A Mosque Among the Stars is a collection of Muslim-related SF edited by Ahmed Khan, and  now available on Kindle.  Included in the anthology is Casey Wolf's story "Miss Lonelygenes' Secret" . You can download the  book from amazon.com's kindle store 

 Eileen Kernaghan's 2004 historical fantasy Winter on the Plain of Ghosts: a Novel of Mohenjo-daro is also now available from Amazon sites as a kindle e-book.

Also on e-books: the groundbreaking anthology of fusion fiction, Like Water for Quarks, (Elton Elliott and Bruce Taylor, eds.,) which includes Mary E. Choo's short story, "The Man Who Loved Lightning," is now available from Baen e-books. You can find information at this link  on the Baen Books website.

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In recent news

English writer and blogger Rebeccah Giltrow interviews Eileen Kernaghan at http://rebeccahgiltrow.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/writer-eileen-kernaghan.html

Canadian Gothic: An interview with Mary E. Choo Part One

/Q: Mary, tell me how you got started as a writer -- what was the first thing you had accepted for publication? /

MC: I first started composing rhymes, orally, when I was about four or five. As a child I wrote and illustrated my own novels -- often in lurid detail. I won a prize -- a ticket to the Ice Capades-- for a rehash of "Cinderella", when I was ten. The first thing I had accepted for publication was a poem, "Nocturne" (for the literary magazine Mamashee) in 1983.

/Q: What drew you to fantastic//speculative literature --as opposed to mainstream? /

MC: I find the medium more flexible. The writer can create her own situation as opposed to being confined by established conventions. There's also opportunity, particularly in fantasy, to embellish a situation with the use of imaginative language, to expand horizons while incorporating aspects of the "real" world.

/Q: Recently, you've been writing and publishing horror and dark fantasy. What led you in that direction -- and where do you find your inspiration? /

MC: Horror and dark fantasy seemed to come naturally. In a way, it's a means of using elaborate metaphor to exorcise personal demons. I come from what could be described as a rather Gothic background. Much of that nuance has worked its way into my plots and characters, though in a greatly altered state. I try to write from compassion, to explore the motivation of my characters and aim for perspective.

/Q: There's a dream-like, almost hallucinatory quality to much of your work. Are you influenced by dreams?

MC: I dream a good deal. The dreams are generally complex and riddled with bizarre symbolism -- the antlered man is a recurring figure. Many dreams are a catalyst for poems such as "Dreamwalker" or "A Tale for Pandora", and from there they often find their way into short stories. And I do dream in colour.

/Q: You're married to a Southeast Asian, and you've travelled and worked  abroad. Your writing is enriched with many cultural (and cross-cultural) references, both actual and created. How has your exposure to other
cultures influenced your work and helped you to shape your characters?

MC: I've co-existed with the Southeast Asian//Chinese culture for a number of years. I'm frequently exposed not only to my husband's dialect and customs, but to the traditions of the Chinese community as a whole. I've also studied French and Spanish, and in a very limited way, Egyptian hieroglyphs -- this when I was living in London, and working at the British Museum. It goes without saying that travel and living in another country enriches the mind and spirit. All this has given me a strong sense that there are things outside my own experience, and has shown me how customs both unite and separate people. There are  intrinsic, subtle meanings and connotations in every culture that are lost in translation. For instance, much of the significance of an Asian ritual like the traditional Lion Dance might escape a westerner. In the trilogy I'm currently writing, I've been influenced by all of the above. I've endeavoured to build detailed, convincing societies, and to incorporate some idea of the challenges of intercultural marriage into the main relationship.

Several members of my family have had training in various Asian disciplines, and I've observed a lot from sitting through countless competitions. One family member studied under the masters in Japan. He's also a successful competitor and qualified instructor, and now works in film and TV. This has provided some insight into action scenes and how to construct them. I'm most interested in the discipline aspect, and the ways in which --externally and internally -- the arts make you strong.



(to be continued)

Canadian Gothic: an interview with Mary E. Choo Part 2

/Q: You write in three mediums: poetry, short fiction and novels. Do you have a preference?

MC. Each medium fulfills a specific need. I feel totally free to express myself in poetry. Short fiction is more of a discipline, a means of dealing with ideas and characters in limited word space. In a novel, there is more opportunity for plot and character development, and a variation in pace that can't be achieved in short fiction.

/Q: You've published in both U.S. and Canadian publications. Do you feel there is any difference between these two markets? That is, do have U.S.and Canadian editors (and readers) have different standards and expectations? Do you write differently for the two markets?

MC. That's a difficult one to answer, these days, as market needs are changing rapidly. I think many Canadian writers tend to layer their stories more, and that a number of U.S. publications have been leaning more towards this kind of fiction the last few years. I don't consciously write for either market, particularly when I'm writing dark fantasy or horror, but I do pare my work down much more than I used to -- with the U.S. market in mind.

/Q: What do you see as your strengths as a writer, and your weaknesses?

MC: Hopefully, I attain some depth of character, and I do try to use language imaginatively. I had early training in piano, and I'm very disciplined. All those five-finger exercises and scales taught me the meaning of hard work and patience, the will to get it just right. In the end, all of it went into the actual music, and made for better, more competent execution and expression. I feel the same is true of good writing. It's important to try to say it well. I have a tendency, though, to overwork a manuscript, particularly short fiction, and to worry over things that don't matter and not see things that do. It helps to have at least one other person review your work. My husband speaks three other languages and came late to fluent English. However, he's marvellous at pointing out basic flaws in my prose. He also knocks my ideas and concerns into perspective when I get too involved.

/Q: What are you working on at present?

MC: A poetry collection, short stories, and the final book of a  trilogy.

 /Q: There seems to be a literary trend towards the Gothic and the grotesque. What do you think accounts for this current taste for the macabre?

MC: A couple of things, really. Ours has become an intensely market-driven society, fast-paced and in many ways ruthless and impersonal. I suspect a lot of people feel a tremendous void in their lives, and long for something divorced from all the clutter and technology, some improbable adventure in which they can lose themselves.I also think the current Gothic writing reflects, in metaphor, many of the darker aspects of the human condition -- readers identify with this and are drawn to it.

/Q: Where do you see yourself going, as writer? What would you like to achieve?

MC: As writer, one always hopes for improvement -- and if you're lucky, some recognition. The publishing aspect, as I'm sure many writers would agree is a large and difficult part of the picture. It's very hard to second-guess the market, which gets more competitive all the time.