A CLOSER LOOK AT ON SPEC EDITOR, LAURIE PENNER

IT'S BEEN A BUSY WEEK. TOMORROW, THE DEADLINE for voting for the Aurora awards looms. If you are a member of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, I hope you've already voted. If you haven't, please consider voting for my debut novel, The Tattooed Witch and also for this blog, Suzenyms. I don't expect to win - the competition is really stiff. For Best Novel, I am up against both Guy Kaye and Robert J. Sawyer, two of the most seasoned SF/Fantasy authors here in Canada. As for Suzenyms, I am competing against On Spec! (Wish I wasn't, but the blog was moved to Best English Related Work from a different category than to what it was originally nominated.) No matter how it turns out, I wish all the nominees the best of luck. As for me, I hope I place well.

 

ALL OF THAT ASIDE, I AM HAPPY TO INTRODUCE one of our latest new editors to our On Spec team, Laurie Penner. As with Eileen, Constantine, and Brent, I put the following questions to her:

 

1). What kinds of stories appeal to you most? Do you lean towards a particular type of story or style? So many genre stories feel like carbon copies of each other. I like it when a writer shows me something I've never seen before, which is pretty rare these days, or an old trope done up in a way that feels fresh and new, from an angle the writer might not have originally approached. If you can't do that, at least populate your cookie-cutter world with well-developed and fascinating characters who will make me not care if the setting feels like it's been done in a million other books.

2). What types of stories don't appeal to you? What are your pet peeves, writing-wise? I'm pretty over the generic Dragonlance-type sword and sorcery style - "Five ragtag heroes must band together to find the Dark Crystal and stop the evil Dragon Lord from taking over blah blah blah...." . And any story where some random guy is transported to a fantasy world and becomes inexplicably awesome - no Mary Sues, please. That being said, I don't believe there is any genre of story that can't be awesome when done in the right way by the right author.

3). What advice would you give to a writer submitting to us? Be original! We get a ton of submissions, so give us a reason to read your story past the first page. Great characters, fascinating settings, snappy dialogue. And here's the biggest secret - I'm not even sure my editors will allow me to tell you this, but here goes nothing: We love to get stories from authors all over the world, but at heart we are Canadian and proud of it. (I guess there may be a little something called 'minimum Canadian content requirements' too....) Does your story have a hockey team of vampires in it? Do aliens take over a Tim Horton's and demand to be allowed to 'roll up the rim'? Or do you just have something profound to say about life in Newfoundland or small-town Manitoba as reflected through a science fiction, horror, or fantasy lens? Send it over, and our editors might just give it a second look. You'll definitely have the edge over the 100th guy who sent in a 'stand-in for the author who is transported to a fantasy world, and becomes inexplicably awesome' story.

4). Please list any credits you'd like mentioned (ie. book pubs, editing/publishing involvement), followed by a small bio: I've been (and still am) a proofreader for On Spec and a former copyeditor for Company's Coming Publishing, currently paying the bills with government administrative work and the odd freelance editing job.

 

(Thanks, Laurie. It's great to have you with us in a more editorial capacity. I'm looking forward to working with you. - Susan.)

YOUTUBE CLIP where I talk about THE TATTOOED WITCH AURORA NOMINATION

HI. I HOPE YOU'LL ALL FORGIVE THIS LITTLE BIT OF PROMO I'm indulging in here, about my Best English Novel Aurora nomination for my debut novel, The Tattooed Witch. I talk with Lorina Stephens, Publisher of Five Rivers Publishing. As I mention in the clip, I'm a bit stunned by the nomination and honoured, too. I talk about the book, why it doesn't fit into one specific genre (it's a true hybrid), and the themes I wanted to explore. If you have ten minutes over a coffee, give it a listen. At the end, I also mention that you can read The Tattooed Witch and the other novels that have been nominated, if you join the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA). The cost to join is only $10.00 (through PayPal) and gives you the opportunity to read all nominations in all categories for free, plus voting privileges. Thank you for supporting Canadian work and The Tattooed Witch.

YOUTUBE - FIVE RIVERS AUTHORS SUSAN FOREST AND DAVE LADEROUTE, talk with LORINA STEPHENS, PUBLISHER

IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS, I thought I'd post this Youtube clip of Five Rivers authors Susan Forest and Dave Laderoute talking about their Aurora Award nominations with Lorina Stephens, Publisher of Five Rivers. Susan's short story, The Gift, chosen from the Urban Green Man Anthology (Edge Books), has been short-listed for the Best English Short Fiction Aurora, and Dave's YA debut novel, Out of Time (check out this link for Dave's Guest Interview, here on Suzenyms), has been nominated for Best English YA. The clip is only fifteen minutes. Both writers make some great comments about what it means to be nominated, why they wrote the stories they did, and how you can join the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) to vote for their work and/or other Canadian novels, short stories, poems, etc., that have been nominated. (It only costs $10.00 to join the CSFFA, and that $10.00 gives you the opportunity to read all of the nominations as e-pubs for free. Such a deal! Why not join and take a look?)

