Matthew Ledrew's Blog
November 3, 2020
WINNER: “A DARKNESS WITHIN” BY ALI HOUSE | KIT SORA FLASH FICTION PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the September 2020 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Ali House with the story, A Darkness Within!
A native Newfoundlander, House is a graduate of the Fine Arts program at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College (MUN). She currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she works in arts administration and spends more time than a person should in and around theaters.
House is an avid traveler and foodie, and uses her adventures for her inspiration when she writes.
In addition to her first novel The Six Elemental, House is a prolific short story writer, with stories appearing in Bluenose Paradox, Unexpected Stories, Fantasy from the Rock, Chillers from the Rock, Sci-Fi from the Rock and Gathering Storm Magazine.
We had two judges for this contest:
Melissa Wong is a librarian, copyeditor, freelance journalist and published author who loves to write stories. Her work was recognized when she received the 2017 Atlantic Journalism Award. To become a writer, she earned a BA (Hons) from MUN and a journalism diploma from CNA.
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Kit Sora Photography. Kit Sora is an artist and photographer from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Her photography draws inspiration from fantasy, dystopia, and thrillers to create evocative imagrey that startles, inspires, and excites.Kit signed with Engen Books in 2018 as head photographer, producing the thrilling image for Chillers from the Rock and re-imagining the covers to the entire Black Womb series into the Coral Beach Casefiles series. Drew Power is a currently seated member of the Sci-Fi on the Rock committee. He was recently featured as the model on the cover of the bestselling collection Chillers from the Rock.
Runners up include Going Home by Amanda Evans, and The New Me by Amanda Evans.
The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.
The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). Both runner-up entries will also be featured.
WINNER: “UNBRIDLED FURY” BY TREVOR JESS | KIT SORA FLASH FICTION PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the August 2020 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Trevor Jess with the story, Unbridled Fury!
Trevor Jess grew up in Centreville, Nova Scotia, and still resides in the Annapolis Valley. He began writing twenty years ago, when he could not tell his stories quickly enough through drawing alone. His story ‘Time Booth’ appeared in Andromeda Spaceways issue #63, and his short story ‘Haven’ was recently accepted by Black Hare Press for publication in their lockdown series. His Kit Sora submission for July 2020 was a runner up.
We had two judges for this contest:
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Matthew LeDrew has written twenty novels for Engen Books, Black Womb, Transformations in Pain, Smoke and Mirrors, Roulette, Ghosts of the Past, Ignorance is Bliss, Becoming, Inner Child, Gang War, Chains, The Long Road, Cinders, Sinister Intent, Faith, Family Values, Touch Your Nose, Jacobi Street, Infinity, The Tourniquet Reprisal and Exodus of Angels.
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Kit Sora Photography. Kit Sora is an artist and photographer from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Her photography draws inspiration from fantasy, dystopia, and thrillers to create evocative imagrey that startles, inspires, and excites.Kit signed with Engen Books in 2018 as head photographer, producing the thrilling image for Chillers from the Rock and re-imagining the covers to the entire Black Womb series into the Coral Beach Casefiles series. Drew Power is a currently seated member of the Sci-Fi on the Rock committee. He was recently featured as the model on the cover of the bestselling collection Chillers from the Rock.
Runners up include Bid Me Run, and I Will Strive With Things Impossible by Ali House, and Doubles by N. Phoenix Bowman.
The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.
The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). Both runner-up entries will also be featured.
WINNER: “WAITING” BY HANNAH JENKINS | KIT SORA FLASH FICTION PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the July 2020 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Hannah Jenkins with the story, Waiting!
Hannah Jenkins is a new writer currently residing in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, where she is completing a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature. She founded the creative writing society at her university and sits on the editorial board of the school’s journal, Paper Mill Press. Among other distinctions, she is the recipient of the 2020 Moynes-Keshen John McCrae Poetry Award and is currently in the midst of producing her first chapbook of poetry entitled The Birds Come Back in the Spring.
We had one judge for this contest:
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Kaleigh Middelkoop is a photographer who primarily uses self portraiture as a means to tell stories and express ideas with the aid of costumes and props she makes by hand. Heavily influenced by fairy tales and the slightly strange, her work has surreal and magical elements woven throughout.
Kaleigh is a featured artist at Bellazo in downtown Wabash, IN as well as Ocean View Art Gallery in Carbonear, NL.
Runners up include A Fleeting Yarn by Trevor Jess, and Splinter & Splice by Peter J Foote.
The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.
The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). Both runner-up entries will also be featured.
WINNER: “STORIES & TIME” BY JENNIFER SHELBY | KIT SORA FLASH FICTION PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the June 2020 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Jennifer Shelby with the story, Stories & Time!
