Podcasts about sunburst award

Brad C. Anderson lives with his wife and puppy in Vancouver, Canada.He teaches undergraduate business courses at a local university andresearches organizational wisdom in blithe defiance of the fact mostpeople do not think you can put those two words in the samesentence without irony. Previously, he worked in the biotech sector,where he made drugs for a living (legally!).His stories have appeared in a variety of publications. His short story “Naïve Gods” waslonglisted for a 2017 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. Itwas published in the anthology Lazarus Risen, which was itself nominated for an Aurora Award.Ashme's Song, the latest science fiction novel by Vancouver writerBrad C. Anderson (author of Duatero), is a gritty, action-filled, far-future cyberpunk-infused science fiction tale about resistance,rebellion, and civil war—and the terrible toll it takes onindividuals and families. It releases December 17 fromShadowpaw Press.“Ashme's Song is a science fiction story exploring family andheroism at a time of civil war,” Anderson says. “I wrote this bookbecause I wanted to explore the tension between wanting to fightfor your people versus fleeing with your family.”“Ashme's Song is a gritty, thoroughly engaging, and thought-provoking exploration of timeless themes of oppression,resistance, and family ties, combined with fascinatingworldbuilding and a strong cyberpunk element,” says Edward Willett, publisher and editor ofShadowpaw Press.During the course of this, Brad teaches me what Cyberpunk v Steampunk are. We also discuss re-introducing Megafauna and bacteria v humans.

Brad C. Anderson lives with his wife and puppy in Vancouver, Canada. He teaches undergraduate business courses at a local university and researches organizational wisdom in blithe defiance of the fact most people do not think you can put those two words in the same sentence without irony. Previously, he worked in the biotech sector, where he made drugs for a living (legally!). His stories have appeared in a variety of publications.His short story “Naïve Gods” was longlisted for a 2017 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. It was published in the anthology Lazarus Risen, which was itself nominated for an Aurora Award. “Ashme's Song is a science fiction story exploring family and heroism at a time of civil war,” Anderson says. “I wrote this book because I wanted to explore the tension between wanting to fight for your people versus fleeing with your family.” “Ashme's Song is a gritty, thoroughly engaging, and thought-provoking exploration of timeless themes of oppression, resistance, and family ties, combined with fascinating worldbuilding and a strong cyberpunk element,” says Edward Willett, publisher and editor of Shadowpaw Press. “I was pleased to be able to reprint Brad's previous novel, Duatero, through the Shadowpaw Press Reprise imprint, and I'm thrilled to now be able to share this brand-new work with readers.”http://bradanderson2000.comThe Douglas Coleman Show VE (Video Edition) offers video promotional packages for authors. Please see our website for complete details.  https://www.douglascolemanmusic.com/vepromo/  Please help us to continue to bring you quality content by showing your support for our show.  https://fundrazr.com/e2CLX2?ref=ab_eCTqb8_ab_31eRtAh53pq31eRtAh53pq

My guest on this episode is Hiromi Goto. Hiromi's first novel, Chorus of Mushrooms, won the 1995 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book, was the co-winner of the Canada-Japan Book Award. Her second adult novel, The Kappa Child, won the 2001 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award. She has published multiple novels for adults and children, as well as a book of poetry, and a collection of short stories. She has also won The Sunburst Award and the Carl Brandon Parallax Award. Hiromi's most recent book, Shadow Life—her first graphic novel, created with artist Ann Xu—was published by First Second Books in 2021. Shadow Life won the 2022 Asian/Pacific American Literature Award for Adult Fiction and was nominated for a 2022 GLAAD Media Award and an LA Times Book Prize. The New York Public Library also declared it one of the best books of 2021. Publishers Weekly, in its review of Shadow Life, said: “this wry genre-bending graphic novel …delves into aging, independence, lost love, and mortality with a whimsy that doesn't undercut its literary heft.” Hiromi and I talk about her current situation in which she finds herself unable to read and write barely at all, and about the work she is doing as a part-time farmhand that, even if it doesn't help her get writing again, is doing some good and necessary things for her soul.   Hiromi Goto: hiromigoto.com Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Contact Nathan Whitlock at nathanwhitlock.ca/contact

Overview Soulworm, the debut novel of Edward Willett, now the award-winning author of more than twenty novels and twice that many nonfiction books, has just been made available once more in a new edition from Shadowpaw Press Reprise.A young adult fantasy novel, Soulworm was originally published by Royal Fireworks Press in 1997, and was shortlisted for the Best First Book award at that year's Saskatchewan Book Awards. It was written in the 1980s while Willett was news editor of the Weyburn Review newspaper, and is set in Weyburn in 1984—which nowadays gives it a Stranger Things vibe, although at the time it was a present-day tale. Edward Willett is the award-winning author of more than sixty books of science fiction, fantasy, and non-fiction for readers of all ages, including the Worldshapers series and the Masks of Agyrima trilogy (as E.C. Blake) for DAW Books and the YA fantasy series The Shards of Excalibur, originally published by Coteau Books. His most recent novel is the humorous space opera The Tangled Stars (DAW Books).Willett won Canada's top science fiction/fantasy award, the Aurora Award, for Best Long-Form Work in English in 2009 for Marseguro (DAW) and for Best Fan Related Work in 2019 for The Worldshapers podcast, and a Saskatchewan Book Award for Spirit Singer in 2002. He has been short-listed for Aurora and Saskatchewan Book Awards multiple times (most recently for his YA science fiction novel Star Song), and long-listed multiple times for the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. Website edwardwillett.com Book YouTube https://youtu.be/soin5a_PcvE Transcript Stephen: Today I want to welcome Edward back to the podcast. How are you doing, Edward? Edward: It's good to see you again. Stephen: Now that we're in winter, last time I talked to you, it was like negative 20 or something, and you were talking about walking around outside in the snow. Do you have a nice weather now? Edward: Is it actually over the weekend? It was more like 30, 31 Celsius. Put up around 90 Fahrenheit. So we've had some really helpful. Unfortunately, our air conditioning is broken. And so getting back fixed, but today it's quite cool. It's 18, I think for a high today. So Stephen: yeah. It's been awful humid here. We've had rain off and on for a couple of days, so it gets really humid and that's worse. I'd Edward: rather have heat. I went to university in Arkansas, so I know heat and humidity. And I was in marching band. Stephen: Oh, nice wool uniforms and stuff. Black ones at that. Oh, man, we had dark maroon and gold. You put that on and I played drums when you carry that big heavy equipment. Edward: Our drummers were lucky. They got to wear a kind of a peasant shirt with an open collar and something lighter. But all the rest of us were stuck in these winter weight woolen uniforms. Stephen: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. All right. It's good to have you back again. We've talked with you before about some of the books you've had, the anthologies, short stories, some of your other books. So today we're going to talk about a new book for you Edward: called soul. Yes. Although it's not really a new book. It's a, it's an old book and a new edition. It's my debut novel now out in a new edition. Stephen: Oh, that's awesome. In that, and that's probably why you suggested we talk a little bit later for the author stuff about revisiting and revising. Perfect. All right. So give us a little bit of the background history here of Soul Worm, how it fits into your overall list of books Edward: And when I came out of university, I had decided in high school that I wanted to be a writer, but I also knew you couldn't make a living as one. So I was actually working as a newspaper. I went into journalism. I was working as a newspaper reporter and then editor of my hometown newspaper. I was editor at the age of 24 of my newspaper back at Weyburn,

Teatime with Miss Liz coming to the table is the fabulous Natasha Deen AWARD winning Author of children's books One story at a time to impact lives. She is a Children's and YA author, tea drinker, and cupcake annihilator. November 24th, 7 PM EST LIVE SHOW ON MISS LIZ'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL & MULTIPLE PODCASTS PLATFORMS Award-winning author NATASHA DEEN writes for kids, teens, and adults. She believes the world is changed one story at a time, and as a Guyanese-Canadian whose family immigrated to Canada, she's seen first-hand how stories have the power to shape the world. When she's not writing, Natasha enjoys visiting schools, libraries, and other organizations to help people to find and tell the stories that live inside of them. She also spends an inordinate amount of time trying to convince her pets that she's the boss of the house. Natasha is the author of the Lark Ba series (CCBC Best Pick for Kids & Teens, Starred Selection) and the Guardian series (Moonbeam Award, Sunburst Award nominee, Alberta Readers' Choice nominee). Her latest novel, In the Key of Nira Ghani, is a Junior Library Guild selection and a Barnes and Noble Top 25 Most Anticipated Own Voices novel. Visit Natasha at www.natashadeen.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/misslizsteatimes/message

