Lorina Stephens's Blog, page 2

Observations on the current state of publishing

Let’s talk about AI

There are some among my creative colleagues who view AI as simply a tool, nothing about which to be concerned. I cannot begin to express my disbelief, little say outrage, regarding this blind, uninformed view. AI is a huge genie released into the world, now rampaging through not only the creative sphere, but the business and academic world, and to think for a moment it isn’t going to affect every aspect of our lives, whether you’re a creative or not, is simply, willfully, ignorant.

Let’s look at the recent dustup in which Tor Books found themselves regarding the cover art for RuNyx’s Gothikana, released in January this year through Tor’s Bramble imprint. Turns out there were two Adobe Stock images which were used for the cover, both of which were indeed identified on Adobe’s site as AI generated. It would appear, however, the creative department at Bramble either failed to notice the identification, or chose to ignore it. I cannot help but feel it was a decision to ignore the AI designation, given this is the second time in two years Tor has fallen foul of the AI controversy, the other being the cover for Fractal Noise, by Christopher Paolini, released in November 2022.

Closer to home, Edge Publishing released Guy Immega’s debut novel in July 2023, Super-Earth Mother, using an AI generated cover, a cover about which, it should be noted, the author is very proud. And given the author also supports all things AI, and views AI writing interface as ‘just another tool’ to be employed by writers, one wonders just how much of the novel was actually written by the author.

I’m likely going to get into a lot of hot water for that last statement, but at this point I really don’t care, because I’m just tired of people and businesses who think all things creative are a leash on a golden goose.

Then one has to realize Adobe has its own AI generator, known as Sensei GenAI. So, why wouldn’t Adobe allow AI generated images to exist on their offering of stock images. At the moment Shutterstock doesn’t accept AI generated images, but it’s also interesting to note they have their own AI tool, so it’s likely only a matter of time before AI stock proliferates that site as well.

But ai ISN’T JUST ABOUT COMPROMISING CREATIVITY

It would seem AI is being used by law offices to research and write cases. There are a myriad of platforms out there, including, but not limited to, services like ChatGPT for Law, LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters, to name but a very few. And it would also seem one particular lawyer in British Columbia has fallen afoul of the AI genie, in that a precedent cited in a legal case was an AI hallucination. Or, to put it another way, misinformation.

Now, when lawyers start using AI generated information it really does raise the question about who controls the truth? Any business, political, or terrorist group can infect any AI with misinformation (let’s call it for what it is: lies), and thereby insidiously and subtlety infiltrate and compromise a group, business, or government. And if you think I’m over-reacting, just look at the misinformation totalitarian governments, and extremist organizations have achieved through social media in the past 20 years. We have people believing the world is flat, that vaccinations are either poisonous or filled with nanochips to control the population. So, add into that mix the potentially devastating corruption of facts and information that AI can achieve, we’re looking at a scenario right out of SF.

AI has also created a problem in the academic world, to the point many universities, and some secondary schools, are employing AI detection software in order to identify and cull work students haven’t actually written or researched themselves.

And what about employment?

Already AI is replacing people in many job sectors. Marketing comes to mind: whole departments have been gutted and replaced with some low-wage graduate of marketing studies, burdened with ridiculous student debt, overseeing marketing strategies and content completely generated by AI, and sometimes a department head who makes the decisions about the development and implementation of strategies. In some cases, that means a department of 20 people are now out of work. Multiply that across every business sector imaginable, and you have a hidden statistic of unemployment that’s staggering.

AI is replacing call centers, research departments, creative departments, in some cases administrative personnel. Anywhere big business can think to cut costs (meaning wages), they are.

But supporters of AI, like that author mentioned above, seem to feel there is nothing but opportunity for the people who are being replaced by AI. Opportunity where? Blithely, these supporters answer: through retraining. Well, if you’re out of work, and have no income, how are you going to afford retraining? And retraining in what field?

I heard the same BS in the 90s when a department of data entry clerks were being gutted. Half lost their jobs. But the corporate executioner sat there and told these women who were making minimum wage, that this wasn’t a bad thing. It was an opportunity, how he himself had been laid off, went back to university and retrained, and now had this great executive job. I pointed out to him that he had the funds with which to retrain, and was of an age where he could reshape his future. Most of the women he addressed were middle-aged, low income individuals who had no hope of affording the opportunities he experienced.

