New story out in Divergent Realms!

I’m deliquent in posting the release of Divergent Realms. This anthology includes my story, “Trip of a Lifetime”, and showcases the wide spectrum of neurodiversity through the worlds of speculative fiction. These stories express a new side of Autism, OCD, ADHD, and more.

You can buy it at HERE.

Plus I have two upcoming stories featuring neurodiverse characters:

• You can preorder The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters, a diverse, hopeful anthology of empowering neurodiverse sci-fi stories, poetry, and art by and for neurodivergent folks. as an ebook from the sources given at books2read, and in print directly from the publisher at Thinking Ink Press
• And preorders are also open at Air and Nothingness Press for a limited edition hardcover of Moving Across The Landscape In Search Of An Idea, which includes my story with a 250-word title!

The Solarpunk Conference is coming up!

I’m excited to be part of this year’s conference on June 29th!

CALLING ALL SOLARPUNKS

Welcome to the Solarpunk Conference 2024! Join us online for this exciting event where we’ll explore the bright and sustainable future of our world. Get ready to dive into fascinating discussions, inspiring talks, and innovative ideas. Discover how community action, creative expression, new technology, and community empowerment can shape a better tomorrow. Connect with like-minded individuals, experts, and visionaries from around the globe. Whether you’re an environmental enthusiast, a tech geek, an artist, or simply curious about the solar-powered future, this conference is for you. Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to be part of the Solarpunk movement. Mark your calendars and get ready to be energized!

Register and get your tickets here!: https://www.solarpunkconference.com/  (includes a pay-what-you-want option for people with limited means)

2023 Wrap Up!

The customary annual wrap-up has a definite theme this year: lots of Canadian content!

This year, I have two stories eligible for the 2023 Aurora, Hugo, and Nebula awards:
   –> “The Robot Whisperer” in Android Press’ Fighting for the Future cyberpunk/solarpunk anthology
   –> “The Grammar of Jespersen-b” in On Spec magazine, issue #126

I was honored to have “Maximum Efficiency”, originally published in Analog, appear in two Year’s Bests:
Infinivox’s The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories Fourth Annual Collection and
The Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction Volume One, edited by Stephen Kotowych

And ” The Centre Cannot Hold” appeared in Android Press’ The Best of Utopian Speculative Fiction!

And there’s more!
“Grin and Bear It” came out in Autonomous Press’ Spoon Knife 7. And a much-revamped version of a previously published story, “Thinking Inside the Box” appeared in Renaissance’s Mighty superhero anthology!

And reprints continue to expand readership of my older stories:
“The Boggart of Campsite C47” in Little Blue Marble
“Uphill All the Way” in Charles Barouch’s Conspiracies and Cryptids anthology
“Heart Proof” Wolfsinger’s Ring of Fire anthology
“The Knells of Agassiz” in Luna Station Quarterly (Issue 53)
“I Love Lupi” in Deadfish Books’ Yay! They’re Here anthology
“Halps’ Promise” in Other Worlds Ink’s Transform the World anthology
“Hard Passage” in Manawaker Studios’ Briar Rose anthology
“Bear #178” in Space Cat Press’ Bark and Bone anthology

Happy New Year! I wish you and yours an excellent 2024!

The Grammar of Jespersen-b

 

On Spec is one of Canada’s top speculative fiction magazines and has been for 35 years, so having a story in the December, 2023 issue (#126) certainly fills in a square in my writerly bingo card.

“The Grammar of Jespersen-b” is about finding a path forward when your world is constantly being turned upsidedown. It’s about real world struggles to adapt to new situations and new realities. I hope that, after you read it, it will resonate for a while in your mind, like the lingering note of a meditation gong.

You can find On Spec at local bookstores or purchase single issues and subscriptions at onspec.ca.

Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction!

“Maximum Efficiency” continues to garner attention. As one of the first stories solicited for Stephen Kotowych’s Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume One, this story, originally in Analog magazine in Nov/Dec 2022, is getting increased readership (every writer’s dream) through this inaugural Year’s Best. Canada has not had a Year’s Best series for several years (I had a story in a different publisher’s final iteration in 2016) and it was wonderful to see the Kickstarter for this new series blow up the internet.

You can get the ebook here:

• Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ebook/year-s-best-canadian-fantasy-and-science-fiction-volume-one
• Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Years-Canadian-Fantasy-Science-Fiction-ebook/dp/B0CP88Q46M/
• Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Years-Canadian-Fantasy-Science-Fiction-ebook/dp/B0CP88Q46M/
• Other retailers including B&N, Apple Books, Smashwords, overseas retailers, etc.: https://books2read.com/u/m06V50

And the print book is available here:

• Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Years-Canadian-Fantasy-Science-Fiction/dp/0993937594
• Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Years-Canadian-Fantasy-Science-Fiction/dp/0993937594

The ebook, the print book, and a subscription to Analog magazine all make great holiday gifts!

The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories!

