Matthew Ledrew's Blog, page 45
May 2, 2017
Baddy Vinyl & Midnight Tailors | Other Indie
The “Indie” in “Other Indie” typically means other independently produced works of fiction like novels, anthologies, comics, or movies, but it’s too easy to forget that there are more Indie Artists than that that work hard at the fringes of our medium and produce amazing products that elevate our own. So I’d like to take a second to shine a light on Baddy Vinyl and Midnight Tailors, two merchandise-creation companies from Newfoundland who take the art of imaginative apparel and glassware (respectfully) seriously.
Baddy Vinyl has been doing custom work for glasses, mugs, windows, cars decals, t-shirts, removable stickers for interior walls, and permanent stickers for signs or exterior walls for years now, and have delivered on the promise of “We can do whatever you can dream up” many times over. Their turnaround time is fantastic, they’re always helpful and happy to help, and have some of the most creative minds in the fabrication business that can take your idea and workshop it to fit the product you want it on.
Self-described as an “everything but normal family with many hobbies, fandoms, and passions, if you need something cool they’re the place to get it.
Unless that thing you need is a snazzy bow-tie, tie, night-mash or any other formal-ware apparel for the suave geek. Then you’ll wanna head over to Midnight Tailors.
Midnight Tailors offers an array of handcrafted one of a kind pieces and the option to work with our team to design something a little more personal, no matter how big or how small. And with our unique online store front, they can provide these services without you having to leave your home.
Midnight Tailors is run by David “Squid” Mullett and Shara Desiree King. Mullett, the grandson of Tony “The Tailor” Silver (owner of the famous Tony’s Tailor Shop in St. John’s Newfoundland), Dave was born with tailoring in his blood. He started working in the shop after grade school gathering up stray pins and learning the family trade. After 10 years of touring the world with his bands Bucket Truck & Shelter with Theives, Dave got back into the trade. Now he is joining forces with Shara and is ready to give you the custom experience.
Shara was unsatisfied with the outfits that Barbie came with as a child, and so decided to teach herself to sew. She discovered her fascination for fashion design and began making clothes for herself and her friends. She’s spent the past 10 years working in Television & Film all over Canada and has developed a love for costume design both in and out of the film industry. With her fascination with design combined with a unique approach to construction, Shara is the perfect person to make sure you stand out in a crowd.
These two have proven they can make just about anything and can work with you to suit your needs. They’re amazingly fun people, and we can’t wait to work with them on some very special projects soon. 
April 28, 2017
Scifi 11 update
The con is going great! The launch last night was amazing, so many sales and met some great people. Everyone seemed to have fun.
April 23, 2017
As Fierce as Steel by Christopher Walsh | Other Indie
[image error][image error]An imaginative and eclectic mix of , JRR Tolkien, George RR Martin and… Baz Luhrmann???
I’ll admit I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up my digital copy of As Fierce as Steel by first-time author Christopher P. Walsh. I knew it was a fantasy genre from Walsh’s stellar campaigning over the last year, and I saw with a quick flip through the pages that the chapter breaks were similar in style to RR Martin (in that, each chapter switches the point-of-view and the character-in-questions name is the default ‘chapter title’). I read all five of the A Song of Ice and Fire books this past year so that slight visual cue alone gave me what I thought was a reasonable expectation of what lay within.
But to say that Walsh was influenced solely by RR Martin weakens both. As Fierce as Steel is actually much more than that. It has the tone of George RR Martin (that epic feeling that sends chills whenever the characters enter a battle) along with the imagination of JRR Tolkien (taking disparate aspects from the world around them and melding them into a coherent fantasy universe capable of suspending the reader’s disbelief for 700+ pages) and the aesthetics of Baz Luhrmann… yes, Baz Luhrmann. In that he has the ability to mix modern (ish) weaponry like rifles and modern idioms of speech into a fantastical, medieval setting in such a way that feels neither forced nor contrived, much in the way Luhrmann shifted the weapons in Romeo+Juliet.
Speaking of the dialog: Walsh has quite an ear for it. Anyone who has attended a writing panel with me will know that tinny dialog is one of my pet peeves, but Walsh does a great job. He understands the idioms of speech he’s using. He knows what goes where and how much. He knows each character’s voice and mannerisms and the motivations behind what they say in a way that even some of the more practiced artists writing novels do not.
