The Okal Rel Universe in evolution and in the world.

 

SF author Tanya Huff read and threatened the audience with cat stories when the questions flagged, Oct 7, 2009 at Books and Company in Prince George, B.C. I met and enjoyed a pre-reading chat with Rob Budde. Tanya read her classic bartender story from Space Inc. edited by Julie E. Czerneda. I recognized the anthology because Alison Sinclair had a doctor story in it. Tanya is seen here on the Books and Co stage mischievously signing a "Diving Book" that a guy in the audience jokingly offered up when Tanya declared she's sign anything. She penned him quite an opus while people with her books for signing waited patiently and he began to wonder, aloud, "What are you writing?" Guess we'll never now. :-)

Labels: Alison Sinclair, Books and Company, Julie E. Czerneda, Tanya Huff

posted by Lynda at 08:39   2 comments permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 2 comments links to this post

 

Last Saturday, November 8, Betsy Trumpener launched her book, The Butcher of Penetang, to a capacity crowd at Books and Company in downtown Prince George. Also on the program were Laisha Rosnau, Al Rempel, Shelia Peters and Leanne Boschman. The event was hosted by Gillian Wigmore and attended by many local literati I recognized, such as poet Jacklyn Baldwin and Dr. Dee Horne of UNBC and Scroll Press, Michelle, Brenda and others. I enjoyed the readings and was pleased to see Harbour Publishing had recognized Betsy for the literary powerhouse she is: something I have known since her story Skin Condition appeared in the online journal I published for many years, called Reflections on Water.

Labels: Betsy Trumpener, Books and Company, Caitlan Press

posted by Lynda at 08:49   0 comments permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments links to this post

 
Twelve of us turned up at Books & Co for the first meeting of the SF Creatives - a reading, writing, art and discussion group focused on genre fields like science fiction, fantasy and its ilk. We are less worried about definitions than a shared spirit of enjoying and discovering each other's work and interests. SF Creatives is hosted by myself and Nathalie Mallet at Books & Company. Most of last night's readings were from the ORU or Nathalie's novel Princes of the Golden Cage, but Rachel - who attended with her father Kirk - also read from a fantasy title with the word "Wind" in its name which was by an author who attended VCON, Nathalie told me, and whose name I can't remember. Grr. Help, anyone? (Help provided in comments: Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind.) One artist put in an appearance - thank you Gareth. A couple of attendees were deviants (i.e. members of Deviant Art). Angie picked the section of Righteous Anger that I read aloud. She recommended the arena scene on SanHome where Horth proves his genius with a sword despite his ill-advised decision not to wear a fencing mask. Nicole read the 'How to deal with real girls' passage between Chester and Von in The Courtesan Prince. Kirk Morgan read the opening of Princes of the Golden Cage, where Amir is drawn into a magical murder investigation despite his preference for scientific explanations. Kim, of Books & Company, sat in. She writes fantasy. Three parent-child groups of two or three attended including myself and Angie, Nicole and parents and the Morgans, which I find sort of special. Kim was a nifty discovery. Some good discussion took place with some mutual questions and answers. Which is what art is all about for me - exploring how we cope with life.

We'll be creating a mailing list for the group. Anyone interested in being on it should notify david@okalrel.org

Next meetings are: Wednesday Nov 12, 7-9 pm and Wednesday December 10, 7-9 pm.

We plan to continue in 2009 with a new set of dates.

Many thanks to Books and Company for letting us take over Cafe Voltaire for the evening.

Labels: Books and Company, reading, SF Creatives

posted by Lynda at 08:02   5 comments permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 5 comments links to this post