Text Against Tyranny

Speculative fiction can change the world but only if it’s openly available.
Annually, September 24th to 30th is internationally celebrated as Banned Books Week, raising awareness of the importance of free and open access to information.
My latest young adult story, “The Scent That Treason Brings”, narrated brilliantly by Katherine Inskip, examines the ways that tyrants attempt to rewrite history. It’s now available for listening or reading at “Cast of Wonders.

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Woof! Woof!

“Best of Breed” is a little story about dog allergens, phone apps, and other fun stuff. Catch it here at Buckshot Magazine!

Brave New Girls anthology now out!

Brave New Girls: Stories of Girls Who Science and Scheme is a collection of 22 stories about brainy young heroines who use their smarts to save the day. Edited by author Mary Fan, the anthology’s goal is to inspire girls (ages 12+) to study science and engineering. Even better, proceeds from the anthology fund scholarships for women through the Society of Women Engineers. The first Brave New Girls anthology, released in 2015, has provided several thousands of dollars’ worth of scholarships. Hopefully, this new anthology will provide many, many more, enabling more young women to pursue STEM careers!

I’m proud to have a story in it. An insane dash in a rover across Mars with a pregnant stepmom, what could go wrong? “Dangerous Territory” and the other fine stories are available here.

Illustration by Hazel Butler

Yum! Foodie fiction!

Hungry for some tasty fiction? My latest story is my second appearance in Parsec’s Triangulation series, following “Cross-Contamination” last year.

A chef on a starship gets very involved in her work, seasoning it with confidence, pride, and a dash of arrogance.

Paperback now available.

Hot Off the Presses!

In 1930, John W. Campbell started a little magazine called Astounding. It went on to become the premier SF magazine with stories by Heinlein, Asimov, Clements, Pohl, and practically all the other big names in the field. Renamed Analog in 1960, it continues to set standards today.

I am beyond thrilled to have a story in the July/August issue. “Clarity of Signal” is about research on an alien world, interpersonal communication, and ecosystem bioenergy. You can find it here.

Dead to Rights

Back in 2013, Edge Publishing put out a call for stories to go in the long-running Tesseracts series. The anthology asked for stories with a sense of Canada, where the setting itself was perhaps a character. I thought to myself, Edmonton Alberta, in the winter, in a graveyard–now THERE’S a challenging setting.

I added a character that doesn’t get much representation in speculative fiction — the second-generation Chinese immigrant caught between tradition and opportunity.

Plus I’ve always had an interest in the various platforms that education can take, from one-room schools to online classes.

And I had recently read a news article about recently-developed headstone software in Austria, using QR codes so the visitor’s cell phone could play a short biography of the deceased.

So I mixed all that together, took it all one step further and came up with “Graveyard Shift”.
Tesseracts 17 is available here in various formats.

The story has recently been produced as a podcast by The Overcast with pretty amazing production values.

However you choose to experience the story, I hope you enjoy it!

Optimism, FTW!

I’m pleased to have a story in the fourteenth* of Exile’s anthologies, CLI-FI: Canadian Tales of Climate Change.

As the editors say:
With the world facing the greatest global crisis of all time – climate change…These stories of Climate Fiction (Cli-fi) feature perspectives by culturally diverse Canadian writers of short fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and futurist works, and transcend traditional doomsday stories by inspiring us to overcome the bleak forecasted results of our current indifference.

I hope my story, “The Weight of the World”, serves to inspire. Together, it’s not late.

*You can find another of my stories in Exile’s twelfth anthology, Clockwork Canada.