Clerks, researchers, government employees, administrative staff, just about any sector other than trades may very well be replaced by AI. And with the development of self-propelled vehicles, it’s not going to be long before anyone involved in shipping and transportation is going to be looking for those opportunities every shareholder promises is in your future.

Am I beginning to sound a bit ragey? Gee, I wonder why?

So let’s talk about music, art and literature

So, if AI is going to dominate our business world, it certainly is going to affect the entire spectrum of the creative world, from books and art, to film and music. Whether generated by big business, or indie producers, AI is going to allow people to create content at little to no cost, and generate it at lightning speed. If you think the publishing world is flooded now with books, just wait two years. It is estimated that in 2023, close to 4 million new books were published both traditionally and independently worldwide. Compare that to 2011 at approximately 3 million.

Now factor in the ability to generate an AI book in a day. I predict it won’t be long before traditional publishers, whether the Big 5, or mid- to small publishers, will start looking seriously at the economic reality of being able to produce content at little to no cost, at a rapid rate, content which you’re able to pivot at a moment’s notice to leverage trends and thereby capitalize on sales. Cover? No problem; use AI. Royalties? No problem; there are none. Profit? After printing cost, it’s all gravy, and even better if you’re generating digital content for e-reading or audio. Why, you can even generate an audio book through AI.

Wall art? Why pay an artist when you can generate something you want through AI, send that image to a printer, have it printed on canvas or paper, framed, and shipped to you for a fraction of the cost you’d have to pay someone who manipulates medium.

Music? You can generate that through AI as well, upload it to just about any streaming platform and now you’re a musician, one of millions creating more content. And the labels are watching that as well, poised to pump out trendy tunes without having to pay production and royalty costs for living, breathing musicians.

And while I hear colleagues saying humans will always create, that you cannot stifle the need to put hand and mind to making something out of nothing, those creations will inevitably be just for the creator and the very few in their close circle. Craft shows, farmer’s markets, fairs? Sure. But anyone who is a vendor at these venues will attest to the fact they are seeing a rise of mass manufactured product, which likely involved AI is some manner.

What’s the answer?

Damned if I know. I’m just raging a bit here. And I’m also glad I’m an old woman now, because I frankly can only see a dystopian future ahead. I don’t see opportunity. Sure, there are some wonderful things happening. But not enough. We’ve developed a society, whether you’re in a totalitarian or allegedly democratic state, which is dominated by corporate greed and political agenda shaped by that greed. It’s always been thus. But it’s just that stakes are so much higher now, and we’re returning to a serf/ruling class society with a huge disparity in wealth.

For myself, I’m going to continue to write stories few will read. I will continue to paint images few will bring into their lives. Why? Because I can. And when I’m gone, this legacy, if you want to call it that, will be my son’s problem, one easily fixed by calling a service like Got-Junk. Now that sounds hopeful, say what?

In the meantime, if you’re actually interested in reading any of my work, or purchasing any of my paintings, all of which contain my own sweat, angst, laughter, and thought, just browse around the website and see what’s on offer. I’m pretty confident you might find something you wish to bring into your life.

And you know what? Go out and take a walk. Plant something. Laugh about something. Why not?

Review: Lost Cargo, by Noah Chinn

Lost Cargo (Get Lost Saga, Book 2)
Noah Chinn
ISBN 9781990411182
328 pages
Release: November 1, 2023
Publisher: Independent

I don’t usually come to a novel series without having read the first, and it was likely my oversight that Lost Cargo was part of a series which may have swayed my opinion to the favourable. At this point that argument is moot, because Noah Chinn’s second installment in his Lost Saga series is a cleverly compartmentalized story, standing perfectly well on its own.

I also don’t come easily to a great many self-published books (yes, I am aware of the hypocrisy in this, being a self-published author myself) because they are so often disappointing, frustrating, just badly written, badly edited, bad, bad, bad.

Noah Chinn’s novel is none of these.

The marketing blurb reads thus:

Out of fuel and captured by pirates in his beat-up chimera of a ship, Maurice “Moss” Foote is having a bad day, until he gets a lead on the score of a lifetime. Easy pickings, if his crew doesn’t mind doing a bit of pirating themselves.

