Edward Willett's Blog, page 11
June 24, 2019
Rediscovering The Hobbit
“In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit…” 2012 was a thrilling year for J.R.R. Tolkien fans everywhere, as they were finally able to witness Bilbo Baggins’s foray into the magical world of Middle Earth on the big screen for the first of three The Lord of the Rings prequel movies Despite The Hobbit’s several deviations from the 1937 book, most would agree that it’s still a film...
June 12, 2019
Worldshaper long-listed for Sunburst Award for best YA novel!
Amazon U.S. | Amazon Canada | Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Penguin Random House | Indiebound | Powell’s Buy an autographed copy from my online bookstore! My novel Worldshaper (DAW Books) has been long-listed for this years Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, in the Young Adult Fiction category. (A bit of a surprise since it wasn’t published as YA, but it
June 5, 2019
I’m the next Saskatoon Public Library Writer in Residence!
I’ve known about this for a while, obviously, but it just became official today with the sending out of a press release by the library. Which I humbly (or, possibly not-so-humbly) copy below: One of Saskatchewan’s most prolific authors, Edward Willett, is looking forward to sharing his expertise and passion for prose with the Saskatoon-and-area writing community through Saskatoon Public...
June 1, 2019
The Worldshapers podcast is an Aurora Awards finalist!
My podcast, The Worldshapers (“Conversations with science fiction and fantasy authors about the creative process”) is a finalist for this year’s Aurora Awards (honouring the best in Canadian science fiction and fantasy), in the Best Fan Related Work category (a first for me!). Lots of great work nominated in all the categories–check out the complete ballot below...
May 21, 2019
Watch my magical, fantastical play-with-music, The Music Shoppe, on YouTube!
From left to right, Lyndon Bray, Elizabeth Popowich, Ben Redant (The Pianist), Hannah Dove, Nathan Sgrazzutti, Geneva Sirett, David Hopkinson, Lise Moore, Carolyn Speirs, Miranda Sheepwash. Missing: Ilana van der Merwe. At the end of April, Regina Lyric Musical Theatre presented my fantastical play-with-music, The Music Shoppe, in four performances at the Shumiatcher Theatre in the MacKenzie Art...
May 18, 2019
New cover for Worldshaper mass-market paperback!
The mass-market paperback version of Worldshaper comes out in August, and DAW Books has taken the opportunity to redesign the front cover, to tie it in more closely with Master of the World, Book 2, which comes out in September. It also now boasts about the Publishers Weekly starred review, which I heartily approve of. Here are the two covers side by side. The new Worldshaper paperback comes out...
May 2, 2019
“A startlingly good book of poetry for teens…a gem!”
A great review of my collection of fantastical poetry, I Tumble Through the Diamond Dust, illustrated by my niece, Wendi Nordell, is now online, after previously appearing only in print in Resource Links, which reviews books for school libraries. Exerpts… “In April 2016, Saskatchewan’s then–poet laureate Gerald Hill sent members of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild two lines of poetry...
Praise for Paths to the Stars from Saskatchewan Book Awards jurors
Paths to the Stars was shortlisted for two Saskatchewan Book Awards this year (my eighth book to be shortlisted): the City of Regina Book Award for best book by a Regina author, and the Muslims for Peace and Justice Fiction Award, for best work of fiction. Although it didn’t win (you can see the complete list of winners here, and congratulations to them all!), it did get some nice comments...
April 20, 2019
“The Music Shoppe is what happens when a science-fiction author writes a musical”
The Music Shoppe, the play-with-music I wrote and am directing for Regina Lyric Musical Theatre, runs this coming week (April 25-28, 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday) at the Shumiatcher Theatre, Mackenzie Art Gallery..which means publicity is happening. Here’s the story from today’s Regina Leader Post. An excerpt: “(There’s a) mysterious mechanical pianist that can play...
April 16, 2019
A new, revised edition of Spirit Singer, my award-winning YA fantasy
Through Shadowpaw Press, I’ve released a new, revised edition of Spirit Singer, my young adult fantasy, first published in 2002, that won multiple awards: a Saskatchewan Book Award (the Regina Book Award for best book by a Regina author), an EPPIE Award for best electronically published young adult novel, and a Dream Realm Award (young adult category) for best electronically published...