I love interviewing other authors because every time I get to speak to one on Unstoppable Mindset I learn new concepts I hope I can use. I hope you feel the same way.   Our guest on this episode is Natasha Deen. She is an author of over 40 books written for youth, adults and everyone else in between. She made an interesting observation I love and which led to this episode's title. She observed that there are no great writers. There are only great rewriters. Listen to this episode to hear why she thinks this is so. I won't give it away.   About the Guest:   Guyanese-Canadian author, Natasha Deen has published over forty works for kids, teens, and adults, in a variety of genres, and for a variety of readerships. Her works include the JLG Standard Selection Thicker than Water, Guardian which was a Sunburst Award nominee, _and the Alberta Readers Choice nominated _Gatekeeper. Her YA novel, In the Key of Nira Ghani, won the 2020 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award and her upcoming novel, The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad, is a CBC Top 14 Canadian YA books to watch for in spring 2022 and a JLG Gold Standard Selection. When she's not writing, she teaches Introduction to Children's Writing with the University of Toronto SCS and spends an inordinate amount of time trying to convince her pets that she's the boss of the house.   Social media links:   Visit Natasha at www.natashadeen.com and on Twitter/Instagram, @natasha_deen.   About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is an Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:20 Well, hi, and I am glad that you're with us again on an unstoppable mindset podcast episode. Today, our guest is Natasha Deen, except that she said to introduce her as she who would follow you home for cupcakes I buy into that. So true. Hey, listen, there's nothing wrong with a good cupcake. Or good muffins. Well, Natasha is an author, she's written over 40 books of various genres, and so on, we're going to talk about that. And she has all sorts of adventures and stories to tell. And so I think we will have a lot of fun on this podcast. So thanks for joining us. And Natasha, thank you for joining us today.   Natasha Deen  02:05 Thank you. And yes, thank you for joining my clan, I'm very excited to be here.   Michael Hingson  02:10 Well, tell me a little bit about you, you sort of the the early Natasha years and so on, and what you did how you got to the point of writing and anything else that you want to say,   Natasha Deen  02:20 Oh, well, I have an interesting, you know, that's gonna say like, I have a kind of an interesting origin story because I was born in Canada. But when I was three weeks old, my family moved back home to Guyana, South America, lived there, and then came back to Canada. So I'm a born Canadian, but my experience with Canada is an immigrant experience. Because the first country I knew was, you know, a country of, of coconuts and vampire bats. And you know, peacocks. And it was it was amazing, we lived No, we were just talking about previous residences. And the house we lived at, there was a stream in front of the house. And then there was a bridge that would connect you like you know, into the town. And I have, I can remember that we would get these huge rainstorms. And it would wash out the bridge. And then you'd either be well basically, as a kid, you were you were stuck, because you have to wait for the men to go find the bridge and bring it back and reattach because it just like a wooden bridge, or they'd have to rebuild it. And it was the same thing at school, like when the rains would hit, the teachers would just show off all the lights, and then we'd make paper boats, and we'd sail them down these like little these little rivers. And when I moved to Canada, the first time it rained, you know, I'm in school, and it starts pouring. And I'm so excited because I think for sure the teachers are going to turn off the lights and we're all gonna go sail paper boats. But it was like a loop was not to be as close the window and told me to pay attention. I'm like, but but but but no, I you know? And to answer your question about any desires to be a writer I did when I was a kid, I thought it would have been very cool to have a book on a shelf. But when I went to the teacher's library and the elders, parents, nobody knew nobody knew how to how to do it. And so I figured it was sort of like, you know, winning a lottery, or perhaps I don't know, some sort of happy, happy meeting, you have to sit down next to some editor on a train. And you mentioned that you really liked writing and they handed the contract right there. So I moved on to other other things. And it was after I graduated with my BA in psychology that I thought I'm just gonna give this writing thing at shot. And luckily for me, and you know, sort of all the writers who are up and coming like, we have the internet so we can, we can talk to the Google and the Google will tell us how how we navigate getting published and Contact, it's an editor's. So first sort of a snapshot.   Michael Hingson  05:04 So did you do anything with psychology? Or did you go straight into writing?   Natasha Deen  05:09 I so like dark secret, I was doing a couple of classes over the summer and preparation I had applied for my masters. And I was sitting there, and it was this really odd textbook that was telling you about, you know, counseling. And one of the techniques they had, they would repeat back to you what, you you know what the patient would say you repeat it back them, because the thinking of the time was, you know, hearing it, hearing it echo back would open up places. And I just, you know, what I remember, we had to do like a whole thing where we were practicing, you know, and it was the most, I realized I did not have the personality for it. Because if I was on the other side of the chair, and I'm saying to someone, I've had a really bad day, and they say back to me. So it sounds like you've had a really bad day. Yeah, yeah, my boss, my boss yelled at me. The boss yelled at you, I would have been like, No, I'm out. I'm gonna go find someone else to talk to you. Cool, actually, you know, talk back to me, instead of giving me a repeat of what I've like, I know what I just said, man. I just said it, you know? So. So that was about that. And I was also you know, so I thought, oh, I'll just, I'll just do a little bit of writing. And then, you know, I'll come back maybe what it is, I'm just tired, because I did school for, you know, 100 billionaires. And there's a danger, there's a danger of taking a break from from school, because then for people like me, we realize now we don't ever want to go back. Thank you very much. Well, we go do something else that someone else can have our desk. Okay, bye.   Michael Hingson  06:47 I remember when I was at UC Irvine, and working in physics and doing a lot with the computers, and there was a mainframe computer on campus. They had a psychology program, and it called Elijah. And it sort of worked like that. It would, if you type something in it would sort of repeat it back. But it was smart enough to deviate. And it could actually get you off in all sorts of unusual twists and turns. It was all about also psychoanalyzing you or, or creating conversations with you to try to figure you out, it was kind of fun. You could you could get absorbed with it for hours.   Natasha Deen  07:29 Well, that's amazing. They have I know that they have a digital version of rat training, mice mouse training. So you would you would train a mouse to like do a maze, but it was a digital mouse, which I appreciate it. I feel like mice have other things to do with their time than to run a maze forming.   Michael Hingson  07:48 Hey, I've read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I know about mice. They're they're in. They're in control of the universe. Go read the book.   Natasha Deen  07:56 I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't doubt that. That sounds that sounds feasible to me.   Michael Hingson  08:00 So something to work on. Well, so how did you end up getting to the point where your first book was published?   Natasha Deen  08:08 Oh, yeah, that's a great, like, I so I, you know, I was I was writing and I was sending out and I think for a lot of writers, you know, we know this feeling, right? You're sending out to editors, you're sending out to agents, and nobody wants you. Right? And sometimes, as soon as you get the really nice rejection letters, like, dear Natasha, thank you so much. I really enjoyed the work, but it just didn't reach me in the way it should. And I'm just not as passionate. You know, I wish you luck. And those ones I didn't mind the ones that that used to irritate me were the ones that would say, Dear author, yeah. Yeah, no, thank you. And it was, like, they didn't capitalize their sentences. And it would just irritate me so much. But I think it was a day and I just spent like, two hours researching you, making sure I spelled your name, making sure I was professional in my letter, the least you could do is capitalized, you know, I, I don't want this, you know, give it to them or whatever. But it was just so I happened upon a small e publisher. And I'd heard really, really good things about them. I'm not sure if they're around anymore. But I've heard really great things about them. And a few friends who had published them said, they're really great because they don't send generic rejection letters. If they don't want your work. They will tell you, and I thought okay, I this is this is perfect for me, because then I can send it out and really someone will tell me if I'm doing something wrong, like what what is it that I'm doing so wrong with with, you know, my books? So I sent it out. And about a month later, I got an email saying, Hey, we really liked this. We'd love to publish it. Can we send you a contract? Yes. Yeah. Yeah, well, you know, I think I think that's kind of the thing with the industry sometimes, like, you know, we get enough kicks in the hand at art, we start wondering if we're in the right industry, we start wondering, do we have any kind of talent? Do we have any kind of skill? Are we just kidding ourselves? And so, you know, when I sent it out, I really, I was still thinking, Okay, I just don't think I'm a great writer, I don't think I have what it takes. And so it was a really good lesson about how subjective the industry can be, you know, and that that frustrating, heartbreaking thing, which is persevering. And you just have to keep going, because what else are you gonna do? You know, if you're built to be a writer, you're built to be a writer.   Michael Hingson  10:42 So you got a contract? And you published your first book? Did they do any editing or work with you on making any improvements before it was actually published?   Natasha Deen  10:53 Oh, yeah, yeah, I had to do a quitter, I think three, three rounds of edits. And then they were really great. I mean, they were, they were teeny tiny, small, small budget. But I really love that they did the very best they could for like, publicity and marketing, for their authors. And they, they would bring, like different opportunities, if you wanted to do it yourself. You could also like, expand out. And I think it's something for authors to think about, you know, that quite often we dream of, you know, the big, I don't know how many publishers, I think it's a big five now maybe even just sort of a big for publishers. But sometimes there's something to be said for for the small and plucky publisher, you know, you may not have necessarily the bragging rights, where everyone knows that publisher, they know who you're talking about. But in terms of that sort of one on one interaction with your editor, the responsiveness of your editor, and just the care they'll take with your work. And I really enjoyed my time with them.   Michael Hingson  12:01 So when was the first book published? Or when did you start working with this first publisher?   Natasha Deen  12:06 Oh, so 2007 It was actually it. So the first thing I'd sent them was a short story. And that was 2007. And then my first novel would then came out in 2009. And then in 2012, and those were all adult romances. And then, in 2012, I went into writing for ya. And I was, that's that was in The Guardian series. And the first book in that series is conveniently titled with enough guardian, which is, which is all about Maggie who sees the dead, and is currently being haunted by the ghost of the kid who bullied her. So that was that was in 2012. Ah,   Michael Hingson  12:49 so the bullies haunting her, and what does she do about that?   Natasha Deen  12:53 Well, that's, that's kind of the whole thing, right? Because it's like, do you? Do you stay quiet? Because he's, you know, he doesn't know she could see him? So does she stay quiet? And just sort of leave him in this limbo? You know, sort of till the end of time as justice for what he's done to her? Or does she actually just say to him, Look, I can see you and here we go. And so the story, the story explores, you know, that side of it, but also it's sort of exploring the idea of, you know, the way that our painful memories can can haunt us. And what do we do? Do we do we face them? Do we acknowledge them? Or do we just sort of push them down and pretend like they don't exist?   Michael Hingson  13:39 So how many books have you written in that series? Which is I guess about Maggie?   Natasha Deen  13:43 Yes. So there's, it's a trilogy. So there's three books in that series?   Michael Hingson  13:47 Okay. Are they all with the same ghosts are different ghosts,   Natasha Deen  13:51 the ghosts, there are one to two supernatural creatures who are there throughout the whole trilogy. But each each book it was it's it's it's kind of an interesting, it's it's fantasy mixed with horror mixed with supernatural mixed with a mystery. So in each book, she's dealing with a ghost who is dead. A ghost story? I guess it goes, who doesn't know that they're dead? And is trying to sort you know, why? What has happened to them? And usually someone has murdered them. And so it's all about trying to figure out who who, who done them in like, well, who did it and then they can move on?   Michael Hingson  14:36 Sounds like a fun series. Have any of the books been converted to audio at all?   Natasha Deen  14:41 Oh, I don't know. Like I know, in the key of near Ghani, I know she's, she's audio. And I think one or two books in the large series is but I'm not sure about the Guardian series. I don't think so. I don't think I don't not yet. I don't think   Michael Hingson  14:58 well If we can find electronic copies, and then we can, can do them in Braille, which is also fine.   Natasha Deen  15:07 Oh, that's wild. That's interesting.   Michael Hingson  15:10 It's not magically overly hard to do. So, you started with this one publisher? I gather you didn't continue with them. Because you said you're not sure if they're around anymore, did you go elsewhere? Or what happened?   Natasha Deen  15:25 I get? Well, they were they were strictly for adults. And I realized with Guardian that it was, it wasn't aimed for adults, it was aimed for teens. And then once I started writing for kids and teens, it just, it's a very different kind of experience writing for for people who are under 18. Because when you think about it, like an adult reader, it's a very sort of, I feel like it's a very direct connection, right? I'm going to write the story. And here you go. And you as an adult reader, you the only thing you're going to think about is, is this the genre that I love to read. And with kids, there's no such like, with with Kid readers, what you're looking at is you're going to write the book, but then there's going to be an adult in that child's life, who buys that book or boards a book for the child. And it's more than just a question of, oh, this is these are the kinds of stories I like, it's questions of how old is this kid because how old that child is determines the kind of story you're going to tell? And how you tell that story? You know, are they? Are they someone who is an add grade reader? Or are they someone who is striving or what we call a reluctant reader? So they're in grade five, reading at a grade three level? And so you don't there's there's all of these things? So things like, how big is the sentence? Like how long is the sentence? What is the vocabulary? Are the words, am I using words that are easy to pronounce, and easy to sound out? And, and it's just a very like, from a writer's perspective, it's a very, very fun exercise. Because how I'm gonna write a story for someone who is seven, is going to be wildly different than how I write a story for someone who is 17. And, you know, I love it. Because, you know, we talked about the idea that simple doesn't always mean easy. And certainly when you're writing for kids, you're, you're really getting down and asking those questions about where are they, in terms of their literacy rates? Where are they in terms of how passionate they are about reading, you know, and I think about that now, in a really different light. And I'm really grateful to all of the kid authors who around when I was growing up, because their care and attention and love of like, kids everywhere, really ignited a passion for for reading that I now because of them. I am not just an adult reader. I'm an out writer. And so yeah, I'm very thankful to them for for all that they did when I was a little kid and making sure that those stories were accessible to me and made me feel lifted up because I could read it myself.   Michael Hingson  18:16 What do you come up with some of the ideas like for The Guardian series, and that's pretty, pretty creative, and a lot of twists and whatnot, twists and turns, but just a lot of parts to it? How do you come up with an idea like writing about a creature who is dead who may not know they're dead, and certainly don't know that someone can see them? Someone who can see them? And going through all the different gyrations of that,   Natasha Deen  18:41 you know, it was really, it actually started off as an adult story. And I was aiming for a mystery like it just a straight, cozy mystery with a librarian who finds who finds a body in the trunk of her car. And it turns out that it is, in fact, her ex husband her near her, you know, what do you call that it and near do well? Well, ex husband. And of course, obviously suspicion starts to her. And I was really struggling with it. And it was just a thought one day that I had about wouldn't it be interesting if it was a girl like a teenager? And instead of an ex husband? What if she found the body of her bully in the back of the car? And then where would we go? And I and then I started thinking though, then wonder where we go and how can I make this more interesting? And then I thought, well, what if she could actually see the dad and at first it's like, you know, are people gonna think I did it. And then of course now it gets super complicated because oh, he's he's there. I have not heard of this terrible person. So sometimes it's just a story where you're thinking about how can I make it more interesting for the reader? And then sometimes it's so Well, I, you know, I was talking to, to a relative, and we were sort of joking around because they had a younger relative in their life, who loved them a lot and worried about them. But the the love and the worry meant that this younger relative could be quite overbearing with this person I was speaking to, you know, and they were like, I'm not that old, I could take care of myself. And I thought, you know, like, it was such an interesting idea for a story about what do you what do you do? What do you do when someone loves you, but they're just, they, you know, they just they're so caught up and knowing in their mind what is right for you, that your your own wants and needs are getting tossed to the side. And that was the start of the signs and wonders of Tish odd because I have tuna, and then there's her brother, Robbie and Robbie is he's loving, and he's a great brother, and he's a great son. But he's just convinced he knows what's good for everyone. And, you know, and adding to that complicate, like, complicating it is the idea is that his his husband has just died. And so He's grieving. And now this is how, you know, one part of his grief is manifesting is that tuna can't breathe. And she just really needs Robbie to like, get a life or at least get out of her life and give her give her some room. And when I was writing it, I knew I wanted her to be an aspiring screenwriter, I thought there would be lots of room for for funny if I could do it like that. And I was struggling with it. And then I went back and I was thinking about the beats of a screen a screenplay. Right? And so how does it like when do you when does the a story break into the B story and, you know, what are the fun and games and, and, and then I got the idea that every chapter heading would mirror a story beat. And that's that's how to knows. That's how to news personality would would show itself. And so So yeah, sometimes it's, it's you're trying to solve a some writer's block, and then you realize that you're the wrong genre, the wrong age group. And other time too. You've got your genre, and you've got your age group. But now you're just trying to sort through, how do you make it? How do you make it funnier, and, and, and I love I really love the chapter headings because it meant that for any kid who relatable anyone who reads the story, who also has to write, not only do you have the story, but now you have a very with the chapter headings now you know exactly where your story needs to go, because they're all your story beats right there for you.   Michael Hingson  22:39 When you're writing a book, and this is something I've always been curious about, especially if in dealing with fiction, some but when you're writing a book, is each chapter somewhat like a story and then you you transition and do things to make them all combined together? Or how do you deal with deciding what's a chapter and what's not a chapter?   Natasha Deen  23:02 Oh, yeah, that's a great question. Um, I think for me, you know, what we think about or what I think about is, what's the story problem. So with tuna, the story problem is that Robbie is just overbearing, and and she needs to, you know, get some space from him. And so that's, you know, that's one plot of the story. And then, you know, from there I go, Okay, well, how do I, how do I make this problem? More complicated, right? Or how do I make this problem? Like, how do I start giving this problem texture? And I thought, well, it would be really funny if two has a crush on a guy trusted, and like, what, what sibling wouldn't interfere? So and I thought, yep, that's perfect. So once I had those, then it's just like, here's my big problem. How do I make them? Little tiny problems? Right? And so what is the what's the saying about? How do you how do you eat an elephant like one one bite at a time? And that's sort of it like, here's my big problem. Now, how do I make it smaller? So, you know, the opening chapter tonight is gonna go and estrus now it's summer, she's got, you know, 60 days to finally tell this guy students, she really cares for him. So she's going to tell him and she just, she gets shy, you know, and then she she trips up over herself over it. And so the problem in that chapter, which is I really want to tell this person I care for them does not get solved. And the her now having to resort, okay, that didn't work. How do I ask him about it now? Like, what's my next step? Now that jumps me to my next chapter that jumps and hopefully that jumps the reader because there's there's a chapter question, okay, what is she going to do now? And we we go on. And so one of the things to think about with bigger stories that are like the, you know, 5060 80,000 word count is, there's probably going to be more than one problem that your character is trying to solve. And you're gonna have like that big external prominent character needs a job, your character needs to rob a bank, and then you're gonna have another story that will probably tie into that bigger one, right? So my character needs to draw a bank, but really, the robbing the bank, because they have a sick child, and if they robbed the bank, they can get the money, and they're gonna be able to, you know, pay for some private operation and save the life of their child, then that's how that's how we twine it together.   Michael Hingson  25:50 So you, you do kind of have different things in in different chapters. But by the same token, things can get away from you, or things can go off in different directions, which is what makes writing fun. And part of the adventure for you.   Natasha Deen  26:08 Yeah, yeah. And you're right, because you know, you're asking about the containment of the chapters, and every chapter is going to have a beginning middle end to it, it's just that in those chapters, there is no like Final the end, there's just an end to that particular scene, or an end to that particular moment, that's going to bump you into the next moment. And the next seat. Well,   Michael Hingson  26:31 so you going back to your story, you decided to write full time I gather, and that's what you do now.   Natasha Deen  26:40 I do, I did I write full time, and I also teach with the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, I teach their introduction to children's writing, and I visit schools, and I tell kids funny stories about growing up and being the weird kid in class. And, and I also, you know, teach at libraries and, you know, attend festivals and that kind of thing. And, and I still, you know, and I think as writers, we know this, right, that sometimes this job can be such a grind, because you're, you're alone in a room with just your thoughts, and the voices in your head, and you're trying to sort it. And sometimes it can feel like why, why did I choose this job, but he was just refreshing, there's got to be some better way to make money, but the roof over my head, but you know, like, I just, it's so much fun that more More times than not, I'm kind of waking up, as I'm thinking to myself like that, that eight year old nine year old 10 year old me would be so jazzed to know that we grew up to be an actual writer with books on the shelves, and, you know, award stickers on on the covers of our books. Like, how cool is that? You know? So?   