Author: Holly Schofield

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Two SF Canada members are Rhysling Award Nominees!

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Congratulations to Colleen Anderson and Lisa Timpf! Each year, nominees for the Rhysling Award are selected by the membership of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Winning works are regularly reprinted in the Nebula Awards Anthology from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., and are considered in the SF/F/H fields to be the equivalent in poetry of the awards given for prose work — achievement awards given to poets by the writing peers of their own field of literature.

Colleen’s poem, “The Storm Witch“, appeared in the Winter Solstice issue of Eternal Haunted Summer and is nominated in the Long Poems category.

Lisa’s poem, “No Fairy Tale World” was published in New Myths 47 and is nominated in the Short Poems category.

SFPA members have until June 15 to vote on the winners.

Colleen Anderson writes both fiction and poetry and has had over 170 poems published in such venues as Grievous Angel, Polu Texni, The Future Fire, HWA Poetry Showcase and many others. She is a member of HWA and SFPA and has performed her work before audiences in the US, UK and Canada and has placed in the Balticon, Rannu, Crucible and Wax poetry competitions. Currently she is working on two poetry collections. Colleen also enjoys editing and co-edited Canadian anthologies Playground of Lost Toys (Aurora nominated) and Tesseracts 17, and her solo anthology Alice Unbound: Beyond Wonderland, was published in 2018. A Body of Work was recently published by Black Shuck Books, UK. Living in Vancouver, Colleen keeps an eye out for mold monsters and mermaids, and will be guest of honour in 2020 at the Creative Ink Festival (now postponed). Find her at www.colleenanderson.wordpress.com.

Lisa Timpf is a retired HR and communications professional who lives in Simcoe, Ontario. Her writing has been published in a variety of venues, including Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Dog as well as New Myths, Third Flatiron, Thema, and an anthology entitled Dogs of War. Lisa enjoys bird-watching, organic gardening, and golfing. The antics of her Border Collie, Emma, have provided inspiration for several of her stories. Read more of her work at lisatimpf.blogspot.com. You can also find her on Goodreads.

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Hopepunk and the New Science of Stress by Rebecca Diem

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Background photo by Faris Mohammed [via Unsplash]

SF Canada member Rebecca Diem’s latest article for Tor.com, Hopepunk and the New Science of Stress, examines the growing speculative fiction genre of hopepunk.

When I first saw encountered the term “hopepunk,” I felt an immediate sense of recognition. To me, it described the state of joyful protest I aspire to: Knowing enough about the world to be absolutely furious, but choosing optimism anyway.

Rebecca discusses new research into stress which may “help us to understand the positive aspects of stress and how our bodies respond to hardship.” And this may give us answers beyond “fight or flight”.

…we actually have a much bigger toolbox with which to deal with stressful events, whether it’s the pressure of an important deadline, an immediate threat to our well-being, or an existential threat like, well, a resurgence of fascism and totalitarianism.

Author, music lover and nerd. Rebecca writes smart, hopeful speculative fiction and poetry. Her work includes contributions to Tor.com and Kobo Writing Life, as well as the indie steampunk series Tales of the Captain Duke, following the adventures of a defiant young aristocrat who saves a band of airship pirates from certain peril and talks her way into joining their crew. Find her at rebeccadiem.com/.

Rebecca’s article leaves us with a pithy closing sentiment:

Remember that you’re more resilient than you think. Remember that dragons exist, but dragons can also be beaten.

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Sally McBride in House of Zolo anthology

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SF Canada member Sally McBride’s latest story, “The Emperor of the Half-Garden”, appears in Volume 1 of The HOZ Journal of Speculative Literature (edited by Nihls Andersen and Erika Steeves with guest poetry editor Jon Parsons).

Writers and poets from around the world conjure fractured dimensions, cast dark nightmares and offer alternatives to the apocalypse as they navigate to the very edges of time and back. Delving into themes of post-humanity, future-shock, and the consequences of climate change, these short stories and poems fearlessly explore what it means to be human. Alternately dark and hopeful, heartbreaking and humorous, this volume contains stories and poems to spark the imagination and inspire new perspectives on the future.