Moss certainly doesn’t. His ship’s computer, Violet, might. And his co-pilot, Hel, definitely will. But one tiny little lie might get them both on board.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Roy Herzog is having a worse day. He lost everyone he could stomach working with, then crossed paths with the Silver Legion, the very organization he deserted to become a pirate.

Unfortunately for him, the Legion does not forget, and does not easily forgive. But there might be a way out, and perhaps a shot at revenge against the pilot who nearly killed him.

A pilot who flies a chimera.

What Chinn delivers is a rocking good tale of hijinks, misdirects, foibles and fascinating concepts, a universe in which humans are pretty much relics, where their creations of hybrid human cyborgs, and synthetic humans, are the ruling species. There are mirrors of our present society in which ethnicities seek asylum. And the AI which Chinn introduces, while not entirely a new concept, is delivered in such a way to present a fresh take on the trope.

However, I’m sure there are colleagues of mine who are real scientists, who might baulk at what Chinn presents. All I can say is: forget the hard science. The writing is that crisp, the characters that believable if larger-than-life, irascible and often amoral, the plot so tight, that you won’t care about the hard science, or any number of minor points. It’s just a damned good read. And from me, I suppose that’s pretty high praise given I’m forever deconstructing and examining the craft behind a novel, the credibility of the world-building. There wasn’t a single moment when that editor inside my head whispered: oh yeah? And left me impatiently speed-reading just so I would be done.

As to the editing—well, it’s almost perfect. There were a very few minor copy-editing items of which any editor, any publisher, can be found guilty. And the layout was quite artistic, very top-drawer.

This is not high literature. What Lost Cargo is, is the best of escapist science fiction, the way it ought to be written. If you’re looking for that comfort-read while still tickling your brain, I highly recommend Noah Chinn’s Lost Cargo.

Dreams of the Moon now available in audiobook

I am so ridiculously excited to share with you the audiobook version of Dreams of the Moon, my collection of 10 fantastika short stories, narrated by Maria Campos.

Maria has done a fabulous job, employing her clear, resonant voice which perfectly captures the spirit of the collection. The audiobook runs two hours and 32 minutes, and is available through Amazon, Audible, and iTunes.

If you’re interested in a review copy, and can access the US site, contact me and I’ll be pleased to send you a free promo code.

New Associations

It’s about time

Only took me until my 69th year to gather the wherewithal to apply and be accepted to two professional publishing-related associations. But as they say, better late than never.

The Writers’ Union of Canada

The first is an association with which I’ve long wanted to be part of, and never could justify the cost of membership until now, The Writers’ Union of Canada. It was, for me, mostly a question of economics. It is ironic that now, in my alleged retirement years, I felt justified in laying out the funds to be part of this important association of writers.

The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) is the national organization of professionally published writers. TWUC was founded in 1973 to work with governments, publishers, booksellers, and readers to improve the conditions of Canadian writers. Now over 2,600 members strong, TWUC advocates on behalf of writers’ collective interests, and delivers value to members through advocacy, community, and information. TWUC believes in a thriving, diverse Canadian culture that values and supports writers.

Past advocacy work by the Union has led to such notable achievements as the establishment of Public Lending Right and Access Copyright, which provide writers with financial compensation for the use of their work by libraries and through electronic reproduction. Today, the Union focusses on accessibility, copyright, Canadian books in schools, and other priorities as determined through ongoing discussion at regional meetings, National Council, and TWUC’s annual general meeting.

The Union understands both the difficulties and the joys of being a writer in this country — from the isolation, frustration, financial concerns, and the need for information and assistance to the elation that comes with each publication. Members of the Union benefit from a range of services that are not otherwise easily available to writers working in isolation.

Criteria for applying to TWUC is exacting. And so, it was with a sense of accomplishment I received acceptance into TWUC earlier this week. I’m looking forward to accessing the opportunities which are available because of that.

Editors Canada

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The second professional association with which I am pleased to now be associated is Editors Canada. In 2022, I gave the closing keystone address for the association’s conference.