Jennifer Shelby was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and currently resides in Hopewell Hill, New Brunswick. She is the author of many works of short fiction, including ‘Mrs. Coleman’s Backyard Refugee Camp’ for Andromeda Spaceways, and ‘Toby’s Alicorn Adventure’ for Cricket.
She was published in Pulp Science-Fiction from the Rock with her her short story ‘Parachutes and Grappling Hooks’ and will be the author of the fifth episode of Slipstreamers ‘Plague of the Dreamless.’
We had two judges for this contest:
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Matthew LeDrew has written twenty novels for Engen Books, Black Womb, Transformations in Pain, Smoke and Mirrors, Roulette, Ghosts of the Past, Ignorance is Bliss, Becoming, Inner Child, Gang War, Chains, The Long Road, Cinders, Sinister Intent, Faith, Family Values, Touch Your Nose, Jacobi Street, Infinity, The Tourniquet Reprisal and Exodus of Angels.
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Kit Sora Photography. Kit Sora is an artist and photographer from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Her photography draws inspiration from fantasy, dystopia, and thrillers to create evocative imagrey that startles, inspires, and excites.Kit signed with Engen Books in 2018 as head photographer, producing the thrilling image for Chillers from the Rock and re-imagining the covers to the entire Black Womb series into the Coral Beach Casefiles series. Drew Power is a currently seated member of the Sci-Fi on the Rock committee. He was recently featured as the model on the cover of the bestselling collection Chillers from the Rock.
Runners up include Stardasher by David Costa, and Strange Profession by Amanda Evans.
The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.
The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). Both runner-up entries will also be featured.
October 19, 2020
Never Burn Your Work | House Blog
We’ve all had moments where we’ve thought “This story is so bad that I’m going to set it on fire and roast marshmallows over the flames.” The story doesn’t even need to actually be bad – maybe it’s great but you’ve submitted it so many times that you think it’ll never find a home, or maybe you just can’t get it finished and think only the cleansing power of fire will help. Or maybe you’re simply having a bad day and need to destroy something.
Thankfully now that computers exist, instead of having stacks of paper that can easily be set aflame or ripped into tiny bits, we can merely save those stories in a folder and never look at them again.
Sometimes when I’m in a creative slump I like to wander through my ‘unfinished’ files and see what was going on in my head back then. Why did I abandon that story? Was that actually a terrible idea? Can this be reworked and made into something better?
Today, instead of going through all these random titles* alone, I thought I’d share some with you.
Groundwork : An idea about magical coffee that I used for a very specific submissions call (but never finished in time). Honestly, thinking about it now, I might want to take that magical aspect and put it into another story. Also, I really wish I had magical coffee right now.
City of Ghosts : I have a great chapter 1 written, but just can’t get chapter 2 to work out. This has gone through numerous re-writes and re-casts, and I still can’t quite make it work. Someday I’ll take the time to work on this… someday…
My Mind Makes Things Go Boom : The title says it all. There’s basically 200 words written in this story and nothing about the plot or even what the main character’s name is. I have no idea where I’m going with this, and I’m pretty sure I thought of the title, realized I had nothing else, and gave up.
The Score : A novella that intertwines theft with a musical motif, written when I was in university. I think fondly of it, but oh dear does it need some major work.
No Problem : I have an original character that I adore (from a different, unpublished universe), and I wanted to write a story about him. It didn’t quite work out and the ending has yet to be typed. But I swear I’ll come to back to this one day…
Missing Mountains : Again, I had one small thought and hoped that it would blossom into an actual plot. It didn’t. But maybe some day it will…
Apologies to Patrick Stewart : The story of my first trip to New York City, where all I wanted to do was see a play starring Patrick Stewart. It’s memorable, but not in the way you’d think (spoiler, I never actually met or talked to Patrick Stewart, but I became a bit of a celebrity at the theatre where the show was). This was sent in for a travel story about helpful locals, but never got picked, so perhaps I’ll re-work it for my autobiography (which will come out when I’m 80).
And that’s just a taste of all the works-in-progress cluttering up my hard-drive at the moment. If I’m honest, it actually did give my creative brain a boost. Heck, I might have worked out a plot for Missing Mountains just now…
So instead of putting that story in the recycling bin, hold onto it. After a while you might look at it and realize it’s got potential. Or maybe it’ll give you a laugh. Or maybe you’ll realize that you really need to start taking more detailed notes because what the heck does that even mean?
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*Note: this is why you should always try to name your work something interesting, so that by simply reading the name you know what it’s about. I have a few file names I look at and have no clue what might be inside, while other names bring back those ideas as plain as day.