Michael Hingson  27:58 Yeah, that's, that's pretty cool. By any standard? Well, tell me, do you, you must have support and help? Do you have someone who represents you? Do you have people that you work with in that regard? Or how does all that work that you now get to publishers? Or you get help doing the other things that you do? Yeah, that's   Natasha Deen  28:19 a great question. And I'm, I'm really lucky because in Canada, our publishers don't, you don't need to have an agent to be published in Canada. And America, it's a little bit different, right? Like you have some publishers where I can contact a publisher directly and saying, Hey, I've got this, this story. And I think, I really think it will fit your catalog. But a lot of the pressures are going to be, hey, my agent has my story. And they think it's, it's, you know, just jazzy. So go ahead and take a look. And then, you know, see your agent is going to work on on your behalf. So early on in my career, I it was just me, right, it was just me all by myself submitting to publishers, and I'm saying I really hope you like my story. And then in 2016, I signed with Amy Tompkins from the transatlantic literary agency. And so now she represents me. So instead of me sending out my work directly to the publishers, I send them to Amy and then Amy sends out on on my behalf. So for those upcoming writers who are listening to our podcast, there's there's many ways there's many ways to get your, your book on the shelf. You can you can absolutely talk to the publishers yourself. You can go through an agent or you know, you can you can self publish, right, you can be an independent author, as well. And there's pros and cons to both sides of that, oh, it's what fits you.   Michael Hingson  29:51 How important is then having someone to represent you're having representation in what you do.   Natasha Deen  29:59 Well and Mike Ace, I would like I love my agent. I think she's, she's the bee's knees. I just think she's amazing. So I really enjoy writing, like, like I enjoy, because like, I love being able to send her work and talk to her about the industry and all these kinds of things. And I do think and I, and again, I think it's going to come down to what is your goal as a writer, what is your you know, do you want to make a career out of it, like a full time career, in which case, an agent is going to be really helpful to that, because they can get you into it and get you into the bigger markets, so they can get you into the bigger publishers, right. If you want to be part time writer, then you know, it all depends. But I will say for for anyone who is looking for an agent, you know, do be aware that your agent is is going to be doing lots of work on your behalf, but they're not, they're not magic genie is you're not going to rub a lamp and all of a sudden, here's all the things that are going to happen. What your agent gives you the opportunity to do is knock on more doors, but there's still no guarantee about being contracted or any of those things. So it's really good to have a realistic idea of, of what you're what the job of an agent is. So it's good to go and make sure you do your research about what they do. They're very, you know, they're they're like, they're vital when it comes to things like reading over your contracts, making sure that your artistic well being is being protected. But having said that, you know, you can also hire an entertainment lawyer who will do the same thing for you. So, again, you know, the frustrating, and yet the very amazing thing about this industry is that it always comes down to you as the individual, what is it that you want? How do you see this journey. And once you know those things, then you can build your plan for creating, sort of creating the career of your dreams.   Michael Hingson  32:09 What are some of the mistakes up and coming or new writers tend to make in your experience,   Natasha Deen  32:17 in my experience, they set or their work far too soon. It's great if you've written your story, but it's not ready yet, as and that can be a hard thing to hear if you've been working on this story for like three or four years, but it's not ready yet, you finish your story. And you start working on something else. Like you've got to give yourself a month, six weeks, two months, where you're not looking at that story that you finished at all, Project eight, don't look at Project day. And then after that, four to eight weeks, go back and take a look at it. Because now what you've done is you've decoupled you're not as close to that story anymore. And you're going to be a lot more objective. So you know, it's important to like, edit, and revise your work. You know, I don't know, I was saying to a class at one of my school visits, there are no great writers, there are just really, really great rewriters and the professional writers, this is what we know that you're going to do it. And then you're going to do it again. And again. And again. And again, until it's finally in a place where it's readable for more than just yourself. So it's really important to edit, it's to have beta readers. And there are people who are going to read your work and offer you feedback on your work, what's working, what's not working. And they're, they're also really important because, you know, when we're working on our projects in in the quiet, we're telling the stories to ourselves. And that's great. But to be an author is to be able to tell a story to a wide variety of people who you will probably never meet in your whole entire life. So you need to get other brains and other you know, viewpoints on on your work. And so, you know, it's all those things. And then once you're ready, you know, do your research, look and buy do your research. I mean, go look up these publishers, and find out if they're reputable, and look at their submission guidelines. Agents are the same thing. Look at the submission guidelines. How do they want you to submit the work? What kind of work are they taking? If you can do that, you're probably about 95% ahead of a lot of the writers out there who will just gonna do you know, they're just gonna throw in that and they're just gonna submit to everybody. And, you know, it can be a really frustrating thing for editors and agents because they're only representing nonfiction. And here's this manuscript they've got to deal with or this email they've got to deal with with someone who's who wants to, you know them to represent their picture book or their, you know, suspense thriller for adults, and it's like, no, you need to, you need to have enough respect for your work and for your emerging career, to take the time and do the research. And it is going to take time, and it is going to be frustrating, because you're looking at their, you know, Twitter feeds, and their social media and the blogs and all these kinds of things. But in the long term, and in the long run, it will, it will only do good.   Michael Hingson  35:33 One of the things that seems to me when you're talking about great writers is either they have a real sense of what it is, that would make someone want to read their book or their story, or they know how to get that information and then will will put it to use, which may not mean that that makes them a great writer, but it certainly makes them a much better marketer. Yeah.   Natasha Deen  36:03 No, it's well, and you know, this is? Yeah, you know, like, the, the great thing is that there's lots of different readers out there. And there's lots of different writers out there. And I think it's really important for us as readers to understand that just because we don't like a book, doesn't mean the book is bad. It can just mean that we're not the reader for that book. And I like, you know, I'm the person, like, if you're gonna give me a book, and there's, there's animal characters in that book, those animal characters better survived through the book, because if not surviving through the book, I am not reading it, you know, and it is like, and I will give you full credit that it's an amazing book, it's probably beautifully written. But no, if there's dog on page one, that dog still needs to be there on page, the end and happy. I want I want my dogs if they've gone through what they've gone through, but it's all okay. So so things like that, you know, and I'm very careful about women in peril kind of books, right? I'm I, some of them, I can read some of them. I can't. And again, it doesn't mean that they're not great writers. And those aren't great stories. It just means that I'm not the reader for them.   Michael Hingson  37:19 Yeah, Old Yeller is is a fine book. Except,   Natasha Deen  37:23 right. Hey, I tell you what, Michael, I mean, I get teased a lot because I'm the person who reads the ending before I read the rest of the book. But I blame that on Where the Red Fern Grows, because that book took out my heart. And I'm still not over it. I was when I read it. I'm still not over that book. And yeah, you know, and, and for me, it's like, Listen, if you're gonna ask me to spend however many hours, I need to know, it's gonna be worth my time, I need to know that these characters are gonna like, there's gonna be some kind of like, hopeful sort of note. The only time they don't do that as if it's a murder mystery. Because I want to I want to play along and see if I can find who the bad guy is before the detective does.   Michael Hingson  38:08 So dealing with animal books, of course, I mean, maybe it's the exception to a degree but then you have a book like Cujo, you know, from Stephen King, and, you know, do you really want I'm gonna I would love to have the dog not to have gotten rabies in the first place. But you know, that's the whole story.   Natasha Deen  38:25 I never I never rented the idea of a bad dog was just like no, no, I can't   Michael Hingson  38:31 start out a bad dog. That was the thing of course.   Natasha Deen  38:34 Oh, I know. I know what it is. No cuz you know there's only one ending for this poor dog. Yeah, right. Yeah. So so there is a dog in in tuna story and I want to sure all three out there that don't worry Everything Everything will be fine with magic.   Michael Hingson  38:57 Well, I appreciate that. I like books where were the animals survive? Of course I wrote thunder dog and Roselle survived in Thunder dog but they all they all do pass and but that's another that's another story.   Natasha Deen  39:12 Yes. That's it. And that's that's different. That's different. That's a   Michael Hingson  39:17 whole different you know? Yeah. And Roselle is somewhere waiting and watching and and monitoring and and occasionally probably yelling at us but you know, that's her.   Natasha Deen  39:29 That is yelling just just can't the ducks the doughnuts, man. Nothing.   Michael Hingson  39:36 What do you mean? Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. Roselle was also out there saying don't give them the donut. I want the donut. What do you do to those dumb ducks?   Natasha Deen  39:49 I feel like she would know that her bread will come later. Right?   Michael Hingson  39:54 Oh, well, maybe now but not then. Oh, yeah. Oh, no, no, thank you. is a lab What can I say?   Natasha Deen  40:02 No, I listened. We've got a husky mix. And I was joking around about how you definitely don't have to share DNA to the family because the look on her face when there's food. And just just the way she'll just look at you like, you're gonna share that right. And the long conversations I have with her room, like, I cannot share this. This is not appropriate. This is gonna make you really sick. You know, but I was thinking my husband one day I was like, as like, you know, I am pretty sure I get that same look on my face whenever I see through to just like, Oh, dang, is that? Oh, is that? Is that bread? Oh, man. Is that cheesecake? Hey, how you doing? Are you? Do you need some help on that? I can I   Michael Hingson  40:41 can totally help me. Make sure that that's really safe for you to eat.   Natasha Deen  40:45 Let me let me just make sure I Is that is that good. Let me let me tell you that bullet. Right. Let me take this for you.   Michael Hingson  40:52 You have you have children?   Natasha Deen  40:54 Yes. Yes, they're full grown boat. So they have kids of their own now.   Michael Hingson  40:58 So okay, so you have grandchildren? And and do we? Do we have any of them in your beta reader groups?   Natasha Deen  41:06 No, no. Because they Well, because they're they're still little adults, adult's? Oh, you know, I actually they'll read it afterwards. Because their schedules are pretty, their schedules are pretty intense. So   Michael Hingson  41:24 part of the evaluation process? Well, I   Natasha Deen  41:27 just feel bad, you know, looking them being Hey, hey, I know you're juggling, like 10 Different things now. But can I throw one more ball at you. And then also, like, I appreciate, like I use I use writer BETA readers, as opposed to just the quote unquote, regular folk, just because I usually by the time I'm done, I've got very specific questions about story structure, how the acts are transitioning? Can you can you see the a story B story? Where can you see the external? And so there needs to be a certain level of, I guess, like literary mechanical engineering? Do you know what I mean? Where I think to that? I think I think I think my family would be like, I love you. But stop asking me about the grammar. There's only so many times you can be like, okay, within what about, you know, when I when we're doing this metaphor, and it's, you know, like, just let me read it. Okay, so read it. So   Michael Hingson  42:29 how about today? Reading, I don't know, I'm trying to figure out what's happening to reading we've, we've changed a lot. Reading is now not just getting something on paper, we have electronic books, and so on. And I hear a lot of people say, Yeah, I read the books, it's not quite the same as reading a book. That's a full paper book, but I enjoy reading them as well. And of course, then there are a lot of people who just don't get into reading at all. But reading is so valuable, because it seems to me that one of the great advantages of reading is it gets you to sit and relax and take time away from everything else that probably we really don't need to be doing anyway. But we do it. But the reading gives you the opportunity to just sit down and let your mind wander. And it develops a lot of imagination. How do we get more people to do that?   Natasha Deen  43:30 That's a great question. And I'm not sure that I have a feasible? I'm not sure I have the answer. You know, but I think one of the things you said in the beginning was I think very well said that there is more than one way to access stories now. And I think that's really important. Right? If you are if you are someone who loves paper books, that's wonderful. But you know, for some of us, we're going to come to story differently. We want the story told to us, you know, or we want the story in some kind of a different, you know, when you're thinking about sometimes, like, finger dexterity and coordinate, you know, a screen is much easier to navigate. Than, then sometimes a book can be, and depending on the device you're using, it's going to be lighter. So if you have issues holding books, paper books, I mean, you know, this, these are like, these are the kindnesses that I think technology affords us, and that, you know, and if you're if you're busy, you can pop in that audiobook when you're sitting in the middle of rush hour and you can get to story that way. But I think a lot of it is is getting to folks when they're young and understanding that, again, not everybody comes to story the same way. And the thing that I think is magical about being a writer is that I can write I can write this Signs of wonders of tuna or Shawn, and I can give 30 people a copy of that book. And everyone will have the same book, not everyone is going to read the same story. Because at the moment time we start reading, we're going to bring our hopes, our dreams, our past experiences, our, you know, future or future hopes for us. Like we bring all of these things in how you know, do we have great relationships with our parents? Do we not, you know, how do we view the world? All of these things, like infuse the stories that we read, and they changed right there, they become another creature. So someone reads the book, and they say, Oh, yes, I read this. And this book is a cat. And someone say, no, no, no, it's not a cat. It was a chameleon. And someone else will say, No, it's a phoenix. And each of those people are correct, because that is how they interpret the story. And that's how they interpreted the book. And so you know, when we're talking about getting people, folks to love reading, it's getting them I think, a lot of times getting them young, understanding what are their what are the things that they love to read? What are the things that they love about the world? Let's, let's start there, and give them those kinds of stories. Like, you know, the idea that oh, I love this book, therefore, you must love this book is a really unkind to do to people. Because it says because I think of this like this, you must also think of this, like this, and and people are individuals, right? My mom's favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. I think I think it's a well written book. I can't stand the book. It sets my hair on fire every single time. You know, I have friends who really love the Great Gatsby, I'm not that person. Right? It doesn't mean that those people are wrong. I love the fact that my mom loves To Kill a Mockingbird, you know, and I love that my mom understands that's never going to be my favorite book. And she respects that. And so when, you know, when we were growing up, it was like, go to the library, even if she was like, Oh, that's okay. You know, she would give us space, if that's what you love. That's what you love. And I think we need to stop. Also, what's the word I'm thinking of? You know, I hear people a lot of times, especially with young readers, where they say things like, oh, but it's a graphic novel. There's not a lot of text in there. And, you know, how are they are they going to become readers? And it's like, be okay, granted, but when you look at a graphic novel, there's, there's images and who's looking at this book and reading through it has to be able to make intuitive leaps about you know, what's happening in this box versus what's happening in this box. And, you know, so it's still teaching, it's teaching life skills is teaching like human skills. And I think if we can leave, we can go from the point of taking the spotlight and putting like taking the spotlight and putting it on to the person who we want to get reading and having an open conversation where we respect where they're coming from. I think that can be really helpful.   Michael Hingson  48:11 Yeah, book like To Kill a Mockingbird is is an interesting book, I'm, I'd be curious to know what it is that the you've read, really find a problem with the book, but I can see that different people would certainly read that and deal with it in different ways. Oh, for me,   Natasha Deen  48:29 it was it was just this as you know, I'm a person of color in my everyday life, I've got to deal with micro aggressions and, and so in my, in my relaxed life, in in my fictional world, I don't want to have to I want space from that. I just want to be able to read something fun and something, you know, enjoyable. I don't want to have to read about the things that I'm trying to deal with in the real world, but at the same time, people really love it.   Michael Hingson  49:00 One of my favorite books is one that I'm sure today is not a favorite book for a lot of people. It's a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court by Mark Twain. And I love the plot. I love all the things that happened in it. It's just one of those books that has really stuck with me, and that I absolutely thoroughly enjoy. I guess also, I do have to say that I originally read it as a recording. It was a talking book produced by the Library of Congress. And the guy who read it was perfect. But it has always been one of my favorite books. I think it's just an incredibly creative book. And I admire that.   Natasha Deen  49:43 Yes, yeah. Well, I you know, it's easy because I really liked calm Sawyer and Hawk you know, I thought I mean different books. But yeah, they were fun characters, and I thought Twain had a very excellent storytelling style. I guess that's it. You're right. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  50:01 Well and, and different kinds of stories. I'm an okay Yankee Yankee in King Arthur's Court is hard. I like Tom Sawyer.   Natasha Deen  50:08 Well, did you did you know that he when he died, and like fact check me on this because I remember reading this years ago, but that his diary, he made sure as well that the diary could never be published for something like 100 years, because of the he was talking smack about so many people. He was like, they cannot be alive. But like,   Michael Hingson  50:33 yeah, I remember that. And it wasn't. So, of course, he knew we knew what he was going to die. He was born in 1835. And he said, I came in with Halley's comet, and I'll go out with it. And he did.   Natasha Deen  50:45 That's amazing. Hey,   Michael Hingson  50:48 it's just one of those things. Well, you know, before we wrap all this up, what's next for you? Where are you headed? What? What kind of projects do you have coming up?   Natasha Deen  50:58 Well, so yes, the tuna releases on June 7. I'm very, very excited about that. And then I'm just finalizing the book in the spooky SLIS series. And that's for early. That's for ages like 79 That's with Penguin Random House. And I'm very excited about that. That's, that's awesome. And Rockstar who live on in Lions Gate, and spooky creepy things happen. And awesome is convinced that there are supernatural creatures roaming the town. And rock star is convinced that because there is a science lab, it's probably just science running wild. And so the books, the book one opens up with a tree. That seems to be housing, a very evil spirit. But what will happen next?   Michael Hingson  51:48 Oh, you have to read the book to find out.   Natasha Deen  51:51 That's right.   Michael Hingson  51:54 Have you ever read books by David Baldacci?   Natasha Deen  51:56 Yes. Yeah, I just started reading him. Memory Man, I just I just started.   Michael Hingson  52:01 So and that's a that's a good one. But he also wrote, I think it's more for youth if I recall, but he wrote a series of four books. It's the Vega chain series. And if you ever get a chance to read those, it's a totally different Baldacci, then all of his mysteries, their fantasies, and it's a fantasy world, sort of, I don't want to give it away. But they're, they're well worth reading. I accidentally discovered them. I was looking to see if there was anything new by Baldacci out on Audible. And I found one of these and I read it on a on a plane flight and got hooked and so then could hardly wait for the next one to come out. So it's Vega, Jain V, GA and then chain.   Natasha Deen  52:48 Okay, yeah, thank you.   Michael Hingson  52:51 I think they fit into a lot of the things that you have been writing about. So they're, they're they're definitely worth reading. But there's nothing like reading conversations are great with people. But you get to meet so many more people in a book. And as I said, it seems to me that the most important thing about reading is sitting down and reading to let your imagination go. And you're right. The way you imagine is different than the way that I imagined. And we're all different. And that's the way it should be.   Natasha Deen  53:23 Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you, Michael. This was a lot of fun.   Michael Hingson  53:28 This was fun. I very much enjoyed it. And we need to do it again in the future. Yes, sir. So no tuna books are out yet. No, not yet. Next. So tunas tuna is new. It's coming out next Tuesday.   Natasha Deen  53:45 The signs and wonders of tuna are shot.   53:47 Wow. So that'll be fun. Well, we'll have to kind of watch for   53:51 it. Okay, sounds good.   53:55 If people want to learn more about you, and maybe reach out to you and talk to you about writing or any of those things, how can they do that?   54:04 Oh, on my website, www dot Natashadeen.com. And Natasha Deen is spelt D E E N. And Natasha is N A T A S H A.   54:18 So N A T A S H A D E E N.com. And they can contact they can contact you there and so on. And I assume you have links so that they can go buy books.   Natasha Deen  54:32 Yes, yes. Yes. It wouldn't be a website without it.   Michael Hingson  54:35 No, not an author's website. It would not be Well, this has been great. I really appreciate you coming on we will have to stay in touch. And we'll have to catch up to see how all the book sales go and how the the awards go once the new series are out. Thank you.   Natasha Deen  54:54 Yeah, sounds well make it a date, sir. They'll be perfect.   54:58 Absolutely. Well, Natasha, thanks for being here. And I want to thank all of you for listening and being with us today. This has been absolutely enjoyable. I hope you found it. So reach out to Natasha at her website, Natasha deen.com. And of course, I want to hear from you. So if you would like to reach out, please email me at Michaelhi at accessibe.com M I C H A E L H I at A C C E S S I B E.com. Or go to our podcast page, Michael hingson.com. hingson is h i n g s o n.com/podcast. And of course, we sure would appreciate it if you'd give us a five star rating after listening and, and come back and subscribe and listen to more unstoppable mindsets. We have all sorts of adventures coming up. And we would love you to be part of it. So if you'd like to be a guest, let us know if you know of someone who you think would make a good guest. Let us know that too. So again, thanks for being here. And Natasha, thank you once more for coming on unstoppable mindset.   Natasha Deen  56:03 Thank you, Michael. And thank you to all the listeners. I loved it. Thank you for spending time with us.   Michael Hingson  56:12 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

