Matthew Ledrew's Blog, page 57

Kowloon Walled City, 1984 by Nicolas Morine | Other Indie

[image error][image error]Kowloon Walled City, 1984 is a 2016 cultural thriller by Nova Scotia native Nicholas Morine and published by the Newfoundland indie company Problematic Press. It stars Fang, a heroin dealer for the 14K gang, as he rises to the top of the Kowloon fighting circuit and becomes embroiled in danger and violence as he deals with corrupt police, gang politics, and an annual martial arts tournament calling the very best warriors from across the globe called the Siu Nin a Fu. Will he make it out of this world alive? You’ll have to read it to see.

Minor event lineup change

Engen Books regrets to inform of a minor change in its author lineup at Atlanticon this weekend, Sept 23-25 2016. Ellen Curtis (author of Exodus of Angels and Infinity) and Erin Vance (editor of Sci-Fi from the Rock and author of Song of the Mockingjay) will be unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances.

Matthew LeDrew will still be in attendance throughout the entire event.

“Song of the Mockingjay” available now!

[image error][image error]Song of the Mockingjay, an essay exploring the nature of Katniss Everdeen’s agency in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games series, is now available in eBook format as the first book in the Engen Academia line.

The Engen Academia line of print and electronic copy books provides young academics in Canada with a venue through which they can publish academically peer-reviewed, original works of interest to science-fiction and fantasy genres.

Song of the Mockingjay was written by Erin Vance as a part of her Honours thesis with Memorial University of Newfoundland.

The essay was written by Erin Vance, an editor whose previous editing credits include the 2016 anthology Sci-Fi from the Rock[image error], Christopher Walsh’s fantasy epic As Fierce as Steel (Gold & Steel)[image error], Cinders, Sinister Intent, Exodus of Angels, and more.

In her introduction, Vance writes: “the fact that The Hunger Games does not glorify war and condemns government oppression demands further critical analysis and recognition. Although the events of the first two books, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, tell the story of a rebellion and war, the conclusion of the series, Mockingjay, implies that both sides of a war commit crimes, and that no soldier is innocent. As this series is aimed at those who are on the cusp of adulthood and vulnerable to political persuasion, the fact that it explores themes with which young adults struggle and parallels these struggles with political issues makes the series not only relevant, but ripe for scholarly analysis.”

Song of the Mockingjay is available now for Kindle by clicking the cover image above, and will be available for print soon! Great for anyone interested in The Hunger Games, academic analysis, or perhaps writing their own thesis papers and in need of reasonably-priced material to cite for their work!

The Six Elemental — Available for Pre-Order!

[image error] [image error] There is a legend that in times of great need, a person wielding the power of all six Elements will come forth to bring peace to New Earth. The myth of the Six-Elemental is almost seven hundred years old, and the possibility of someone having the power of more than one Element has been thoroughly disproven by science.

None of this matters, however, when Kit Tyler receives the power of all six Elements on her twenty-first birthday. Unsure of how the world will react, or how to wield her powers, Kit keeps this information a secret, swearing that she will reveal it when she is stronger and more worthy. After all, the only thing worse than being a walking myth is being a disappointing one.

When the opportunity comes along to help prevent an impending war, she sees this as her chance to prove herself. If she can do this then nobody will question why she, of all people, was chosen. But what if she fails? What if her secret is uncovered before she’s ready? And what if she ends up starting the war she is trying to prevent?

The Six Elemental, the first novel by Ali House, is available for pre-order now on all Amazon platforms!

 

Midnight Tailors are a Go!

The best part about being a part of the indie scene in Newfoundland? When one of us does well, we all celebrate. We celebrate when Scott Bartlett wins an award, we celebrate when Chris Walsh sells out of his book, we celebrate when Erin Vance snags a new client. Today, we as a community celebrate with Midnight Tailors, as they’ve finally been given the go-ahead from the St. John’s city council to operate their amazing and fashionably unique business out of their home on Warren Place.

Midnight Tailors offers an array of handcrafted one of a kind pieces as well as the option to work with our team to design something a little more personal. They’ve been a mainstay of the convention scene around Newfoundland and Labrador over the last few years, and have been ardent supporters of Engen Books whenever they can be.

“I was really glad to come back and support it,” said Coun. Dave Lane, in an interview with The Telegram, “The more small businesses we can have, the more resilient our economy can be.”

That’s the exact sort on mentality Engen hopes to foster within the indie and arts community of Newfoundland and Labrador: when we get our entertainment and apparel locally, more of our money stays local and can benefit our immediate economy more directly, allowing it to be re-invested in Newfoundland products, people, and services again and again.

We wish Midnight Tailors all the best and hope to work with them in the future!

