Douglas Smith's blog

The Aurora Award ebook bundle #2

Aurora ebook bundle #2 cover montageHow would you like to own, at an incredible bargain, ten books that readers like yourself have already voted to be the best examples of speculative fiction published in Canada? Well, here's your chance. I'm once again curating an Aurora Award ebook bundle for StoryBundle.com that contains more winners and finalists for Canada's premier speculative fiction award, the Aurora Award. These Aurora bundles will now be an ongoing series on StoryBundle, running twice a year (until we run out of titles!), so they make a great way for you to build your library of the best in Canadian speculative fiction.

The Auroras are awarded annually by the Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association (CSFFA) for excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy. The award started in 1980 as the Casper and was renamed the Aurora for the 1990 awards. I'm honored to have won the Aurora three times and to have been on the final ballot another sixteen.

This Aurora bundle again delivers a great mix of SF and fantasy, adult and YA novels, as well as a selection of short fiction. The books included reflect the long history of the Auroras, with titles spanning a quarter century of Canadian speculative fiction from 1992 to 2016.

This time, the bundle provides a great introduction to several wonderful series, including the first book in four separate series and the second book in a series that can be read as a stand-alone title. It also lets you sample the rich tradition of Canadian short speculative fiction, with two acclaimed collections.

Humber School for Writers workshop

Playing the Short Game coverI'm teaching a three-week workshop at the Humber School for Writers on how to market and sell short fiction. The course will be based on my writer's guide, Playing the Short Game, and runs on three consecutive Tuesday evenings starting on March 28, 2017. Each workshop session will be three hours, running from 6:30-9:30pm. The classes will be held at Humber's Lakeshore campus at 3199 Lake Shore Blvd West.

You can register for the workhop via the Humber School for Writers site.

Here's an outline of what I'll cover in the workshop:

Week 1

Chapters 1-2: Introduction to the course / Why are you writing? / The benefits of short fiction to a writing career.

Chapter 3: Understanding rights and licensing for short fiction

Chapters 4-6: How to judge when is a story ready to submit to a market / A strategy for selecting your target markets / How to find short fiction markets

Week 2

Chapters 7-8: Selecting the right market / How to submit short fiction to a market

Chapters 9-13: What not to do when submitting / What to do after you've submitted a story / How an editor selects (or rejects) a story / Dealing with rejections / When to stop submitting a story

Week 3

Chapters 14-15: What to look (out) for in short fiction contracts / Working with an editor

Chapters 16-17, 19: What your first sale really means / Dealing with reviews

Chapter 20-22: A writer's magic bakery / Selling reprints / Selling foreign language rights / Selling audio rights

Skyping with a Grade 8 class

Chimerascope coverI was approached via Twitter recently by Chris Byron, who teaches grade 8 in the Westmount Charter School in Calgary, Alberta. Chris tweeted that he'd enjoyed my collection Chimerascope (pictured here) and was using some of the stories, such as "Scream Angel" and "Jigsaw" to teach creative writing to his students ("Jigsaw" was written for the anthology Odyssey (Wonder Zone #4), which was aimed at grade 7-8 students with all stories based on the Ontario curriculum for those grades).

That in itself was cool enough, but after chatting via Twitter and email, Chris invited me to meet with his students via Skype and answer some questions about my life as a writer. We did the Skype call this week, and it was much fun. Well, for me at least. Hopefully, the kids enjoyed it as well. Here's a summary of some of the questions (italics) and my best recollection of what my answers were, many of which can be found in more detail in my writer's guide, Playing the Short Game.

Q: I like your hockey analogy for how writing professionally takes time. When did you feel you were ready for the Show?

As a writer, you don't know if you can sell professionally until you actually do. I started writing short fiction and recommend it for new writers, because short stories are a great way to learn how to write prose, even if you plan to eventually move to novels. Plus short stories let me find out early if I could actually sell anything I wrote. I was writing stories for about a year and sending them out before I got my first sale.

Q: As a writer, what does your day entail? Is it ritualized to heighten productivity?

Workshop reminder: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction

Library workshop flyerJust a reminder of my upcoming workshop for anyone in the Greater Toronto Area. This will be of interest to any short fiction writers who follow me here. I'll be giving a 2-hour workshop on how to market and sell short fiction at the Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library on Thursday, January 26,2017 from 7-9pm. The workshop will be an introduction to some of the material covered in my book Playing the Short Game: How to Market and Sell Short Fiction.