TW: mentions sexual abuse Andromeda Romano-Lax (she/her) worked as a freelance journalist and travel writer before turning to fiction. Her first novel, The Spanish Bow, was translated into eleven languages and chosen as a New York Times Editors' Choice, BookSense pick, and one of Library Journal's Best Books of the Year. Her next three novels, The Detour, Behave (an Amazon Book of the Month), and Plum Rains (winner of the Sunburst Award) reflect her diverse interest in the arts, history, science, and technology, as well as her love of travel and her time spent living abroad. Her latest novel, Annie and the Wolves, was described by Publisher's Weekly as “a winning anthem of female power sustained across a century,” and listed by Oprah Magazine as one of 2021's Best and Most Anticipated Historical Fiction Novels. She lives with her family on a small island off a bigger island in British Columbia, where her favorite activities are trail running, cycling, and paddleboarding. Visit Andromeda's website: https://www.romanolax.com/ - be. (bewomn.com) is a marketplace, newsletter & community here to empower women and non-binary people to step into their collective experience and share what makes theirs different and the same. Shop our values-forward marketplace: bewomn.com Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://campsite.bio/bewomn Follow us on Instagram: @be.womn Follow us on Twitter: @bewomn

In the spotlight is Andromeda Romano-Lax, who worked as a freelance journalist and travel writer before turning to fiction. Her first novel, “The Spanish Bow,” was translated into 11 languages, and her next three novels — “The Detour,” “Behave” (an Amazon Book of the Month), and “Plum Rains” (winner of the Sunburst Award) — reflect her diverse interest in the arts, history, science and technology, as well as her passion for travel and her time spent living abroad. Her latest is titled “Annie and the Wolves.” She also works with novelists and memoirists as a freelance book coach. We discuss:​>> How we can most quickly learn fiction writing>> Why you should read while writing>> Her book-coaching experience>> Writing a ‘cheat novel'         >> Traveling and living abroad for research>> Pacing appropriate to subject topic>> Writing retreats>> Etc. Learn more about Andromeda here: https://www.romanolax.com/ Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and three yet-to-be-published manuscripts, including “Family Recipes: A Novel about Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at novelistspotlight@gmail.com. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.

