Zee by Su J. Sokol

SF Canada member Su J. Sokol is launching Zee, xyr third novel. This title is being released jointly in French (December 3, 2020) and English (December 6, 2020) by New Brunswick publisher Mouton noir Acadie, an imprint of Bouton d’or Acadie.

Zee can hear what you’re thinking and feel what you’re feeling. She sees herself through your eyes and what she sees changes who she is. Sometimes Zee is the precocious daughter of her four grown-ups. Other times, she’s a rough boy from Brooklyn, New York, playing basketball and getting into trouble. Zee’s grown-ups are worried. They test Zee’s special powers and conspire to keep them secret. Zee figures out what they’re up to and fights back. Zee just wants to fit in, to meet the confusing expectations coming at her from all directions, but will losing sight of who she is put Zee in even greater danger?

Learn more about Zee at an online launch in either French or English.

  • French Event: Thursday, December 3 at 7pm EST on either Facebook or Zoom.
  • English Event: Sunday, December 6 at 7pm EST on either Facebook or Zoom.

Su J. Sokol is a social rights activist and a writer of speculative, liminal and interstitial fiction. Originally from Brooklyn, xe now makes Montréal xyr home. Xyr short fiction has appeared or is upcoming in The Future Fire, Spark: A Creative Anthology, TFFX 10th Anniversary Anthology, Glittership: an LGBTQ Science Fiction and Fantasy Podcast, Glittership: Year One anthology, After the Orange: Ruin and Recovery, and Amazing Stories.

Su’s debut novel, Cycling to Asylum, was longlisted for the Sunburst for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, and has been optioned for a feature-length film. Xyr second novel, Run J Run, was published by Renaissance Press in May of 2019.

Learn more about Su and explore xyr other titles at sujsokol.com

Order your copy of Zee from your favourite local bookshop (a great way to support independent booksellers during the pandemic), from Bouton d’or Acadie in French or English, on Amazon, or via Kobo.

Tower in the Crooked Wood by Paula Johanson

SF Canada member Paula Johanson is re-releasing an ebook version of her short novel, Tower in the Crooked Wood, with publisher Doublejoy Books.

Join Paula on her Facebook page today, November 30, 2020 at noon PST for an online book launch.

They were stolen in the dark to work for a night and a day, building a tower for the wizard Krummholz on faraway Copper Island, in a place where the trees grow twisted in a poisoned bog. Some of the unwilling workers were returned bewildered, bruised, and marked by whips — others died as the uncaring wizard called new workers to his tower. Now Jenia is the only one left of her family willing to leave her orchards and walk five hundred miles in search of her abductor, and the answers to questions burning inside her.

 

Why was she stolen out of the dark? What is wrong at the heart of the tower? And why does the magic twisting the very trees strike a strangely familiar note? All Jenia knows for sure is that she will not let herself be made a prisoner again, not by magic nor by force of arms. When a soldier tries to trap her in a lord’s garden, and a village of gentle people tell her to give up her hopeless quest, Jenia has to choose where to place her trust: in friends, in strength, or in the cunning in her own two hands.

 

And then the wizard Krummholz sends his call out again…

“A wealth of realistic detail lends authenticity to this engrossing tale of a young arborist, ‘a scholar of trees.’ Paula Johanson has created a magical alternative world both mythic in feel, and hauntingly evocative of our own.” – Eileen Kernaghan, author of The Snow Queen.

Paula Johanson is a Canadian writer. A graduate of the University of Victoria, she has worked as a security guard, a short order cook, a teacher, newspaper writer, and more. As well as editing books and teaching materials, she has run an organic-method small farm with her spouse, raised gifted twins, and cleaned university dormitories. In addition to novels and stories, she is the author of forty-two books written for educational publishers, among them The Paleolithic Revolution and Women Writers from the series Defying Convention: Women Who Changed The World. Johanson is an active member of SF Canada, the national association of science fiction and fantasy authors.

Learn more about Paula and explore her other titles at paulajohanson.blogspot.com.

Order your copy of Tower in the Crooked Wood at !ndigo, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and other digital booksellers.

The New Season by Graham J Darling

SF Canada member Graham J Darling has a short story, “The New Season” in Brain Games: Stories to Astonish. This anthology was published October 26, 2020 by Third Flatiron Publishing and also includes “The Disconnect” from SF Canada member Lisa Timpf.

Brain Games: Stories to Astonish is a fabulous collection of 27 short science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories involving killer apps, Rube Goldberg inventions, clever escapes, Greek mythology, mysterious space heists, and high-tech sorcery. The humor section gives us the inner workings of a MegaMind.

