Praise for Speculating Canada

I have received some absolutely wonderful comments from several authors I have reviewed and interviewed and I wanted to share these observations with readers. It is incredible to hear from authors how much they enjoy the work that is going in to Speculating Canada.

I am really happy to hear from so many authors who noted that my reviews pointed out things that they had not seen in their own work before. It is great to know that as reviewers we can contribute to Canadian SF in some way and give something back to the authors who provide us with so much.

Ian Rogers, Canadian author

“I’m impressed by your keen observations, both into the story and the characters.”
-Email August 8, 2012

“The word ‘review’ is too small a word for such a wonderful piece. No matter what you call it, it’s a solid piece of writing and I’m flattered beyond all measure that you took the time to do it.”
-Email August 8, 2012

“Once again, a really stellar review… no one has delved so deeply into my work, much less shown me things I never noticed before.”
-Email August 16, 2012

“Derek Newman-Stille, who runs the site, writes some of the most intelligent, thoughtful reviews I’ve ever read. It really says something when the reviewer points out something in your work that you’ve never seen before. And he likes it, too, which is definitely a plus!”
-from Ian Rogers’ website http://theblacklands.com/category/reviews/ posted September 26, 2012.

“I kicked off 2013 with my first of two appearances on the “Speculating Canada” program on Trent Radio, hosted by the wonderful Derek Newman-Stille, a scholar of speculative fiction who has done a great job of shining the spotlight on Canadian authors.”
-from Ian Rogers’ website http://www.ian-rogers.com/news/2014/01/04/the-2013-year-end-review/ posted January 4, 2014.

Nancy Kilpatrick, Canadian author

“No one has ever really done such a thoughtful analysis of my short fiction. I’ve had reviews, of course, but clearly the academic quality of analyzing and comparing is strong… and that creates an extremely intelligent and thought-provoking review. It makes this writer look at her own work differently.”
-email September 6, 2012

“I very much appreciate this, seeing myself through someone else’s eyes.”
-email September 6, 2012

“These pieces might be strung together in a kind of Coles Notes that could be something teachers might use with the collection of stories.”
-email September 6, 2012

“You do good work.  Almost no one reviews and analyzes as you do.  Much appreciated.”
-email December 8, 2012

Claude Lalumiere, Canadian author

“You’re doing great work – keep it up!”
-email August 1, 2012

Nancy Baker, Canadian author

“[I] missed a request from Derek Newman-Stille at Speculating Canada regarding an article on my book “A Terrible Beauty”… I went to read the review and was both flattered by the kind words and impressed by the fact that Derek had found imagery that had never even occurred to me while I was writing. His comments regarding the use of lake and water imagery struck me as absolutely true and a complete surprise to me. The site features interviews, reviews and articles about horror, SF and fantasy from a Canadian perspective and it’s definitely going on my favorites list.”
-from Nancy Baker’s website http://www.nancybaker.ca/uncategorized/migration-woes-and-kind-words/ posted on October 7, 2012.

“Many thanks to Derek for his thoughtful questions.”
-from Nancy Baker’s website http://www.nancybaker.ca/news/speculating-canada-interview-up-now/ posted on December 5, 2012.

Douglas Smith, Canadian author

“Derek, thank you for such a thoughtful, insightful, and singular consideration of my work. I am always amazed and fascinated when readers point out patterns, themes, etc. in my work that were invisible to me until then.”
-email Sept 14, 2012

“Derek’s questions covered writing, the creative process, the power of speculative fiction as a genre, its future as a genre, the value of short fiction, the genesis of stories, growing an idea for a story into the story itself, and ever so many other topics. His questions were fun and thought provoking for me.”
-from Douglas Smith’s website – http://www.smithwriter.com/Speculating_Canada_interview_Oct2012 posted on Friday October, 26, 2012

Liz Strange, Canadian author

“Thank-you for providing such a smart interview. My absolute fav so far.”
-email October 24, 2012

“I think you do a great job, and have much more substance to your reviews and interviews than many sites.”
-email December 9, 2012.