A group of kids on summer break use an app to hunt virtual ghosts. But, as is so often the case, when we play with the supernatural, the unexpected happens, and rules we don't understand come into play.A.C. Wise‘s fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Apex, Shimmer, Tor.com, and The Best Horror of the Year Volume 10, among other places. The podcast version of her story Final Girl Theory, which appeared at Pseudopod, was a finalist for the 2013 Parsec Awards. Additionally, her work has won the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, as well as twice more being a finalist for the award, and has been a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. She has two collections published with Lethe Press, and a novella published by Broken Eye Books. Along with her fiction, she contributes the Women to Read, and Non-Binary Authors to Read columns to The Book Smugglers.You can read The Stories We Tell About Ghosts at https://www.whiteenso.com/ghost-stories-2022Follow us on twitter at: Japanese Ghost Stories @ghostJapanese Instagram: WhiteEnsoJapanFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaidankai100/Help me pay the contributors for their work. Donate to the Kaidankai through Ko-Fi. Thank you!https://ko-fi.com/kaidankaighoststories

“RED X,” David Demchuk's second novel, is about a series of disappearances from Toronto's gay community over a 40-year period (actually over 200 years), and the efforts of surviving friends and family to find out who or what is responsible. Interwoven is David Demchuk's own story as a horror writer, as a gay man, and as someone whose novel is breaching the boundaries of fiction and entering his life.Read the full show notes here: https://thinkqueerly.com/queerness-horror-memoir-and-toronto-lgbtq-history-in-red-x-a-new-novel-by-david-demchuk-f0874651dfa7About David DemchukAward-winning author David Demchuk has been writing for print, stage, digital and other media for more than 40 years. His debut horror novel The Bone Mother, published in 2017, was nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Amazon First Novel Award, the Toronto Book Award, the Kobzar Book Award and a Shirley Jackson Award in the Best Novel category. It won the 2018 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic in the Adult Fiction category. It was listed in the Globe and Mail's 100 best books of 2017, came in at #22 in the National Post's top 99 books of the year and became a #1 bestseller on Amazon.ca. His troubling new novel RED X was published by Strange Light in August 2021. He is represented by Barbara Berson of the Helen Heller Literary Agency. He currently lives in Toronto.Follow David on Instagram, Twitter, or visit his website to purchase his books.

David Demchuk has been writing for print, stage, digital, and other media for nearly 40 years. His debut horror novel The Bone Mother, published in 2017, was nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Amazon First Novel Award, the Toronto Book Award, the Kobzar Book Award, and a Shirley Jackson Award in the Best Novel category. It won the 2018 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic in the Adult Fiction category. It was listed in the Globe and Mail's 100 best books of 2017, came in at #22 in the National Post's top 99 books of the year and became a #1 bestseller on Amazon.ca. About RED X: Men are disappearing from Toronto's gay village. They're the marginalized, the vulnerable. One by one, stalked and vanished, they leave behind small circles of baffled, frightened friends. Against the shifting backdrop of homophobia throughout the decades, from the HIV/AIDS crisis and riots against raids to gentrification and police brutality, the survivors face inaction from the law and disinterest from society at large. But as the missing grow in number, those left behind begin to realize that whoever or whatever is taking these men has been doing so for longer than is humanly possible. Woven into their stories is David Demchuk's own personal history, a life lived in fear and in thrall to horror, a passion that boils over into obsession. As he tries to make sense of the relationship between queerness and horror, what it means for gay men to disappear, and how the isolation of the LGBTQ+ community has left them profoundly exposed to monsters that move easily among them, fact and fiction collide and reality begins to unravel. A bold, terrifying new novel from the award-winning author of The Bone Mother.

Nalo Hopkinson is a visual artist, and an award-winning author. She is the winner of the John W. Campbell Award, the Sunburst Award, and the World Fantasy award (among others), and lauded as one of our "most inventive and brilliant writers." We are ecstatic and privileged to have her on the show to discuss her work on continuing the Sandman Universe in the amazing ‘House of Whispers,' a self-contained 3-volume tale. ________________________Wild, Wild Love YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9GIA4uF409uBzC-YXf-RQw________________________Support Nalo:https://www.patreon.com/nalo_hopkinsonhttps://www.nalohopkinson.com/

We are delight to return as the official podcast for 2021 Summer Scares! This episode is our first installment of a series covering the 2021 Summer Scares library summer reading program. The Horror Writers’ Association has partnered with Book Riot and Library Journal to curate the Summer Scares reading list, which includes three books each in the Adult, YA, and Middle Grade categories. In 2019, we chatted with the liaisons from each category in LOTF 32, LOTF 34, and LOTF 36. In 2020, we had roundtable-style panel conversations with the authors from each category. You can find these here : LOTF 56, LOTF 57, and LOTF 58. And this year, we're shaking things up yet again! This first episode is extra special, because we begin with a conversation with author Silvia Moreno Garcia, this year's Summer Scares author spokesperson. She is the bestselling author of the novels Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, Certain Dark Things, and Untamed Shore, among others. She has also edited several anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu's Daughters). Gods of Jade and Shadow was the 2020 American Library Association Reading List winner in the Fantasy category, appeared on many year's best lists, and won the 2020 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. Silvia is also the publisher of Innsmouth Free Press, a columnist for The Washington Post, and a book reviewer for NPR. You can follow her on Twitter at @silviamg. In the first half of the episode, we talk to Silvia about her writing and reading history, her previous experience with libraries, her passion projects with her small press Innsmouth Free Press, and her involvement with Summer Scares 2021. Find Silvia: Twitter | Website | Innsmouth Free Press In the second half of the show, Mackenzie and Lisa discuss the three adult books for Summer Scares 2021. The adult picks for the 2021 Summer Scares program are: The Hunger by Alma Katsu (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2018) The Cipher by Kathe Koja (originally published 1991 by Dell but reissued Meerkat Press, 2020) Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, Translator Jonathan Wright (Penguin Books, 2018) To discover more regarding the Summer Scares program (including excellent resources!), check out the Summer Scares information website. And for an in-depth resource, here is the Summer Scares Programming Guide.

Douglas Smith talks about how you can turn your short fiction into a “magic bakery”—a term Doug borrows from Dean Wesley Smith—earning you money and building your resume over and over with the same content. We discuss the opportunities offered by reprints, foreign markets, and audio markets, and we discuss how writer's groups can—and can't—help you prepare your work for the professional markets. Douglas Smith is a multi-award-winning Canadian author described by Library Journal as "one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction." His fiction has been published in twenty-six languages and thirty-five countries. His books include the novel THE WOLF AT THE END OF THE WORLD, the collections CHIMERASCOPE and IMPOSSIBILIA, and the writer's guide PLAYING THE SHORT GAME: HOW TO MARKET & SELL SHORT FICTION. Doug is a three-time winner of Canada's Aurora Award and has been a finalist for the Astounding Award, CBC's Bookies Award, Canada's juried Sunburst Award, and France's juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane.

Rio Youers is the British Fantasy and Sunburst Award-nominated author of Westlake Soul and The Forgotten Girl. That 2017 novel was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. He is the writer of Sleeping Beauties, a comic book series based on the bestselling novel by Stephen King and Owen King. Rio’s new novel is a gonzo one-woman army crime thriller Lola on Fire was published by William Morrow. In this interview, we have a spoiler talk about Rio's early novels, and influences. From Westlake Soul to Lola on Fire we talk about all the books Rio has written. Writing the perfect action film as a novel, My hometown Bloomington Indiana being in the novel, researching guns, and much more. Spoiler-free until the 48-minute mark then we go into full spoilers for Lola on Fire. Find Rio at: www.rioyouers.com Twitter: @Rio_Youers •You can find my books here: https://bookshop.org/contributors/david-agranoff Amazon-https://www.amazon.com/David-Agranoff/e/B004FGT4ZW •And me here: Goodreads-http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2988332.David_Agranoff Twitter-https://twitter.com/DAgranoffAuthor Blog-http://davidagranoff.blogspot.com/

"The Amazing Exploding Women of the Early Twentieth Century," published in Apex Magazine, issue 122, February 2021. Read it here. https://apex-magazine.com/ A.C. Wise’s fiction has appeared in publications such as Apex, Uncanny, Clarkesworld, and multiple Year’s Best anthologies. Her work has won the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, as well as twice being a finalist for the Sunburst Award, twice being a finalist for the Nebula Award, and being a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. She has two collections published with Lethe Press, and a novella published by Broken Eye Books. Her debut novel, Wendy, Darling, is forthcoming from Titan Books in June 2021, and a new collection, The Ghost Sequences, is forthcoming from Undertow Books in Fall 2021. In addition to her fiction, she contributes review columns to Apex and The Book Smugglers. Visit her at her website. A storyteller of many forms, Aly Grauer has been known to perform onstage, on podcasts, at ren faires, and at world-class theme parks. Of late, she is the audio editor for Skyjacks: Courier’s Call, where she also performs as June Hymnal. Aly is also a writer, teaches dialect lessons, provides narration for audiobooks, and occasionally creates small roleplaying games. Aly and her husband Drew live in Chicago, IL where they both serve as heated furniture for their two cats, Queen Felicia and Wedge. This Apex Magazine podcast was produced by KT Bryski. Theme music by Alex White. Other music in this podcast includes "Melodie Victoria," "Almost New," "Frogs Legs Rag," and "Reawakening," all by Kevin MacLeod and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license. Learn more at www.incompetech.com. Some sounds in this podcast provided by the Free Sound Project. Find out more at www.freesound.org. Apex Magazine podcast, copyright Apex Publications. Apex Magazine is a bimonthly short fiction zine focused on dark science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Find us at http://www.apex-magazine.com

Tonight we’re chatting with Rio Youers, author of the new book Lola on Fire, which releases 2/16 from William Morrow. People have called the book a mix of Killing Eve, John Wick and Kill Bill. About the book:Brody Ellis is short on luck and even shorter on cash to buy the medication his sister Molly needs. Desperate, he robs a convenience store, but on the way out, he bumps into a young woman and loses his wallet. Just when he expects the cops to arrive, the phone rings. It’s Blair Mayo—the woman he bumped into—and she’s got the missing billfold. Brody will get it back, but only if he does her a favor: steal her late mother’s diamonds from her wicked stepmom. But when he gets to the house, he finds a gruesome crime scene—and a security camera. Brody knows he’s been framed. Back home, the terrified young man gets another call. The police won’t get the incriminating video footage, Blair says. Instead, her daddy, the notorious mobster Jimmy Latzo, will exact his own kind of revenge. Brody and Molly realize that they’ve become pawns in a mysterious game—one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear who brutally crossed paths with Jimmy Latzo twenty-six years before. . . a ghost from the past who is intimately connected to their lives. About the author:Rio Youers is the British Fantasy and Sunburst Award–nominated author of Westlake Soul and Halcyon. His 2017 thriller, The Forgotten Girl, was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. He is the writer of Sleeping Beauties, a comic book series based on the bestselling novel by Stephen King and Owen King. Rio lives in Ontario, Canada with his wife and their two children.

Tonight we’re chatting with Rio Youers, author of the new book Lola on Fire, which releases 2/16 from William Morrow. People have called the book a mix of Killing Eve, John Wick and Kill Bill. About the book:Brody Ellis is short on luck and even shorter on cash to buy the medication his sister Molly needs. Desperate, he robs a convenience store, but on the way out, he bumps into a young woman and loses his wallet. Just when he expects the cops to arrive, the phone rings. It’s Blair Mayo—the woman he bumped into—and she’s got the missing billfold. Brody will get it back, but only if he does her a favor: steal her late mother’s diamonds from her wicked stepmom. But when he gets to the house, he finds a gruesome crime scene—and a security camera. Brody knows he’s been framed. Back home, the terrified young man gets another call. The police won’t get the incriminating video footage, Blair says. Instead, her daddy, the notorious mobster Jimmy Latzo, will exact his own kind of revenge. Brody and Molly realize that they’ve become pawns in a mysterious game—one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear who brutally crossed paths with Jimmy Latzo twenty-six years before. . . a ghost from the past who is intimately connected to their lives. About the author:Rio Youers is the British Fantasy and Sunburst Award–nominated author of Westlake Soul and Halcyon. His 2017 thriller, The Forgotten Girl, was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. He is the writer of Sleeping Beauties, a comic book series based on the bestselling novel by Stephen King and Owen King. Rio lives in Ontario, Canada with his wife and their two children.