During the two hours, I will give you critical advice and answer your questions on how to sell your short stories to professional markets and to build a career as a short fiction writer. Topics I'll be teaching in the workshop include:

  • rights and licensing for short fiction;
  • a strategy for selecting your target markets;
  • finding short fiction markets;
  • selecting the right market;
  • submitting short fiction to a market; and,
  • what not to do when submitting.

$25 includes the workshop and a copy of my book. Registration is required by January 24. You can register online at http://www.wsplibrary.ca or by calling the library:

Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library
2 Park Drive
Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario L4A 4K1 | (905) 642-7323

If you're in the GTA region, I hope to see you there!

New HWA anthology: Group Hex

Group Hex antho cover I have a story in a new anthology just released by the HWA (Horror Writers Association). The antho is called Group Hex and features an impressive line up of stories from the Ontario chapter of the HWA. So yeah, an all-Canadian, all-local horror anthology. This is volume one, as our chapter is planning to make this an annual publication.

My story is "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down," which first appeared in the excellent UK dark fantasy magazine, The Third Alternative (now Black Static) in 2001. It was an Aurora Award finalist and was selected for Best New Horror #13 the following year. And yes, this is the story on which the award-winning short film of the same name was based.

I'm thrilled to be included with such a great collection of authors, who include Kelley Armstrong, Nancy Kilpatrick, John R. Little, Julianne Snow, Suzanne Church, Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, and many more.

Here's the back cover blurb:

The Great Lakes Horror Company presents this collection of 19 new and previously published horror stories from some of the best writers lurking on the chilling shores of the wild and wicked north. Cannibals, zombies, vampires, vengeful gods, psychotics and the supernatural are just a few of the terrifying things waiting for you in this collection featuring members of the Horror Writer’s Association Ontario Chapter. Gathered here are award-winning best-selling authors, bold and bloody newcomers, and more than a few unhinged souls telling tales that will make your blood run cold.

Illustrated by celebrated genre artists, Group Hex Vol. 1 transports you to the hungry shores of future worlds, to the heart of mystical planes, and to the rooms of what seem like perfectly normal suburban houses…but they aren’t. And after reading these tales, you may never be the same again.

The antho is available at most ebook retailers, including Amazon.

Short story news: Upcoming publications

By Her Hand ebook coverI've had a spate of short story sales lately, including one previously unpublished story ("The Last of a Thing," which I blogged about here) along with a bunch of reprints.

Why so many reprints? Why so few new stories?

Well, to answer the first question, I continue to submit my previously published stories to markets that accept reprints. I can do that because I've always been careful about ensuring the rights for my stories revert to me after the original publication.

If you're a writer and don't understand what I'm talking about, you need to check out my book, Playing the Short Game.

Reprints are found money plus they give me the opportunity to find new readers who haven't come across my work before. So reprints are a win-win.

But why am I not announcing more sales of new short fiction? Even "The Last of a Thing" was a story I wrote a while ago.

The simple answer is that I'm focusing on novels now. I finished a new novel, the first book in an urban fantasy trilogy, earlier this year and am now well into the second book of that series. Plus I have another Mysterious Writing Project, which is neither short fiction nor novel, that is consuming my available writing time. More on both of these projects in future blog posts.

For now, just know that I will have the following short stories coming out as reprints over the next few months:

  • My Aurora Award finalist story, "The Red Bird," will be reprinted in a Japan-themed anthology from Guardbridge Books in the UK, tentatively titled Sunrise Lands. The ebook version of the story is pictured at the left;
  • "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down," both an Aurora finalist and a Best New Horror selection, will be reprinted in a HWA (Horror Writers Association) anthology, Group Hex (Volume 1), containing stories from Ontario HWA members; and,
  • My Aurora Award winning tale, "Scream Angel," will appear in the anthology, Survivors, from Lethe Press, edited by Mary Anne Mohanraj

And, of course, as mentioned in a recent post, "Scream Angel," was also narrated and presented as a podcast on StarShipSofa. All of these stories, by the way, are included in my collection, Chimerascope, and are also available as stand-alone ebooks. Check my bookstore for buying links at all major retailers if you're interested.

Upcoming workshop on marketing short fiction

Library workshop flyerThis will be of interest to any short fiction writers who follow me here. I'll be giving a 2-hour workshop on how to market and sell short fiction at the Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library on Thursday, January 26,2017 from 7-9pm. The workshop will be an introduction to some of the material covered in my book Playing the Short Game: How to Market and Sell Short Fiction.

