Bitten By Life: Paranormal Maven Needs Help!

A few years ago when my story collection had been out for a few months, I was directed by someone in the know to a review site for paranormal literature called Bitten By Books.

I was shy and rather out of place there (not really being a writer of paranormal fiction, but what the hey), but what I found was a welcome and assistance far beyond any other I had encountered in my attempts to promote the book. Rachel was wise, witty, and well-informed, but she was also kind and patient and very encouraging.

I am the worst sort of person to try to self-promote, and I will probably never attempt it again. But in her hands I had the courage to do things like do a lengthy video interview, a daylong chat, and a contest where I gave away not only my book but wrote a story and a poem from the winners' prompts. It was fun and I am so grateful to her for all her help over that time. All of which was given for no remuneration, and with grace and good humour.

Recently I contacted Rachel for the first time in quite a while, and learned that due to ill health and the costs that attend it in the USA, where socialized medicine is not yet a reality, she has been in very difficult straits. With her husband she is trying to get back to Seattle where he can get work, but they are having trouble putting the money together for the move. 

Rachel and Husband Clif

To learn more about Rachel's situation, please go to the following link. Let's give a little back to one of the legion of volunteers out there who are helping put us in touch with the books and the audiences we readers and writers want so much.

 http://fnd.us/c/fklD5 

New Review FCOS by Simon Petrie in ASIF

New Review  May 27, 2010

Finding Creatures and Other Stories

Reviewed by Simon Petrie.

C. June Wolf is a specfic writer who lives in Vancouver. Finding Creatures is her first collection of stories, several of which have appeared previously in various small press magazines and anthologies.

“Claude and the Henry Moores” features a failed artist security guard who works at the Art Gallery of Ontario, and becomes gradually captivated by the gallery’s collection of Moore’s abstract sculptures. Claude is convinced there’s more to the objects than meets the eye. This is a closely informed story with an intriguing premise. It works well, although the “aurora” scene carried less power than I felt it should have. But all up, it’s an effective and memorable story that does a good job of introducing Wolf’s style to the reader.

“Thunderbirds”, the collection’s longest story, has nothing to do with the marionette rescue specialists. Instead, it’s the story of Norman, a native North American who struggles to balance the ways of his ancestors with the necessities of modern life. It’s also the story of Chitta, a doomed alien explorer who crashes on Earth, in the woods behind Norman’s home. Told in alternating slices centering on the two protagonists, “Thunderbirds” attempts a separate resolution for the two of them. Does it succeed? I’m not completely sure, but Wolf is nonetheless adept at crafting stories that stick with you after the telling, and this is no exception.

“The Ziz” sounded, to me, to be a made-up word, which only goes to betray my level of ignorance. Ziz is in fact the aerial sibling of Behemoth and Leviathan, and Wolf’s story here is an irreverent and didactic retake on the biblical fate of these colossi. This one didn’t particularly resonate with me, but it’s nonetheless a short, fun tale with a serious subtext.

“The Coin” is a token given several times to Likner, a young Haitian streetkid, by a mysterious middle class woman who tells him each time not to lose it. There’s a sharp edge to this one, which manages to present itself as both intense and subtle. A good example of contemporary urban fantasy.

In “Finding Creatures”, Bernadette is a pious young girl who longs for a miracle to prove God’s existence. What she gets is a horse… but can anyone else see the horse? This is a charming story that plays to Wolf’s strengths: she seems most assured in characterising introspection and solitude, and these are attributes very much at play here.

“Miss Lonelygenes’ Secret” starts promisingly, but throws a few too many ingredients into the mix. Rosaleen is a phenotypic profiler, a career for which she has her pioneering, Nobel winning mother to thank, although the sentiment would not be reciprocated. For Rosaleen uses her skills to the end of pairing up lonely souls with safe, compatible lifemates. So who is she holding out for? The ideas explored here are very interesting, though I ended up feeling the overall story didn’t do them justice.

“These Old Bones” has previously appeared in the anthology SF Waxes Philosophical which, as it happens, I’ve also reviewed. Back then, I described it as “a subtle, atmospheric tale of the interaction between two loners who share an interest in palaeontology. It’s an intriguingly elusive story that’s reminiscent in style to the work of Kate Wilhelm. For me, it echoed long after I’d finished reading” and my view of it hasn’t changed.

In “Aggie’s Game”, the young narrator’s sister is overly given to theatricality, perhaps not without reason. This one is charming, principally for the exactitude with which the sister’s foibles are drawn.

In “The MagniCharisma Machine”, two young lovers attempt to make the world a better place by collaborating on a machine which engenders empathy. Despite the serious premise, this one feels more light-hearted than many of the other stories accompanying it.

