Reality Skimming

Lynda and Krysia speak at Creative Writing Class

2010-03-16T07:49:00.002-07:00

Krysia Anderson, author of Misfit Leaves Home, forthcoming from the Okal Rel Legacies series in the summer of 2010, answers questions from creative writing students in Dr. Dee Horne's class, March 11, at the University of Northern B.C. Krysia teamed up with Lynda Williams for a one hour presentation on the Okal Rel Universe. Her novella features a half-Vrellish/half-Demish character named Victoria who first appeared in the Opus 2 anthology in a story called "Ladylike".

Intro to chapter of Healer's Sword

2010-03-14T19:27:00.003-07:00

Wrote up the synopsis of Healer's Sword, below, as an intro to a sample chapter I am sending to a travel-grant opportunity, and rather liked it so I thought I'd share it here as a sneak preview to Part 7: Healer's Sword which is awaiting editing by editor Richard Janzen for release no later than 2011. (Next book out is Part 6: Avim's Oath - Aug 2010 from Edge.) I don't include the unedited chapter, below, just the synopsis introducing it.

Synopsis introducing sample chapter

In Part 7: Healer?s Sword, middle-class Ilse Marin gets embroiled in the reforms of military genius Horth Nersal in an attempt to solve her financial problems back home. Against her better judgment, since Horth is not only her social superior by birth rank but belongs to an incompatible sub-species of human with respect to male/female behavior, Ilse falls for him very hard in a lustful sort of way that she has never expected to experience. Sevolites, like Horth and Ilse, are bio-engineered humans designed for the faster-than-light mode of travel called reality skimming which is too taxing for most ordinary humans (a.k.a. commoners). However, the bio-engineering took place on Earth a thousand years ago. Sevolites have since rejected their origins to evolve a neo-feudal culture with two distinct sub-species: the Demish, like Ilse, who believe in treating men and women differently; and the Vrellish, like Horth, who are all male in terms of their behavior from the Demish standpoint. Both the Demish and the Vrellish are leery of bio-sciences due to bad past experiences with a third kind of Sevolite called Lorels, but Horth?s friend Erien is trying to revive bio-science which is where Ilse got her training from a medic Erien employs named Mira. In the excerpt below we see Ilse doing a work stint on one of Horth?s battlewheels ? a kind of flying space-station shaped like a torus that acts as an carrier for spherical rel-fighters. But in this scene the pilots, or relsha, haven?t been fighting other Sevolites. Instead, they?ve been doing the necessary but menial work of sweeping space lanes free of dust using their skim-intrusion fields. Reality skimming requires hard vacuum to be safe.

Reading Throne Price

2010-03-09T20:01:00.003-08:00

Always pleased to hear about a new reader about to embark on the ORU adventure ...

iThemes for the ORU by Mel

2010-02-27T20:30:00.003-08:00

Mel created an iThemes video of ORU character profiles.

Mel's iThemes ORU character profiles on PhotoBucket.

Amel in spell checker ...

2010-02-18T16:21:00.002-08:00

Okal Rel Legacies author Krysia Anderson, who is working on a novella about half-Vrellish Demish-raised Victoria of Princess Reach, reports the following amusing fact, by texting ...

"Amel in spell checker. Suggestions: camels, males, axels

Lovely BD Card from Elizabeth

2010-02-18T08:07:00.002-08:00

It was my birthday yesterday and it was pretty special. Flowers delivered to my place of work by my husband, David Lott; a fabulous (they are pretty damn cool) kindle reader from my sister Holly Williams; enthusing with Krysia Anderson about her first draft novella for the Okal Rel Legacies series; a warm family weekend; greetings from friends on facebook and some cool digital greeting cards from friends, including the one shown as a screenshot above, sent by friend and fellow writer Elizabeth Woods.