Today's guest is R.J. Anderson. R.J. is the daughter of a preacher who read Tolkien and Lewis aloud to his children, she grew up daydreaming about Narnia and Middle-Earth, watching DOCTOR WHO from behind the sofa, and hanging out in her brothers' comic book shop. Now she writes novels about knife-wielding faeries, weird science, and the numinous in the modern world. Her debut novel KNIFE was a UK bestseller and has sold more than 120,000 copies worldwide. Her teen thriller ULTRAVIOLET (2011) was shortlisted for the 2012 Nebula Awards and the Sunburst Award for Canadian SF and was followed by a companion novel, QUICKSILVER (2013). She has also written two magical middle-grade mysteries, the Silver Birch Award-shortlisted A POCKET FULL OF MURDER (2015) and its sequel A LITTLE TASTE OF POISON (2016). Her latest work is the Flight and Flame Trilogy, consisting of SWIFT (coming August 2020), NOMAD (November 2020), and TORCH (February 2021). For links and everything else we chatted about this week, visit https://exploring-the-blank-page.jimdosite.com/show-notes/

Douglas Smith is a multi-award-winning Canadian author described by Library Journal as "one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction." His fiction has been published in twenty-six languages and thirty-four countries, including Amazing Stories, InterZone, Weird Tales, Baen's Universe, On Spec, and Cicada. His books include the novel The Wolf at the End of the World, the collections Chimerascope and Impossibilia, and the writer's guide Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction.Doug is a three-time winner of Canada's Aurora Award and has been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award, CBC's Bookies Award, Canada's juried Sunburst Award, and France's juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane. His website is smithwriter.com and he tweets as @smithwritr.Narrated by Drew Mallory.Drew Mallory is a PhD research psychologist, on weekdays, who studies how societal institutions can protect their most vulnerable members. On weekends, however, all bets are off. His voice acting and speculative fiction embrace the uncomfortable, weird, and uncanny. Drew spends his time mostly between Belgium and Bangkok, but can be contacted directly by stating his name thrice into a darkened mirror anywhere.Fact: Science News by J J Campanella See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On Spec Magazine Managing Editor and Sunburst Award Board of Directors Chairperson Diane Walton joins us for this episode. She talks about her first love in science fiction, Andre Norton's novel The Stars Are Ours!, and reading everything in the genre she could get her hands on, including the works of Clifford Simak and James Blish. Diane also shares the story of how an Alberta writers' group gave rise to On Spec Magazine (one of Canada's major speculative fiction magazines), and how she eventually ended up in the Editor's chair. She tells us about the challenges of finding funding for the publication, navigating a publishing universe where print and electronic versions of the magazine are available, what this means in terms of garnering a global readership, what it's like running the operation off the side of her desk, and the kinds of stories that get her excited. And we learn about how the Sunburst Award (Canada's juried award for literature of the fantastic) ignited. Diane talks about what's involved in running the award, and why Canada even needs two awards for speculative fiction. Lastly, she reflects on how Canada's sf&f scene has changed over the years. Our conversation took place in the impromptu bloginhood studio in the Dublin convention centre at the 2019 Worldcon last summer. Find out more about On Spec Magazine on its website: https://onspecmag.wpcomstaging.com And you can discover which novels and short stories have won the Sunburst Award on its page: http://sunburstaward.org   To listen to Invaders From Planet 3, or to subscribe, visit Libsyn, iTunes, or your other favourite podcatching service. Be sure to rate and review us while you're there!   *Note: In the interests of disclosure, at the time of this interview, and as of the time of the posting of this episode, I have served as a member of the Sunburst Award board of directors. This in no way influenced my line of questioning during the interview, or the editing of this episode.

Catch the YouTube version of this episode: (https://youtu.be/ymy4I_qoRv8). -- Poet, writer, and scholar Larissa Lai reads and discusses her original works, the differences between fiction and poetry, and introduces Affect Theory as a comparison to the enlightenment-bound self. -- About Larissa: Larissa Lai has authored six books including Salt Fish Girl and The Tiger Flu. Recipient of an Astraea Award and finalist for the Lambda Award, the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Tiptree Award (twice), the Sunburst Award, the W.O. Mitchell Award (twice including this time), the bpNichol Chapbook Award, the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and the Gabrielle Roy Prize for Literary Criticism, she holds a Canada Research Chair at the University of Calgary, where she directs The Insurgent Architects' House for Creative Writing. She makes her home in Calgary (Brentwood) where she lives with her father. (www.larissalai.com) // (www.tiahouse.ca) // ● The Poetry Vlog is a YouTube Channel and Podcast dedicated to building social justice coalitions through poetry, pop culture, cultural studies, and related arts dialogues. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to join our fast-growing arts & scholarship community (youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog?sub_confirmation=1). Connect with us on Instagram (instagram.com/thepoetryvlog), Twitter (twitter.com/thepoetryvlog), Facebook (facebook.com/thepoetryvlog), and our website (thepoetryvlog.com). Sign up for our newsletter on (thepoetryvlog.com) and get a free snail-mail welcome kit! ● The Fall 2019 Student Team: Mandy Cook - Team Manager // Wil Engstrom - Video Editor // Parker Kennedy - Video Editor // Kristin Ruopp - Digital Marketing & Outreach // Reagan Welsh - Social Media & Communications // Mel Kuoch - Video Editor // Season 3 of The Poetry Vlog is supported by The Simpson Center for the Humanities, with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Jack Straw Cultural Center. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

I have been lucky to have so many wonderful artists join me in these early episodes, including Nicole J. Georges - a deeply funny and wise soul. Here is more about Nicole - Nicole J. Georges is a writer, illustrator, podcaster & professor from Portland, OR.Her Lambda Award winning graphic memoir, Calling Dr. Laura, was called “engrossing, lovable, smart and ultimately poignant” by Rachel Maddow, and “disarming and haunting, hip and sweet, all at once” by Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home. 'Allô, dr Laura?' was an Official Selection at the Angoulême International Comics Festival.Nicole’s latest book, Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home, is the recipient of 2 Oregon Book Awards, and a Lambda nomination for best Graphic Novel. It received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and the Library Journal, and was voted a 2018 “Great Graphic Novel for Teens” by ALA. “Nicole Georges makes my favorite art about love and vulnerability”. -Jill SolowayNicole won the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Arts Education in 2012. She was the 2013 Fellow at the Center for Cartoon Studies, the 2015/16 Donaldson Writer in Residence at the College of William and Mary, and currently teaches at California College for the Art’s MFA in Comics Program.She has been publishing her own zines and comics for 20 years, and has toured the country extensively, including two appearances on Michelle Tea’s Sister Spit tour.Nicole currently splits her time between Portland and Los Angeles with her chomeranian best friend, Ponyo Georges. She is the host of the podcast, Sagittarian Matters.www.nicolejgeorges.com

Author : A.C. Wise Narrator : Alasdair Stuart Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Chelsea Davis Discuss on Forums “The Last Sailing of the Henry Charles Morgan in Six Pieces of Scrimshaw (1841)”, originally appeared at The Dark, and won the 2017 Sunburst Award for short fiction. Sign up for Alasdair's weekly newsletter The […]