Editors Canada promotes professional editing as key in producing effective communication. Our 1,300 members are salaried and freelance, working with individuals and organizations in the corporate, technical, government, not-for-profit, academic and publishing sectors across the country and around the world in English and French. Many offer a wealth of editing-related services to their clients and employers.

Editors Canada supports professional development through seminars, online training and conferences; promotes and maintains high standards of editing through certification and reference publications; helps in-house and freelance editors to network and collaborate; and cooperates and partners with related associations in areas of common concern.

The association is incorporated federally as a not-for-profit organization under the 2014 Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act and is governed at the national level by an executive council.

Editors Canada is a member of the

Book and Periodical CouncilCultural Human Resources Council

Our members are also affiliate members of CHRC with discounted access to their training and career development materials.

Going forward

From here, I’m looking forward to 2024 and the next years as being the full-flowering of my 40 years of experience in the publishing industry, having worked as a journalist, writer, editor, and publisher.

Review: The Twistical Nature of Spoons, by Patti Grayson

The Twistical Nature of Spoons by Patti Grayson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The marketing blurb for Patti Grayson’s fourth novel reads:

Blisse has guarded the family secret for her entire childhood. No one can know the origin of her unconventional birthday gifts. Her mother, Ina, has insisted that Blisse never tell a soul – believing it’s the only way to keep her daughter safe from a dire fate. Together, mother and daughter must sift through their own versions of events to understand how the secret has led to the unravelling of their lives. Chock-full of masks and curses, art and magic, seduction and spoons, their stories are both fraught with misdirection and awash in whimsy. Can their revelations negate a tragic prediction? Or is the dissolution of love and family inevitable?

Sounds intriguing, yes? Perhaps a combination of CanLit and magic realism? I’m all prepared for an Atwood-ish immersion. The marketing metadata for the novel, however, lists it as Women’s Fiction, Literary Fiction, and thirdly, Fantasy. After having read Spoons (title abbreviated in the interest of my keyboarding fingers), I’d have to say the bibliographic metadata is spot on, although very loosely associated with fantasy.

Why am I belabouring metadata? Well, partially because I found myself a bit confused as to what, exactly, Grayson was trying to communicate in the novel, and it must be understood that confusion likely rests solely on my shoulders, not on Grayson’s. By now you’ll know that I’m a very critical reader. I nitpick. I huff and deconstruct, analyze, and debate. Can’t help it. Guess it’s the editor and years in the publishing industry. Or maybe I’m just an old crank.

Having said that, allow me to deconstruct, analyze, and debate.

The opening of the novel presents an ill-considered, steamy night of intrigue and passion between Ina Trove, the future mother in the novel, at this point working as a tavern waitress, and a tall, dark, handsome stranger (cue the bad-boy stereotype) by name of Taras, married, and a fabricator of family occultism who seduces her through an elegant and fascinating private presentation using the masks of commedia dell’arte. Everything about that segment suggests a deep fantasy undertone, something which might inform the entire story arc. Alas, that never happens. There is no magic, real or imagined. It was just a night of passion with someone who is a very good actor, which results in an unwanted pregnancy and all the social and financial calamity that follows. Taras disappears before Ina’s pregnancy becomes known, leaving her not only with his child, but the story of a curse—a curse that shapes what is to come.

That promise of fantasy or magic realism continues in alternating chapters between Ina and her daughter, Blisse. Blisse, it would seem is the recipient of twisted spoons, allegedly created by her father and left as gifts for her. Said father is allegedly dead. (There may be spoiler alerts throughout this review.) Blisse makes the spoons into her own little fantasy family, imaginary friends, as it were, and with them discusses and solves many of her childhood problems.

It is at this point that pesky editor and cynic in me began to whisper insidious and critical phrases like:

How can Ina support herself and her daughter solely through rent from a boarder, and craft show sales?
How did Ina manage to renovate the house she inherits from the death of her mother without building permits and sufficient funds?
There were more, many more, but you get the point.

Then there’s the problem of how Grayson has chosen the voice for Blisse, which comes across as just a bit too twee, and far too adult at times, most definitely into the extreme end of precocious and precious.

Dialogue throughout the novel is stilted because of the complete absence of contractions. Who consistently says: I will not, I do not, I cannot? We speak in contractions: I won’t, I don’t, I can’t. (I did warn you: I nitpick. And I did wonder where were these editors Grayson so graciously thanked in her afterword?)

