Matthew Ledrew's Blog, page 12
May 25, 2019
Prize-Winner JRH Lawless announced as a Flights from the Rock author!
Engen Books is proud to announce that JRH Lawless, winner of the February 2019 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Prize, is bringing his story ‘The White Bird Dives’ to the Flights from the Rock anthology.
J.R.H. Lawless writes Science Fiction full of dark humour and hope, set in a consistent Universe.
Lawless is a multiple award-winning Canadian SF author who blends comedy with political themes — drawing heavily, in both cases, on his experience as a lawyer and as Secretary General of a Parliamentary group at the French National Assembly. A member of SFWA and Codex Writers, his short fiction has been published in professional venues, and most recently in the Third Flatiron Press Terra! Tara! Terror! anthology, to great reviews, placement as 2018 Recommended Reading, and an award for Best Positive Future Story 2018.
Lawless is also a craft article contributor to the SFWA blog, the SFWA Bulletin, and Tor.com.
Lawless’ tale recounts the story of L’Oiseau Blanc, a historically famous lost plane. Editor Lisa Daly states: “I adore this story. Mind you, I would also like to search for L’Oiseau Blanc (I have the beginnings of theories). This story is well-researched and gripping. Even knowing the plane was lost, I wanted to keep reading and find out how it would happen.”
Flights from the Rock PREORDER!
27 short stories celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the first Trans-Atlantic Flight! Stories by wonderful bestselling authors as well as new talent, and edited by Erin Vance, Lisa Daly, and Ellen Curtis!
C$20.00
Two other authors will be joining JRH Lawless, Michelle F Goddard, John Burnham, Sara Burke, Shannon Green, Sherry D. Ramsey, Jennifer Shelby, Matthew Daniels, Heather Reilly, Peter Gillet, Amanda Labonté, Paul Moffett, Jennifer Combden, Jeff Slade, Bronwynn Erskine, Peter J. Foote, Lindsay Kitson, Stacey Oakley, Teresita Dziadura, Nicole Little, Carolyn R Parsons, Lisa Daly, Ellen Curtis, & Erin Vance for the 2019 Flights on the Rock collection! They are both prize winning talents and bestselling authors! Who will join them? Stay tuned and Never Look Back!
For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.
Michelle F Goddard announced as a Flights from the Rock author!
Engen Books is proud to announce the inclusion of Michelle F Goddard in Flights from the Rock!
Goddard is originally from Trinidad currently living in Ontario, Canada. She has been honored as an honorable mention in Writers of the Future and has had her short fiction included in both the Water anthology and the Blood is Thicker anthology, from Reality Skimming Press and Iguana Books, respectfully.
She brings with her her short story ‘To Soar Above a Fearsome Road.’
Flights from the Rock is the fifth entry in the Bestselling From the Rock series. This collection focuses on stories to do with flight and aviation to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Trans-Atlantic flight, which took off from Newfoundland in June 1919.
Flights from the Rock PREORDER!
27 short stories celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the first Trans-Atlantic Flight! Stories by wonderful bestselling authors as well as new talent, and edited by Erin Vance, Lisa Daly, and Ellen Curtis!
C$20.00
Three other authors will be joining Michelle F Goddard, John Burnham, Sara Burke, Shannon Green, Sherry D. Ramsey, Jennifer Shelby, Matthew Daniels, Heather Reilly, Peter Gillet, Amanda Labonté, Paul Moffett, Jennifer Combden, Jeff Slade, Bronwynn Erskine, Peter J. Foote, Lindsay Kitson, Stacey Oakley, Teresita Dziadura, Nicole Little, Carolyn R Parsons, Lisa Daly, Ellen Curtis, & Erin Vance for the 2019 Flights on the Rock collection! They include prize winning talents and bestselling novelists! Who will join them? Stay tuned and Never Look Back!
For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.
May 24, 2019
Pilot and author John Burnham to write for Flights from the Rock!