Facebook and E-mail from Old Friends

2010-02-15T09:50:00.003-08:00

Recently received two lovely messages from old friends who are getting "into" or back into the saga and refreshed connections with two others. All four are men and they like more than just the "Horth" book. :-) So I am proud to share their comments. These days there are so many ways to get messages! One of the two below came via e-mail and one via facebook. I saw the third reader-friend, Garth Frizzel, in Books & Company where he told me he picked up a copy of Far Arena in Ontario and enjoyed it. He said "hi" on behalf of another of my favorite ORU readers, his friend and partner in business, R�mi Despr�s-Smyth, who is now living in the maritimes.

Hal Friesen

Hal is pursuing post-graduate studies in physics. I met him when he was an undergraduate student at UNBC. He writes stories about Nester Nersal for ORU legacies anthologies. I received the following from him earlier in Feb, by e-mail. The message repeated below was originally posted on facebook.

Hi Lynda,

I recently finished Far Arena. I loved it. The cultural clashes were so well done and all of the beautiful characters played off each other magnificently. I couldn't put it down during the scenes on the Kali, and there was incredible tension throughout despite the fact that most of it took place in Erien's home. I laughed out loud when Horth got cats out of the trade deal, and I was terrified when Amel was being questioned.

I'll probably write a better review for Amazon but I just wanted to let you know that I thought it was awesome :) I can't wait for what's next!

Hal

David Juniper

David Juniper worked for me in the early Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Northern B.C. We had great times promoting the educational use of technology in the early days of the popularization of the internet. David moved eastward and works in digital arts.

I have (finally) started reading Throne Price, and I love it!! Somehow
the time had to be right before I started reading it, which is why I
carried it across Alberta and down to Vancouver. Now I cannot put it
down! You and Alison are truly gifted writers, and I look forward to
reading my way through all the Okal Rel books ...:)I love that the Gelack word for peace shares a common root with the word for shame ;-)Thank you for such an amazing work.[David Juniper February 11 at 8:46am]

Updates

2010-02-08T07:32:00.002-08:00

Slow progress continues with Opus 4. Production date for Opus 4 and Opus 5 is summer 2010. Dreadful long delay getting these two anthologies into production! Partly due to my change in job, partly to changes at Absolute XPress, and partly due to my preoccupation with getting Part 6 and Part 7 of the saga written. Determined to see the anthologies in print this summer. I am very fond of some of the stories, and committed to all of them. Summer is the production slot available with Absolute XPress and David Lott is helping me with contracts and managing payments once the contracts are done. Meanwhile, I continue to make progress with Part 8: Gathering Storm. Now up to 80,000 words of the first draft. The majority of it is set at the first Cultural Exchange between the Reetions and the Gelacks, with some excursions for visits and rescues.

Book Pleasures 2006 Review Lappen

2010-02-02T21:02:00.003-08:00

Found a 2006 review of Courtesan Prince that showed up on a site called bookpleasures. Click the image or title to visit.

Paul concludes with:
"This is a good piece of society-building. Since this is not the usual sort of
new world, this novel will require some patience on the part of the reader (it
takes a while to get going). It is also the first of a projected ten-book
series. It's very much worth reading."

Weekly Newsletter of Cutbanks

2010-02-01T19:44:00.002-08:00

Okal Rel ads featuring Angela's trivia questions appear in the online version of Tyler Clarke's Cutbanks - the Cutbanks Weekly Newsletter.

Westercon in 2012

2010-01-24T20:03:00.002-08:00

Joined the group in support of Bobbie DuFault's bid to have Westercon in Seattle WA in 2012. Bobbie is a masterful con organizer and one of the people I am very proud to have among the readers and supporters of the Okal Rel Universe. I have her permission to share the recent e-mail exchange between us, below.

I would love to have you at a Westercon here and I think it would be even more cool to talk about the Saga and all the things you have done with it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the books and world - ok you knew that, but I think sharing it is great fun!!

Hugs!

Bobbie

(The above was sent in response to my e-mail below)

Hi Bobbie,

I don't know how much use I'll be - getting to be a bit of a recluse with the new job and turning out two novels a year, but the first con I ever went to was Westercon in Seattle. It would be cool to do a big con in 2012 since that's the year in which I expect to have the Okal Rel Saga finished. All ten books. Working on the last third of the first draft of Book 8 now. Books 6 and 7 will be out in 2010.