Then there is the romantic element of the story, which for me lacked credibility: Ina carries a torch for Taras for the rest of her life. She is hopelessly in love with someone with whom she spent one night of lust, a few charged hours. This is love? Obsession might be a better term. Unhinged most definitely. In need of therapy most likely. But love? And so again this reader is halted, says, “Oh yeah?” and pretty much wants to close the book.

In the soap-operatic denouement, the star-crossed lovers are reunited, only to have him immediately suffer a massive heart attack after hearing he is a father. Blisse, the daughter, by this point knows all about her mother’s life-long deception, has estranged herself, and only through chance discovers her father is in fact real, in peril of dying before she ever gets to meet him.

By that stage I’m really feeling I’ll never get those hours back, that I am not the reader for Grayson’s novel, that I’m far too critical and demanding to accept the world and plot as laid out, and all that makes me feel apologetic. I’m also feeling a lot cheated, because reading about Taras lying in a hospital bed, all I can think is: where’s the magic? What of the masks? What of the promise implied in those opening pages? It’s like being teased with a taste of extraordinary chocolate only to have the remainder be stale Easter candy.

And the ending, well, it’s a bit of shiny tin foil wrapping for that stale, old candy. There’s nothing really new here. No nuance, nor insight, nor moments of brilliant phrasing. It’s just another sort of fantasy, definitely romance, misdirection and misunderstanding. If you like that sort of very easy reading, then Grayson’s The Twistical Nature of Spoons is most definitely your next read.

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Review: The Bittlemores, by Jann Arden

The Bittlemores by Jann Arden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The marketing blurb for Jann Arden’s debut novel reads:

On mean Harp Bittlemore’s blighted farm, hidden away in the Backhills, nothing has gone right for a very long time. Crops don’t grow, the pigs and chickens stay skinny and the three aged dairy cows, Berle, Crilla and Dally, are so desperate they are plotting an escape. The one thing holding them back is the thought of abandoning young Willa, the single bright point in their life since her older sister, Margaret, ran away.

But Willa Bittlemore, just turning 14, is planning her own rebellion. Something doesn’t add up in the story she’s been told about her missing sister, and she’s beginning to question if her horrible parents are even her parents at all. Just as things are really coming to a head, a bright young police officer starts investigating a cold case involving a baby stolen from a little rural hospital 28 years earlier, and Willa and the cows find out exactly how far the Bittlemores will go to protect a festering secret.

Written with Jann’s trademark outrageous humour and full of her down-to-earth wisdom, The Bittlemores is a rural fairytale, a coming-of-age story and a prairie mystery all-in-one, saturated with her observations of the world she grew up in and her deep connection to the animals we exploit. This marvel of a first novel digs into how people come to be so cruel, but it also glories in the miracle of human kindness.

I came to Arden’s novel through the recommendation of a dear friend with whom my literary tastes, as he puts it, often intersect. It would be disingenuous of me not to admit my first reaction was: Oh yeah? Another literary attempt by another celebrity. So it was with that unfair prejudice I flipped open the first pages of Arden’s absurdist tale fully prepared to begin huffing and skimming. That, however, didn’t happen at all.

Immediately I was drawn in by the spare but at times beautiful writing, the frankness of her prose, the honesty of the — albeit fantastical — story she spun. Now you have to understand there are talking cows in this tale. Even a cat. And perhaps the pigs come into the conversations, and maybe even the chickens. It’s all rather Animal Farm, but also not, and most definitely not a dark cautionary tale. And did I mention one cow can write? Just a little? In the dirt with a hoof? And those most definitely are cautionary messages.

But what is truly remarkable throughout all this nonsensical, fantastical, weird and often disturbing tale is that not for a moment did I question the reality of these absurdities; that, in itself, speaks highly of Arden’s ability to suspend reader disbelief and ensnare you in her delicious, diabolical web.

What’s even more impressive, is that Arden employs an omniscient point of view, so that in any given page the reader is travelling from the thoughts of one character to another, all done seamlessly and with an innate ability to handle the unreliable narrator.