CONSIDERATIONS WHEN WRITING A TRILOGY and UPDATE ON THE TATTOOED SEER

I MANAGED TO FINISH THE EDIT OF THE TATTOOED SEER THIS WEEK. It involved both substantive and line edits, and I was happy to get the whole thing off to Lorina at Five Rivers one month ahead of schedule. Which means, instead of an October release, we have our fingers crossed for August 1st, providing Jeff Minkevics, who designed the cover for The Tattooed Witch, can also create a cover for The Tattooed Seer in time. I hope so. I'd like to launch the book in Calgary at the When Words Collide convention.

It's been an interesting process, doing the edits. There is great value in having a sharp editor look at your work and make suggestions as to how to make the book better. As writers, we tend to be myopic about our work. It was through Lorina's suggestions that I fleshed out a new character in one of the sub-plots in The Tattooed Seer. I had fleshed him out, or so I thought, but not nearly enough. The important details never made it onto the page. They're there, now.

The other great thing about doing edits for a book that's part of a trilogy, is that it forces you to look for inconsistencies. Because I had already started the research and writing for The Tattooed Rose (the third book in the trilogy) I needed to go back and correct some details in Seer with regards to shipping in the 16th century. I had learned a few things in the meantime. There were other small details I needed to change in terms of the world I had created for all three books. For example, I had to make sure I'd been consistent with the honorifics for the clergy, that I'd accented and used the Spanish terms properly, etc. - all very minor things that were easy to miss, but were also important. The substantive edits also meant I needed to do more research - in particular on opium usage and on the characters found in the Commedia dell'arte. All of these are elements in The Tattooed Seer.

If you haven't read The Tattooed Witch yet, it's been nominated for an Aurora award under Best Novel, English. Over the next several months, you can read it for free if you're a member of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, who sponsors the Aurora. If you aren't a member, it's also available on Amazon, Kobo, and through Five Rivers Publishing (see the column on the right for links). Witch is competing with some works by very high-powered and well-known writers, including Guy Gavriel Kay, Robert J. Sawyer, and Julie Czerneda. Chadwick Ginther, who we've also published in On Spec, has his second book up for consideration. It's wonderful to be included in such excellent and stellar company.

- Susan.

VOTER PACKAGE for THE CANADIAN SCIENCE FICTION and FANTASY AURORA AWARDS

SINCE ALL THE NOMINEES FOR THE 2014 AURORA AWARDS are creating Voter Packages for their work, I thought I should do one for Suzenyms. (Lorina Stephens, Publisher, Five Rivers Publishing is creating one for The Tattooed Witch, also nominated for an Aurora.) What follows is a synopsis of the majority of topics I've covered on Suzenyms since its resurrection. For aspiring writers, there is The ABC's of How 'Not' to Write Speculative Fiction stream, which I am half-way through and which I'll continue to post until it's done. The Letters to the Slush Pile stream is for more experienced writers who want to know what's going through an editor's head as she reads their work. The third stream is composed of Guest Interviews, where I feature professionals who share their writing, editing, and promotional expertise, and the fourth features my writing journey with The Tattooed Witch and subsequent books in the trilogy. I've also included a number of topics under Miscellaneous. Click on any of the links, and they should take you to the desired topic:

From The ABC's of How 'Not' to Write Speculative Fiction:

• A is for: Action, Anachronisms, Adverbs and Other Unnecessary Words
• B is for: Believability
• C is for: Climaxes, Conclusions, and Denouements, Cliches, Characterization (Part One), Characterization (Part Two), Characterization (Part Three)
• D is for: Dramatic Tension, Dialogue
• E is for: Eyes, Arms, Legs and Other Bodily Appendages, Exposition
• F is for: Formatting, Feedback
• G is for: Grammar
• H is for: Historical Fantasy, Horror, and Humour - Links to Guest Interviews  
• I is for:  Idea vs. Story, Italics 
• K is for: Kangaroos and Other Beasties  
• L is for: Logic Faults 
• M is for: Metaphors, Mixed and Otherwise, Mood
• N is for: Novel Chapters Disguised as Short Stories  
• O is for: Obscenity/Profanity
• P is for: Point of View and Point of View Shifts, Purple Prose  
• Q is for Query Letters
• R is for: Rejection
• S is for SF Enough?, Soapbox  
• T is for Titles
• U is for Using Real People as Characters and Issues of Copyright  
• V is for Vagueness, Voice - Active and Passive
• W is for Why?
• X to Z - forthcoming.

