Writer & Editor
Unique means “one-of-a-kind.”
Something cannot be the most one-of-a-kind or very one-of-a-kind, as in the incorrect phrase “very unique.”
Something is either unique or it’s not.
You cannot modify an absolute.
Originally created by Mary-Agnes Welch, David Jón Fuller, and Julie Carl.
I haven’t done much in the way of blog posts that consist largely of links. I suppose I came close with Fake Metal Bands That Should Have Existed. However, the maestro of such posts is Natalie Luhrs, and if you’re not already following her blog, get thee hence and see what you’re missing. Then come back here! I have compiled a bit of reading that caught my eye and made me think this week. You may enjoy these, too.
Spoiler: my dog is not a writer. However, he needs walks regularly and that, I’ve found, helps my writing.
Dash is a black Lab cross, which means as far as the Humane Society could tell he looks like a Lab but that’s clearly not all that’s in his parentage. He’s just over two years old now. If I wanted to walk my legs off taking him around the neighbourhood, he would be very happy — and still not be tired when we got home.
So: we go on regular walks, weather permitting, as well as the dog parks. That’s the good, healthy thing about walking the dog in the dead of winter: you go outside even if you’d rather not. Fresh air and all that. Also, nobody in their right mind is out walking at night when it’s -20 to -30 C (plus windchill! Bonus!), unless they also have a dog. You dress for it and off you go.
Corey Redekop has undertaken the Herculean feat (like that Greco-Roman mythic metaphor there? I’m so subtle) of interviewing the contributors to Tesseracts 18: Wrestling With Gods as part of the 18 Days of Tesseracts event, on now. I have the honour of being interview number seven. Here’s a taste of the thought-provoking questions he had, and my best attempts at provoked-thought answers. You can see the entire series as it unfolds at Corey’s site.
What is it about so-called “genre” writing that makes it such an effective avenue for theological discussions?
I think genre stories can tap into what we now call myth. Modern audiences maybe need that little lever to get us out of literalist thinking—as if any fiction, genre or otherwise, is absolutely realistic. I don’t think people treated stories in such a fragmented way in the past; we didn’t have to distinguish between the historical or factual or fantastic to get enjoyment and value out of a story. But since religion and faith necessarily deal with questions of meaning, as I think the really old stories do, and aren’t bounded by what we conceive of as the natural world, I think speculative fiction is aptly suited to tackle similar questions.
Who’s your favourite god?
My favourite is Thor, but I think the best stories in the Norse tales we still have access to are about Loki. If you take them as a whole, you see how problematic but also necessary the Trickster figure is. Loki is at times helpful, indispensable, foolish, spiteful or disastrous. We’re much poorer for all the Norse myths that went unrecorded and were lost.
If you were a god for one day, what would you do?
I’d visit the bottom of the ocean and wrestle with krakens.
You can read the entire interview here.
I announced landing a story in the Guns and Romances anthology some time ago, but now I’m thrilled to say the book is now available.
Edited by Nerine Dorman and Carrie Clevenger, the concept for the book was that each story had to feature “two characters interacting, flavoured with guns and music.” My story, “Caged,” has a same-sex romance, a werewolf, running commentary on the top five heavy metal drummers of all time, and at least two firearms being used in accordance with Anton Chekhov’s maxim. Oh, and a snowmobile chase.