PATREON SUPPORT NOW STANDING AT 434 – LAST WEEK 431 HELP US GET TO 500 PATREON SUPPORTERS. Main Fiction: "A Bird in the Hand" by Doug SmithThis story originally appeared in Warrior Wise Woman 3 (Norilana Press, 2010.Douglas Smith is a multi-award-winning author described by Library Journal as "one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction". His fiction has been published in twenty-six languages and includes the urban fantasy novel The Wolf at the End of the World, the collections Chimerascope and Impossibilia, and the translated collection La Danse des Esprits. His writing guide, Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction, is a must-read for any short story writer.Doug is a three-time winner of Canada's Aurora Award, and has been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award, CBC's Bookies Award, Canada's juried Sunburst Award, and France's juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane.His website is smithwriter.com and he tweets at @smithwritr. Narrated by: Nikolle DoolinNikolle is a voice actor and a writer of fiction, scripts, and poetry. She has performed narrations for a number of popular and award-winning podcasts, such as The NoSleep Podcast, Tales to Terrify, and Far Fetched Fables. She also narrates classic literature in her own podcast Audio Literature Odyssey. To learn more about Nikolle, visit her website at nikolledoolin.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Support all the shows in the District of Wonders PATREON Main Fiction: "Scream Angel" by Douglas Smith Originally published in Low Port Douglas Smith is an award-winning Canadian author described by Library Journal as "one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction." His work has appeared in twenty-five languages and over thirty countries. His fiction includes the urban fantasy novel, The Wolf at the End of the World, and the collections Chimerascope, Impossibilia, and La Danse des Esprits. His non-fiction guide for writers, Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction, is a must read for any short story writer. Doug is a three-time winner of Canada's Aurora Award, and has been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award, CBC's Bookies Award, Canada's juried Sunburst Award, and France's juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane. A short film based on Doug's story "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down" won several awards at film festivals around the world. His website is... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Je me souviens by Su J. Sokol There are nine police cars. I count them again just to be sure and because counting usually calms me. Arielle watches to see if I’m freaking out, asks if I want to leave. I tell her I’m OK but she's not reassured so I give her a sexy smile. If she would kiss me now, I’d have somewhere pleasant to channel my beating heart. She leans towards me and I see that she’s used her superpowers to read my mind again, but then another police car arrives, drawing her attention away. Now ten police cars face two hundred and thirty-six demonstrators. We are peaceful, banging pots and chanting slogans. Our numbers include children, old people, commuters on bikes, dogs wearing red bandanas. A cop is speaking through a bullhorn but no one can hear him because of the clanging and chanting. Will they arrest us now? My heart beats like the wings of a falcon, trying to escape the prison of my chest. Full transcript after the cut. Hello! Welcome to GlitterShip episode 23 for March 1, 2016. I'm your host, Keffy, and I'm super excited to be sharing this story with you. I'm extending the period for responses to the GlitterShip listener favorites poll until March 5th. You can find a link in the transcript for this episode at GlitterShip.com GlitterShip Poll Our story today is "Je me souviens" by Su J. Sokol. Su is an activist, a cyclist, and a writer of interstitial fiction. A former legal services lawyer from New York City, Sokol immigrated to Montréal in 2004 where she works as a social rights advocate. Her short stories have been published in The Future Fire and Spark: A Creative Anthology. Her debut novel, Cycling to Asylum, was long-listed for the 2015 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. "Je me souviens" was first published in 2012 by the Future Fire and was recently republished in TFFX, the The Future Fire's tenth anniversary anthology. Our guest reader today is Leigh Wallace. Leigh is a Canadian writer, artist and public servant. You can find her latest story in Tesseracts 19: Superhero Universe and her art at leighfive.deviantart.com I've also been asked for trigger warnings in the past. This story does contain references to police violence and anti-gay torture. Je me souviens by Su J. Sokol There are nine police cars. I count them again just to be sure and because counting usually calms me. Arielle watches to see if I’m freaking out, asks if I want to leave. I tell her I’m OK but she's not reassured so I give her a sexy smile. If she would kiss me now, I’d have somewhere pleasant to channel my beating heart. She leans towards me and I see that she’s used her superpowers to read my mind again, but then another police car arrives, drawing her attention away. Now ten police cars face two hundred and thirty-six demonstrators. We are peaceful, banging pots and chanting slogans. Our numbers include children, old people, commuters on bikes, dogs wearing red bandanas. A cop is speaking through a bullhorn but no one can hear him because of the clanging and chanting. Will they arrest us now? My heart beats like the wings of a falcon, trying to escape the prison of my chest. I tell myself that this is Québec. They will not put a black bag over my head. They will not throw me in the trunk of one of their cars. They will not burn me with cigarettes after beating me. No, this doesn’t happen here ... I am pretty sure. They have granted me permanent residence and have even hired me to teach their children math. So I will stay here and demonstrate for my students. The police open the trunks of their vans. I’m concentrating on my breathing, on not blanking out, when a little ball of energy in a red cape flies into my legs. “La policía, they are here to catch the bad guys, Papa?” he asks me, his speech the usual jumble of French, Spanish and English. Before I can speak, Arielle answers. “No, mon petit chéri, this is not why they’re here today.” Her face is an eloquent mix of amusement and sadness. “I will catch them, then! But first Papa must fly me home so I can eat my supper.” “C’est correct? Can we go home now?” Arielle asks me. I shrug, hiding my relief, and lift Raphaël high over my head. I run full out towards our home, fast enough so that his cape flies out behind him and fast enough that my own need to run is satisfied. Our four-year-old superhero has come to the rescue. The next morning, despite a sleep fragmented by nightmares, I’m energized, thinking about being a part of something important again. This was not my first demonstration in my new home, but the first of this kind—spontaneous, focused, a little confrontational. And joyous. Even more so than the mass manifestation when our numbers first surpassed 250,000. That day, I stood at the overpass by rue Berri, Raphaël on my shoulders, watching the street below swell with a current of demonstrators wide as the Rio Grande. I’m good at counting, my eyes instinctively grouping people into hundreds, thousands, tens and hundreds of thousands. Surely they must listen now, I thought. Surely they will see the beauty, the rightness of our cause! Our euphoria was short-lived as we watched the news and listened to the lies about our goals, our numbers. Last night, with our pots, with our “casseroles”, we banged out our anger and turned it into music. I am proud, too, that les casseroles, “los caserolazos”, are borrowed from the political traditions of my own people. Now, standing at the front of my high school math class, I feel strong, in control. Numbers—they do not lie to you; they do not let you down. I explain the first problem, my eyes scanning the classroom, counting students. Someone is missing. When I’m presenting the second problem, Xavier stumbles in, limping slightly and with his left eye blackened. I don’t ask him for his late pass nor for his homework. I even let him read whatever it is he’s awkwardly hidden behind his math textbook. A large oval bruise on his upper arm is already aging, turning from black to green. As I answer a student’s question, my mind goes through a familiar set of choices:  the police, youth protection, the directrice of the school ... When the authorities were called in last time, it did not end well: denials and threats of legal action by his politically connected family, followed by unexplained absences. I ask Xavier to remain after class is over. He approaches my desk, giving me a sullen look from under his long hair. There seems little point in asking him what happened, so instead, I ask him what he’s reading. He hesitates, then shrugs and places it in my hand. “C’est une bande-dessinée. A ‘Comic book’ in English.” “I am not anglophone,” I say. “Yeah, but you’re not from here, are you?” He says this like I might be from Mars or some other planet. “Why do the people in the bande-dessinée have the heads of animals?” I ask. “Are they superheroes, these animal-headed people?” “I’m not ten years old. I don’t believe in superheroes.” “I would like to help you, Xavi.” “I don’t need anyone’s help. And I can’t stay. There’s a student union meeting. To vote on the strike.” Enthusiasm has replaced his precocious cynicism. But then I watch him limp away, a sense of helplessness making my own limbs feel heavy. The end of the day finds me in the teachers’ lounge. Luc joins me, compositions from his students clutched in his big hands. I gaze up at my best friend and he quickly drops down beside me. “Qu’est-ce que tu as?” he asks, reading me as always. “Xavier came into class today all beaten up. I don’t know what I should do.” “If you suspect something ...” “It is beyond suspecting. I know what’s happening and it’s not just beatings.” “Are you sure of this?” he asks. I simply look at him. He knows about my past. Not just the torture but the rapes as well. Luc was able to get this information out of me even when the tribunal could not. “Don’t worry, Gabriel, I have friends at youth protection. We’ll find a way to help him.” I feel a little reassured. I move closer, so that I can lean against him. He lets me, even puts his arm around my shoulder. Some of the darkness leaks out of me. If Arielle were here, she would be happy, seeing how I can still take comfort from other men. She was my lawyer at the refugee hearing and accepts me as I am. She tried to prepare me for their questions, but I failed her. On such and such a date, they asked me, had I been tortured for my political crimes or for the crime of being queer? It seemed important to be precise about this, but I was confused. Maybe I was tortured for the former and raped for the latter. The fear of disappointing the officials, of making them angry, made my words flee. Perhaps that’s why, in the middle of the hearing, I blanked out. “I should go home,” I say to Luc. “To cook supper. Arielle is counting on me.” “How is Arielle?” “She is good. We had very hot sex last night. Do you want to hear about it?” I feel happy thinking about this while leaning against Luc’s shoulder. It was when Arielle and I made love for the first time, on the floor of her office, that I realized she had superpowers. I hadn’t been sure before, even though she’d rescued me from the hearing. Arielle might even have won my case, but instead, she found a way to spare me the pain of testifying. She offered to marry me, explaining it in logical, lawyerly terms. She’d just gone through another in a series of unreliable roommates and untrustworthy boyfriends. She wanted someone who shared her political values to also share, on a longterm basis, the household expenses and cooking. And one other thing. She wanted a child. Luc tells me maybe another time, after a few beers. “Will we go somewhere that has ‘Maudite’ beer?” I ask him. “I like the picture on the label, of the flying canoe, la chasse galerie.” “Speaking of which, I have that book for Raphaël. Of old Québecois tales, including a few chasse galerie stories.” He hands me a large volume, the edges soft with use. “It’s beautiful,” I say, running my fingers along the expensive binding. “My parents gave me this collection. Keep it as long as you need it.” “Merci beaucoup mon cher ami,” I say, kissing him on both cheeks and then once on the lips for good measure. He accepts my shows of affection with his usual aplomb. That night, I tell Raphaël my own version of a chasse galerie story. “Once upon a time, men were chopping down trees deep in the winter forest. They were sad because they missed their children and partners.” “Where were they, Papa?” “In another forest ... planting trees to replace those that had been cut down. So one day, the men boarded a magic canoe to visit their loved ones.” “Were they superheroes?” “Claro que si. They could mix their powers together into one big superpower. That’s how they made the canoe fly. But there was a super villain too, and he ... he sprinkled forgetting dust into their eyes so that they could not remember who they were, and their canoe started falling down to the earth.” “Oh no! What happened?” “Flying Boy came to the rescue. He brought the boat down safely and used a magical washcloth to wipe the forgetting dust out of the men’s eyes.” “Was Flying Boy wearing his red cape?” “Yes. And now it’s time for superheroes to go to sleep.” “Papa? Why did the super villain make the men forget things? Why is he bad?” “I don’t know. Maybe a bad thing happened to him, something he needed to forget. Good night Flying Boy.” “Good night, Papa.” I tuck him into bed, trying to ignore a growing darkness. I make myself think of the night Rapha was born. The moment I held him, I knew he’d been gifted with strong powers and that it was my job to protect him until he was old enough to use them safely. This responsibility is what has kept me from ending my own worthless life. Arielle is watching the nightly update about the strike. There’s a late-breaking development about a student who’s in critical condition after a cop's plastic bullet struck her in the eye. I pull Arielle onto my lap and hide my face in her curls while counting to myself. Maybe Arielle will use her powers tonight to make me forget things that strike and burn and tear into tender flesh. On Facebook, I learn that this week has been declared “une semaine de résistance” for secondary school students. Our school votes to go on strike, but staff must report to work as usual. I stay in the teachers’ lounge, not wanting to be alone, but I’m restless, so I go down the hall and stand at the entrance. At nine o’clock, the police arrive in full riot gear and declare the students’ picket illegal. They open their trunks and pull out shiny yellow vests and canisters of malevolent substances. I walk back into the teachers’ lounge.  “We should be out there,” I say to the others. A debate ensues but many teachers are missing, still in their classrooms. “I’ll get them,” Luc volunteers. He turns to me. “Stay here until I get back.” I wait for a while, then go to the front entrance again and see the beginnings of trouble between a group of students and the riot cops. Just then, Luc appears. “Venez dehors! Nos étudiants se font embêter!” he shouts to the others. I run outside and Luc catches up to me, his hand closing around my upper arm. I pull him with me as I throw myself between the students and the riot police. We’re shoved but keep to our feet and Luc is saying “Calmez-vous, calmez-vous,” making eye contact with each of the cops in front of us, patiently explaining that we are teachers, a French teacher and a Mathematics teacher, and that we must all remain calm to set a good example. After a few tense moments, more teachers come outside. We join hands, forming a barrier between the students and the police. The students chant slogans like “Education is a right” and “À qui nos écoles? À nous nos écoles”. Luc pulls L’Étranger from his back pocket and begins reciting from it. I spot Xavier, a courageous smile on his face. By the end of the morning, almost all of my colleagues have joined us and the police have retreated to their cars. I grip Luc’s hand tighter and think about kissing every single teacher standing with us. With these heroes beside me, I feel invincible. The next night I have a beer with Luc at a café on rue St. Denis. I finish five ‘Maudites’ and am feeling a nice buzz from that. I told Arielle I’d eat something with Luc. I can’t lie to her so I steal a handful of his fries. He offers me his burger but I shake my head, too keyed up to eat much. “Shouldn’t we be going?” I ask. “The manif is scheduled to begin at 21 hours.” “It’s not like the theatre, my friend. We don’t have to be there when the curtain rises. You sure this is alright with Arielle? There’s more risk being arrested at night.” “I have promised to be careful.” At Parc Émilie-Gamelin, I’m in my element. It’s hot for late September. A thick darkness envelops me. There’s an aura of unpredictability that I appreciate because deep down, I’m an optimist who believes that whatever happens next has got to be better than what we already have. My lips move to the chants. An anarchist marching band playing circus music draws me in deeper, to where the park is filled with magic. Luc introduces me to people he knows. After a while, I wander off as he gets into conversation with one of his ex-girlfriends. There’s a group of men wearing dark clothing on the fringes of the manif. They’re rowdy and loud and exude a dangerous energy. I’m drawn to them. I also want to run from them. I find myself a couple of metres closer to the group, though I don’t remember deciding to approach them. In fact, I remember deciding the opposite. My feet are taking more steps in their direction and I can’t make myself stop. The men are carrying something in their hands. Their eyes flash yellow in the darkness. I’m terrified and mesmerized as I come closer still. One raises his arm with a look of gleeful malice. Someone grabs my shirt from behind. “Câlisse de tabarnak,” Luc shouts. “Can’t I turn my back on you for a minute?” My collar is bunched up in his fist as he guides me, not gently, out of the park. “Who are those guys?” I ask. “They looked like skinheads with hair.” “Agents provocateurs or just assholes. What difference does it make? You know to stay away from them.” “They have evil powers. I couldn’t pull away.” “You’ve had too many beers. It’s time to go home.” I leave with him, but I know I’ll be back. I’ve found another activity where it feels right that I’m still alive. I count through the list in my head: Taking care of Raphaël, teaching my students, making love, going to manifs. I’ll just have to be careful to avoid the super