During the two hours, I will give you critical advice and answer your questions on how to sell your short stories to professional markets and to build a career as a short fiction writer. Topics I'll be teaching in the workshop include:

  • rights and licensing for short fiction;
  • a strategy for selecting your target markets;
  • finding short fiction markets;
  • selecting the right market;
  • submitting short fiction to a market; and,
  • what not to do when submitting.

$25 includes the workshop and a copy of my book. Registration is required by January 24. You can register online at http://www.wsplibrary.ca or by calling the library:

Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library

2 Park Drive

Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario L4A 4K1 | (905) 642-7323 

http://www.wsplibrary.ca

If you're in the GTA region, I hope to see you there!

"Scream Angel" up on StarShipSofa podcast

I'm thrilled to announce that my Aurora Award winning story, "Scream Angel," has been published as a podcast on StarShipSofa. The story is narrated by Brian Rollins and you can listen to it for free at the above link.

"Scream Angel" first appeared in the anthology, Low Port, from Meisha Merlin, edited by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee. It won Canada's Aurora Award in 2004 for best short fiction. It was the lead story in my collection, Chimerascope, and is often mentioned by my fans as one of their favourites:

Soldiers on the drug Scream will not only kill, they will revel in it. Jason Trelayne is a Screamer, a soldier and forced participant in the enslavement and death of entire races. When Trelayne falls in love with Philomela, a Scream Angel, an alien who produces the addictive drug, he triggers a chain of events that threatens to bring down an empire.

I hope you enjoy the podcast if you check it out. "Scream Angel" is also available as a stand-alone ebook at all major retailers.

Heroka story "Dream Flight" available as ebook

Dream Flight coverFor fans of my Heroka (shapeshifter) stories, I've just released the short story "Dream Flight" as an ebook. The book is available in both epub and mobi (Kindle) formats at all popular ebook retailers.

"Dream Flight" is a sequel to the short story "A Bird in the Hand" and again features Lilith Hoyl, a Heroka of the bird totem. But Lilith is a little different, even for a Heroka. It was first published in The Dark Magazine in January 2014, issue #3.

Here's what Fantasy Literature had to say about the story: “One expects magic with this set-up, and magic does, indeed, follow, but pain cannot be forever vanquished, for either the girl or the Hoyl. The story charms as well as pains. In other hands, it would be mawkish, but Smith avoids all the pitfalls and gives us something bittersweet instead.”

The ebook is available here: 

All retailers  |   My bookstore

If you haven't read any of my Heroka stories, here's the complete list:

  • "Spirit Dance" — novelette featuring Gwyn Blaidd, a Heroka of the wolf totem (the first story, so start here)
  • The Wolf at the End of the World novel with the characters of "Spirit Dance" that picks up five years later
  • "A Bird in the Hand" — short story that introduces Lilith Hoyl
  • "Dream Flight" — short story sequel to "A Bird in the Hand"

All of these are available at all major book retailers and my bookstore. Check out my bookstore for all the buying links for these titles.

And there will be more Heroka novels — right after I finish the young adult urban fantasy trilogy I'm currently writing. I'm on book #2 in that series now. More on that later.

New story! "The Last of a Thing" in Pulp Literature

Pulp Literature #12 cover I'm very happy to announce that I have a "new" short story out in Issue #12 of the fine Canadian speculative fiction magazine, Pulp Literature. The gorgeous cover can be seen at the side here.

My story is called "The Last of a Thing" and is high fantasy. I purposely play around with the tropes and cliches of that genre to tell a tale whose message is...well, I'll let you read it, but let's just say this little story shares a heart with my novel The Wolf at the End of the World.

Why the quotes around "new"? Well, although the story has never been published before (so it will be new to any of my readers), I had actually sold it a couple of times in the past However, it never managed to see the light of publication until now. Every time I sold it, the magazine would fold or the anthology would never be published.

Yes, this was my "market killer" story. Every short story writer, if they've been doing this long enough, has one of these—a story that seems cursed to take down any market that dares to try to publish it.

So I'm very glad that (a) the story has finally really sold and is now available for you to read, and (b) I didn't end up killing a fine Canadian magazine.

Issue 12 is available for purchase here, in either print or ebook formats. I hope you'll check it out and help support Pulp Literature and Canadian speculative fiction by buying a copy of the issue or, better yet, a subscription.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Douglas Smith's blog