Colleen Anderson's Blog, page 53

Modern Bands and Zombies

A new phenomenon has cropped up in the last five years that I hadn't seen before. Maybe it was slowly oozing up through the groundwater of culture before this but I never noticed it. True I don't see a lot of live bands…well okay that's not true. I go to one place that often has a live band that plays while people drink and socialize. They often talk through the music. There are no vocals (usually) because the band is meant to give background atmosphere.

Now bands that play in pubs, cabarets a...

Hive: What's the Buzz?

Sometimes I live in a cultural wasteland. Not that things don't happen here in the Shangrila of the West Coast. They do, despite the provincial government thinking that it's good to support sports but bad to support the arts. But we all know that rant of mine.

One of the events that seems to have happened for the last two years, and this year being it's third, is Hive 3, a performance extravaganza all under one roof.  Set up at The Centre for Digital Media (and this year part of the cultural O...

The Kiss of Death

One might think this is a euphemism for a vampire's love bite, or perhaps the last sarcastically sensual act of a femme fatale. However I'm talking about the kiss of death as a writer. Now it can be interpreted several different ways but I have managed to be the kiss of death quite a few times.

What I mean is this: you get an acceptance from a publisher/editor for a piece in their magazine and then you either find out that the magazine is folding with the issue before the one that would have y...

Writing: Evolve Book Review

Evolve is being launched at World Horror Convention at the end of this month in Brighton. I've already written about this collection of modern vampire stories by Canadians, in which I have the story "An Ember Amongst the Fallen."  Edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and published by Edge publications, it is already available.

The first review has been posted at SciFiGuy Evolve Review and is quite favorable. I'm happy to have a review as my story "The Fathomless World" which was in Cone Zero did not...

Writing: Aurora Award Nominees

I'll mention right off that these are not the film related Aurora Awards but the Prix Aurora Awards voted on by Canadian fans/readers/writers for Canadian speculative fiction, art and fan achievement. They differ from SFWA's Nebula Awards because only SFWA (Science Fiction [& Fantasy:] Writers of America) membership can nominate a writer, and only the membership (made up of professional writers, editors and agents) can vote on the nominations. The Bram Stoker Awards, which I also mentioned...

Writing: Award Nominees

The recent couple of months have seen various nominations for writing awards. Taking place in Brighton, UK on March 27  at the World Horror Convention will be the Bram Stoker Awards for horror or dark fantasy. The nominee's are:

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL

Audrey's Door by Sarah Langan (Harper)

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry (St. Martin's Griffin)

Quarantined by Joe McKinney (Lachesis Publishing)

Cursed by Jeremy Shipp (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A FIRST NOVEL

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Fashion: How Movies Corrupt History

I'm not talking the thousand dollar (plus) frocks that actors wear during the Oscar ceremonies. I'm talking about historical (or pseudo-historical period pieces). There are a full range of historical movies from the earliest eras of humankind up to World War or gangster films. All of these take a fair amount of research and knowledge on the costume designer's part to recreate the era and the feel of the time. Sometimes the director and cinematographer may want a particular atmosphere, so...

Costume Corruption in the Movies

I'm not talking the thousand dollar (plus) frocks that actors wear during the Oscar ceremonies. I'm talking about historical (or pseudo-historical period pieces). There are a full range of historical movies from the earliest eras of humankind up to World War or gangster films. All of these take a fair amount of research and knowledge on the costume designer's part to recreate the era and the feel of the time. Sometimes the director and cinematographer may want a particular atmosphere, so...

Pilgrimage Tourism

In my research for a story during biblical times I have come across the bizarre business of what I call pilgrimage tourism. By the Middle Ages, part or bodies of saints had begun to surface, literally. They were found in sepulchers, under churches, in the naves, perhaps a grave yard, and various other places. Some of these saint may have done a lot more traveling after their deaths than they did before they died.

Some traveled far and wide and one was likely to find  the remains of every...

Olympic End and Aftermath

I did actually venture into the crazed throng on Saturday night. First we gathered at a friend's near to the SkyTrain and had drinks at her place, knowing that places would be packed downtown. Then we (seven of us) walked over to the SkyTrain and boarded, losing half our party immediately. But we yelled that we'd meet them off the train since one of our party needed to buy a ticket (and some of us didn't bother I think).

At around 9:30 pm we boarded a pretty full  train where people were...