That being said, this is no gut-busting romp. Throughout I had to wonder how much of the character sketches and actions were autobiographical, because being a survivor of childhood abuse myself, there was a great deal of gravitas and truth in what Arden relates, and at times I found that familiar and disturbing. So, if you’re likely to spin off into panic or depression reading about that sort of thing, I would suggest you go into the story forewarned.

My one and only criticism is the happily-ever after ending, which Arden absolutely is allowed, given this is her story and her vision. But for myself, I found it too saccharine, and it was at that point my disbelief came into play. I suppose, however, given all the two main characters endured at the hands of the alcoholic and crazed Bittlemores, they’re allowed their happily-ever-after.

Should you read The Bittlemores? Sure. Why not? It’s a good story, well-told, with dastardly villains, downtrodden women, and downtrodden cows (one of whom is literate), and pigs, and chickens, and an orange cat.

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Review: Flower and Thorn, by Rati Mehrotra

Flower and Thorn by Rati Mehrotra

You know how you feel after a really good meal? That feeling of satisfaction? Everything was perfect, or near to. Yeah, that’s how I felt after reading Rati Mehrotra’s new YA novel, Flower and Thorn.

Now in order to understand the depth of that reaction, it’s also important to know I’m a really hard-to-please reader. I’m forever questioning research, analyzing character, world and plot development. In other words, I find it hard to shut off the editor. Mehrotra silenced that editor almost from the outset.

So, what is Flower and Thorn about? The marketing blurb runs thus:

A young flower hunter gets embroiled in the succession politics of the Sultanate when she must retrieve the rarest and most powerful magical flower after giving it to the wrong hands.

Irinya has wanted to be a flower hunter ever since her mother disappeared into the mysterious mist of the Rann salt flats one night. Now seventeen, Irinya uses her knowledge of magical flowers to help her caravan survive in the harsh desert. When her handsome hunting partner and childhood friend finds a priceless silver spider lily―said to be able to tear down kingdoms and defeat entire armies―Irinya knows this is their chance for a better life.

Until Irinya is tricked by an attractive impostor.

Irinya’s fight to recover the priceless flower and fix what she’s done takes her on a dangerous journey, one she’s not sure she’ll survive. She has no choice but to endure it if she hopes to return home and mend the broken heart of the boy she’s left behind.

I do have to say that marketing blurb would not have won me over. The novel sounds more like a YA romance, and I feel about romance of any kind the way I feel about skydiving. A big hard no.

But while Mehrotra does unfold a romance, it’s really a backstory to the very compelling political and economic narrative she creates in a credible India under Portuguese conquest and control during the 16th century. The environmental descriptions are deftly entwined in character viewpoint, and the characters developed so vividly they are real and whisper in your waking moments to return to their world and walk their journey. Woven into that very rich history and environment, Mehrotra drops in rare, magical flowers which can only be found in the salt marsh/desert of the Rann, an area of 26,000 kilometres in the Gujarati region of northwest India.

And as with so many human stories, the flower-hunters of the Rann are essentially indentured slaves to the wholesalers who have a monopoly on their trade, wholesalers who reap all the profits. I was very much minded of the 18th century fishing outports of Newfoundland.

There is also Mehrotra’s handling of magic, in that it’s not easy, and it is rare. Everything has a cost. That appeals to me personally, because the caveats and difficulties around magic render the story more compelling. If you have to work hard for something, and then once you have it you’re aware this thing may cost your life, or the life or well-being of someone you love, that literary device then adds another layer of crisis to the plot and world-building. It creates a tension that’s strung to a high pitch throughout the story and keeps you reading.

As to Mehrotra’s writing style, it’s very approachable, very much in the voice of a storyteller, with evocative description, tight character point of view, and great tension. There is no exposition in her work. Every phrase, every paragraph fits together in a very skillfully-crafted package.

All things considered, I’d have to say Mehrotra’s Flower and Thorn is an excellent, escapist read, not unlike Naomi Novik’s many immersive stories. Rati Mehrotra has won me over. I’ll be looking for more of her work.

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Audiobook for Dreams of the Moon

Great way to start 2024

I’ve just signed a contract with voice actor Maria Campos to narrate Dreams of the Moon. Maria has a gorgeous voice with excellent enunciation and expressiveness. I was frankly a bit blown away by her audition, and so am more than a little excited to have her produce my collection of short, speculative fiction.