Engen Books is proud to announce the next author to lend their talents to ‘Flights from the Rock,’ author and pilot John Burnham!
John Burnham is a professional bush pilot and flight instructor originally from Denver, Colorado, currently living in Red Deer, Alberta. He is an accomplished author with more than ten story credits to his name, including “Alternate Meats” in Red Deer Living, “Decision Time” in the poetry anthology Across the River, and “The Girl With Forever Eyes” in Moon Magazine. He is the author of The Kitten Burgler, a crime novel published by Strategic Books, and is co-author of the short story collection Change.
John is a member of MENSA, IONS, and The Orchid Society of Alberta. His interests include palaeontology, astronomy, comparative religion, cosmic evolution, and — of course — writing.
He brings with him his short story “Halley’s Comet,” a tale which editor Lisa Daly proclaims “harkens back to the story of all bush pilots everyone, the ones who did the impossible, the unthinkable, and survived.”
Four other authors will be joining John Burnham, Sara Burke, Shannon Green, Sherry D. Ramsey, Jennifer Shelby, Matthew Daniels, Heather Reilly, Peter Gillet, Amanda Labonté, Paul Moffett, Jennifer Combden, Jeff Slade, Bronwynn Erskine, Peter J. Foote, Lindsay Kitson, Stacey Oakley, Teresita Dziadura, Nicole Little, Carolyn R Parsons, Lisa Daly, Ellen Curtis, & Erin Vance for the 2019 Flights on the Rock collection! They include prize winning talents, and bestselling novelists! Who will join them? Stay tuned and Never Look Back!
For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.
May 23, 2019
Engen to release novel from Gareth Mitton!
[image error]Engen Books is proud to announce the upcoming release of Gareth Mitton’s first novel, Pedestal, a philosophical science-fiction novel set in a far-future where expanding technology has altered the human condition.
“We are exceptionally proud to have Gareth on board,” says Engen founder Matthew LeDrew. “His work is thoughtful and elegant, and he brings a style to the genre that few others have.”
A native of Rochdale, England, Mitton made his fiction debut in Dystopia from the Rock with his tale: Watcher. He also contributed to About Face from Breakwater Books, and is one of the founders of Some Good Living.
Look for further announcements regarding Pedestal in the coming weeks and months.
May 22, 2019
Introducing Sara Burke, Flights from the Rock author!
Engen Books is proud to introduce Sara Burke, one of the exciting new authorial talents joining us for Flights from the Rock!
Born in Alberta and a long-time resident of Newfoundland, Burke has had two writing credits thus far, both in Kit Sora: The Artobiography. She won both the May and August 2019 Kit Sora Flash Fiction contests with her stories “Bubbly” and “One Up, One Down.” Both were later included in the collection.
She is a volunteer for the organization committee of Sci-Fi on the Rock, and in her spare time crafts, draws and paints.
Sara brings with her her short story “Grey Jay.”
Five other authors will be joining Sara Burke, Shannon Green, Sherry D. Ramsey, Jennifer Shelby, Matthew Daniels, Heather Reilly, Peter Gillet, Amanda Labonté, Paul Moffett, Jennifer Combden, Jeff Slade, Bronwynn Erskine, Peter J. Foote, Lindsay Kitson, Stacey Oakley, Teresita Dziadura, Nicole Little, Carolyn R Parsons, Lisa Daly, Ellen Curtis, & Erin Vance for the 2019 Flights on the Rock collection! They include pilots, award-winning talent, and bestselling novelists! Who will join them? Stay tuned and Never Look Back!
For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.
Author Shannon Green returns for Flights from the Rock!
Engen Books is proud to reveal one of the true talents in Newfoundland genre fiction will be joining us again in 2019’s Flights from the Rock collection: Shannon Green!
A gifted author with a talent for the strange, Green has been recognized in both the genre community and the contemporary literary community for his pursuits. In the past he has been shortlisted for the 1996 Arts and Letters Award and well as won the 2015 Audience Choice Steampunk Newfoundland Showcase.
