I’m “tabling” at this virtual zine fair that runs until next Thursday, along with dozens of other creators! Check them out here, and stock up for your summer reading on zines of all kinds.
Canzine Online 5–11 May
New Online Store
You might notice there is a new link in the menu across the top of this website—an online store! While my preferred way of selling my comics is always going to be face-to-face at a zine fair, I know that people who don’t live in one of the city’s in my immediate geographic area might want to be able to get their hands on them. Plus, you can also buy the fantastic speculative fiction anthology A Compendium of Enigmatic Species.
And if you’re like me and would rather buy your comics in person, my next appearance will be at the Montcalm Fleamarket in Quebec City on 3 June!
Call for Submissions at Metapsychosis: Artificial Intelligence
This online journal, of which I am editor, is currently accepting submissions on the theme of Artificial Intelligence. We’ve been hearing about it in the news, and now now we want to hear your thoughts! We accept fiction, essays, art, and experimental work. Important: work should be about Artificial Intelligence, not by Artificial Intelligence. If you use AI to create your art, please make it clear what the human contribution was (writing a one-sentence prompt is unlikely to impress us).
Deadline for submissions is 5 May 2023.
Update: Deadline extended to 12 May 2023
Article in Grist.org about my Arctic research
The “Last Ice Area” is a region off the northern coast of Ellesmere Island that has some of the thickest sea ice left in the Arctic. It happens to be the setting of my current historical novel-in-progress, but its importance is highly vital to all of us here in the twenty-first century. As climate change accelerates year after year, this region is expected to be the last place in the world where species that depend on ice will be able to find refuge. I was interviewed along with several other scientists about my work in this critical area. You can read the article at the link below — it’s worth it just for the gorgeous photos!
https://grist.org/science/last-ice-area-disappearing-arctic-lake-permafrost-thaw-science/
Two weeks until A Compendium of Enigmatic Species comes out!
I’m super excited to be able to announce that an anthology of speculative fiction that I co-edited with Practical Fantasists will be coming out in just two weeks on 9 February 2023. This anthology on the theme of encountering new species brings together innovative art and writing from contributors across the world. It also has a fantastic cover by artist Alison Helmer:
You can get the latest news about the anthology and find links to pre-order at the Practical Fantasists website: https://practicalfantasists.wordpress.com/a-compendium-of-enigmatic-species/
I got so much joy from working with my co-editors Erin Scothorn and Karin Murray-Bergquist, and with all the creators who sent us their weird and wonderful work. Thank you for this fantastic experience!
Zine fairs, book reviews, and floating lakes
It has been a busy year, so this is a bit of a mega-update with a lot of writing (and other!) news.
First of all: it’s zine fair season! I’m just returning from a wonderful trip to Ottawa Canzine, where I met zine- and comic-makers from all over Quebec and Ontario. A big thanks to Erin (my co-editor as well as being a podcaster and all-round awesome writer!) for helping me with tabling). In another two weeks, I’ll be at Montreal Expozine for Saturday 19 November only. If you are in the area, please stop by my table to say hi!
I have two new comics for sale for this zine season. The first is an omnibus version of the Drosophila series. You can now choose between having the complete story of Wingless and the other mutant fruit-flies in a single volume, or individually with their original covers.
The second new comic is the beginning of a new series called What Writing is Like. It explores the craft of writing through everyday metaphors — in this one you can learn why writing is like packing a suitcase!
The next news is that I once again have a book review featured in the amazing online Albion Magazine. I’ve written an essay about one of my favourite nineteenth century novel, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. As well as giving us a strong and independent-minded heroine, Gaskell also explores the rising tensions of labour unrest as the workers of a cotton mill prepare for a strike.
Finally, some of the work in my scientific day-job has been making the news. Our study of a rare type of “floating lake” becomes particularly poignant because the deterioration of the Arctic ice shelves resulted in the lake’s total loss just a few years after the study was completed. The lake’s entire ecosystem, including it’s fascinating giant viruses, drained into the ocean to be carried away by waves and currents. It was a huge privilege to be able to work on this ecosystem while it still existed.
That’s a sombre note to end this update on, but I hope readers will be galvanized by the real challenges in our world. Words are our tool for change so keep reading and writing!
Interview with Philippe Girard appears in Font Magazine
I had a delightful interview with Philippe Girard, a “bédéiste”(that’s French for a comic book creator) living in Québec City, author of a recent comic book biography of Leonard Cohen, as well as many, many other memoir and fictional comics. He shared with me some of the wisdom from his decades of experience. The interview appears in Font Magazine, as part of their issue on the upcoming Imagination Literary Festival in Québec. Click here to read more:
Anthology Call for Submissions: A Compendium of Enigmatic Species
I’m teaming up with the amazing folks over at Practical Fantasists on a new project, an e-book anthology consisting of speculative fiction pieces that are also scientific (or semi-scientific) species descriptions. Read the details below, or go to their website for more details: https://practicalfantasists.wordpress.com/a-compendium-of-enigmatic-species/
Metapsychosis website open to submissions
For the past few years, I’ve been working as an editor for the Metapyschosis website. Check out these links for a sampling of some of the writers and artists I’ve helped introduce to our readers:
Artist Interview with Deniz Ozan-George
Book Review: Medb, by Bridget Burke
“Lucy the Nun With Green Socks”, poem by Susan Evans
“The Second”, fiction by Isobel Granby
Metapsychosis is now re-opening to submissions on a rolling basis, so if you have a work — be it essay, fiction, or poetry — that you think I would enjoy, please do send it! While it isn’t a paying market, it’s a great community, and you can be sure your work will become part of a friendly, vibrant conversation.
Our submission form lets you specify which editor receives your work to first, you can pick me or someone else depending on who you think will be the best fit.
Review of Noël Coward appears in Albion Magazine
If you are a theatre lover who doesn’t know Noël Coward, I can still practically guarantee that you have felt his influence — his dozens of plays, musicals, and film left a lasting stamp on the theatre of the twentieth century. In the latest issue of Albion Magazine, I tackle some small segment of this enormous oeuvre, highlighting some of my favourite pieces, and picking apart his complicated perspective on relationships and love. You can read the whole review here:
http://www.albionmagazineonline.org/albion-autumn-2021-noel-coward-no-rest-for-lovers.html
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