Dr. Peter Watts, Canadian Science Fiction Writer, Arrested at US Border

Reprinted from Cory Doctorow’s blog, Boing Boing at: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/11/dr-peter-watts-canad.html#more My friend, the wonderful sf writer Peter Watts was beaten without provocation and arrested by US border guards on Tuesday. I heard about it early Wednesday morning in London and called Cindy Cohn, the legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She worked her contacts to get in touch with civil rights lawyers in Michigan, and we mobilized with Caitlin Sweet (Peter’s partner) and David Nickle…

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Dec 2009

By Lorina StephensViews from the Old Stone House1 Comment

Baby It’s Cold Outside

At least in Canada it is. It’s a blustery, third day of snow squall warnings, -11 Celsius (wind chill of -19). Wind is from the north, north-west at 20km/hr. There’s 46 cm of snow on the ground where it hasn’t drifted into a frozen version of a sand desert. Dawn banishes the night, a transition from black to grey. The world is a study of muted monochrome, like a Victorian pen and ink sketch. Still…

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Dec 2009

By Lorina StephensRecipes, Views from the Old Stone HouseComments Off

Indigo’s Green Initiative — Is It Enough?

On Monday, November 30 Indigo announced their ambitious commitment to reaching 50% recycled paper in the books they retail within the next five years. While I very much applaud that corporate initiative, I might suggest it doesn’t go far enough, or encompass a growing alternative to paper waste, and that is print on demand technologies. No longer the poor second-cousin to offset printing, print on demand often produces a superior product, with less impact to…

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Dec 2009

By Lorina StephensBooks, Information, Views from the Old Stone HouseComments Off

Common Writing Faux Pas

Since sitting the other side of the desk again, I’ve been struck by the common traps in which so many writers are caught. In the interest of keeping my promise to the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, I thought I’d list some of those traps here. Active versus Passive VerbsPassive voice slows action, sometimes arresting it altogether. Not good. Take a look at this sentence in the passive voice: In the interest of brevity, little say…

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Nov 2009

By Lorina StephensInformation, Views from the Old Stone HouseComments Off

Five Rivers Signs Debut Author

In a quiet, energetic series of emails, Five Rivers reached an agreement with new Canadian author, Alicia Hendley, to publish her debut novel, A Subtle Thing. Slated for release in the fall of 2010 in both print and digital formats, A Subtle Thing is a raw, honest and relentless novel, written with authority, that follows Beth’s heart-breaking and uplifting battle with clinical depression. You will cheer for her. You will want to shake her. But…

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Nov 2009

By Lorina StephensA Subtle Thing, Alicia Hendley, Books, Views from the Old Stone HouseComments Off