Green received praise last year for his short story “The Wine Dark Sea” in Chillers from the Rock, and has also had short fiction published in Fantasy From The Rock, Dystopia from the Rock, and January 2019’s The Hamthology.
In Flights from the Rock he brings with him his new short story “Sadie’s Mechanical Bird,” a steampunk story perfectly capturing the excitement of early flight.
Six other authors will be joining Shannon Green, Sherry D. Ramsey, Jennifer Shelby, Matthew Daniels, Heather Reilly, Peter Gillet, Amanda Labonté, Paul Moffett, Jennifer Combden, Jeff Slade, Bronwynn Erskine, Peter J. Foote, Lindsay Kitson, Stacey Oakley, Teresita Dziadura, Nicole Little, Carolyn R Parsons, Lisa Daly, Ellen Curtis, & Erin Vance for the 2019 Flights on the Rock collection! They include pilots, award-winning talent, and bestselling novelists! Who will join them? Stay tuned and Never Look Back!
For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.
May 20, 2019
Author Sherry D. Ramsey joins Flights from the Rock!
Engen Books is proud to reveal the next Flights from the Rock author: bestselling speculative fiction author Sherry D. Ramsey, author of the Nearspace series!
Ramsey’s books include One’s Aspect to the Sun (named Speculative Fiction Book of the Year for 2014 by the Book Publishers’ Association of Alberta); a sequel, Dark Beneath the Moon; a new middle grade fantasy, The Seventh Crow; the urban fantasy The Murder Prophet; and To Unimagined Shores–Collected Stories. With her partners at Third Person Press, she has co-edited five anthologies of regional short fiction to date. A member of the Writer’s Federation of Nova Scotia Writer’s Council, Sherry is also a past Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer of SF Canada, Canada’s national association for Speculative Fiction Professionals.
Sherry is a nervous flyer who lives in Nova Scotia with her husband, children, and dogs. You can visit her online at http://www.sherrydramsey.com, find her on Facebook, and keep up with her on Twitter @sdramsey.
Seven other authors will be joining Sherry D. Ramsey, Jennifer Shelby, Matthew Daniels, Heather Reilly, Peter Gillet, Amanda Labonté, Paul Moffett, Jennifer Combden, Jeff Slade, Bronwynn Erskine, Peter J. Foote, Lindsay Kitson, Stacey Oakley, Teresita Dziadura, Nicole Little, Carolyn R Parsons, Lisa Daly, Ellen Curtis, & Erin Vance for the 2019 Flights on the Rock collection! They include pilots, award-winning talent, and bestselling novelists! Who will join them? Stay tuned and Never Look Back!
For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.
Plotters vs Pantsers: Prior Planning Prevents Proper Piss-offs
I liked the Game of Thrones finale. Fight me.
Much like the last episode of Lost, it couldn’t absolve all the sins of the final season(s), but the episode in itself was satisfying. In my last post, I was critical of the last two seasons of Game of Thrones, arguing that the writers were prioritizing spectacle over storytelling. And now, looking back over how it all went down, it’s really perplexing to me that they didn’t use all this time to better set the ground for Dany’s heel turn.
In a post that’s gone viral, Daniel Silvermint suggests that the series has moved away from the “pantser” ethos of GRRM towards the “plotter” approach of showrunners D&D. Silvermint does a great breakdown of what these terms mean, so I suggest reading it, but I’ll do a brief summary for you: “plotters” are writers who list out the major plot points of a story before they start fleshing it out; whereas “pantsers” discover the story as they write it, they fly by the seat of their pants. Tolkien is often referred to as the ultimate plotter because he designed the maps, languages, and lore of Middle Earth before writing LOTR. Conversely, GRRM is the ultimate pantser because he claims that he loses interest in a story once he learns the ending.