“Equals” is one of the collection’s more overtly SF-leaning tales. It jarred somewhat with my own tastes in SF – and to my mind, it doesn’t quite pull off what it’s attempting – but the central ideas are intriguing.

“After Hours At The Black Hole” is a whimsical fable on the dangers of shovelling awkward things and unwanted memories under the carpet – or, as in this case, into the mouth of a black hole.

I didn’t fully fathom the significance of the title hand in “Dana’s Hand”, but it’s nevertheless a well-crafted and unsentimental story of the bleaker attributes of senility. If there’s a speculative element in this one, I missed it.

In “Kouzen Zaka”, fifty-year-old Vancouver resident Isabel is haunted by memories of her time in Haiti, with Denys, a young journalist committed to revealing those resposible for the entrenched abuses of power. Such idealism is, of course, dangerous. For my tastes, the story’s pivotal scene is inappropriately muted, but the depiction of Haiti and its people remains effective.

“Mr. Cowmeadow’s Sky” is a closely observed story of resilient old Mr Cowmeadow, whose existence creeps along in a world gone to ruin.

“Saint Francis and the Green Man” explores a mythical meeting between the two. It’s a story about belief, which manages to avoid pushing any particular barrows (and is the stronger for that.)

These are the fifteen stories in Finding Creatures . There’s a variety of tones and themes, but if I had to tease out some common threads from what I found in its pages, these would be a tendency to focus on loners (and therefore on solitude and introspection), a persistent concern with the past in all its forms, and a subtle yet unflinching quietness of observation. It’s not a book to attempt to read in one sitting, nor did every story succeed on all levels. But there are enough memorable moments here, including “Claude and the Henry Moores”, “These Old Bones”, “Aggie’s Game” and “Dana’s Hand” that I found the overall collection to be enjoyable and worthwhile.

a mix of the artsy with some respectable hard SF: Schellenberg reviews Finding Creatures

Finding Creatures & Other Stories, C. June Wolf, Wattle and Daub Books, 2008, 236 pp.

The Storyteller and Other Tales, K.V. Johansen, Sybertooth, 2008, 106 pp.

I’d like to take a look at two recent short story collections, Finding Creatures & Other Stories and The Storyteller and Other Tales. Both are by Canadian authors, and are published by small Canadian presses (see more detail below). I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve checked in with the work being done by Canadian author and publishing outfits, so this was an interesting return for me. The short version: the work looks very good indeed.

Finding Creatures is a collection of 15 stories by Wolf and has an insightful introduction by Charles de Lint. The 15 stories make for a mix of the artsy with some respectable hard SF that I wasn’t expecting from a collection like this. No offence meant to small press short stories, but I don’t see a lot of hardcore science-fictional speculation from them.

The artsy side of the collection is represented by stories like “Claude and the Henry Moores,” the opening story (I’ll talk about this story in more detail in just a moment), and the title story which is about imaginary creatures and loneliness.

I liked these stories a great deal. In particular, Wolf does a good job with endings. Since we get a lot of detail about the internal life of the characters, the structure that leads to the ending is most often an epiphany, a moment where all those internal musings or developments come together in a rush, like a plateau before the next ascent begins. Not an “I feel ripped off” artsy ending, but an artsy ending that the story is nicely tailored for.

I’ll use the Henry Moore story that opens the collection as an example. Claude works as a security guard at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto), and he becomes fascinated with the Henry Moore sculptures on display in the gallery. Then entranced, then possessed with an incredible connection with the personality of each sculpture, then convinced that there is an entity trapped within each sculpture. The writing is very moving, and the “freeing” of the AGO sculptures is a memorable sequence. That could be the ending, but in the last few paragraphs, Claude realizes there are Henry Moores across the whole world. It’s both closure and grand reveal of new vistas for the protagonist. Neatly played.

I don’t want to give away the endings of any of the other stories in the collection; rest assured that they are just as craftily constructed.

Of the stories with a more science-fictional nature, I’ll mention “Thunderbirds” and “Equals.” The first is an unusual first contact story, between Norman the human, living by himself in the woods, and Chitta the alien, who crashes nearby. Again, the story works toward an epiphany, but the alien details along the way are suitably convincing. The second story is about a research mission on an alien world named Lorin4. I was reminded of Robert Charles Wilson’s Bios in Wolf’s careful attention to biological details.

The longer stories in the collection – “Thunderbirds,” “Finding Creatures,” “Miss Lonelygenes,” “The MagniCharisma Machine,” “Equals,” and “Kouzen Zaka” – are generally better than the shorter ones, but all told, the reading is very rewarding.

On to The Storyteller and Other Tales. I didn’t get as much of a grasp of Johansen’s style, since The Storyteller only has four stories in it. All are based on historical moments (or our stories of those moments, appropriately enough considering the title), but the styles vary. Each story has a motif illustration by Johansen herself.