My story, “Maximum Efficiency”, which appeared in the Nov/Dec 2022 issue of Analog magazine was solicited for Infinivox’s The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories: Fourth Annual Collection. With a surname starting with “S”, I’m unfamiliar with being front and centre in alphabetized lists, but this time it worked out quite well. And, of course, I’m chuffed to be in the company of Michael Swanwick, Ray Naley, Marie Vibbert, Lavie Tidvar, and others.

Here are links to the US print and ebook, and the Canadian print and ebook. Enjoy!

Get Mighty!

Mighty: An Anthology of Disabled Superheroes is set to soar like a comic book hero—it officially launches November 15th!

In these 15 stories, you’ll meet winged wheelchair users, supernatural spoonies, guardians with glaucoma, and many more. These disabled superheroes fight villains as well as outdated ableist stereotypes, and show that anyone can be Mighty. My story, “Thinking *Inside* the Box”, while full of Canadian humour and flavour,  is a look at the difficulties and opportunities a person with autism can have in today’s culture. It highlights that “if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism”.

You can purchase Mighty: An Anthology of Disabled Superheroes today in print or as an e-book.

Yay! They’re Here!

 

The aliens are coming!
The aliens are coming!

Of course, First Contact is not going to run smoothly.

Yay, They’re Here contains 20 stories of first contact that start optimistically but then, well, things happen.

I really like participating in themed anthologies and this one is no exception. My story, “I Love Lupi”, is a simple little story that pokes fun at our media transmissions that head off into space. Think Gunsmoke, Leave it to Beaver, and of course, I Love Lucy — where are they now and who’s viewing them? Would aliens have equivalent cheesy entertainment? And, going deeper, how do such shows affect our culture and our ambitions?

Yay, They’re Here is available at Amazon in print and e-book, and on Smashwords. Get it now, before little flying saucers suddenly appear overhead…

A photo of a purported UFO over Passaic, New Jersey in 1952. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

 

Fighting for the Future, Cyberpunk Solarpunk Antho now out!

Thanks to hefty Kickstarter support, this anthology came to fruition and is now out in the world.

My story, “The Robot Whisperer”, is smack in the middle of the book in the “transition” section, migrating from cyber- to solar-punk. Do people ever change? Can they change, given the right environment? Will the coolest person ever manage to retain her mojo over decades? Find out by getting the ebook or the paperback today!

Rational Hope

A hope is deemed “rational” if, overall, it allows for increased agency, for a belief that it is possible to affect the situation. In this world that lately seems full of bad news , it may well be that humanity steps forward into the challenge — there are glimmers of hope everywhere. I challenge you to spot one each day!

In a smaller microcosm, the world of science fiction, publication of short stories has been hit hard lately, both from Amazon basically ending its print and digital magazine subscription business as of September, and from AI spam flooding submission slush piles, increasing the difficulty of being a publisher. The former situation doesn’t give much room for hope, but the AI situation may eventually find a path forward.

In an even smaller universe, that of my own writing, I had enough successes in the first half of this year to give me hope in my own endeavours:

• “Maximum Efficiency”, about a post-apocalyptic robot who learns to reinvent itself, appeared in Analog in November and has since been solicited to be reprinted in both The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories: Fourth Annual Collection (find the 3rd one here) and also the inaugural Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction! You can listen to “Maximum Efficiency” on audio here but I do hope you’ll buy one of the anthologies when they come out.
• “The Boggart of Campsite C47” was reprinted at Little Blue Marble early in the year. Read it today!
• “Grin and Bear It”, a Cheshire-cat inspired story of VR, appeared in Autonomous Press’ Spoon Knife 7: Transitions anthology a couple of months ago. Please consider getting it along with 18 other mind-bending stories here.
• “Heart Proof” was reprinted in the Ring of Fire anthology in May. It’s on sale here!
• “Knells of Agassiz” was reprinted at Luna Station Quarterly a little while ago and can be read for free. If you like it, please buy the print or e-copy!
• “Thinking Inside the Box” will appear in the Mighty superhero anthology later this year, along with other stories that celebrate characters who are disabled and still save the day. Watch for it at Renaissance Press!
• “I Love Lupi” was accepted as a reprint for the zany Yay! They’re Here anthology of comedic alien invasion. Support the Kickstarter today!
• “The Robot Whisperer” will be in Android Press’ Fighting for the Future solarpunk-cyberpunk anthology. It’s coming out in a couple of weeks or so — preorder it here!
• “Heart on Your Sleeve” was published in Nothing Without Us Too in 2022 (available in print and ebook). That anthology is now up for the Canadian SFF awards, the Aurora, in Best Related Work. For $10, you can become a member of the CSFFA and download all the nominated works (yup, in ALL categories! What a deal!) so that you can then vote in the Auroras. If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, please vote for all your favorites before July 29th! Full details are at CSFFA.
  
  I’ve got a few more upcoming publications in the works, but I’ll leave those for next time. Enjoy the summer, keep rational hope, and keep reading SFF!