Sally McBride’s short stories and novellas have appeared in Asimov’s, Amazing, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, Northern Frights, Tesseracts, On Spec, and many more magazines, anthologies, and best-of collections. “The Fragrance of Orchids” (Asimov’s), won Canada’s Aurora Award and received Hugo and Nebula nominations. Her novels Indigo Time (Five Rivers Publishing) and Water, Circle, Moon (Masque Books) are available from the publishers, Amazon, and other venues. Born and raised in Canada, Sally lives in Idaho with her husband, and has several science fiction and fantasy works in progress.

Get the HOZ Journal of Speculative Literature Volume 1 today!

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Rebel by Krista D. Ball now out!

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SF member Krista D. Ball has just released the third book in her Collaborator space opera series, Rebel, following Traitor and Fugitive.

Trust is the rarest of commodities.

From the moment she stepped onboard Liberty’s Pleasure, Rebecca St. Martin knew something was off. Before she could sound the alarm, she was kidnapped and pulled into a conspiracy that made her question every single relationship she’d made.

Even as Rebecca questioned, she looked around at her co-captives and decided it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t let anyone harm these people for one minute longer than necessary. They had no hero coming to rescue them. Just her.

Rebecca will have to put aside a lifetime of fear and be the hero these people need. Anyone wanting to hurt them would have to go through her first.

Krista D. Ball is a Canadian science fiction and fantasy author. She was born and raised in Newfoundland, Canada where she learned how to use a chainsaw, chop wood, and make raspberry jam. After obtaining a B.A. in British History from Mount Allison University, Krista moved to Edmonton, Alberta where she currently lives.

Like any good writer, Krista has had an eclectic array of jobs throughout her life, including strawberry picker, pub bathroom cleaner, oil spill cleaner upper, and soup kitchen coordinator. These days, Krista can be found causing trouble on Reddit when she’s not writing in her very messy, cat-filled office.

Find her at kristadball.com and be sure to get Rebel today from these ebook stores.

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Polar Borealis new issue!

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Issue #13 of Polar Borealis, edited by SF Canada member Richard Graeme Cameron, is now out. This Canadian online science fiction magazine enters its fourth year with a bang!

Read fiction and poetry by SF Canada members Lisa Timpf, Melissa Yuan-Innes, Geoffrey Hart, and Jean-Louis Trudel, along with many other fine writers.

Submissions are open until the end of February — new unpublished Canadian writers are especially encouraged to submit. Authors are paid.

Download this and past issues as a .pdf for free at Polar Borealis and show your support via the GoFundMe.

(cover art by Lily Blaze)

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Nina Munteanu launches Age of Water podcast

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Age of Water, the new podcast produced by SF Canada member Nina Munteanu and writer/technologist Claudiu Murgan interviews scientists, journalists, writers, academia and innovators who share their knowledge and opinions about the real state of the environment and what committed individuals and groups are doing to make a difference. They talk about the problems and they talk about the solutions.

We are now living in the Age of Water. Water is the new “gold”, with individuals, corporations and countries positioning themselves around this precious resource. Many already struggle with scarcity and pollution. All too soon, water—its quality, its possession, its distribution—will define a person’s security, comfort, wealth, and even identity. Water is changing everything.

The format of the podcast is a combination of chat cast and informal interview, covering everything from breaking environmental news to evergreen material. This includes human interest stories, readings of eco-literature, discussion of film and other media productions of interest.

Recent interviewees include SF Canada member Candas Jane Dorsey who talks about her award-winning stories, teaching at university, what eco-fiction means, and how writers can be “sneaky.” Listen to it here.

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist/limnologist and internationally published author of award-winning speculative novels, short stories and non-fiction. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Her latest book, Water Is…, is a scientific study and personal journey as limnologist, mother, teacher and environmentalist. Water Is… was recently picked by Margaret Atwood in the NY Times as 2016 ‘The Year in Reading’. Nina’s latest novel, A Diary in the Age of Water, will be released by Inanna Publications in 2020. Preorder it today.

Find Nina at ninamunteanu.ca, ninamunteanu.me, and themeaningofwater.com.

And find the Age of Water podcast here.