Really appreciate the invites to cons I've seen from you even when I can't make them. I am saving up. :-)

Lynda

Neo-Opsis sample

2010-01-21T07:10:00.001-08:00

Magazines Canada has a PDF sample of the non-fiction content of issue 16 of
Neo-opsis. http://secure.magazinescanada.ca/magazines/ex111.pdf (This is one
of the 2009 issues.)

A fair number of SF Canada members are mentioned, or have their photo, in
this issue.

Karl Johanson

Episode 6 of Mekan'stan on youtube

2010-01-20T17:35:00.002-08:00

Jennifer and Brianna have posted episode 6 of the digital story version of ORU novella Mekan'stan to youtube.

Trivia Question - Courtesan Prince

2010-01-13T06:49:00.002-08:00

Ques: What was Von's answer to Ann's question, "Are you sane?"

Answer: "I don't think so but it doesn't matter." (p. 291)

Image from a youtube episode of Mekan'stan, art by Brianna Thomas. Questions by Angela Lott.

Hail and Farewell RFF Utah

2010-01-05T06:33:00.003-08:00

From: Dave
Subject: [RFF/DYR/CEC team] So long RFF Utah
To: RFFDYRCEC@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 3:47 AM

We would like to thank everyone who has offered their generous support to RFFUtah over the years.

In the current economic environment, RFFUtah, like many other small organizations, finds that it can no longer continue to offer significant contributions to those institutions and organizations whose efforts are directed at promoting literacy and reading.

Therefore, it is with regret that we have made the decision to discontinue operations effective January 1, 2010 due to a lack of critical resources.

We encourage you to direct your attention and support to local schools, libraries and organizations who support literacy and reading.

Any questions may be directed to rffutah@rffutah. org

Ruth Hanson
Caroljean Hanson
Helge Moulding
Laura Swift Lind
David-Glenn Anderson

Reading for the Future Utah
http://www.rffutah. org/

Encouraging literacy and imagination through Speculative Fiction
Founded: Jun 8, 1999

Part 6: Avim's Oath / Part 7: Healer's Sword

2010-01-04T20:46:00.002-08:00

Part 6: Avim's Oath is up on the Edge website. Guess I lost the argument about describing Luthan and Alivda as "vengeful". Or maybe that's about Vretla. :-) Delighted to see it snag on my google filter. Meanwhile, Craig Bowlsby has Part 7: Healer's Sword to review the fight scenes with his expert eye.

Christina Rundle interviewed on Irreverent Muse

2010-01-04T07:04:00.002-08:00

Anthology 5 (Opus 5) author Christina Rundle was featured in Michell's Plested's blog cast Irreverent Muse. See http://www.michellplested.com/tag/opus-5/>/.

Opus 5 and Opus 4 will now be coming out together from Absolute XPress in the summer of 2010 - release was set back by scheduling changes at the publisher but we're making great progress. Christina's was the first story completed and delivered which is why I recommended her to Michell.

Nominations open for 2010 Aurora Awards

2010-01-04T00:06:00.005-08:00

Aurora Time Again!

It's that time again: time to nominate works for the Prix Aurora Award, which you can do here:

Nomination process page:
http://www.facebook.com/l/f6044;www.prix-aurora-awards.ca/English/AwardProcess/nominationVoting.htm

Direct to the Form: http://www.prix-aurora-awards.ca/English/AwardProcess/nominationForm.php

The Aurora Awards are fan-voted awards for the best Canadian SF of the year.

Any Canadian citizen or permanent Canadian resident can nominate works for free either electronically or by mail. It only takes a few minutes. The deadline for nominations is February 5, 2010. The Aurora Awards will be given out at KeyCon in Winnipeg in May.

For a list of some of the eligible works you can go here: http://www.facebook.com/l/f6044;canadiansf.com/node/42

Eligible works for the Okal Rel Universe (the short form one isn't ORU but the author will also appear in Opus 5)

Best Long-Form Work In English - 2009
Far Arena by Lynda Williams, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy 2009

Best Short-Form Work In English - 2009
A Day in the Life, Jennifer Lott, issue 18 of Neo-Opsis

Best Work In English (Other) - 2009
Opus 3, Okal Rel Legacies Anthology, Absolute X-Press

Thanks for supporting the Okal Rel Universe!