15 Minutes by Jill Cooper | Other Indie

[image error][image error] 15 Minutes is a 2013 science-fiction thriller by Jill Cooper and published through the Amazon CreateSpace platform, which allows original work to be published in a print-on-demand format. This is the first novel in the Rewind Agency series, of which there are currently four titles (three novels, one novella), and stars the character of Lara Crane.

Right on the cover, this book promises that “Every time-travel law is about to be broken,” and this is both true in the sense that — within the context of the novel — there are set laws governing time travel that are broken during the course of the narrative, but also in the metatextual sense that there are unspoken rules to how an author tells a time-travel story, which Cooper gleefully breaks from page one, making for a dynamic and interesting read for anyone who has grown up on stories of chronological displacement that have followed the same stagnant formulae.

15 Minutes doesn’t just experiment with the structure of telling a time-travel story, but with the traditional structure of stories in general, in that Cooper chooses to omit a first act entirely.

In writing terms, one of the most popular storytelling techniques is the three-act structure. In the first act, we learn who the main character(s) are, we see them in their normal lives (usually at work and at home) and then we see the inciting incident: the inciting incident being the thing that sets them on their journey. In terms of a “road-trip” movie, the first act would be everything before they set out on the road. It’s usually just setting up the pieces you’ll need later in the narrative: the meat of the story — all the exciting bits — are in that second act, when you’re on the road.

In a time-travel story, the first act typically  takes place in the present (or default) timeline, and we see the character as they presumably have been their entire lives. We see the “normal” timeline. Think of Back to the Future: in the first act we see Marty and all the principle characters — Mom, Dad, and Doc — as they are, and we establish that Marty doesn’t see his parents as “people.” This is around the line “I think the woman was born a nun.”  (People can quibble over where the inciting incident is, I’m just picking one for effect). The reason we see all this in the first act is to contrast how different it is in the second act when we see Lorraine in her youth, and then in the third act when we see her happy in the ‘new timeline.’

In 15 Minutes, Cooper wisely omits this. We start right at the beginning of the second act, with Lara Crane traveling back in time to save her mother from being murdered. This sets up motivation instantly: we don’t need ten scenes with a character to know why they would want to save their mother, that’s obvious to all of us as humans: so why have them?

We then jump to ‘the present’ where everything is different: Lara did what she did to save one parent, but has now damned the other, as her father ended up being implicated in the attempted murder. But how can we see how things are different if we didn’t get to see them as they were? Cooper makes the inspired choice of having the novel told from the first-person perspective of Lara Crane, meaning that we hear her thoughts as she notes the difference between the two realities. Again, this is a stroke of genius in storytelling and takes advantage of the medium: this is something easily done in print and hard to do in film, making it an ideal choice when a story takes place in the print medium.

This book is part Frequency[image error] part Batman: Year One[image error] and part Memento[image error], but I say that just as a log-line so you can gauge your own interest. It is it’s own dynamic, fun, action-packed story that will keep you interested. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable entry into the sci-fi thriller market that everyone who’s a fan of the genre should check out.

I love taking the Freudian method of dream analysis and applying it to literature. Quick/Dirty rundown: you take the part of the book that bothered you the most, then spin the analysis so that that is what the book is about. At least, what it’s about for you.

What bothered me about this story was the process of erasure that occurred once Lara had changed her own past, in which she slowly began to forget her memories and the world as it had been, and assimilate to the way the world as it now was. This “re-writing” was very akin to an illness, such as Alzheimer’s or a stroke, which erases memory and alters who you are as a person.

This invokes a strong theme of identity, which is a powerful theme any time it crops up in fiction, as it’s something we all must wrestle with at some point in our lives. It is a “Universal Theme,” one that speaks to the human condition, and as such makes the novel instantly relate-able. There is strong evidence to support this analysis of the text, as each time a person acts in a way they would not have in the previous reality, Lara makes some variation on the statement: “Who is this person? They would never do this?”

It also makes a strong case for the “Nurture over Nature” debate, as the novel implies that who we are is not set in stone, but rather that by changing the events that shaped us as a person we in fact change who the person is.

There are in fact several strong themes in this work. ‘Free will’ is one I could point to, as well as the inherent flaw in our view of the ‘dead, who can do no wrong.’ Lara wants her Mother back in her life, but not all the choices her mother made. When she envisioned her mother back in her life she envisioned her as a snapshot of as she was when she was five years old, not as a different woman with 10+ years worth of choices and changes that Lara may not have agreed with.

For a novel that’s only 234 pages, that’s a lot to unpack, and this work may be in need of a “deep reading” in order to unearth all the treasures hidden within. 15 Minutes is a diamond in the crown of the time-travel genre, and one that deserves close examination.