The title story is about a character named Ulfleif, a royal girl in a remote kingdom, and two visitors, Moth and Mikki, storyteller and warrior respectively. The storyteller begins a familiar tale about seven demons who were bound into earthly prisons a long time ago, but the story takes a turn that brings the events right into the building with them. It feels like a piece of a longer story, but it works very well.

The next story, "He-Redeems," is about 3 slaves living in the palace of the Lady, and reminded me a great deal of Eileen Kernaghan's Winter on the Plain of Ghosts. One of the slaves is accused of heresy, and the title character, who is impossibly naive, gets his eyes opened in a painful way. A journey into apostasy, but rather baldly stated.

"The Inexorable Tide" is a serviceable bit of Arthuriana, told through the eyes of Nimiane, daughter of Merlin. The emphasis is on how Arthur's wanderings and distant battles are a form of desertion for those back home. Nimiane and Mordred and Guenevere get up to all the familiar troubles, but there's a reason for their actions in the absence of the king. Nimiane manages a happy ending for herself, but the moment of Arthurian glory is brief, as it always is.

“a.d. cmxci” (AD 991 for those of us who have trouble deciphering Roman numerals) is a short piece, riffing off of an old epic poem. It feels like a bit of academia, rather than a finished story.

Both books are published by small presses here in Canada. Wattle and Daubis a west coast outfit, putting out a handful of books each year. Finding Creatures and Other Stories is a nice edition, so they’ve done good work so far.Sybertooth is a little harder to figure out: they’re on the east coast, and have published a lot of Canadian humour. I hadn’t run across Donald Jack’s Bandybooks in years and years, so I’m glad to see that someone is keeping that series in print. They’ve also published a number of genre works by Johansen and other writers.

Wolf was recently interviewed over at Strange Horizons and talked about Canadian SF and fantasy (among other interesting topics).

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I feel a bit like this is a sequel to my earlier piece,The Latest in Canadian SF, from 2007. The venerable Tesseracts series, collecting Canadian fantasy and science fiction short stories since 1985, is now at number 13, with a fourteenth volume set for release in 2010. Canadian authors have been doing very well for themselves – Robert J. Sawyer’sFlashforward is now a TV series on ABC, Karl Schroeder’s Virga series is now at 4 volumes, and much, much more. I’m looking forward to something new from Nalo Hopkinson, and of the books on my shelf, Robert Charles Wilson’s latest,Julian Comstock, is the one I’d most like to read. And I’m glad to see that small presses like Wattle and Daub, Sybertooth, and Edge are fighting the good fight.

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Last modified: February 20, 2010

Copyright © 2010 by James Schellenberg

Recent Library Thing Reviews

I've been reading a broad variety of books recently, and some of these I have done brief reviews of on Library Thing. Here are a few. For all my LT reviews, go to: http://www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=thesmellofbooks

The Kar-Chee Reign by Avram Davidson

Avram Davidson is a master of short fiction but I had heard his novels, few as they are, didn't measure up. I was expecting a flub; that's not what I got.

Davidson adopts a voice in writing the Kar-Chee Reign that remains consistent and convincing throughout, and is a subtle alternative to many of the voices found in SF. The writing is evocative, the characters are interesting and the story and its underpinnings are complex and well-crafted. The aliens _are_ alien, their purpose aloof from the fate of humankind but huge in its impact, and the differing perceptions of the humans guide their responses to the aliens in intriguing ways. Like much of Davidson's fiction it is thoughtful and thorough rather than explosive and thrilling. A quiet, intelligent read. ( )

flagJan 22, 2010 | edit | |

Black Chick by Kirya Traber

So good I gave it away to my sister. Beautifully made book and wonderful poems. ( )

flagJan 20, 2010 | edit | |

Limekiller by Avram Davidson

Davidson spent the '60s in British Honduras. As always a sponge for nuance and perspective, he wrote a series of stories set in the invented country of British Hidalgo. The Limekiller stories feature an ex-pat Canadian who makes his living on the waterways and encounters locals, both human and creature, in a land where magic is part of the atmosphere and talk is slow and sweet. Like spending a month in a land that never was. (Pity.) ( )

flag1 other review | Jan 20, 2010 | edit | |

The Water-Babies 1891 (A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby)… by Charles Kingsley