October 6, 2020
Meet The Editors: Dr. Sulaimon Giwa
Dr. Sulaimon Giwa is an Assistant Professor in the School Social Work with a cross-appointment to the Department of Sociology (Police Studies) at Memorial University. He is the Endowed Chair in Criminology and Criminal Justice at St. Thomas University and is a board member for Quadrangle Newfoundland and Labrador. An interdisciplinary scholar who self-identifies as same-gender-loving, Dr. Giwa’s empirical and theoretical research is informed by an intersectional and critical race approach to social justice, to advance understanding about the experiences of racialized and gender and sexually diverse groups with systems of oppression. His research and writings have appeared in top-ranked international journals. Dr. Giwa serves as the convener for the Research Exchange Group on Gender, Sexuality, and Health at the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research, and has collaborated with the St. John’s Pride Inc. on different initiatives, including coauthoring the report Restoring Confidence in Pride: The Way Forward. Dr. Giwa is an active member of the Black Lives Matter Newfoundland and Labrador and the Anti-Racism Coalition of Newfoundland and Labrador, among other social justice movement groups.
Engen Books is accepting submissions for our newest anthology, celebrating the 2SLGBTQAI+ community, to be available in the summer of 2021. Whether you are well-established, or a new author, please consider submitting your work for this groundbreaking anthology.
Deadline for Submissions: March 31 2021 but get your stories in as quick as you can, as it gives our wonderful editors more time to work with you and make sure it is as good as it can possibly be! For more information, click here.
September 29, 2020
Meet the Editors: Ailsa Craig
Ailsa Craig is a queer and trans activist, co-founder and board member for Quandrangle NL, and Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland. With degrees in both Sociology and Creative Writing, their work has appeared in The Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society; Poetics; and Journal of Material Culture, as well as in edited collections, including Queer View Mirror: Lesbian and Gay Short Fiction (Arsenault Pulp Press, 1995), Practicing Culture (Routledge, 2007) Reclaiming Canadian Bodies: Visual Media and Representation (Wilfrid Laurier Press, 2015) and The Democracy Cookbook: Recipes to Renew Governance in Newfoundland and Labrador (ISER Books, 2017) . Dr. Craig is a cultural sociologist and Fulbright Scholar with interests in gender, sexuality, inequality and art whose work includes exploration of commitment in artistic careers and communities, the sociology of emotion, community service provision, and intergenerational connection and community building in trans and queer communities. Dr. Craig serves as consultant for the Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency, and has worked with multiple queer and trans initiatives and organizations over the years, including Xtra! Magazine, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, The LGBT Youthline, Pride Toronto, Make it Better NL (founder of inititative), Camp Eclipse, and the Trans Needs Coalition.
Engen Books is accepting submissions for our newest anthology, celebrating the 2SLGBTQAI+ community, to be available in the summer of 2021. Whether you are well-established, or a new author, please consider submitting your work for this groundbreaking anthology.
Deadline for Submissions: March 31 2021 but get your stories in as quick as you can, as it gives our wonderful editors more time to work with you and make sure it is as good as it can possibly be! For more information, click here.
September 28, 2020
Calling all 2SLGBTQAI+ fiction writers in Newfoundland and Labrador!
Engen Books is accepting submissions for our newest anthology, celebrating the 2SLGBTQAI+ community, to be available in the summer of 2021. Whether you are well-established, or a new author, please consider submitting your work for this groundbreaking anthology.
Engen Books is proud to announce they have partnered with Quadrangle to make this collection a reality, celebrating 2SLGBTQAI+ writers and stories. Quadrangle’s mission is to create a community centre for 2SLGBTQAI+ individuals and organizations in Newfoundland and Labrador, a space that is a resource for building community resilience and connection, and that provides supports for existing initiatives of our 2SLGBTQAI+ community. As a registered charity, both working toward having a community centre, and taking up projects like this one contribute to Quad’s vision of contributing to sustainable, positive, community connections.
We’re looking for stories by and for the 2SLGBTQAI+ community that feature 2SLGBTQAI+ characters in any stage of life and from a range of cultures, identities, and experiences. We will consider submissions in a wide variety of genres and styles, including General Fiction, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Romance, and most other genres imaginable!
Deadline for Submissions: March 31 2021 but get your stories in as quick as you can, as it gives our wonderful editors more time to work with you and make sure it is as good as it can possibly be!
Over the last decade, the Engen Books has become one of the preeminent anthology producers in Atlantic Canada, with our groundbreaking From the Rock series and, more recently, Terror Nova. We have been home to some amazing established talent and helped some new authors break through that have gone on to dominate their fields, becoming bestsellers in their own right. From the Rock is a title readers consistently ask for, review well, and is a great way for avid readers to get introduced to indie talent they might find interesting. In 2018 the series’ third entry, Chillers from the Rock, went Bestseller on pre-orders alone, and every collection in the series has done so since!