As Fierce as Steel tells the story of Orangecloak (along with several others, too many to name in fact. There are four point-of-view characters but so many characters its beyond mention in the work as a whole) and her band of thieves as they work to carve out a place for themselves in the land of Illiastra. The book has a sharp feminist edge to it that’s hard to ignore (not should you). You’ll know the bad guys immediately for their use of sexist slurs. It is a book that has a point, and if you take the Freudian response to the slurs like I did and realize that these words that are you come to define that the book is about feminist ideals (in my mind at least) then you’re already half way there.
The book loses me in two respects. The first is the sheer amount of characters. As I mentioned above, while the Point-of-View characters are kept to a respectable amount compared to George RR Martin, the number of characters with interesting and hard-to-pronounce-in-your-head names on every other page does make it hard to keep track of what’s going on and what’s important. However that’s the same thing that irks me about George RR Martin, so fans of his who don’t mind that should feel right at home here. The second is that the book does get a little wordy at times, especially in the opening ten chapters. A certain level of world building is expected of any fantasy series, but I prefer it a little more organic. I’m okay not knowing exactly how the world we’re in work until it becomes relevant, even if that’s several books down the line.
The good news is: there will be more books. Walsh is already hard at work on The Worth of Gold, the next book in the series. In the meantime, anyone who can’t wait to get their Gold and Steel fix can check out the prequel short story in Sci-Fi from the Rock. Walsh isn’t going anywhere, and despite those few small nit-picks: this is one of the best novels by a new author you’re going to see in 2016. Easily the best fantasy novel to be released this year, looking at what’s coming up.
Walsh is a part of a new breed: he grew up on the fantasy of his generation and has decided what of it works and what of it doesn’t, and has produced his own spin on things. This is a unique novel in the fantasy genre, a genre which has not seen innovation since the last crop of visionaries came through the pipeline in the late 80s. Will Walsh be counted among those greats? We’ll need a few more books to tell for sure, but this book certainly has him off to a good start.
‘Other Indie’ is a recurring series of articles on Engen Books in which authors highlight the best in independent publishing, in the hopes of helping readers break through the cluster of books they may not be sure about in an age when anyone can publish via digital formats. Engen Books is an independent small-press publishing company based in St. John’s Newfoundland and is proud to highlight the talent of independent authors not our own. As Fierce as Steel is © 2016 Christopher Walsh. This review is © 2017 Matthew LeDrew. ‘Other Indie’ banner photo credit: Steve Lake.
April 21, 2017
Top 5 Suspension-of-Disbelief-Shattering Moments from the Engen Universe
No novel or franchise is without sin — that’s the thesis statement behind popular channels such as CinemaSins and Red Letter Media, who have made careers out of lovingly and painstakingly point out the contradictions and gaffs in their favorite forms of media… so why should the Engen Universe be any different?
April 19, 2017
Fantasy from the Rock launch party next week!
[image error]So apparently Sci-Fi on the Rock 11 and the Fantasy from the Rock launch party at A.C. Hunter Library (Arts and Culture Building) is only a week away? Time flies! Plans have been in place for months but a year’s worth of planning is really starting to take shape now. It’s going to be a great night on its own, and a great way to kick-off a great weekend celebrating the fantasy genre and writing in Newfoundland.
April 18, 2017
Cupcakes and Weaponry
A couple of days ago was my “Meet Your Fantasy From the Rock” entry. It included some answers that I didn’t bother to elaborate on – although do you really need me to tell you why ‘defenestrate’ is such an awesome word? (Matthew Daniels knows what I’m talking about.)
There are another couple other things about me that I’ll share today: I like weapons and I like baking.
Swords are my favourite, and I actually have a few of my own. Vaughn uses a sword in The Six Elemental, and there’s a sword-wielding character in Honour (found in Fantasy From the Rock). I like swords so much that while writing a story about modern-day assassins I decided to have a character who uses a sword (even though it’s not practical at all). Honestly, I’d find a way to put swords into a romance novel if I could.
Baking is also awesome. It’s calming and delicious (most of the time). I also enjoy eating what I make, and people are most appreciative whenever I share the results. Sometimes, if I’m having writer’s block, I’ll bake. I don’t know if it helps, but it’s more productive than staring at a screen, writing one word and then deleting it immediately.
Rarely do I get to combine the two, but last summer I found a way – Deadly cupcakes. I won’t say what they’re made of (blood of mine enemies*?), but they’re a delicious way to show someone that you’re adept with a whisk and a sword.
So, in honour of Fantasy From the Rock and all the amazing stories that will be within (whether they have weaponry or not), I raise a cupcake to all you writers and readers.