15 Minutes[image error] is available in print, eBook, and audiobook formats. Check it out, a must-read for people interested in supporting good independent  fiction and those who like my work.

‘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. 15 Minutes is © 2013 Jill Cooper. This review is © 2016 Matthew LeDrew.  ‘Other Indie’ banner photo credit: Steve Lake.

Erin Vance & Sam Bauer signing, August 14th in Mount Pearl!

Erin Vance – Author / Editor

Ever wonder what Engen editor Erin Vance and newest author Sam Bauer are like without those pesky bosses around? What to ask them what it’s really like to work for Engen Books, without getting the stink-eye from the Engen founders? Your chance is here! On Sunday, August 14th at the Glacier in Mount Pearl, Erin Vance and Sam Bauer will have a table at the August Summer Fun Festival!

Bauer and Vance will be selling copies of all current Engen titles, including the complete Black Womb series, the Xander Drew series, and the Infinity series. They will also be signing copies of their April 2016 smash hit anthology collection Sci-Fi from the Rock, which Vance edited and both Vance and Bauer contributed short stories for!

Looking to get started as an author? Vance and Bauer will have information on the forthcoming Fantasy from the Rock collection and how you can get published in it, as well as information on getting published in both short story and novel formats though the local Newfoundland publisher.

Samuel Bauer, reading at the University of Waterloo from “The Locket”

Sam Bauer is Engen’s youngest writer, from St. John’s Newfoundland. He states his inspiration as stemming from eating too much sugar-laden food, reading the works of H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe until 4 am, and transcribing the ensuing nightmares.His first short story, The Locket, has been met with universal acclaim and he is currently hard at work on additional stories for future anthologies, as well as an upcoming novel.

Erin Vance is an editor, author, and a graduate of the Memorial University of Newfoundland English Honors Program. She has edited multiple novels and anthology collections for a variety of publishers, and has penned the short story Cast, Clutter, Pack, Murder as well as the soon-to-be-released publication of her Honor’s Thesis, Song of the Mockingjay, exploring the nature of Katniss Everdeen’s agency in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games series.

The August Summer Fun Festival  will run from 10am – 5pm on August 14th at The Glacier arena, 45 Olympic Dr, Mount Pearl.

Sci-Fi from the Rock!

Nineteen short stories written by an eclectic mix of some of the best science-fiction and fantasy authors in Atlantic Canada, some of them award-winning veterans and some of them new to the craft for the first time. Edited by English Honours Graduate and Professional Editor Erin Vance and veteran science-fiction author Ellen Louise Curtis, this collection features the heartfelt, creatively charged, astonishing fiction that showcases the talent and charm Atlantic Canada has to offer. Featuring the work of Kenneth Tam, Scott Bartlett, Jay Paulin, Alison House, & many more!

Sci-Fi From the Rock (Paperback)

Ellen Curtis & Erin Vance (Editors)

Purchase:

Canada:

Sci-Fi from the Rock (amazon.ca)

Sci-Fi from the Rock (chapters.ca)

US:

Sci-Fi from the Rock(amazon.com)

Sci-Fi from the Rock (Barnes&Noble)

Kindle EBook: Sci-Fi from the Rock (amazon.ca)

Kindle EBook: Sci-Fi from the Rock (amazon.com)

 

Title Information:

ISBN:
978-1926903293


Release Date:
April 01, 2016


Status:
Available


Book Type:
Paperback (5 x 8 in)


Price (CAD):
Buy Local: $20 / EBook: $3.89


Page Count:
280



 Related Titles

 

Great review for Infinity on YouTube!

YouTube channel Simple Pleasures an its author, S.S. Yasumi, have provided a wonderful review of the 2010 novel Infinity by Ellen Curtis and Matthew LeDrew. Check it out, and don’t forget to like the video and comment with your own opinions on the title![image error]

“This book is an interesting and easy read. LeDrew and Curtis have created their own line of characters with super powers and I’m excited to see where they take it. This book lines up interesting potential and I’m eager to explore more.“

S.S. Yasumi, Simple Pleasures

July 31, 2016

First in a new series from Engen Books. Faced with a destiny he’s uncertain of, the enigmatic Victor must bring together four unique people with very special abilities… or face the tasks ahead alone. Guaranteed to excite!