villains. If our collective actions succeed, it may even give me back some of the life force stolen from me when I was a teenager. Arielle and I are watching the news. She’s become a news junkie in the same way that I’ve become a junkie for demonstrations. “Our government makes me ashamed to be Québécoise,” Arielle says. “The real Québec is in the streets, marching and chanting and demonstrating. Come out with me more. You would feel better,” I tell her. She touches my cheek. “You reassuring me. It should be the other way around.” Of course the police violence and new repressive laws frighten me. But conditions in Québec, politically and socially, are still better than in the country where I was born. It’s for this very reason that whenever things become worse here, I feel nauseous, like the world is spinning in the wrong direction. “Let’s go together to the nude manif tomorrow. It will be fun. I can put fleur-de-lys pasties on your nipples.” She smiles and I know I’ve convinced her. The next day, Arielle calls me at school to say that they’re concerned about Raphaël at the garderie. He’s telling everyone that he’s a superhero and trying to fly off tables and playground equipment. They’ve asked for a meeting. “I can go, Arielle.” “They’ve asked that I come, specifically.” “That is sexism.” “No, it’s more that...” “What?” “It’s because of what you told Raphaël, last time this happened. That he needed to wait until he was older to use his superpowers. And to only use them when they’re needed.” “Are you angry with me?” “No, not angry but ... We’ll talk more later. Are you still going to the manif?” “Yes.” “There’s usually less police violence at the nude ones. You’ll be careful?” “Of course. I love you.” Without Arielle and Raphaël, the apartment feels a little sinister. It’s better in Raphaël ’s room where I can sense him in his toys and artwork. I hold on to one of his superhero figures and draw strength from that. Next, I enter our bedroom. I wrap my arms around Arielle’s pillow and breathe in her familiar odour. Feeling stronger, I go to the shelf in the back of my closet and find the box that I haven’t opened since my uncle smuggled me out of my country. I take out the red cape, red feathered mask and calf-high red boots. The cape against my nose, I smell the streets of my childhood and adolescence. My mother sewed this costume, but she did not bring me up to believe in superheroes. My parents were university professors. Both were politically active, proud of my work for the student newspaper and tolerant of my sexuality. Their openness and support encouraged me to finally tell what my uncle did to me. No, my parents did not believe in superheroes. Nor did they believe in super villains. Just because you don’t believe in something doesn’t mean it can’t kill you. They never should have gone to the police. My uncle was too powerful. Their so-called car accident left me without protection, with thoughts of vengeance like cold ashes in my mouth. I hold the costume in my hands, remembering when I wore it so proudly. It was after “los casserolazos”, after the occupation, and after the kiss-in, but the taste of my classmates’ lips was still fresh in my memory. The superhero demonstration was the last one before I was taken. Like me, only parts of the costume survived, but maybe some traces of the powers that were stolen from me remain in the material. I shove it into a bag and head for my bike.           I’m marching down rue Ste-Catherine wearing my cape, my boots, my mask and nothing else. The breeze feels good on my bare skin. My boots protect my feet and my mask protects my identity. It’s almost like having the power of invisibility. Everyone is friendly, many people talk to me. Some take my picture. I know I’m good looking but I take no pride in this. I did nothing to earn my looks, yet, it’s something I’ve had to pay for, repeatedly. “Excuse me,” I say to the person who’s chatting with me.“I have to stop here.” On the side street under a circus canopy stands a man wearing a red kerchief who has the dark eyes and quirked smile of my country of birth. He’s holding a six-inch tall toy polar bear banging a miniature pot with a tiny, perfectly formed wooden spoon. The bear is wearing the flag of Québec as a cape. “How much, monsieur?” I ask. “Just take it, hermano.” “I couldn’t.” “Yes. It is for your child. Take it.” I hold the bear, sensing in its erect posture and soft gaze a power to protect. I look up to thank the man, wondering how he knows about Rapha, but he’s gone. At home, I give Rapha his gift. I let him turn it on so that he can hear the pot banging, a sweet, high pitched clang clang ... clangclangclang. I tell him to keep it safe because of its magic, then kiss him goodnight. That evening, on Facebook, I see the first photo of myself at the nude manif. In the next couple of days, more photos follow, including one where my back is to the camera as I look over my shoulder. I’m holding up the toy polar bear with its flag-of-Québec cape. My other fist is raised as well. This is the photo that goes viral. Wednesday, I arrive at school early and, uncharacteristically, so does Luc. He comes into my classroom with a copy of a popular glossy magazine in his hand. He slaps it onto my desk. “Please tell me this isn’t you.” I look at the cover photo—a close-up shot of me at the manif, fist in air, my more private parts artfully photo-shopped. It’s difficult to answer him, the power of his verbal request at odds with the truth. “He’s wearing a mask,” I finally answer. “You can’t tell, for sure, who he is.” “Je n'en reviens pas. You can’t be that stupid.” I hang my head thinking, ‘Yes I can.’ He hears my thoughts. “Écoute, you’re going to be called into the directrice’s office this afternoon. Don’t say anything. Let me handle it. D’accord?” At the meeting, Arielle is there too. They sit on either side of me, protecting me as they answer concerns about propriety, judgment, reputation, regulations. My head is pounding from the force of the words in the room. I try to count how many hours of sleep I’ve had this week. If I strung those hours together, would it be equivalent to one full night’s rest?  In the end, I’m told that I’ve gotten off lightly. I get to keep my job, without even a warning in my record. But I cannot come to work for ten days. The first day is without pay and those following are sick days for me to rest and “find my equilibrium”. I am not to give interviews. Still, the news is full of information about me—that I am a teacher with a four-year-old son, that I am a refugee which, strictly speaking, is not even true. But this is the excuse used for why my school is not identified, nor my name used. The real reason is that Arielle and Luc have created a shield of partial invisibility. Nevertheless, there are photos of me—far away, obscured, fully clothed. And quotes in support of the movement and against police violence, not attributed directly to me but said to be “summaries of my position” as communicated to “friends”. I learn that the fact that this message comes from a teacher who is also a political refugee and father has earned me, and the movement, “a great deal of new popular support.” Arielle tells me that this has earned me a lot of enemies too—principally, the government and the police—and insists that I lay low for a while. I try to do as Arielle says. For the first forty-eight hours, I actually do not leave my bed. Arielle suggests I start seeing my therapist more frequently. Luc comes by with offers of bike rides, soccer games, a film. The problem is that I am not teaching, not with my students. When Raphaël is at the garderie, I feel useless. Finally, I tell Arielle that I must go out. The next day, I participate in three separate demonstrations and a teach-in. Afterwards, I go to a public assemblée générale. The meeting is held in Parc Lafontaine where, just metres from us, a woman in black fishnet tights and stilettos is being taught to wield a whip by a huge bald man in leather. Every few minutes, I’m distracted by the sound of the whip cracking accompanied by a sharp burning pain on my back, but when I look around the assembly, no one else seems bothered. It occurs to me that I may be the only one who can perceive these two super villains. I leave and, biking very fast, attend four different “casserolazos” before heading to the night manif. When I return home, Arielle asks me what I’ve been up to. I tell her everything, which of course I must do. She insists that we both stay home the next day. It’s a good day. We make love, nap, drink red wine. I feed a little off her life force—I cannot help myself—but I don’t think it hurts her because she’s so strong. In the evening, I put Raphaël to bed while she listens to the news. She’s turned the volume low but I can tell there’s been a report of some super villainy. I know this by the staccato rhythm of the words, the erratic, fractured images. As I enter the living room, Arielle turns off the television. I walk towards it as though to a cooling corpse. “What happened?” She hesitates. “Some arrests, police violence. There were ... injuries.” I know that I’m to blame. I either caused it or ... or maybe if I had been there, I could have lured the evil towards me. “I’m going to the demonstration tomorrow,” I tell Arielle. “Gabriel—” I cut her off, steel myself against her power. “Please,” I say, putting my fingers on her lips. “Please,” I whisper again. She sighs. “Then I’m going too.” On the way to the demonstration the next morning, we drop Rapha off at his friend’s on avenue Mont Royal. He’s disappointed that he can’t come, but we tell him to watch for us, that the march will pass right by this street. After last night’s events, the mood at the manif is somber. The numbers of police and the way they are armed seem more a provocation than a way of keeping the peace. Nevertheless, the demonstrators remain positive. I march between Arielle and Luc in a bubble of safety. Something in the mood still doesn’t feel right, though. I’m glad that Rapha is safe at his friend’s home. It’s after crossing St. Laurent that I realize that super villains are threatening the demonstration. I can see them, just off to my right, but whenever I turn my head, they’re gone. Arielle asks me what’s wrong, so I mention my nervousness for the students. Luc thinks I mean our students and says that Xavier and other kids from our school might be marching with the youth contingent behind us. He offers to try to find them for me. Now there is only Arielle beside me. This is the moment when I must leave. I kiss her hard on the lips and make a run for it. I find them easily, instinctively, the evil calling out to me. I can taste the violence in the air as it draws me closer. Suddenly, I see Xavier and my panic mounts. Everything happens at once. An arm is raised. People are running. A canister bursts in the air. Riot police appear from nowhere, weapons already in hand. Arielle calls me from a distance, Luc’s head and shoulders appear above the crowd. The mass of humanity is rumbling and reforming. Xavier’s eyes meet my own. “Run!” I yell to him and his friends, and they do. The next instant, the first matraque cuts across my hip, taking my legs out from under me. My head hits the pavement. Everything goes dark. I remember. We were all standing under the night sky, a mass of students dancing in our superhero costumes. The evening was hot and full of motion, my arms tight around the shoulders of my two best friends. We sang and danced while we waited for the government to finally see that we were their children and that the things we fought for were good and right. I was almost too happy, too excited. Almost, I was a little bored. My two friends agreed to leave with me and we found our way to my old home. Someone had placed a new lock on the door I used to enter. I was seeking my parents’ ghosts, hoping they were watching over us, yet I did not heed this obvious warning from the dead. I smashed the window, my parents’ murder a shard in my heart. We were inside, kissing. I went from one set of lips to the other, my hand under the girl’s superhero skirt, the other rubbing the boy through his superhero tights. It was all very innocent—cuddles and caresses, seeking warmth in the ruins of my childhood home. I thought about returning to the demonstration, guilty about convincing my friends to follow me to this dark and sad place. This was the power I had—to make people love me, to make them see my love for them, to make them follow me, heedlessly. And still, It might have been alright, if I hadn’t taken off my costume. My eyes snap open. The cop’s face is snarling above me. “It’s you, the magazine star. Let them take your picture now,” he says, punctuating his words with a blow across the chest. I taste blood in the back of my throat. They arrived with their guns, pulling me from my friends. The beating began at once, the force of the blows seeming to flow from an exterior power. I fought back at first, scanning the street outside for help. When my uncle stepped forward from the darkness with a look of anticipation about to be satisfied, I stopped fighting. “Run!” I yelled to my friends. And they did. I don’t want to fight back this time. But my body doesn’t listen. It’s trying to stand. The next blow takes me and I’m down again, the pain exploding behind my eyes. I look up, hoping they’ll finish me off quickly. It’s then that I see Rapha leaning over his friend’s balcony, the little bear clanging away in alarm, my son’s mouth a big “O”. Pain. The stench of death and decay. In the prison, my only comfort was that my friends were not also taken. I balanced this against my agony. Snatches of sleep are brief, dreams of warm lips and smooth limbs. I began to imagine that I could see my friends flying over the prison in their costumes, planning to save me. I waited for rescue as minutes/hours/days became lifetimes endured. My uncle always came after the pain, speaking to me of loyalty to government and family and God, his hands on my body, gentle as a poisonous eel. I could no longer hear my own cries, could no longer fight. They’d stolen my life force and I was fading. I finally realized that my friends’ superhero powers must have been stolen as well. That this is why they never came for me. Raphaël has climbed over the balcony railing. With horror, I realize that he’s seen me. I sense Arielle’s presence coming nearer, Luc’s as well. My death is coming too, but not soon enough. I will still be alive to see my child jump from the balcony. “Rapha!” I cry as he becomes airborne, his cape flying out behind him. The police baton is raised again. I close my eyes and wait for it. I’m flying through the air, holding on to Raphaël. We’re moving very fast above the streets of Montréal. Am I dead yet? I don’t want Rapha to be in a place of the dead. “No,” I moan and realize that, after all these years, I can hear my cries of pain again. “Shh,” a familiar voice says. “Ça va aller. I’ve got you.” Luc’s face is above mine, his arms carrying me swiftly through the streets, the crowd opening before him. If I could, I’d ask him to care for Raphaël in my place. My hand rests against Luc’s chest, his shirt wet and sticky with my blood. I try to touch his lips with my fingers so he can read my mind, but my fingers reach only his chin, slipping  down again on its rough wetness. My hand drops to my own mouth. I taste salt, feel Luc’s chest heave with his sobs, with the strain of carrying me and running. I press my hand against his heart and he runs faster. In the ambulance, Arielle holds my hand. Her voice cradles me. “Lâche pas, Gabriel. Lâche pas.” Hope hurts more than giving up, though, and I don’t think I can take any more pain. Then she puts my hand on her cheek and I feel her tears. I absorb the salt through the tips of my fingers and hold on a little longer. Awareness slips in between longer periods of confusion. I see the friends from my student days beckoning me to dance with them. I see them pass the missing pieces of my costume to Arielle and Luc who hold fast with their powers of reason and strength, of goodness and loyalty. Above them all is my precious Rapha, flying and free. I remember now how he jumped from the balcony, landing squarely on the policeman’s back, how he passed his red felt square across the cop’s eyes, and how the man backed away from me in shock, as though only now seeing what he had done. I wake and wake again. Luc or Arielle are always beside me holding tightly to my hand. When I ask for Rapha, I am told not to worry, that he's fine. I sleep and heal. On a day when my head is clear, I open my eyes to Arielle sitting beside my hospital bed with Rapha on her lap. He clutches a newspaper, on the front page, a photo of his exploit, his red cape flying out behind him. The headlines reads:  Boy superhero leaps to the rescue. Negotiations resume, student leaders hopeful. “What happened?” I ask. “It’s a long story,” Arielle says. “What did you think you were doing?” “My students were in danger. I saw Xavier, told him to run.” “Well he ran and found Luc, which probably saved your life.” “Papa,” Raphaël whispers. “Maman made me promise not to fly anymore until I am grown up. I said d’accord but only if you come back to life.” “Well I have, so you must do as you have promised.” “I also promised not to tell any more newspaper people about how I can fly. And about the magic forgetting dust.” “Forgetting dust?” I ask. “Yes. Like you told me. I used the red square to wipe it from the policeman’s eyes. And I said the magic words.” “What words, Rapha?” “Je me souviens.” END Dedicated to student and teacher superheroes everywhere. "Je me souviens" was originally published in The Future Fire in 2012. This recording is a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license which means you can share it with anyone you’d like, but please don’t change or sell it. Our theme is “Aurora Borealis” by Bird Creek, available through the Google Audio Library. Thanks for listening, and I'll be back on the IDES OF MARCH with "Lamia Victoriana" by Tansy Rayner Roberts.

First Story: “The Dream Eaters” by A.M. Dellamonica Mo Cottonsmith had just turned sixteen when she started Lopside Fashions, with cash she stole from a neighborhood fizz dealer. The money wasn’t enough to sustain a business, but Mo counted on getting lucky. She believed in making her own luck, too: thanks to a roving copcam, her first creation just happened to debut on all the morning news shows. The dress was daffodil yellow with simulated dewdrops on the bodice and a chainmail hoop skirt. Mo’s pal Juanita Jones was modeling, and the footage showed her fighting off a couple of deviants. A.M. Dellamonica has recently moved to Toronto, Canada, after 22 years in Vancouver. In addition to writing, she studies yoga and takes thousands of digital photographs. She is a graduate of Clarion West and teaches writing through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. Dellamonica’s first novel, Indigo Springs, won the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.