Why return to live voice?

Indeed why? Mostly my reason to return to live voice narration rather than AI, or record myself, has firstly to do with principle, and secondly to do with my own technical limitations.

While AI narration is inexpensive and ridiculously easy through Google’s platform, I am all too cognizant of my hypocrisy in choosing that platform. If I don’t want to be replaced by AI as a writer and an artist, why shouldn’t I stand in solidarity with voice actors as well? AI has its place, make no mistake. But it should have no role in replacing live artists. And if I’m going to take that stand, I need to make it universal, not a choice of convenience.

One choice causes a cascade

The decision to return to live voice narration caused a cascade of events. While I did successfully narrate and produce Caliban as an audiobook, it would seem when my office was renovated, and I moved to my new desk, an acacia desktop acts as a drum, and even with a thick towel acting as a buffer, it’s not enough. Every keystroke or mouse movement to scroll through the script results in a faint but audible thump, a thump I simply cannot edit out. And so after putting in over 50 hours to narrate The Rose Guardian, I was unable to have the recording meet ACX’s very stringent and excellent standards. It’s available through Kobo and Google, but I cannot access Amazon, iTunes, or Audible (all controlled by ACX) because of that blasted drum. And Amazon’s/Audible’s market comprises over 50% of all audiobook sales.

I also learned the hard way that ACX will not accept any AI generated narration. I have to give some grudging respect to the Amazon empire, and also realized that if Amazon, for whatever profit-mandated reason, eschews AI (at least for now, until they develop their own), I should as well. Afterall, I’m allegedly a person of principle.

You need a lot of manure to grow a garden

Say what? Yes, you do need a lot of manure to grow a garden, or at least a flourishing, bountiful and gorgeous garden. And yes that’s also a not-so-very subtle metaphor, because were it not for those lessons in producing audiobooks, I might never have come across Maria Campos and her delicious voice and professional standards. I am more than a little hopeful, like every gardener in mid-winter, that what grows out of this partnership will be something flourishing, perhaps bountiful, and most definitely gorgeous.

The details

Dreams of the Moon should release as an audiobook June 15, 2024, and run about 2 hours in length. It will be exclusively available through Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. I will, of course, post updates when they become available.

News: On Spec Team, Reviews, and Stuff

Editorial Team At On Spec

I am thrilled to announce I’ve accepted an invitation from Diane Walton, Publisher at On Spec Magazine, to join their editorial staff.

There is a large roster of editors at On Spec. But, then, they receive a large number of submissions and require a large number of people to read and adjudicate every story. Very much look forward to working with Diane and all the team.

If you’ve never read an issue, you should check out the publication. It’s a showcase for established and emerging Canadian speculative fiction writers. Perhaps I am a bit biased, given I’ve had a few short stories appear in the magazine over the past 30 years. Still, worth your time.

I was also pleased to be asked to be a reviewer for On Spec earlier in the year.

Untold Stories Reviewed at Amazing Stories

The new anthology, Untold Stories, from the Dublin Creative Writers is now available for purchase. There are two Canadian writers who appear in the publication: Jean-Louis Trudel, and myself.

R. Graeme Cameron was kind enough to review the two Canadian stories in his column for Amazing Stories. You can read what he had to say here. The review is at the end of his review of Scott Overton’s recent novel.

To my delight, Graeme compared my story, “For A Cup of Tea” to Edgar Allan Poe and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Good heavens!

General Writing News

This year I’ve concentrated primarily on writing short stories, and have had some success in selling those to various markets:

“A Case of Time” to Murder on Her Mind“A Fine May Evening” to Polar Borealis“The Blessing of Survivalist Skills” to The Bad Day Book“For a Cup of Tea” to Untold Stories“The Keening of the Sparrow” to On Spec“Occupational Hazards” to Metastellar“Remember” to Polar Borealis

And I have a couple of stories under final consideration at two different publications, one of which would be a life-long dream. We’ll see. It would be a nice Christmas present.