This book is a mixed bag, one I enjoyed reading for its wonderful turns of phrase and flights of fancy (to quote a couple of worthy cliches). It's not real strong on plot and being of another age I don't buy a lot of the author's views on things -- which since this is a moralizing tale it is not easy to overlook. But still, lots to mine here, and a soothing read at a difficult time. ( )

flag16 other reviews | Jan 19, 2010 | edit | |

The Energy of Prayer: How to Deepen Your Spiritual Practice… by Thich Nhat Hanh

This small, unassuming book makes clear and grounding sense. Appendices include useful gatthas for rooting prayer in your daily life. I destress just reading it! ( )

flagJan 17, 2010 | edit | |

Fatal Encryption (Alex Bellamy mystery) by Debra Purdy Kong

I'm not normally a reader of this genre but I found this book a real page-turner -- I read 259 pp in one evening!!! Kong has firm control of her story and the plot rolls out at a good pace. ( )

flag2 other reviews | Jan 14, 2010 | edit | |

The Jaws that Bite, the Claws that Catch by Michael G. Coney

What an intriguing book! Coney has a deft touch with setting and character. I was hoodwinked into wondering if he had gone suddenly sexist until I figured out that it was the viewpoint character who was incapable of seeing women as human beings, but always as reflections of his own desires and prejudices. Questions of ethics and human rights mix here with strange science and daring young men in their gliding machines. An odd and fun and ultimately subtle fiction. ( )

flagJan 12, 2010 | edit | |

Scarlet Music: A Life of Hildegard Von Bingen (Crossroad fiction program)… by Joan Ohanneson

I enjoyed this book. I had to shift my expectations a little -- let it be what it was instead of what I am used to. Once I let go, I was along for a passionate and fascinating ride. Suitable for lovers of historical fiction, mysticism, feminism, and even, in its own way, romance. The romance here being of a celibate sort, between humans and between a woman and her deity. ( )

flagJan 9, 2010 | edit | |

Too Long a Sacrifice (Orbit Books) by Mildred Downey Broxon

The writing is solid and pleasing, the ideas are good, and the basic plot is well told. Broxon has thought deeply about her subject and done good research, giving especially the modern parts of the book a ring of truth. My only wish is that she had better developed the archetypal characters so that there was greater impact on me as a reader as their subplot unfolded. My impression, too, is that the Horned God and Goddess bit is borrowed from Wicca, and is not actual Celtic mythos. Nevertheless, recommended for those interested in Ireland and Irish history, as well as in the struggle for peace. ( )

flag1 other review | Dec 31, 2009 | edit | |

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

It's a strange feeling when I finally read something that I've heard of is a classic -- though in this case which I had not heard of AT ALL before hearing it was a classic -- and then suddenly being swept away with enthusiasm for that book and wishing everyone interested in the subject had the opportunity to read it. [We] by [[Yevgeny Zamyatin]] was mentioned by [Ursula LeGuin] in an essay, I think in [[The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction]], as being both a wonderful book and very important in the history of science fiction. I finally stumbled across a copy, in which I learn that it was written between 1920 and 1921 in Russia where, at the time of publication, it had still never been published. It was this book that inspired the later dystopian works [[1984]] and [[Brave New World]]. It is written in a more stylized, you could say alien, fashion, although the characters are human. Highly recommended, both as a novel in itself, and as a spyglass into our genre's (and our world's) history. ( )

1 flag56 other reviews | Dec 27, 2009 | edit | |

The Memory Tree by Little R. John

John Little handles his themes masterfully. I was drawn in from the first pages and read the entire book in one sitting -- NOT my usual pace. Good characters, good story, good setting -- an excellent book.

Pity that the publisher went under. The book will be hard to find -- here's hoping another publisher takes it on. ( )

flagDec 15, 2009 | edit | |

Svaha by Charles de Lint

I wasn't sure when I opened this one if I would enjoy it. Page by page as plot, characters, and themes developed I was drawn in until I finished, thoroughly satisfied. A _good_ book.

De Lint explores themes of oppression, environmental responsibility, spirituality and honour in an action-packed futuristic novel. ( )

flag1 other review | Dec 9, 2009 | edit | |

A Pagan Place by Edna O'Brien

God, O'Brien is good!

Once I get over the fact that this reads unlike a normal a novel with its clear plot and obvious arc, but as an almost poeticly observed stream of consciousness, I settle into the sheer pleasure of it. The first 80-some pp are a child's eye view of life in Ireland in the 60s (50s?). Brings [Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man] to mind in some ways.

The child looks around herself at what others are doing, at the small details of life and landscape, and as she grows this continues. Also as she grows, life gets more complicated. There is much truth, much beauty, and much sorrow in this novel, all given the same weight in the telling. A wonderful book. ( )

flagOct 30, 2009 | edit | |

Kali the Mother by Sister Nivedita

First published in 1900, Sister Nivedita's essays about the language and symbolism of religion, informed by culture, and about Shiva and Kali themselves shed precious light on this feared deity and her people. ( )

flagOct 26, 2009 | edit | |