Tag: new books

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To Push Back the Darkness by Lisa Timpf

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SF Canada member Lisa Timpf has just published her first novella with JMS Books LLC. To Push Back the Darkness is a f/f romance/police procedural with science fiction elements.

When the trail goes cold on a string of robberies, Detective Janet Vertran is forced to call on her ex Fiona for help. When Fiona broke things off between them two years earlier, Janet swore she’d keep her distance. But she also knows from past experience how helpful Fiona’s creation, an android named Pat, can be in ferreting out the little details that make all the difference when solving tough crimes.

 

Though the robberies appear to have been conducted by separate individuals, Pat finds an unexpected connection between them. But as Janet, Fiona, and Pat get closer to unearthing the truth, it becomes clear the case is taking an emotional toll on Fiona.

 

As she works with her ex once again, Janet is reminded of old times and familiar feelings begin to stir. Is it possible they’ll get a second chance to make their relationship work? And will Janet find the courage to do what it takes to find out?

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.

Purchase your copy of To Push Back the Darkness on Amazon.

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The Electric Girl by Christine Hart

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SF Canada member Christine Hart just released a new YA novel, The Electric Girl. The story features a dual POV narrative, a rural BC setting circa 1988, and plenty of retro pop culture.

Polly Michaels is trying to forget that her mom has cancer. She keeps busy at school and plods through a normal social life. Until a freak electrical storm and a unicorn appear in the orchard next to her house.

Sy’kai wakes on an orchard floor to the smell of rotting cherries and wet earth. She doesn’t know where she is-or what she is-but she knows something is hunting her.

Polly recruits her friends to find the mysterious creature she saw from her window while Sy’kai, a confused shape-shifting endling from another dimension tries to piece her mind back together. Once the human girls find Sy’kai (whom they nickname Psyche) the mystery unravels and the danger facing all of them comes into focus. 

A gritty struggle ranges throughout the girls’ rural hometown and in the wild terrain around it. All while two questions hang over their heads. Can an alien deliver a miracle for a human mother? Can a group of teens defeat an interdimensional demon?

Christine Hart writes from her suburban home on BC’s beautiful West Coast. She specializes in speculative fiction for young readers. Her stories feature detailed real-world landscapes as a backdrop for the surreal. Her backlist includes YA, NA, and MG titles, including The Variant Conspiracy trilogy and Watching July.

Christine works as a content and communications specialist for a technology studio in Vancouver. And when not writing, she melts metal under the guise of her Etsy alter-ego Sleepless Storyteller.

Learn more about Christine and her books at www.christine-hart.ca.

Order your copy of The Electric Girl from Amazon, Kobo, or Barnes & Noble.

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Zee by Su J. Sokol

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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.

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The Human Template by Dale L. Sproule

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SF Canada member Dale L. Sproule is launching a new book, The Human Template. This title is the first in a series, Book One of the Arboreal Realm Diptych.

Get ready to meet the BioGrid and reconsider what it means to be human.

Join the book launch for The Human Template online today at 2pm EST via Zoom.

The BioGrid is a vast biological computer housed in the root network of a genetically engineered forest. When it self-identified as a forest and refused to work with its creators, someone had to teach the newly sentient trees to see the world from a more human perspective. Dr Veejay Naidu’s breakthroughs in transferring the consciousness of his terminally ill son into an AI made him the obvious choice, but only one upload was completed before a catastrophic solar event took humanity to the brink of extinction.

Fragmented into diverse factions and locked in a never-ending feud, the badly damaged BioGrid lost contact with humanity for hundreds of years. When one of the factions discovered the remains of the human template and resurrected Raine Naidu, the BioGrid started working together toward the common goal of re-establishing an interface with humanity. But the attempt ended in betrayal; with the mind of a curious toddler named Glory turned into a stew of unsalvageable data. At least the data seemed irretrievable, until the child’s older sister, Adoris, worked out a way to access it.

Re-introducing 21st century technology to the ravaged world enabled Adoris to eliminate all opposition on her path to leadership; gaining direct access to the BioGrid and bending the most powerful of the factions to her will. When she took the entire BioGrid hostage, Raine was forced to rally his arboreal friends in a desperate bid for survival.

