Category: Real Life Stuff

On Loss – Thoughts on the Death of a Bird

If you’re wondering how a zoologist looks at the cycle of life and death, today’s guest may enlighten you. H. Leighton Dickson discovers that there is more to loss than despair. It is a sad thing to wake up and look to the nest outside your window, only to find it overturned and empty. I am surprised, actually, at how sad it is. Last summer, a pair of robins built a nest in the beams of our pergola. It was just above our deck table, and it was just high enough to avoid our two cats who sat eagerly below,…

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On Loss – Memory Loss

Who owns our memories and what happens when we lose them? Our guest today, Aurora Award winner and fellow SF Canada member, Robert Runte, explores the loss of memory in some of its many forms. Increasingly, I’ve had to cope with memory loss. Well, yes, that, but not just that. Everyone has had the experience of forgetting where they left their keys…. As we age, we tend to blame our failing memories on aging, but the truth is I have always been absent minded: I just used to blame forgetting on being too busy or too tired from trying to…

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On Loss – The Fear of Loss

Today’s guest has been an online friend of mine for several years. Charlie Hersman and his late partner Randy were two of our first Warpworld cheerleaders, and always a source of good cheer and inspiration. There really is no introduction I can pen that would capture Charlie’s journey, so I’ll step aside with much love and my humble thanks to my friend for sharing. It seems like we can never quite recapture the shameless abandon of childhood once we become adults. Somehow, between the expectations of those around us and the insistence of conformity thrust upon us by society, we…

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On Loss – Giving Fear a Face

“You’ve got to meet this woman, you’ll love her.” Those were the words of my friend, author Griffin Barber, as he extolled the virtues of our first guest. I did meet her–online and then face-to-face at the Creative Ink Festival–and, what can I say? Griffin was right.  Does writing have a role to play in coping with loss? Warrior poet Setsu Uzume thinks so. If anyone tells you not to use writing as therapy, kick them in the shin. Felt good to think about that, didn’t it? At BayCon 2016, I was asked to be on a panel about death,…

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On Loss – How we go on

“You go on. You just go on. There’s nothing more to it, and there’s no trick to make it easier. You just go on.” ~ Lois McMaster Bujold, Memory When we think of loss, we usually think of death—“Sorry for your loss”. But loss can be the end of a friendship, moving away from home, divorce, illness, changing schools, growing older, losing a job, even something as simple as losing our innocence and naivety. Sometimes loss carves a hole in our lives and marks us with the absence of something we love but it can also create a space for…

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VCON Wrap-up AKA When Size Doesn’t Matter

I’m not sure how to start this post about my experience at VCON 39–partly because I’m still buzzing from the fun of the con and partly because I’m still buzzing from the root canal I underwent as soon as I returned home. (Mostly the former, I think). I was a bit concerned that after the WOW factor of my first SF/F con, last year, that little old VCON would seem kind of meh. It was not meh. It was the opposite of meh. It was totally anti-meh. Sword fighting demo by students of Academie Duello Why? For starters, I got…

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What’s So Great About Science Fiction?

Short answer: Everything. For the long answer, you can read my guest blog post up on 49th Shelf today: Why You’re Not Reading Science Fiction and Why You Should. And if you’re a Canadian speculative fiction author, you can come and share your work here: Speculating On Canadian Fiction Happy reading, everyone!  

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Get Your Warpworld E-book Signed!

Yes, through the wonders of technology you can now get an electronic signature for Warpworld and Wasteland Renegades right from the comfort of your living room, bathroom, or even at work (we won’t tell your boss, don’t worry). Rest assured, our handwriting is just as illegible in this format as it is with pen on paper! Actually, I think it’s worse.  Have you ever tried signing your name with a mouse? So if you see this… That’s the electronic version of “Kristene Perron”. Or “Joshua Simpson”. Possibly both together. Oh, and it may also a contain a mathematical equation that…

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Journey to the Land of Misfit Toys (aka Worldcon 2013)

I was unsure about attending my first Worldcon.  Concerns… Cost: My spare funds have been almost completely directed to production costs of Wasteland Renegades (almost ready, promise!), so the timing was bad. Geography: Ucluelet is a long way from anywhere. To get to San Antonio, Texas (on my budget), would take me two full days, including five hours on the bus. THE BUS! *shudders* Aloneness: Due to other work commitments, Josh was unable to attend. And, sure, I’m okay with attending events solo, I tend to make friends with relative ease, but I also know these sorts of events are…

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