Three years after OnSpec published my first story, I got my second one accepted. Alas, it will also be the last one. OnSpec, a staunch support and platform for Canadian SF authors, will launch its last issue, 134 this month.
Another sad news on the Canadian SF front, three weeks after learning of the demise of my first SF mentor Jean-Louis Trudel in Lithuania. I would not have become a writer if I hadn’t met him in Montréal, at a comic book launch at the defunct Nebula bookstore. I had always hesitated because I didn’t feel drawn to write “serious Litewrature“, me who had grown on Isaac Asimov and several fine SF writers (mostly Americans guys at the time, but the field have diversified since!) When Jean-Louis told me there was a very active French SF community in the Québec province, I jumped on that train faster than you could say “Ray gun” !!
Organizing a literary magazine is no piece of cake. The Ontarian literary mag, Virages, founded by Marguerite Andersen, ceased its activities after 75 issues. In OnSpec, I liked to read Barb’s and Diane’s editorials. As solitary writers, we need those voices and their reflexions. And Onspec stories were never too long or boring, presenting a full palette of subgenres from hard-SF to fantastic and horror, not forgetting Steampunk.
Thirty-five years of choosing stories, cover image, editing, writing the editorial, putting up the issue… this is an staggering sum of work.* A consistent body of evidence that went almost ignored my the general public… until CBC made a piece last November. Prodding that reaction: “I didn’t know you existed!”
Well, it happened for a ton of beautiful, valid works lost in the algorithmic maze of our profit-obsessed culture. Every week, I find out about that author, or this person that passed away.
A big, big thank you to Barb and Diane and the OnSpec team. I find myself very lucky to share space on Issue 134’s cover, along with several author friends.
In those difficult times, we need to rely on each other, to provide warmth, acceptance and friendship for those who feel rejected. Let us all lit up the night !
* I publish my own Échofictions books and thought I would be able to put up one new book per month, like my author friends Dean Wesley Smith. Hm nope. Life happened (and death, I lost my mother in 2023), and I am only coming back on the saddle. I put out three books in 2025, and the next year, 4-5 books will be my goal.
This distinctively Canadian hard-SF story has been published in ANALOG SF & Facts, vol XCIII, 5-6 (May-June 2023)
Kuiper Pancake
by Michèle Laframboise
The thick smell of maple syrup welled up in my olfactive memory when I rolled into the kilometer-wide depression under a bowl of clear, unblinking stars.
A long time ago when I still had legs under my body, I had tasted my grandmother’s warm pancakes, flat wheat flour disks covered with bubble cavities, looking like the face of the Moon. We didn’t get real, grown wheat flour often, maybe it had been contraband from northern Alberta, but wow! did it taste awesome with the reconstituted maple syrup! I called to mind the homey scents of the kitchen and the rumor of the city behind gran’s windows, the basil and spice and coffee (not for me, that), to help me face reality.
My gran’s kitchen was hundreds of millions klicks away now. Her smile had evaporated decades ago, the price every Scout or Explorer paid for getting an extended life span.
Here in the Kuiper belt, I didn’t possess any sense of smell, except in a very practical, this-could-save-your-life row of chemical gas samplers, apt at identifying the spicy sting of toxic compounds that could eat my hull and nibble at the precious wetware inside. Mechanical vibrations were similarly filtered and transcribed into sounds, along with the IA voice of the Explorer talking to me.
My current body had grounded to a stop, a six-wheel tank spiked with sensors and samplers, its huge swiveling head crowned with an array of cams and antennas and teacup radio-receptors.
Presently, that huge swiveling head was stuck in the throes of indecision, like a teenager.
Asimov’s SF Magazine just published In the Gardener’s Service, a fun SF caper novelette, that readers will enjoy more than does the main character !
Those of you new to my Gardeners’ universe will get to know better Emperor Pallan’s special agent, who really, really! doesn’t like to dunk his high-maintenance braids while in a mission.