Dale L. Sproule is a writer who has published over 50 short stories in a wide range of media. In the late 90’s he co-published/edited a magazine called TransVersions – Literature of the Fantastic. The magazine sought out work that came at the genre sideways and published work by a wide range of amazing voices. He has been privileged to interview some amazing writers and has published dozens of non-fiction articles for venues ranging from SF Signal to Books in Canada, from AE Science Fiction to Rue Morgue.

Learn more about Dale and explore his other titles at dalelsproule.com.

Order your copy of The Human Template at Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Chapters, and more.

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Boulders Over the Bermuda Triangle by Peter J. Foote

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SF Canada member Peter J. Foote is a co-author of the new novella, Boulders Over the Bermuda Triangle: A Slipstreamers Adventure.

This novella is Book 3 in a series of 15 Slipstreamers stories from Engen Books of Newfoundland. Each of the authors in this series is from Atlantic Canada.

Cassidy Cane goes by many titles — archeologist, anthropologist, adventurer — but none more fitting than that given to her on some strange worlds: Slipstreamer.

Cassidy slips between worlds, traveling to bizarre planets and alternate Earths to find extraordinary new technologies and artifacts that might better humanity!

When Cassidy enters a portal hovering over the fabled Bermuda Triangle, she finds herself on the strange alien world of Xik’en, located in the hub of an asteroid mine and where lizard-people reign supreme! Cassidy must team up with a spirited young Xik’en to save herself and recover the ARC crystals she needs… but can she escape? And what lies hidden below the station, in the Xik’en prison?

“The third entry into the Slipstreamers series was a fun adventure. The story telling transitions between action and heartwarming scenes smoothly. This episode gave us a new perspective on Cassidy, and it really helped her character grow.” – Amazon reviewer

Peter J. Foote is a bestselling speculative fiction writer from Nova Scotia, Canada. He runs the Fictionfirst Used Books, specializing in fantasy & sci-fi titles. He also cosplays with his wife, and alternates between red wine and coffee as the mood demands.

Many of Peter’s stories are a reflection of his personal life, as he is a firm believer in the adage that a writer should write what they know.

Peter’s work has twice been awarded the Kit Sora Flash Fiction Prize: once in March 2018 and again in September 2018. Peter holds the distinction of being one of only three authors to be featured in all the modern From the Rock collections to date.

In total, Peter has been featured in over two dozen publications, with interest in his short fiction worldwide.

As the founder of the group “Genre Writers of Atlantic Canada”, Peter believes that the writing community is stronger when it works together.

Learn more about Peter at peterjfooteauthor.wordpress.com.

Purchase your copy of Boulders Over the Bermuda Triangle via Amazon.

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Gatekeeper’s Key by Krista Wallace

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SF Canada member Krista Wallace recently published her first novel-length work, an audiobook titled Gatekeeper’s Key. This book is the first of a fantasy trilogy.

Gatekeeper’s Key is based on a podcast Krista has been publishing since May of 2020. Krista brings her acting and narration background to this project, publishing first as an audiobook owing to her know-how with this medium.

Gatekeeper's KeyOutcast swordfighter, Kyer Halidan, walked out of a cornfield at the age of three. Now, she leaves to discover who put her there. And why. Along the way she makes mistakes and kills a man with powerful friends, while at the same time earning the respect of her greatest heroes.


New enemies pursue her relentlessly, desperate to learn what she knows about their plans. Kyer’s impetuousness and disregard for consequences put the mission, and her life, in jeopardy. But to save a village and possibly the continent from a despicable evil, she must choose between adhering to duty and breaking the rules.

Krista Wallace is a writer, singer and actor. She writes short fiction in a variety of genres, and long fiction, primarily in fantasy. Krista sings jazz in a big band called FAT Jazz, and a duo called the Itty Bitty Big Band. She also does audiobook narration, and puts out a weekly podcast. She likes dark chocolate and fine single malt scotch.

Learn more about Krista and explore her work at kristawallace.com.

Purchase Gatekeeper’s Key at Kobo, Scribd, and Google Play.