Editors for this anthology include: Ailsa Craig, Sulaimon Giwa, AJ Ryan, Sarah Thompson.
All profits from this collection will go to Quadrangle and their continuing efforts to help and support the local LGBTQI2S+ community.
What is the target audience?
For this specific collection, we are loosening our typical “PG to PG-13” guideline and allow stories of more mature content. That said we will not be including explicitly adult content in this collection. While we respect and acknowledge the careers of local erotica authors, we will be accepting romance but not erotica for this particular collection. However, rather than limit the creativity of our authors, we encourage them to write from the heart and allow us to work with them to fine-tune the work after the fact if we feel it strays too far outside our vision for the collection.
What does it pay?
This collection pays authors $0.01 CAD per word to an upper limit of 7,500 words.
Are there minimum/ maximum word limits?
There are not minimum word limits. In the past we have had stories as short as 250 words. We have set 7,500 words as a maximum word limit, only because we anticipate many submissions and want to fit as many as we can in.
Can someone submit more than one story?
Of course! We may take one or both! We have had the same author in the same collection multiple times in the past.
Who can submit?
Any Canadian author looking to represent the stories, lives and creativity of 2SLGBTQAI + folks! There is also no age restriction. Anyone over Canadian Age-of-Consent (16 years of age) can submit and sign the print release on their own. Entrants younger than that will have to sign the print release with a parent or guardian.
Who keeps the printing rights?
You do! Engen Books Ltd and Quadrangle merely gain the right to print your story in this one collection. You keep the rights to your story and property: so if it takes off and becomes a huge hit, you keep all the benefits!
Do you accept reprints?
Yes, so long as you hold the copyright to allow us to publish it in the collection and the other criteria for the collection are met. Please tell us if you are submitting a reprint. We do give priority to new stories except in extreme cases.
How do I submit?
All submissions should be directed to submissions@engenbooks.com and should be sent from a reliable email address that you check regularly (we will contact all applicants through email with the status of their submission once the deadline has passed). Submissions should clearly be marked in the Subject Line as being for the “Quadrangle Collection.”
When do submissions close?
March 31, 2021 11:59 PM Newfoundland Standard Time.
Do you have questions?
Ask them below by commenting on this post or emailing submissions@engenbooks.com, we will answer you post haste!
Happy Writing!
We regret that due to the volume of submissions we receive we will be unable to acknowledge receipt of entries. We will contact you after submissions close, usually within 30 days, to let you know if we accepted your work or not.
September 18, 2020
8 Different Kinds of Drafts | House Blog
The Zero Draft :: It might be a mess, but at least it’s done, and isn’t that the most important thing? A little elbow grease and it’ll be a full-fledged first draft in no time!
The Add-It-In-Later Draft :: It’s a good first draft, but you know there’s something missing. You’re going to need at least one more pass to add in more description or more dialogue, but it’s a great start.
The Something’s Wrong Draft :: You didn’t realize until it was too late, but this story would be much better if you did it in third-person perspective instead of first. Or maybe you started writing a horror story and realized it’d work better as a comedy. Or maybe you made the wrong person the main character. How much effort will it take to get this story on the right path? Hopefully not as much as it took to write in the first place.
The Trim-It-Later Draft :: Wow, you wrote a LOT of words, and you’re pretty certain that you don’t need all of them. Time to get out your metaphorical scissors and start cutting.
The Surprisingly Good Draft :: You weren’t sure how it was going to end up, but you know what, this draft is pretty dang good. Heck, it’s outright great. It doesn’t need as much work as you thought it would. Go you!
The Burn it Now Draft :: Your first instinct may be to cleanse it with fire and purify the ashes with salt, but hold onto it and tuck it away somewhere safe. Someday in the future it may provide the bones for another story. Or one heck of a laugh.
The Perfect Draft :: First time’s the charm, baby! [Note: I’ve heard that this kind of draft exists, but while I’ve witnessed every other draft on this list, this one still escapes me.]
September 16, 2020
The Gut by Brad Dunne becomes #1 Bestseller on Amazon!
The Gut, the second novel from Brad Dunne, hit #1 on the Amazon.ca in the ‘Noir Mysteries and Thrillers’ category at 9:54PM Newfoundland Standard time on August 21, 2020, peaking at #481 on the overall Amazon.ca charts.
Engen Books would like to congratulate Dunne on this achievement, and thank his fans and peers who helps make this possible.
Digital launch Sept 19, 2020: click here to view.