Infinity (Paperback)

Ellen Curtis / Matthew LeDrew

Purchase:

Canada:

Infinity (amazon.ca)

Infinity (chapters.ca)

US:

Infinity (amazon.com)

Infinity (Barnes&Noble)

Kindle:

Amazon.com

Amazon.ca

Title Information:

ISBN:
978-1-926903-00-2


Release Date:
October 31, 2010


Status:
Available


Book Type:
Paperback (5 x 8 in)


Cover Price:
Buy Local: $20 / EBook: $3.59


Page Count:
310

NGX 2016 – Day 2

The second day of the 2016 Newfoundland Gaming Expo — NGX — held on July 25 2016, was just as eventful as the first: with astonishing cosplayers, great deals or retro games and systems (as well as a favorite of mine, the all-in-one style Retron 5) and lots of gaming events revolving around the registered non-profit Sandbox Gaming.

[image error][image error]In addition to returning favorites like Erin Vance, Scott Bartlett,  Melanie Collins and Christopher P Walsh, all of whom appeared in the 2016 anthology collection Sci-Fi from the Rock, NGX afforded me the chance to get to know several of my surrounding vendors, including Sarah McCausland of Whimsy Witch Studios, who does amazing art that adapts characters from traditional geek lore into feline representations,  and Baddy Creative, a high-quality arts and crafts like vinyl images, knitting, and cosplay. We hope to be working with them soon.

For any who noted her absence, Ellen Curtis had a scheduling conflict with a family vacation and could not attend NGX on Sunday, July 24.

We hope to work closely with NGX and Sanbox Gaming in the future and can’t wait until next year!

Sandbox Gaming is a registered non-profit organization located in Newfoundland and Labrador. Sandbox Gaming has three objectives: 1) To raise money for children’s charities which promote play and development. 2) To build and sustain a gaming community in Newfoundland. 3) To dispel negative stereotypes about gamers.

The group was founded in November of 2010 by John Michael Bennett, Donald Reid, Scott Whelan and Jeff Smyth. They took their love of video games, and decided to do something great with it! Since then, the group has seen over 80 members come and go–some are still around since the very beginning. SBG has raised over $50,000 for charity. They raised over $5,000 for the Child’s Play Charity Organization, over $1,600 for the Janeway Children’s Hospital Playrooms, close to $21,000 for Easter Seals Newfoundland and Labrador, $8,800 for the St. John’s R.E.A.L. Program, $5200 for the St. John’s Boys and Girls Club and over $7,500 for Rainbow Riders.

Sandbox Gaming was known as Goodwill Gaming until September 2013.

NGX 2016 – Day 1

Day One of the 2016 NGX (Newfoundland Gaming Expo is complete, and despite not being a gaming-based entertainment platform, Engen Books was there in style around with several other prominent authors, including award-winning talents like Scott Bartlett and author of the Gold and Steel fantasy saga Christopher P. Walsh.

“The gaming community and the community that enjoys and understands our fiction has a lot in common,” said Matthew LeDrew. “NGX is a great and welcoming convention. It’s leans towards gaming but is very all-inclusive, and we’ve seen a lot of our old friends and Engeneers from other conventions today. It’s a wonderful convention and I’m very grateful to Sandbox Gaming for arranging it.”

[image error][image error]Engen shares some of its writing staff with the Sanbox Gaming team, including Melanie Collins (author of Woven by the Thief) and Matthew Daniels (author of Healer’s Hoards), both of which were featured in the April 2016 anthology collection Sci-Fi from the Rock.

Also in attendance were Ellen Curtis (author of the Infinity series) and freelance editor Erin Vance, who in addition to helming the aforementioned Sci-Fi from the Rock anthology has also done work on Cinders, As Fierce as Steel, and Exodus of Angels.

We’re hoping for an even bigger turnout tomorrow! If you haven’t stopped by yet, come by the vendor’s room and check us out! Matthew LeDrew and Erin Vance will be there from 9am – 6pm tomorrow selling books, talking about writing, and giving advice on how to get published and entry into the 2017 Fantasy from the Rock collection!

Sandbox Gaming is a registered non-profit organization located in Newfoundland and Labrador. Sandbox Gaming has three objectives: 1) To raise money for children’s charities which promote play and development. 2) To build and sustain a gaming community in Newfoundland. 3) To dispel negative stereotypes about gamers.

The group was founded in November of 2010 by John Michael Bennett, Donald Reid, Scott Whelan and Jeff Smyth. They took their love of video games, and decided to do something great with it! Since then, the group has seen over 80 members come and go–some are still around since the very beginning. SBG has raised over $50,000 for charity. They raised over $5,000 for the Child’s Play Charity Organization, over $1,600 for the Janeway Children’s Hospital Playrooms, close to $21,000 for Easter Seals Newfoundland and Labrador, $8,800 for the St. John’s R.E.A.L. Program, $5200 for the St. John’s Boys and Girls Club and over $7,500 for Rainbow Riders.

Sandbox Gaming was known as Goodwill Gaming until September 2013.