Graham J. “GrayJay” Darling has long been a voracious consumer of speculative literature. The first novel he ever read was Alice in Wonderland: after learning that by heart, he went on to sip from entire fields of such flowers of the imagination. Eventually he was moved to share the wonder with like-minded fans in clubs, conventions, productions and games. He now writes as fiction what the world isn’t ready for as fact, in parallel to his activities as a scientist and as a medieval reenactor.

Full TOC and more about Third Flatiron at thirdflatiron.com.

Order the e-book or paperback version of Brain Games: Stories to Astonish on Amazon.

For Laika by Lisa Timpf

SF Canada member Lisa Timpf has a new poem “For Laika” included in The House of Zolo’s Journal of Speculative Literature Vol. 2.

In this much anticipated second volume of speculative literature, authors examine relationships and how technology impacts our connections to each other, to nature, to space and time. The writing in this volume is often dark and rich in satire, yet there are many whimsical moments, and a strong undertone of irreverence. Writers deep-dive into challenging themes to bring us stories and poems that explore gender, immortality, the obsolescence of the human body, biohacking, decay, and the evolution of love in a transhuman world.

Lisa Timpf is a retired human resources and communications professional who lives in Simcoe, Ontario. Her writing has appeared in a number of venues, including Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Dog, New Myths, Third Flatiron, and Scifaikuest.

A graduate of McMaster University’s Physical Education program, Ms. Timpf also completed course work toward an MSc in Sport History at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When not writing, Lisa enjoys cycling and bird-watching.

Learn more about Lisa’s writing at lisatimpf.blogspot.com.

Download a digital copy of The House of Zolo’s Journal of Speculative Literature Vol. 2 via Amazon FREE from October 21 through 23, 2020.

Stellar Evolutions Edited by Rhea Rose

SF Canada member Rhea Rose is the editor of a new anthology, Stellar Evolutions, now open to pre-release ebook orders. These short stories and poems were drawn from the first fifteen issues of fellow SF Canada member R. Graeme Cameron’s magazine Polar Borealis.

Oh, Canada! Welcome to this world-bending collection of speculative writing Canadian style. Between these boreal covers, a compilation of must-read fantastic fiction by trending and diverse authors will take readers to the next level of story discovery. New futures, fantasies and frightening realities become readers’ portals connecting yesterday’s print to tomorrow’s digital dreams. This gathering showcases stories and poetry by many award-winning, award-nominated, yet diverse authors’ and their best works, selected exclusively from Polar Borealis Magazine, a Canadian speculative fiction publication dedicated to discovering the finest ideas in a large land of divergent narratives. These stellar storytellers and poets find our common humanity, play with its evolution, evaluate the relentless tick-tock of technology and step into the seductive chill of starlight with only their imaginations to guide them against the spiralling foils of the unknown.

“A particularly interesting collection because it features emerging Canadian writers, covers a broad swath of Canadian speculative fiction, and includes as much poetry as prose.” —Robert Runte—Editor, critic, author of Canadian Science Fiction, an Introduction & List of Recommended Authors and more.

Learn more about Rhea at rheaerose.weebly.com.

Learn more about Graeme and Polar Borealis at polarborealis.ca.

Reserve your copy of Stellar Evolutions via Amazon.

Crystal Cloud by Claudiu Murgan

SF Canada member Claudiu Murgan is launching the sequel to his novel Water Entanglement, a spiritually-inspired futuristic tale revolving around the nature of water.

Crystal Cloud is an eco-fiction story that continues the exploration of water’s ability to heal us when treated with reverence – or hurt us when treated with ignorance.

Water was always on our side—we were the ones who strayed! After the initial shock of the world’s water awakening, humanity comes together to put measures in place to ease adverse climate changes. Cherry Mortinger, the limnologist behind Hayyin’s enigmatic identity, works on creating a universal language for water…

Learn more about Crystal Cloud at an online launch tonight at 7pm EST via live stream on YouTube and Facebook.

“A unique writer voice, a refreshing storyline, and a future that we may all see before too long! Tension, pace, and real-life issues make this a novel to read. Wow, what a story!” – Jonas Saul, author of the Sarah Roberts Series

Claudiu Murgan was born in Romania and has called Canada home since 1997. He is a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest and during his university years he was involved in the Romanian fandom, writing and organizing local events. He also participated at Science-Fiction conventions in both Europe and North America, meeting contemporary writers with the utmost impact on this genre.

He received several awards for his short stories and novellas that were published in SF Journal and Science & Technology Magazine. Claudiu was a member of the Friends of the Merril Collection in Toronto, organizing the first Science-Fiction art show in the association’s history.

Learn more about Claudiu and explore his other titles at claudiumurgan.com.

Order your copy of Crystal Cloud at Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and iBooks.