PaintingMarch Thaw
watercolour on Arches 140lb hot pressed
7″ x 10″
Copyright 2023 Lorina Stephens

From January to March of 2023 it would seem I produced quite a number of small watercolour paintings, mostly studies in a series which concentrated on the themes and environment of November and March, those times of year of transition. They are a very moody time of year for me, a time when I greatly feel the earth winding down and then waking up. It’s all about cycles, recharging, renewal. These etudes, if you will, can be seen here on the website under the paintings section.

Going Forward

I’d had some high ambitions at the end of last year, hopes to have a sequel to From Mountains of Ice written and published, and to have completed an historical novel, Hekja’s Lament. Neither of those ambitions saw fruition, in fact didn’t get much beyond outlines and a few first chapters. Life, it would seem, saw otherwise, part of which was dealing with my mum-in-law who is widowed, 93, a frail bird and suffering with dementia.

We now have her safely and happily ensconced in a very good retirement home 15 minutes from us. Her condition and needs also meant my dear husband and lifelong buddy retired. And so we all have entered a new phase of life, one which brings much contemplation and a somewhat pragmatic and fatalistic sensibility for my husband and me.

In 2024 I very much look forward to playing a positive role at On Spec, to writing and having published more short stories. I am very determined to get at least a first draft of Hekja’s Lament finished. I’m, after all, not getting any younger.

And there will be the inevitable joy of the garden, part of which has already started in the shape of rooting ivy cuttings for the 16 hanging baskets and 16 planters. Very soon seeds will be started , and my office space, which is also the indoor greenhouse, will burgeon with flora. There are times it’s like writing in a garden. And I count myself very, very fortunate to have carved out this life for myself and my dear partner.

Wishing my small but faithful readers and followers much contentment, prosperity, and good health now and into 2024.

Review: Bounty, by Jason Pchajek

Bounty by Jason Pchajek
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The promotional blurb for Jason Pchajek’s new cybercrime novel reads: Nikos Wulf is at the top of his game. Within the sublevels of 2120 Winnipeg, he is the undisputed king of bounty hunters, working for the elite Bounty Commission Eco-Terror Taskforce. The job: maintain the delicate ecological balance in a city holding back climate collapse. But when a series of bounties go wrong, Nikos finds himself on the trail of a troubling new player among the city’s anti-establishment. Bound to a sense of duty to the city that made him, Nikos finds himself in a deadly game of catch-up with an insidious enemy bent on bringing down everything he’s fought so hard to protect.

I have to state unequivocally that had I been browsing for my next read, this is not the sort of novel I would have chosen. To say I have an antipathy toward anything cyberpunk, crime story, or hard-baked drama would be an understatement. That’s why my reaction to Pchajek’s debut novel is startling, because I actually found myself entertained.

First some background on Jason Pchajek. He’s a Manitoban with a Master’s in Sociology from the University of Manitoba, deeply interested in climate, biotechnology, human enhancement, inequality, and the future of humans. He’s also a journalist, radio host, hockey announcer, and corporate researcher. Knowing that, it became clear to me how that experience informed and gave credibility to much of what he presents in this action-packed, Clancy meets Gibson novel.

From the first pages Pchajek creates a real and believable character in Nikos Wulf, a bounty hunter who works in the new version of Winnipeg which not only rises in skyscrapers but delves deeply beneath the tremendous rivers of this remarkable city. If I’m honest, I couldn’t help but think of a version of Thomas Jane’s engaging performance as Josephus Miller in The Expanse, a character I was deeply fascinated by and fond of.

Pchajek’s ability as a writer doesn’t stop with excellent characterization; he has an innate understanding of how to build believable and credible worlds geographically, materially, and sociologically. His is an immersive experience.

Once introduced to Nikos Wulf’s world and occupation, the story charges ahead at a brisk pace, rarely dull, always understandable. The writing is crisp, efficient, as suits the subject.

My only criticism, and this is entirely personal esthetic, is that as the major knock-‘em-down scenes unfolded, the atmosphere and characters took on an almost Marvel Cinematic Universe feeling with cloaked superhero bounty hunters in Bobbie Draper MMC special forces armour. I do, however, know many of my colleagues would twitch with glee reading Pchajek’s novel. And that is as it should be.

Oh, and Jason, yeah, about that antipathy of mine: well done, sir. You absolutely shut down that critical, elitist reader I tend to be and took me on a very entertaining journey. Thanks.

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