From Letters (and Memos) to the Slush Pile:

• # 1  - Welcome to Letters to the Slush Pile
• # 2  - Reaching Too Soon for Dramatic Effect
• # 3  - Writing Responsibly
• # 4  - A Fun Read
• # 5  - A Copy-Editor's Nightmare
• # 6  - Humans in Alien/Animal/Shape-Shifter Suits
• # 7  - When Too Much is Too Much
• # 8  - Missing the Basics
• # 9  - Great Opening and Then It Wandered Off....
• #10 - Show Me More
• #11 - Sex Sells but This Didn't
• #12 - Kudos for Bringing Me to Tears
• #13 - Depth of Emotion
• #14 - Nothing in Excess
• #15 - Losing Suspension of Disbelief
• #16 - Great Appetizer, Where's the Main Course?
• #17 - The Interior World of Your Characters
• #18 - Editorial Bias 
• Memos to the Slush Pile: # 1 - Ò, Ó, or Õ, #2 - Your Bio...

Guest Interviews:

• A Closer Look at On Spec Editors - Ann Marston
• A Closer Look at On Spec Editors - Barb Galler-Smith
• A Closer Look at On Spec Editors - Barry Hammond
• A Closer Look at On Spec Editors - Diane Walton
• A Closer Look at On Spec Editors - Robin Carson
• A Closer Look at On Spec Editors - Susan MacGregor
• A Closer Look at On Spec Editors - Eileen Bell
• A Closer Look at On Spec Editors - Constantine Kaoukakis
• A Closer Look at On Spec Editors - Brent Jans
• A Closer Look at On Spec Editors - Laurie Penner
• Book Collaborations - Guest Interview with Billie Milholland, Eileen Bell, and Ryan McFadden of The Puzzle Box
• Book Promotion Idea - Hal Friesen's Character Deathmatch
• Bundoran Press - Guest Post by Hayden Trenholm
• Dropping the 'F' Bomb, Michael Fletcher, 88, Five Rivers Publishing
• 88 Interview, Michael Fletcher, Five Rivers Publishing
• Five Rivers Publishing Interview, Lorina Stephens, Publisher
• Food for the Gods, Karen Dudley Interview
• Guerrilla Marketing - Promoting Your Book, Billie Milholland, Women of the Apocalypse
• Indigo Time Interview, Sally McBride, Five Rivers Publishing
• Mik Murdoch, Boy Superhero Interview, Michell Plested, Five Rivers Publishing 
• New Comic Series at On Spec, The Last Division and Final Frontier Interview, Cat McDonald, On Spec Magazine
• New Editors at On Spec Magazine 
• On the Nature of Humour and Speculative Fiction, Hugh A.D. Spencer, Extreme Dentistry's
• On Spec's Interview with Tyche Books on the Silver Anniversary Anthology
• Out of Time Interview, Dave Laderoute, Five Rivers Publishing
• Publicists, Part One - Do I Need a Publicist, and If So, What Kind? Rachel Sentes, Publicist, Gal-Friday Publicity
• Publicists, Part Two - Can a Writer Work With Two Publicists at the Same Time? Rachel Sentes, Publicist, Gal-Friday Publicity
• Publicists, Part Three - What Can a Publicist Do For Me, and How Much Will It Cost? Rachel Sentes, Publicist, Gal-Friday Publicity
• Quick Tricks for That Final Edit, Eileen Bell, Seeing the Light (forthcoming)
• Report on Geek Girl Con, Diane Walton, Managing Editor, On Spec Magazine
• The Challenges of Writing Young Adult, Dave Laderoute, Out of Time
• The 'F' Word, On Spec Editors
• Those First Three Chapters, What Are Publishers Looking For? Robert Runte, Editor, Five Rivers Publishing
• Urban Green Man Interview, co-editors Adria Laycraft and Janice Blaine, EDGE Books
• What and What Not to Do at Conventions, Peter Halasz, Administrator, Sunburst Award Society
• Writing Coaches, Do I Need One? Rachel Sentes, Publicist, Gal-Friday Publicity
• Writing Historical Fantasy, Barb Galler-Smith, Druids Trilogy
• Writing Horror: Teaching Little Monsters, Derek Newman-Stille, Speculating Canada
• Youtube Clip - Lorina Stephens interviews Dave Laderoute and Susan Forest, Five Rivers Authors about their Aurora nominations