Helen Marshall, Canadian author

“Your questions were exactly the kind of questions every writer hopes to get. They were so thoughtful and interesting to answer. Thanks for this wonderful opportunity.”
-email October 25, 2012

Jerome Stueart, Canadian author

“Been loving your site. I think reviewers are the most important piece of marketing books and stories have these days and I’m so glad you do this. We need more as dedicated as you.”
-email November 18, 2012

“Really thrilled that Speculating Canada reviewed my short story, One Nation Under Gods which appeared in Tesseracts 14. It’s hard to get short fiction reviews and they are so valuable.  The SF/F/H community should hold tight and nurture as many reviewers as we can. With a growing market of books, the discerning reader looks to reviews to help choose what to read.  And reviewers who choose short fiction, new authors, and anthologies help support beginning writers who are starting their careers, hoping that someone notices.  So we can’t fete reviewers enough–we need them, we love them, we should be very kind to them. I’d say this for any thoughtful reviewer, even if Derek had NOT liked my work.  It’s the way he liked my work that makes me happy.”
-from Jerome Stueart’s website – http://jeromestueart.com/tag/speculating-canada/  posted November 22, 2012

“I love Derek’s fresh eyes on my work.  He says things I hadn’t consciously thought about–but they are probably deep down correct.  Love when someone brings up things hidden in your work.  Thoughtful reviews–we would die without them, I think, as an industry.  Thanks, Derek!”
-from Jerome Stueart’s website – http://jeromestueart.com/tag/speculating-canada/ posted November 22, 2012

“Derek Newman-Stille, over at Speculating Canada, a hot new-ish site for reviewing Canadian science fiction/fantasy and horror, gave me a really fun set of questions for this interview, asking me to think pretty deeply about the motivations I had when writing three of my stories, as well as asking me farther-reaching questions about the power of science fiction to change society! Pretty heavy stuff, but I did my best to come up with answers. We all hope to sound intelligent during interviews, at least interesting. It helps to have good questions. Thanks to Derek for doing what he does to help get more science fiction reviewed, and read, by those looking for it!”
-from Jerome Stueart’s website – http://jeromestueart.com/2012/12/20/my-interview-over-on-speculating-canada/ posted December 20, 2012.

Chadwick Ginther, Canadian author

“Derek Newman-Stille interviewed me recently about Thunder Road… Derek asked me some very interesting questions, so I hope you’ll like the final result.”
-from Chadwick Ginther’s website – http://chadwickginther.com/tag/speculating-canada/ posted October 19, 2012

“Speaking of cool… another review rolled in today. This one is from blog Speculating Canada and it is amazing! I’ve reviewed a lot of books in my writing career thus far, and while I’m obviously pleased at how much reviewer Derek Newman-Stille loved the book, I also appreciate how well-crafted this review was. Speculating Canada has already been a huge supporter of my book, in addition to quoting lines from Thunder Road on the blog, I have an interview with Derek in the pipeline. Speculating Canada is definitely the Canadian SpecFic blog to watch.”
-from Chadwick Ginther’s website – http://chadwickginther.com/tag/speculating-canada/ posted September 21, 2012

“I have to give credit to Derek for that interview, because his questions really forced me to interrogate my own writing (his words) and in thinking of the answers to his questions, and thinking about my writing, it became easier for me to discuss my work.”
-from Chadwick Ginther’s website http://chadwickginther.com/2013/10/07/can-con-2013-roundup/ posted October 7, 2013.

Nancy M. Waldman, Third Person Press, Canadian author

“I’m grateful to Derek for his kinds words about this collection. It’s high-time that Third Person Press and, more importantly, Cape Breton authors are getting the wider recognition they deserve.”
-from Nancy M. Waldman’s website – http://www.nancysmwaldman.com/2012/10/unearthed-reviewed/ posted October 16, 2012

Timothy Carter, Canadian author

“The review, written by new best friend Derek Newman-Stille, focuses on the anti-bullying aspects of the book… I’m grateful to Derek for noticing and pointing that aspect out. It’s a theme I’m not done with, not by a long shot.”
-from Timothy Carter’s website – http://worldsoftim.blogspot.ca/2012/11/speculating-canada-reviews-evil.html posted November 22, 2012

Nina Munteanu, Canadian author

“I just read your review of Darwin’s Paradox. Many many thanks! It was thorough, insightful and intelligent. The issues you brought up and discussed are important and I feel vindicated in my work.”
-email Oct 20, 2012

“Great interview questions! I really had a great time answering them.”
-email Nov 18, 2012

Julie Czerneda, Canadian author

“Wonderful review, Derek. Most thoughtfully done. I always appreciate when someone sees beyond the character’s journey to other parts of the tapestry, so to speak.”
-email May 21, 2013

Speculating Canada is the winner of a 2013 Prix Aurora Award

Derek Newman-Stille with the Prix Aurora Award, October 6, 2013. Photo credit Dwayne Collins.
Derek Newman-Stille with the Prix Aurora Award, October 6, 2013. Photo credit Dwayne Collins.

