho, hi ho it’s adventuring we go.
• the altered world–something in the character’s world has changed. Do they survive, adapt or be consumed?

Embers Amongst the Fallen will be out in print by the end of October.

I’m sure other tropes will come to mind but that’s all I can think of now. However the thing to note is that it’s not bad to use a trope. It’s better to use it consciously so that you can make sure you manipulate it away from a tales that’s been done too often. Here’s another: good triumphs over evil. This is almost a primal human hope and we like stories that uplift, but the world isn’t so cut and dried and stories with nuances can be more enlightening, thought-provoking and entertaining.

I’d like to see some stories come in that take place in the past or far future, on a different world, have a different culture, in a time other than now or medieval, steampunk, cyberpunk, etc. We’ve received a few but I’m hoping for true diversity

Just to compare, my reprint collection Embers Amongst the Fallen, which has 14 reprinted stories and two new ones breaks down into the following statistics (of course some of the tales could fit in more than one category):

• four vampire tales (the future, an alternate world, the past, and in India)
• five tales of transformation (which was part of the original title)
• four magic beings
• one journey
• two altered worlds

I’d be interested to see how others would categorize my tales. Sometimes a tale can be a journey and a transformation in an altered world, but which trope influences the story the most?

Here’s a bonus, also on tropes. One Thousand and One Parsecs

Writing: Of Poetry Slams and Deathmatches

Dodge quickly. Creative Commons: queereka.com

Back in the good ole days, I used to attend poetry slams. A slam then was two people being pitted against each other, where they would read the poem, the audience would cheer and the one with the most cheers would advance to the next round. I eventually stopped going to them for the following reasons:

• the slam had little to do with the merit of the poem
• people brought their friends who would just cheer for their friends: my friends refused to come to poetry events
• a bad poem read with upward inflections at the end of every line would wow the crowd
• writing is hard; everyone should be applauded just for going to the effort to do it well

While slams did give every Tomasina, Dick or writer to read their works, the slams weren’t always great. I hear they’re better now but I haven’t visited one in a long time. The part I always disliked about a slam and which drove me away, was that a very good poet, who might not be experienced at reading well, would be raked and scraped over the coals by the nasty, mad dog crowd.

Years later, I presume those slams go on but we now have a dearth of social media so there are websites and webzines and all sorts of places to showcase your work. One such magazine, Broken Pencil, has fiction, poetry and nonfiction. It’s trendy, it’s Canadian and it’s trying to generate more page views. One way of doing this is to make sure part of your site isn’t static, that it’s ever changing, and the best way to do this is to get viewers with new content. Broken Pencil is sponsoring a Deathmatch on their site where two stories and their authors are pitted against each other. The audience weighs in with comments and can vote once per hour. The winner goes on to be pitted against another writer. There is a $20 fee to enter this contest, thus generating money for the magazine. The editors choose the top eight stories to be torn apart in the Deathmatch.

A noble enough endeavor and magazines have tried various ways to fundraise for a while. I was familiar with Broken Pencil but not the Deathmatch. A friend has a friend in the contest so I popped in to read both stories, make a comment and vote. It turns out you can vote once an hour. What stunned me was the level of some of the commenters. Presumably a lot of these people are the literati but the language  and juvenile attitude left me wondering. After all, we’re talking literary, right?  Broken Pencil touts themselves as indie and audacious. One newspaper reported that “This is definitely not a contest for sensitive writer types. If you can’t handle the thought of your short story being smacked down by online voters, then you’ll want to stay well clear of this one. Think Literary Survivor. On an island. Surrounded by a sea of sharks.”
- Jennifer Moss, The Vancouver Sun

Hmm, a Literary Survivor show; it almost seems an oxymoron. In Broken Pencil’s own words:

Since 2008, Broken Pencil: the magazine of zine culture and the independent arts, has been running one of the world’s most audacious short story contests. In the Deathmatch short story contest, the top eight entrants as selected by Broken Pencil are pitted against each other two by two. The winning story is decided by Broken Pencil readers themselves, through a vote on the official magazine website. Each week, two stories will be pitted against each other in the online arena, where anyone and everyone can read them and vote on which one deserves to reign supreme. The authors will be in constant communication with their audience through a blog which they can use to hype up their own story, or trash-talk their opponent’s writing.

Trash -talk? Really? That’s what we come to, obnoxious reality TV shows and pumped up melodrama for the sake of feeding the hyenas in the coliseum? Is the lowest common denominator really the way to go? I once did a poetry slam in a fake boxing ring, but there were judges and we didn’t verbally bludgeon the other entrants. Here are some samples of Canada’s great(?) writing minds voicing their comments, or at their friends’ and enemies’ comments.

• Samantha, you absolutely suck at writing.
• She means her bowels. His words move her bowels.
• Claire didn’t complain when your piece of shit story was winning.
• didn’t sammie have slanty enough eyes to get into U of T
• Turd smear.

There is more and there is more that is intelligent and thoughtful, talking about what works or doesn’t in each story. There are a couple of literary trolls, full of themselves and big on seeing their words constantly on the page. They can of course ruin it for everyone. Sure it’s a contest, even slam style, and not everyone wins, but mud flinging and puerile attitudes doesn’t make me think literary. It’s not cutting edge; it’s overdone. Reading some of the Deathmatch comments has convinced me that like those poetry slams of old, I won’t be entering any time soon. It’s a neat idea but it’s too bad some people think it has to be like reality TV. Broken Pencil deserves some kudos for trying something new and as this creature evolves, it will either crawl from the chrysalis beautiful and dynamic, or roll in in the filth, a distorted and deformed thing. If you plan to enter this contest in the future then there are only two types of spines to have: either change yours for one of steel or rip it out.