Inside view
An Assortment of delicious weaponry._______
*Just kidding: they’re vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting and chocolate weapons. And the blood of mine enemies**.
A few hints for anyone who wants to replicate these: start with chocolate cupcakes (you’ll use much less black dye); do the chocolate work when it’s colder, because chocolate melts FAST when it’s warm; also, red food gel makes for much better blood.
**Kidding!
April 17, 2017
Writing Rituals, or the lack thereof…
Here’s a great article from The Silence Between Moons and A Troll By Any Other Name… author Peter J. Foote about writing and writing rituals.
April 15, 2017
Meet your Fantasy from the Rock team: Ali House
[image error]We spent most of January announcing our Fantasy from the Rock all-star lineup, but without actually reading the stories (and you can’t, not until April 27th!) it’s hard to get to know the authors that are helping make up this epic collection. With that in mind, here’s a little bit about Ali House, who first penned for Sci-Fi from the Rock and has proven herself a formidable force in the indie short fiction scene. She returns this year with her short story: Honour and The Invisible Boy.
A native Newfoundlander, Alison 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.
1.What is your favorite word?
Ali: Defenestrate: to throw (a person or thing) out of a window.
2. What is your least favorite word?
Covetousness. I was acting in King John and had to say this word, and it took me a month to get it right.
3. What is your favorite movie?
Currently “Hidden Figures” (amazing ladies + math), and “Empire Records” (Drums + music + quote-ability).
4. What is your favorite book?
Some of my favourites include “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath, “Good Omens” by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, and “Rumble Fish” by SE Hinton.
[image error]5. What was the last book you read for pleasure
I just finished Whitecoat: The Champions of 1940 by Kenneth Tam. Moose wrestling!
6. What are you currently working on?
Writing a possible sequel to The Six-Elemental, 2 short stories, 3 novellas, and 1 other novel. Plus editing an old NaNoWriMo novel.
7. How did you get involved with Engen?
A friend told me about someone who was collecting short stories for an anthology for Hal-Con, which was being published by Engen (Bluenose Paradox). I got 2 stories in that collection, so I met Matt and Ellen at Hal-Con that year and we hit it off. I also dealt at the poker game.
8. What is your favorite Engen Book?
Sci-Fi From the Rock, because it’s got a fantastic variety of amazing stories.
9. What (professionally) would you most like to accomplish?
Ideally: I want to make a living writing/editing. Fantastically: I want a show on Broadway. Impossibly: I want to be Neil Gaiman.
10. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Stage Management or Librarian.
11. What profession would you not like to do?
Surgeon. Way too stressful.
12. What’s Next?
I’m excited about the launch of “Fantasy From the Rock”, and plan on getting more of my work ready for submissions.
April 14, 2017
Meet Your Fantasy from the Rock team: Melanie Collins
[image error]We spent most of January announcing our Fantasy from the Rock all-star lineup, but without actually reading the stories (and you can’t, not until April 27th!) it’s hard to get to know the authors that are helping make up this epic collection. With that in mind, here’s a little bit about Melanie Collins, who first penned for Sci-Fi from the Rock and has proven herself a formidable force in the indie short fiction scene. She returns this year with her short story: A Letter to the Seekers.
Melanie Collins is an award-winning author. The award she won wasn’t for writing. That doesn’t make the statement any less true. She was born eons ago in the city of St. John’s, Newfoundland, on a late-July day in the way-back year of 1987. An animal lover and guilt-laden product of a Christian upbringing, her non-writing time is filled with her work as an Animal Groomer and volunteering as a member of the Board of Directors with the non-profit organization Sandbox Gaming. Wishing there were more hours in the day for writing, Melanie likes to sit down and hammer out short stories with the help of brute force and stubbornness. Her favourite food is cheese. Every cheese.
1. What is your favorite word?
Melanie: It’s a tossup between Sensation and Perplexing.
2. What is your least favorite word?
Melanie: Hapless
3. What is your favorite movie?
Melanie: Either ‘The Last Unicorn’, or ‘Blade Runner’ (Director’s or Final Cut only)
4. What is your favorite book?
Melanie: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
5. What was the last book you read for pleasure?
Melanie: Recently re-read the first two parts of Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.
6. What are you currently working on?
Melanie: Currently working on a horror-genre short story, which I have never really attempted before. It’s a struggle to go outside of my comfort zone, but at least I’m finding the constant attempts and trashing of those attempts to be a learning experience!