You can explore the Aurora Awards and see all of the winners for 2103 at http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/2013/10/06/2013-aurora-winners/ .

Ursula Pflug, Canadian Author
“Derek Newman-Stille just won a well-deserved Aurora Award for his much needed critical work on Canadian Speculative Fiction. He has posted a new interview with me at Speculating Canada, his award winning site. It’s a print interview and there was a long lead time, so I got to think about what I wanted to say and revise as I went along. That doesn’t happen every day, and I really appreciate the opportunity.”
-from Ursula Pflug’s website – http://www.ursulapflug.ca/derek-newman_stille-interview-specularing-canada/ posted October 31, 2013.

Alison Sincliar, Canadian Author
“Derek Newman-Stille, author of the Speculating Canada blog, who previously reviewed Darkborn, has just published an academic article on “Where Blindness is Not (?) a Disability: Alison Sinclair’s Darkborn Trilogy” in the September 2013 issue of Mosaic: a journal for the interdisciplinary study of literature. He examines the trilogy in the context of literary portrayals and conventions of disability in general and blindness in particular, and compares and contrasts those with the descriptions of blind people themselves as to how they perceive the world. He points out the parts that worked, and the parts that did not, in places because of accommodation to genre and in places because, yes, I did not think something all the way through. It’s a very enjoyable read, accessible to the non-English academic”
-from Alison Sinclair’s website – http://www.alisonsinclair.ca/2013/10/darkborn-goes-academic/ posted October 8, 2013.

Susan MacGregor, Canadian Author
“As one of the most succinct and thoughtful writers I know (Derek’s recent winning of an Aurora award for his website Speculating Canada attests to this), I have asked him to share some of his observations on writing horror, what makes good horror leave an indelible mark, and how great horror goes beyond the visceral. I suspect you’ll find his ideas below as engaging and as thought-provoking as I did.
-from Susan MacGregor’s website http://suzenyms.blogspot.ca/2013/10/teaching-little-monsters-guest-post-by.html posted October 24, 2013.

“I just recently read a really nice review of the Urban Green Man anthology, written by friend and writer, Derek Newman-Stille. I featured Derek recently on Suzenyms: his guest post on writing horror has been one of the most visited on this blog.”
-from Susan MacGregor’s website http://suzenyms.blogspot.ca/2013/11/a-nice-review-of-urban-green-man.html posted November 15, 2013.

Lydia Peever, Canadian Author
“I’m terribly flattered and completely pleased with all the kind words he has written about the collection.”
-from Lydia Peever’s website http://nightface.ca/recent-interview-on-speculating-canada posted August 23, 2013.

“Some are ultra-active in the speculative, science fiction and horror lit world, like Derek Newman-Stille.”
-from Lydia Peever’s website http://nightface.ca/pstd4giveaway posted November 25, 2013.

James Bambury, Canadian Author
“Derek Newman-Stille’s pensive and insightful review of “Thirteen Generations” at Speculating Canada has me in such place. His piece “Mazes and the Futility of a Controlled Life” leads me to thinking about aspects of the story in ways I hadn’t fully considered. I think he may understand this story better than me.”
-From James Bambury’s website http://jamesbambury.blogspot.ca/2013/06/mazes-and-futility-of-controlled-life.html posted June 24, 2013.

Marie Bilodeau, Canadian Author
“…one of my favourite sites”
-From Marie Bilodeau’s website http://mariebilodeau.blogspot.ca/2013/10/im-number-two.html posted October 22, 2013.

Corey Redekop, Canadian Author
“I recently had a chance to talk (email-wise) with Derek Newman-Stile of the amazing Canadian genre blog Speculating Canada, a website chock full of Canadian science-fiction, fantasy, horror, and other what-have-yous. Derek is a tireless reviewer and a peerless interviewer, as I found out, and while my fingers were nigh-exhausted by the end, this is one of the most interesting interviews I’ve participated in.”
-From Corey Redekop’s website http://www.coreyredekop.ca/2013/05/14/speculating/ March 14, 013.

Leave a Reply