The Tattooed Witch and Trilogy:

• Broke 40,000 Words on The Tattooed Rose
• Golem Magic
• Hybrid Books, Are They Saleable?
• I'm on YouTube 
• Joaquin Cortes in True Life, Joachin de Rivera in The Tattooed Witch (YouTube clip) 
• Magical Systems, The Tattooed Witch
• Romancing the Crone
• Romancing the Crone, Part Two
• Some Fun Research - Herbals in The Tattooed Witch
• Seven Spotlight Questions - My Writing Life
• The Tattooed Witch, The First Two Chapters
• Rafael Sabatini, Where Have You Been All My Life? 
• Considerations When Writing a Trilogy and Update on The Tattooed Seer
• Back Jacket for The Tattooed Seer 
• Youtube Clip - Lorina Stephens interviews Susan MacGregor about her Best Novel Aurora nomination for The Tattooed Witch
• Cover for The Tattooed Seer 
• The Tattooed Seer is up on Amazon, Kobo, etc.! 
• Launching Five Rivers Books at When Words Collide 
• Synchronicities, Coincidences, and Some Fun Research for The Tattooed Rose 

Miscellaneous

•  Are Writers Different? Why I Think They Are....
• Can Self Published Work be Re-Submitted to Magazines and Anthologies?
• Commonality of Writing Experience, Tina Fey's Bossypants
• Inferno by Dan Brown, Now That I Got Around to Reading It
• Inspiration in the Form of a Nine-Year Old
• Istanbul... 
• On Spec's New Submission Process
• Questioning What is Worth It
• Small Presses, Large Houses, and Right of First Refusal
• Why Didn't On Spec Buy My Story? 
• Writing to Evoke, Engage, and Entertain
• Writing as a Violent Act - Repost of On Spec Editorial
• On Spec's Submission Process - A Walk-Through with Diane Walton 
• Rafael Sabatini, Where Have You Been All My Life? 
• Visiting Green Gables and Getting to Know Lucy Maud a Little Better 
• Call for Submissions - On Spec's Punk Theme Issue
• An Addendum to the Guidelines for On Spec's Punk Theme Issue - SF Enough?
• What Brings You Joy? If You Are a True Artist, You Already Know the Answer to That  
• Was it Piracy or Something Else? 
• 50,000 Page Views!
• On Spec's Canada Council Funding Has Been Cut 
• How You Can Help in Light of Canada Council's Funding Cut to On Spec Magazine

THE AURORA SHORT-LIST OF NOMINEES IS OUT!

WELL, I HAVE SOME EXCITING NEWS! As some of you already know, the ballot list is out for the short-listed nominees for the Aurora. The information isn't out yet on the CSFFA website, but it will be shortly, along with nominee's bios, etc. I'm not jumping the gun by posting the list now, as folks have already been talking about it and congratulating the nominees on Facebook. And, Ta Dah! Both Suzenyms (under Best English Related Work) and The Tattooed Witch (under Best English Novel) are up for an Aurora! I'm so pleased! If you nominated me, thank you for your support, and congratulations to all nominees! Here is the ballot, as it was sent to me last night:

Best English Novel

1.     Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer, Penguin Canada

2.     River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay, Viking Canada

3.     The Tattooed Witch by Susan MacGregor, Five Rivers Publishing

4.     Tombstone Blues by Chadwick Ginther, Ravenstone Books

5.     A Turn of Light by Julie E. Czerneda, DAW Books

 Best English YA (Young Adult) Novel

1.     The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles: Demon Gate by Marty Chan, Fitzhenry & Whiteside

2.     Ink by Amanda Sun, Harlequin Teen

3.     The Lake and the Library by S.M. Beiko, ECW Press

4.     Out of Time by D.G. Ladroute, Five Rivers Publishing

5.     Resolve by Neil Godbout, Bundoran Press

6.     The Rising by Kelley Armstrong, Doubleday Canada

Best English Short Fiction

1.     "A Bunny Hug for Karl" by Mike Rimar, Masked Mosaic, Canadian Super Stories, Tyche Books

2.     "Angela and Her Three Wishes" by Eileen Bell, The Puzzle Box, EDGE

3.     "The Awakening of Master March" by Randy McCharles, The Puzzle Box, EDGE

4.     "Ghost in the Machine" by Ryan McFadden, The Puzzle Box, EDGE

5.     "The Gift" by Susan Forest, Urban Green Man, EDGE

6.     "Green Man She Restless" by Billie Milholland, Urban Green Man, EDGE

7.     "Living Bargains" by Suzanne Church, When the Hero Comes Home 2, Dragon Moon Press

