Award Thank You!

I was so stunned to be nominated for two Aurora Awards this year that I didn't even blog about it.  I want to start off by saying thank you to all of you who took the time to nominate my works.  You've heard it before, but authors rarely know how their works are liked until reviews pop up or works are nominated by fans. So I seriously cannot thank you enough.  You are the best!

My nominated works are:

Destiny's Fall (Long-form fiction)

Happily Ever After from When the Villain Comes Homes (edited by Gabrielle Harbowy and Ed Greenwood - Short-form fiction)

These represent my third and fourth nominations in the Aurora Awards.  It's a high honour, and again, I'm flabbergasted.

In past years, I lost by only a few votes, so if you like these works, I would be extremely grateful for a vote.  You can vote directly on their website (Canadians and various forms of Canadians only).  It is $10 to vote, but you get an e-copy of all the books and short stories, so it's pretty awesome.  I'm up against some great writers, like Karen Dudley and Matt Moore (both of whom I adore), so you'll want to check out their works, too!  

The award ceremonies are in Ottawa this year, which is my hometown! And it's at CAN-CON, my favourite con (not only because it's local).  I hope you make it to CAN-CON, too.  It's fun, filled with great people and has some kick-ass programming.  So come check it out!  And don't miss the paper airplane contest (I assume they'll let me host it again, but maybe new regulations against "fun" will be put in place. Who knows.) 

Thanks again.  I seriously can't believe my fortune at knowing great people like all of you. 

Some Good Reading

I'm going to play a lazy Friday card and share some blogs and sites that I love to follow.  Ha!

Page of Reviews

This site is full of geeky goodness, from game and lit reviews to random Geek news.  They're true to their tagline: "It's your world, we just write about it."  

Left Hand of Dorkness

Another fun review/writing blog by upcoming writer KW Ramsey.

Gabrielle Harbowy

Gabrielle is my editor, and one of the many things I truly appreciate about her is how she carefully weighs her own opinions before sharing them, so they're always so shiny.  Witness the shiny on her blog as she shares wisdom on writing and publishing.

Jay Lake

I've been following this blog for more than a year. Jay is facing now terminal cancer.  He's funny, caustic, and so human that it's worth keeping an eye on. We all know how our journey will end, and Jay is leaving us a bravely and honestly charted roadmap. 

Laughing at My Nightmare

This is a newest addition to my regular reading. It's written by a young man suffering from spinal muscular atrophy.  He's funny, positive and just sounds like a great guy.  Inspiration abounds most in our darkest days.

David Farland's Daily Kick in the Pants

If you're a writer, this blog is worth following.  The title is self-explanatory, really.

There are more.  Of course there are!  I'll add another list later on.  Because, it turns out, I get lots of awesome daily reading material! 

Zzzzz... whu?

Well, four cons in four weekends down, making May into the most con-y month I've ever encountered.  T'was a lovely month, truly.  I'm prepping a side post about all the things I've learned, since I was con-drenched.

I just wanted to check in and say hi.  It's full speed ahead for edits on Destiny's War now, plus a new novel tackled me (right down rude) while I was in Winnipeg, so mornings are for writing, evenings are for editing, and nights are for sleeping (I love my sleep).

Speaking of which, time for  another nap.  Four cons in a month is a tad draining. See you all latzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Winnipeg, here I come!

After a fun night watching Star Trek Into Darkness (this blog is spoiler free) with my Klingon buddies, I'm now sleep deprived and off to Winnipeg!  The first event is tonight, with three of my favourite ladies:

With these three, it's going to be a hoot!  Tomorrow we're doing a staff event at the library. I'm not clear what that means yet, but how could it not be fun?

Saturday and Sunday are all Keycon all the time. I'll be spending time at the Bundoran Press table, since Hayden Trenholm offered space for my books in exchange for slave labour. I'll also be:

An Hour with Silvia Moreno-Garcia - 11:00 am Saturday, Terrace East on 13

Moderator: Marie Bilodeau

Panelist: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Description: Our Editor Guest of Honor will answer your questions.

 Autograph Session - 2:00 pm Saturday, Terrace East on 13

Authors in the autograph session: Robert J. Sawyer, Chadwick Ginther, Karen Dudley, David Annandale, Hayden Trenholm, Ann Aguirre, Marie Bilodeau, Billie Milholland, and Eileen Bell.

 Storytelling with Marie Bilodeau - 8:00 pm Saturday, Ambassador B on 11 (Manitoba)

Panelist: Marie Bilodeau

Description: I'm going to tell scary stories.  More or less. Some old, some new....  