Silvermint lists the advantages and disadvantages of both. With pantsers, the story feels organic and spontaneous, but can eventually become unwieldy. I think that’s a pretty accurate description of GRRM’s journey through his series. GRRM describes himself as a gardener who plots many seeds and sees which ones grow. Certain decisions a character made in the last book can have disastrous consequences in the next. However, the garden seems to have grown into a jungle now and he can’t get it under control. Conversely, a plotter can really stick the landing on the major plot points because they know exactly what’s coming, however the story can feel stiff and the characters slaves to the plotline.
My issue with this distinction is that it is far too simplistic. I’ve never met a pure version of either of these tendencies. Even Tolkien, who’s considered the ultimate plotter, was much more spontaneous than most realize. In The History of Middle-earth, you can see Tolkien’s process (Matt Colville does a great job breaking it down). Sure, Tolkien had a rich mythology that he’d developed prior to putting pen to paper, but most of the time it happened ad hoc. He’d be working through the story, run into a problem, then go back to the drawing board to see how he could make adjustments to the mythology to solve his problem.
Whether you’re a pantser or a plotter, writing is always a process of discovery. You go in with a plan, get turned around, make adjustments, and come out with something often unexpected. That’s part of the fun. It’s like archaeology. You might think you’re digging up a triceratops but turns out it’s actually a stegosaurus by the end of it. Or maybe a dragon 
Jennifer Shelby announced as a Flights from the Rock author!
Engen Books is proud to reveal the next Flights from the Rock author: Jennifer Shelby!
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 ‘Borrowed Wings’ for Spaceports and Spidersilk, ‘Mrs. Coleman’s Backyard Refugee Camp’ for Andromeda Spaceways, and ‘Toby’s Alicorn Adventure’ for Cricket.
To see Shelby’s work ahead of publication, read her tale ‘The Green Lady.’
She won first place in the ‘Writer Unboxed Flog’ competition, as well as the Writers Federation of New Brunswick Fog Lit Books ‘For Young People’.
Eight other authors will be joining Jennifer Shelby, Matthew Daniels, Heather Reilly, Peter Gillet, Amanda Labonté, Paul Moffett, Jennifer Combden, Jeff Slade, Bronwynn Erskine, Peter J. Foote, Lindsay Kitson, Stacey Oakley, Teresita Dziadura, Nicole Little, Carolyn R Parsons, Lisa Daly, Ellen Curtis, & Erin Vance for the 2019 Flights on the Rock collection! They include pilots, award-winning talent, and bestselling novelists! Who will join them? Stay tuned and Never Look Back!
For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.
May 19, 2019
Returning Rocker: Matthew Daniels writes for Flights from the Rock
Engen Books is proud to announce the triumphant return of author Matthew Daniels to this year’s From the Rock collection, Flights from the Rock.
Daniels has been in every From the Rock book thus far. His story ‘Healer’s Hoards’ appeared in 2016’s Sci-Fi from the Rock, ‘Living and Learning’ in 2017’s Fantasy from the Rock, ‘Grow Gold Together’ in 2018’s Chillers from the Rock, and ‘Eggshell Revolution’ in 2019’s Dystopia from the Rock.
His flash fiction also appeared in Kit Sora: The Artobiography under the title ‘Epilogue?’. Daniels has proven himself to be a renaissance man of genre fiction, capable of rising to the occasion of any challenge thrown his way. His short story ‘Where With All’ was featured in the All Borders are Temporary collection by Transnational Arts Production.
As competition over placement in the From the Rock series has improved, so has Daniels steadily grown in his authorial abilities. His newest story is titled ‘Rooftop Statistics.’
Nine other authors will be joining Matthew Daniels, Heather Reilly, Peter Gillet, Amanda Labonté, Paul Moffett, Jennifer Combden, Jeff Slade, Bronwynn Erskine, Peter J. Foote, Lindsay Kitson, Stacey Oakley, Teresita Dziadura, Nicole Little, Carolyn R Parsons, Lisa Daly, Ellen Curtis, & Erin Vance for the 2019 Flights on the Rock collection! They include pilots, award-winning talent, and bestselling novelists! Who will join them? Stay tuned and Never Look Back!
For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.