 Best English Poem/Song

1.     "A City of Buried Rivers" by Clink, David, The Literary Review of Canada, vol. 21, no. 9, November

2.     "Awake"by Peter Storey, Urban Green Man, EDGE

3.     "The Collected Postcards of Billy the Kid" by Helen Marshall, Postscripts to Darkness, Issue 4, October

4.     "Lost" by Amal El-Mohtar, Strange Horizons, February

5.     "Night Journey: West Coast" by Kernaghan, Eileen, Tesseracts Seventeen: Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast to Coast, EDGE

6.     "Turning the Leaves" by Amal El-Mohtar, Apex Magazine, Issue 55, December

Best English Graphic Novel

1.     Looking for Group by Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza, webcomic

2.     Rock, Paper, Cynic by Peter Chiykowski, webcomic

3.     Weregeek by Alina Pete, webcomic

4.     Wild Game: Sweet Tooth Vol. 6 by Jeff Lemire, Vertigo

Best English Related Work

1.     The Puzzle Box by The Apocalyptic Four, EDGE

2.     Urban Green Man edited by Adria Laycraft and Janice Blaine EDGE

3.     On Spec published by the Copper Pig Writers’ Society

4.     Suzenyms by Susan MacGregor, blog suzenyms.blogspot.ca

5.     Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing edited by Sandra Kasturi and Samantha Beiko, ChiZine Publications

Best Artist

1.     Erik Mohr, cover art for ChiZine Publications

2.     Melissa Mary Duncan, illustrations and cover art

3.     Dan O'Driscoll, covers for Bundoran Press and the SF Aurora banner

4.     Apis Teicher, body of work

5.     Tanya Montini, cover design for The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles: Demon Gate

Best Fan Publications - No award will be given out in this category in 2014 due to insufficient eligible nominees.

Best Fan Music

1.     Brooke Abbey for writing and publishing 12 songs

2.     Debs & Errol for CTRL+ALT+DUETS, EP

3.     Chris Hadfield for his performance of Space Oddity

4.     Kari Maaren for Beowulf Pulled My Arm Off, CD

5.     Devin Melanson, Leslie Hudson and, Kari Maaren for Pirate Elves in Space, CD

 Best Fan Organizational

1.     Evelyn Baker and Alana Otis-Wood, co-chairs Ad Astra, Toronto

2.     S.M. Beiko and Chadwick Ginther, co-chairs Chiaroscuro Reading Series, ChiSeries Winnipeg

3.     Sandra Kasturi and James Bambury, co-chairs Chiaroscuro Reading Series, ChiSeries Toronto

4.     Randy McCharles, chair When Words Collide, Calgary

5.     Matt Moore, chair Ottawa Chiaroscuro Reading Series, ChiSeries Ottawa

6.     Rose Wilson, Art Show Director, VCON 38, Vancouver

 Best Fan Related Work

1.     R. Graeme Cameron, weekly column in Amazing Stories Magazine

2.     Steve Fahnestalk, weekly column in Amazing Stories Magazine

Robert Runté, ”Why I Read Canadian Speculative Fiction: The Social Dimension of Reading”, Scholar Keynote Address at ACCSFF ’13, Toronto

Voting for the awards will begin on May 3rd and will close at midnight (end of day) EDT on Saturday, September 6th, 2014. For further details, check the CSFFA website. The awards will be presented at VCON in Vancouver, Oct 3 – 5, 2014.

THE NOMINATIONS FOR THE AURORAS, THIS WEEK

http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/aurora-awards/

I AM HEADING OFF TO ISTANBUL TOMORROW, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to post from there while I'm gone. I'll be back in a week, so it's a very short trip. In the meantime, the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association is encouraging people to nominate Canadian works published in 2013 for an Aurora award. Nominations must be made by April 12, 2014.

If you're not aware of the CSFFA, it costs $10.00 to join (which is easy enough via Paypal). Once you're a member, you have the right to nominate any Canadian novel, short story, website, etc., under the various categories, which I've linked to above. Short lists are created from those works that have the most nominations; members then vote for their favorite works by September. I'm hoping that if enough folks nominate Suzenyms under Best Fan Publication, the blog will be short-listed. If you have found value in what I have shared here, please think of nominating Suzenyms.

I am also eligible for nomination under Best Novel, English, for my debut novel, The Tattooed Witch. (I doubt very much if I'd win an Aurora for it as I'm up against some very famous and amazing writers, but it would be nice just to be nominated).

And, of course, I can't forget mentioning that On Spec Magazine can also be nominated under Best Related Work, English.

Thank you so much for your support!

- Susan.