 Author Reading - 1:00 pm Sunday, Terrace East on 13

Panelists: Karen Dudley and Marie Bilodeau

That's it!  Then I'm flying back on Sunday evening!  Meanwhile, Destiny's War is back on my desk for edits, so I'm off to the races. I'm excited by my chat with Gabrielle Harbowy about it - it's going to be awesome! My deadline is end of June. 

Next weekend is Anime North in Toronto. This month is intermixed with lit cons and media cons, and I'm loving the ride!

This blog was written on my iPad. I conveniently blame any typos on that. 

 

Boréal Schedule

This weekend I'm off to Montreal for Boréal!  I've only been to this con one other time, but it's a heck of a lot of fun. I can't wait!  Anyway, my schedule:

Saturday, May 4

Beyond Ebooks : A Genre in Transition 

10:30 am, Salle Saint-François

Christian Sauvé (A), Marie Bilodeau, Claude Lalumière, Yves Meynard, Jo Walton

At a time where iPad, ePub, Kickstarter, Lulu and

Twitter are all keywords of interest to writers of 

genre fiction, what does this mean to readers, 

reviewers and fans? The old "publish short 

stories in the Big Three magazines, then write a 

novel for a big New York publisher" is 

crumbling, but so are the traditional ways for 

readers to find and buy works they like. At a 

time where there is more genre fiction available 

for download than anyone can hope to read in a 

lifetime, how can we expect to find good stories, 

understand the genre as it currently exists and 

identify the authors worth reading? 

(This panel description sounds dramatic to me, such as "how shall we ever survive," and I love it. Best panel description ever!)

Masked Mosaic : Canadian 

Super Stories 

16h00-17h00, Salle Saint-François

Marie Bilodeau, Patrick T. Goddard, Claude 

Lalumière, Lisa Poh, Mark Shainblum

We launched this in Ottawa and it was a hoot.  Seriously. Don't miss this Montreal launch!

Sunday, May 5

How I Wrote... 
14h00-15h00, Salle Saint-François
René Walling (A), Marie Bilodeau, Yves Meynard, Jo Walton
Writers explain how one of their works took form.

That's it - quick trip to Montreal. See you there!

Celebratory Giveaway

I was gobsmacked (in a good way) to learn that both my novel Destiny's Fall and my short story Happily Ever After (When the Villain Comes Home) made it on the Aurora Awards ballot. I can't thank you all enough for nominating me!  In celebration, I'm hosting a Goodreads giveaway of Destiny's Fall.  Because I love a party!

The ballot for the Aurora Awards is really impressive.  I have lots of friends on the ballot and have read many of the works included. I'm in great company.  This year, the awards banquet will be held at CAN-CON, which is my local con.  I hope many of you can make it.  It's going to be a hoot!  CAN-CON has been growing since its re-inception in 2010, and it's definitely worth checking out.  Plus, they let me host an airplane contest, so that's proof that they know how to have a good time!  Publishing gods willing, we'll also be launching book 3 of the Destiny series.  I've done horrible things in this book, and I'm very proud of them.  It's in the good hands of Gabrielle Harbowy right now, so by the time you guys get it, it's going to be ridiculously awesome.

Thanks again for all of your support - it means the world to me!

xoxoxo

Letters with no Reply - Rogers Canada

Dearest Rogers Canada,

I know it's hard, and nobody ever wants to go though this. You hope and pray that it won't happen to you, you do the best you can on a daily basis, and still, sometimes, it just doesn't work out.  But you have to accept it, Rogers.

I just don't want to be with you anymore.

I admit that it was pure romance at first.  You went out of your way to keep me happy, you picked up the tab once in a while and, when I called in sheer panic because Space now played Doctor Who instead of CBC, you made sure I could access it, at no extra charge.  It was sweet, Rogers.  You were my knight on a white (and red) horse.

But, well, people change.  I changed.  I just... I can't be like you, always viewing the same channels, slaves to a pre-determined play time.  I just needed to be free, Rogers, to select what I wanted to see when it was best for me, and not dance to the strings of someone else's mandolin.

You were happy with the way things were, I guess.  You never offered me otherwise, even when I asked.  It wasn't easy for me either, Rogers, to break it off with you.

We've had good times.  And I know I'm a catch - always paying on time or twice in one month, for lack of attention.  Making jokes whenever we chatted on the phone. Not downloading more than you were willing to give.

But you have to let go.  The phone calls, letters, e-mails and texts are just embarrassing you, Rogers, and cheapening what we once had.  You've become the stain in my mailbox and the joke at my dinner table. And then you dared send me another letter, simply adressed to "Resident."

...

Think about how that made me feel.

I tried to be nice about it, but I can't anymore.  Your constant initiation of contact is wasteful and perhaps scarring.  Please stop corresponding with me.

We had a good run, Rogers.  But now it's time for you to let go.

Love (in a limited, non-eternal way),

Marie