The Okal Rel Universe in evolution and in the world.

 
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, Rémi Després-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.

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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.

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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]

Labels: David Juniper, Hal Friesen

posted by Lynda at 09:50   0 comments permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments links to this post

 
On July 5, 2009, ORU author Hal Friesen closed his facebook account with the following notice:

I am deleting my facebook account, because I am strongly opposed to the way information is disseminated and presented. It encourages the type of interaction I greatly dislike, and discourages meaningful relationships, in my opinion. There are exceptions but these do not outweigh the informational issues.

I send him an e-mail saying I appreciated the sentiments. I use facebook mostly because of Catherine T. Vogt, these days. She's made me find a reason to enjoy it. Until then, like most of the web 2 sites I've tried, a heavy sense of "me me me" prevailed with little "us us us". I've found a way to use twitter, as well, by posting a line a day from successive pages of Part 1: The Courtesan Prince, but this was a sort of "I'm lost" reaction to the challenge of making a meaningful connection in a storm of one liners. It made sense to me so I did it. But, like Hal, I sometimes feel unsatisfied with bite-sized conversations. And like him, it's the meaning that's lacking. Work seems to be all about surveys and five-point-scales and where-do-we-rank and how-many-votes ... that's bad enough without wading knee deep in popularity contests to refresh the emotional/artistic side of my life. Maybe just like science, quickie communications are not good or bad but what you make of them. Hoping to "play" a bit with Catherine and others on the facebook page for the ORU. But completely respect people, like Hal, who engage on other levels. Hal has written a second Nestor story for the upcoming anthology, Opus 4. Like his first one, it exemplifies aspects of story-telling no video game can, because it's not just about the action but the philosophy of being a unique human being in a world that doesn't go out of its way to make the meaning of things obvious to anyone.

Labels: facebook, Hal Friesen

posted by Lynda at 08:37   0 comments permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments links to this post

 
Pretenders is grateful to Hal for giving it the friendly review on Amazon.ca

Labels: Hal Friesen, Pretenders

posted by Lynda at 06:48   0 comments permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments links to this post

 


Last but not least, click the picture for a link to a page of picture taken by my husband David Lott at the Prince George launch for Okal Rel Universe Anthology 2, Jan 29 2008. He didn't put up all the shots he took! So I've added this one from the set, here, to feature Stephen St. Laurent and Michelle Cry-Whiting who spiced up the proceedings with their media presence. Big thank-you, as well, to Citizen reporter Paul Strickland for coming out. Betsy Trumpener put in an appearance with family as a member of the audience. I was also delighted to have fellow SF author Nathalie Mallet in the audience.


Big thank you, as well, to the readers: Krysia Anderson (who did a great job of reading from her story "Ladylike" in the 2nd Anthology), Paul Strickland (who read the Horth as a child at Amel's genotyping reception scene from Righteous Anger), Hal Friesen (who read from his forthcoming story for the 3rd anthology featuring a run in with Di Mon), and Gareth of the UNBC Fencing Club (who read the lead up to the fight in the arena on SanHome from Righteous Anger).


In costume for the event, we had Mel and Kailey as Di Mon and Ranar, and Tegan as a Golden Demish princess. I wore my red velvet cloak which I think of as Vretla Vrel's "dress up" attire for Demish receptions. On the table at the back of the roome, for show and tell, we had samples of braid worked in thread which a few members of the audience had fun playing with after the main event. I am in the debt of helpers Angela, Tegan, Mel and Kailey for helping with set up. And, of course, my husband David Lott too the pictures and helped with nearly everything from picking up treats to driving us to the event. Angela Lott made me the little sign behind the chocolates which read "Do not eat if you are Vrellish". Mel Farrow created the braid worn by herself (as Di Mon) and by Tegan (as a Demish princess). The chart explaining which colors went with which house was also created by Mel for the event. Art for the third anthology, by Richard Bartrop, was on display as a poster. I also gave away a commemorative postcard, to readers and others doing presentations, which featured the 3rd anthology artwork. Also on display was the ORU plaque given to me for Xmas by Lisa O. After the readings and costume presentations we had a fencing demonstration by the UNBC Freeblades Fencing Club, MC'd by their president Gareth Hopkins.

Much thanks to all participants and attendees! And if you weren't there this time, plan to do something for the next launch (Book #3: Pretenders in the fall) or to come out and see what other people come up with.

Labels: Book Launch, Gareth Hopkins, Hal Friesen, Krysia, Mel, Michelle Cyr-Whiting, Nathalie Mallet, Okal Rel Universe Anthology 2, Paul Strickland, Righteous Anger, Stephen St. Laurent

posted by Lynda at 06:46   0 comments permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments links to this post

 



Much thanks to Opinion 250 reporter Michelle Cyr-Whiting for her article, on Opinion 250, about the launch for Okal Rel Univese Anthology 2 at the PG Public Library Jan 29, 2008. I particular appreciate the chats she had with participants and the quotes from anthology contributors Krysia Anderson (anthology 2) and Hal Friesen (anthology 3).

Labels: Book Launch, Hal Friesen, Krysia, Michelle Cyr-Whiting, Okal Rel Universe Anthology 2, Opinion 250

posted by Lynda at 00:09   0 comments permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments links to this post