7. How did you get involved with Engen?
Melanie: Anyone who seemed to be within 15 feet of Kenneth Tam at any given moment between Sci-Fi On The Rock 1 and 2 ran into Matt LeDrew. It was impossible not to be completely infected- contaminated, if you will- with the almost infectious enthusiasm for not only writing, but encouraging others to write. When he approached me about writing a short story, I was completely blown away. It was a tremendous honour, and I’ve been so unfathomably happy to continue to know all of these lovely and wonderful people that have come to join the Engen family through this bizarre, nearly fungal spreading of contaminant.
[image error] Sci-Fi from the Rock 2016
8. What is your favorite Engen Book?
Melanie: The Sci-Fi From The Rock 10th Anniversary Collection. The sheer amount of talent contained in those pages still astounds me, and every time I pick it up I feel like I can go to any place, at any time, and see anything. I adore short stories.
9. What (professionally) would you most like to accomplish?
Melanie: Professionally I would like to continue what I’m doing now, as a Dog Groomer. I’m the happiest I feel I’ve ever been with the way my life works out, now that I’m self-employed. I am improving my skills at a job I love with customers I adore, and I have enough free time to dedicate myself to Sandbox Gaming’s charity and other works, and still (occasionally) have time to write a short story. I guess I would like to get to a point financially where I can have a house to myself and take enough time to write more.
10. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Melanie: Marine Wildlife Researcher. Specifically studying Orca Whales. It’s honestly my greatest dream, one of those “If you could do anything, regardless of cost or logisitics” dreams. I’m one good lottery win away from becoming the Jane Goodall of the Sea.
11. What profession would you not like to do?
Melanie: Psychologist/Psychiatrist. I love studying Psychology and the way people interact with others, with things, within themselves. I just hate having to try to talk to people about it, because one of my greatest issues is when people do not listen, even when I completely understand why they won’t.
Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us Mel! We can’t wait to see what you do next! [image error]
April 10, 2017
Meet your Fantasy from the Rock team: Peter J. Foote
[image error]We spent most of January announcing our Fantasy from the Rock all-star lineup, but without actually reading the stories (and you can’t, not until April 27th!) it’s hard to get to know the authors that are helping make up this epic collection. With that in mind, here’s our interview with Peter J Foote, owner of FictionFirst Bookstore and the author of The Silence Between Moons and A Troll By Any Other Name!
1. What is your favorite word?
Peter: Tremendous. Store clerks never know if you’re sincere or sarcastic when they ask you “How are you doing today?”
2. What is your least favorite word?
Peter: Very. It’s a lazy word.3. What is your favorite movie?
Peter: “The Thin Man” A 1934 detective comedy of a husband and wife. They are the perfect couple, who love life, break convention, and enjoy a good drink!
4. What is your favorite book?
Peter: Honestly, No one book is my favorite, there are some books I’ve read several times and love and others that I’ve only read the once but have made an impact on my life.
5. What was the last book you read for pleasure?
Peter: Currently reading “A Thousand Words for Stranger” by: Julie Czerneda. It’s amazing Space Opera by an talented Canadian author who I had the pleasure to have breakfast with and chat books in the fall of 2016.
6. What are you currently working on?
Peter: Currently compiling and sorting the dozens of story ideas that I have scribbled on paper, of different computer hard drives and memory sticks into one central location backed up to my Dropbox account. Need to get organized!!!
7. How did you get involved with Engen?
Peter: Engen put a call-out on the Hal-con facebook page and I decided to take a risk. I was “working through some stuff” at the time, and with a limited social circle, I decided to put my emotions into words with a story, and “The Silence between Moons” was born.
8. What is your favorite Engen Book?
Peter: “Sci-fi from the Rock”, not because it includes my story, but I’ve made some many connections with other writers because of it, that it has made a lasting impression upon me.
9. What (professionally) would you most like to accomplish?
Peter: I want to open a “bricks & mortar” used bookstore when I retire. It will have comfortable seating, a coffee maker and as long as it makes enough to pay the power bill, I’ll consider it a success!
10. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Peter: I always wanted to be an archaeologist. I studied anthrolopogy in university but became disillusioned by the paper writing which focused upon others ideas, I wanted to be out in the field digging in the dirt making my own discoveries. My passion for history is now satisfied by my books.
11. What profession would you not want to attempt?
Peter: Anything that involves jumping out of an airplane!!! NOPE!
12. What’s next?
Peter: Marriage to my love, hunting for our “forever home”, many adventures, and more stories to be written!
