I will confess, at the end of 2013 I thought this shelf (seen above in December of that year) would be filling up a bit more by the end of 2014. But that would be ignoring the fact I was beyond thrilled to be included in the titles you’ll see on it at the bottom of this post, Long Hidden and Kneeling in the Silver Light. As one of my favourite teachers, Mr. Gillis, used to say: quality, not quantity.
Wrestling With Gods early release and cover reveal
Although Tesseracts Eighteen: Wresting with Gods won’t be officially released in print until March 2015, you can buy it for your Kindle on Amazon as of today.
If your thoughts are taking on a spiritual bent at this time of year — or if they do as a matter of course, anyway — take a look at this anthology of speculative fiction that explores belief, faith and religion.
The beautiful cover was also revealed today. Fantastic stuff.
There will be more to come on the Tesseracts Eighteen: Wrestling With Gods anthology in the new year, with interviews and more. Stay tuned for more details. But if you can’t wait to read the stories and (unlike me) have a Kindle , you’re in luck.
Back to the Front: researching “The Wolves of Vimy”
Shifting genres to tell an earlier part of a character’s story wasn’t something I initially planned on when writing “The Wolves of Vimy” (out now in Kneeling in the Silver Light). But when it came down to it, I thought, what the hell — there’s a story there and I might just learn something.
I’ve blogged earlier this year about how writing “A Deeper Echo” for Long Hidden changed my approach to writing speculative fiction (and, indeed, the way I look at history). For Kneeling in the Silver Light, a dark fantasy/horror anthology of stories about the First World War, I wanted to tell a story in a genre I’d never written in before: military fiction.
Classic Canadian comic heroes to be collected for first time
You may not have heard of Brok Windsor or Johnny Canuck, but back during the Second World War they were part of Canada’s Golden Age of comic books. Comics from the U.S. were deemed “non-essential” imports under wartime legislation and as such were not allowed into Canada. But kids were already hooked on superheroes, adventure comics, humour books and more. So a homegrown Canadian comic book industry was born — and it lasted until the end of the war.
Thunder God Thursday: Walter Simonson’s Ragnarök
Should you be interested in Walter Simonson’s Ragnarök? If you’re already familiar with the writer-artist’s work, particularly his acclaimed run on Marvel’s Thor, you can probably skip to the line below.
TL;DR – Shut up and take my money. Yes, it’s that good.
Kat Kruger wraps up Madgeburg Trilogy
I had the pleasure of interviewing Kat Kruger about the first two books in her Madgeburg Trilogy last year. In The Night Has Teeth and The Night Has Claws, we meet American teen Connor Lewis studying in Paris and getting to know the other foreign students. He discovers that not only are werewolves real, but that his unique heritage makes him a target for differing factions, whether he likes it or not.
I won’t say any more at the risk of huge spoilers! But both books are great reads and I highly recommend both. (And the interview below will make a lot more sense if you’ve read them.) Kat was kind enough to take some time to answer my questions about her third and final book in this series, The Night is Found.