Review excerpt Pam Allan in Connotations

2010-01-03T19:43:00.003-08:00

Connotations (Volume 19 Issue 5) reviewer Pam Allen says the following(partial):

"Again, Lynda Williams has topped herself with characters, world building,action, and insight into political intrigue with cultures. This is a keeper and it will be a joy to re-read this series when finished. I look forward to her future work with anticipation of awards coming her way."

(Re-posted from Dec 1 2009 entry on Edge website.)

Risingshadow.net knows about Healer's Sword

2010-01-02T13:25:00.005-08:00

Just got an inquiry from publisher Brian Hades of Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy asking about descriptions of character Ilse Marin, the healer with a sword of Part 7: Healer's Sword. And while hunting around for pictures Alison Sinclair had made of Ilse back in 2004, before she bowed out of working on the book with me, I snagged an advance notice of the book on a site called Risingshadow.net. Most encouraging, as I soldier on with the first draft of Part 8: Gathering Storm. Although reading the blurb on Risingshadow.net I realized half of what's in the blurb about this book is really the material of Part 8, as things turned out. The text, added by Seregil of Rhiminee (thank you Seregil!), came from the list of novels on the ORU site at http://www.okalrel.org/saga/saga_list.html ... which are getting slightly out of date as the novels get completed. Although the gist is always still there, as planned from the beginning.

Far Arena Listed in Prarie Books Now

2010-01-02T12:34:00.002-08:00

Part 5: Far Arena of the Okal Rel Saga is listed in the Winter 09 Edition of Prarie Books Now a publication of the Manitoba Book publishers association.

Dec 09 Issue of Neo-Opsis

2010-01-01T15:10:00.002-08:00

My daughter Jennifer Lott was home for the holidays and thrilled to find our subscription copy of the December 2009 edition of Neo-Opsis on our dining room table with her name listed on the cover along with the other authors. Jennifer's story about role-playing D&D characters is her first professional sale to make it into print.

I was also warmed and encourgaed by Stephanie Ann Johanson's review of Part 5: Far Arena in this edition of Neo-Opsis. Stephanie says "Far Arena is an excellent addition to the stories in the Okal Rel Saga. Characters seem changed in ways I didn't anticipate, and perhaps I didn't truly agree with the changes, but when I got to the end of the novel I was only disappointed that I now had to wait for the next book before I could continue my exploration of the Okal Rel universe."

Naturally curious about what she didn't agree with and how she'll respond to further developments in Part 6: Avim's Oath, due out from Edge in April 2010.

Okal Rel vignette on scrollinspace

2009-12-23T07:33:00.005-08:00

An "off stage" glimpse of Okal Rel characters in their "time off" - in a scene that never made it into the novels - is published on Dr. Dee Horne's Scroll in Space online literary journal. I've also been asked by Dr. Horne to make an appearance in her Creative Writing class in the new year. Dates TBA.

Featured on Mary Mac's Blog

2009-12-15T07:33:00.003-08:00

I and the Okal Rel Universe are featured on Mary Mac's Blog for writers from Northern B.C. Click here, or on title of this entry: Lynda Williams on Mary Mac's Blog.

Interview on Get Published

2009-12-14T07:15:00.004-08:00

I am Mike's guest on the Dec 13, 20th episode of Get Published. Mike's show has multiple features each time out. I appear in the 2nd half of podcast. Bio is bang on for my pre-2007 day job which defined a big hunk of my working life. Prior to my interview there's a review of a writers' critiquing website called critters.org by writer Dan Dantheartman. It was fun chatting with Mike from a very writer-place. "Hang onto the dream" was a bit of a theme for me in this interview. Happy to hear from any of you who listen to it, either on Mike's blog, my blog or one-to-one at lynda@okalrel.org or on facebook.