Speculating Canada: Canadian Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy

May 8, 2013

Quote – Without Stories, People Lose Touch with Themselves

“It’s all machines now. It’s a – what do they call it? – high tech world. Fascinating to be sure, but… it estranges many people, cheapens the human experience. There’s no more room for the stories that matter, and that’s wrong, for stories are a part of the language of dream – they grow not from one writer, but from...

Quotes Comments: 0

May 7, 2013

Funding Canadian SF – Insights from author Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I have been thinking a lot recently about crowd-funding projects and about the funding that goes to Canadian SF in general, and after a great conversation with my friend Silvia Moreno-Garcia, she agreed to write something for Speculating Canada about funding writing projects, and share some of her personal insights. I am extremely excited about Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s new book Young...

Author Commentaries Comments: 0

May 6, 2013

Hard Knocks School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

A review of Lesley Livingston’s Trippingly Off The Tongue (in Misspelled Ed. Julie Czerneda, Daw 2008) By Derek Newman-Stille Competition at magic school can be killer… and I mean killer… Michaela faces her final exam with a lab partner who vastly outpowers her and has a playful sense of what is appropriate when handling dangerous spells. Vinx has a devlish...

Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 0

May 4, 2013

Upcoming Interview with James Alan Gardner on Thursday, May 9

On Thursday May 9, Speculating Canada will be interviewing James Alan Gardner. Gardner is the author of The League of People’s Universe novels Expendable, Commitment Hour, Vigilant, Hunted, Ascending, Trapped, and Radiant. I first encountered James Alan Gardner through the recommendation of Alissa Paxton (who has co-hosted several Speculating Canada programmed on Trent Radio). She had recommended Mr. Gardner as...

Interviews Comments: 0

May 3, 2013

Quote – People Who Make Other People Feel Good

“There were people who just made other people feel good. Just being around them, made you feel better, creative, uplifted, happy…. She tried to be, but she was subject to the same bad moods as anybody else, the same impatience with stupidity and ignorance which, parenthetically speaking, were to her mind the prime causes of all the world’s ills.” -Charles...

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May 1, 2013

Blood on the Starscape

A review of Peter Watts’ Blindsight (Tor, 2006) By Derek Newman-Stille Life itself is strange, odd, and unordinary. We try to create ideas of normalcy to impose order on the world around us and end up limiting our perception and understanding of that world. We categorise, we cut things that we don’t think should belong, and we butcher reality to...

Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 0

April 29, 2013

Interview of Derek Newman-Stille about Speculating Canada on Lynda Williams’ Reality Skimming Blog

I have recently been interviewed by the Reality Skimming Blog, facilitated by the brilliant and wonderful Lynda Williams (author of the Okal Rel Saga). I was asked about what inspired me to create the Speculating Canada site, about the relationship between Canadian SF and mainstream Can Lit, about the role of SF to engage with questions of identity, the role...

Editorials Comments: 0

April 28, 2013

Quote – Humans Taking Things For Granted

“Taking things for granted is a core component of the human experience.” -Corey Redekop – Husk (ECW press, 2012)

Quotes Comments: 0

April 27, 2013

Spec Can made the short list for a Prix Aurora Award

Dear Readers, I have exciting news – Speculating Canada has made the short list for the Prix Aurora Awards. I am excited to see that Speculating Canada has made such an impact and that people are excited about the unique way that Spec Can explores Canadian SF. I want to thank everyone who has participated in various ways in shaping...

Editorials Comments: 2

April 25, 2013

Quote – People Are Part of the Problem, People Need to be Part of the Solution

“The system was people, and I was part of it, part of its problems, and I was going to be part of the solution from now on.” -Cory Doctorow – Homeland (Tor, 2013)

Quotes Comments: 0