My name is not featured on the cover this time, but I have prestigious cover neighbours like Suzanne Palmer, Derek Kunsken and Rich Larson. Stephen Reid has a story in there also, the kind of hard & fun SF I enjoy.
Maison de la Presse – Place Ville Marie, 1 place Ville-Marie, Montréal QC H3B 3Y1 —Get there Gateway Newstands – 300-1, Place Ville-Marie, Montréal QC H3B 4R8 – Get there Maison De La Presse Internationale 4261, rue Saint-Denis, Montréal QC H2J 2K9 — Get there
At certain times, science-fiction and gardening afficionados do mix!
I had a wonderful weekend meeting new readers at the Blooming Boulevard annual native plant sale. Here’s my table by Sunday. My Gardeners’ civilization SF graphic novels were a hit, as were my birdwatching stories!
How this non-literary event came to be ?
Two years ago, I was impressed by a neighbour’s indigenous plants garden, set in the grassy band between the sidewalk and the street. As a staunch environmentalist, I was considering doing the same with my own curb band. But, book fairs and deadlines loomed, and I missed the opportunity.
According to the Blooming Boulevards web page:
We are a group of civic-minded Mississauga residents who love gardening and want to do what we can to help the environment and promote community well-being. We became a not-for-profit Ontario corporation, a Mississauga community organization, and developed the mission and goals of Blooming Boulevards in early 2019.
It took me two summers to gather the courage and contact the founders. And then, everything went fast, as Jeanne and Wayne came to see my modest space, and drew up a plan for indigenous plants, and gathered the forms to get an “encroachment” permit from the City. This was at the end of April.
This as how the space looked before I took out the grass. There were steps well explained before planting.
Before…And after! The completed garden.
Now, I must be patient to allow those plants work on their roots before investing in foliage and flowers. Stay tuned for next year!
How my signing table planted itself there?
When the nice Blooming Boulevards people learned I was a writer, and when they saw my Gardeners’ Universe graphic novels, they invited me to sit at their annual plant sale!
The plant sale. My table was to the right of those chairs
And, ooh , that went so incredibly well!
The signing table on Saturday, a little cramped, but they put my publishing company sign up!
I did not have any expectation beside talking to gardeners who are better at their hobbies than I am. In most literary events, I am used to people ignoring my table.
Not here.
Visitors were intrigued and many stopped by (if their arms were not loaded with seed boxes!) And some gardeners were also science fiction readers, so I gained new fans! Two people even went back on Sunday to get my books signed!
One colour pencils signing of Mistress of the Winds, available in electronic format here along with my other books.
It is very rare that half the books I bring at any event fly out, but it happened here.
The advantages of an in-person, non-lit event
My esteemed colleague writer and indie publisher Mark Leslie Lefebvre regularly attends non-lit events in his home area, and I can now confirm that it is worth my time.
On the last day of March, Nancy Kilpatrick passed away, taken by cancer. I learned it on April first through social medias, and for once, with one day delay, instead of a week after the fact.
Nancy Kilpatrick, a talented colleague, wrote vampiric horror stories. It was not my usual reading, but I received her monthly letter. She always had interesting historical anecdotes about the times of the year (like the Ides of March). I tasted her unique author voice with the first book of the Thrones of Bloodseries Revenge of the Vampir King (very, ahem, “adult” horror, you’re warned.)
I met her for the first time at a Word on the Street table in Toronto B.C. (before Covid, in 2019). She shared a table with Caro Soles (author of the Merculian SF series, first novel Danger Dance.) When Nancy moved in Montréal, I had a few email exchanges later. In the isolation of the first Covid winter, she lived through several annoyances like fridge problems, mobility issues… Fortunately, she could get a little help from friends there.
Nancy Kilpatrick, pic from her WordPress blog, unknown credits.
So, at the end of March, her pen fell away.
No more meeting in events. No more emails. She was not the eldest among my colleagues, but nevertheless, it hurts. As one crossing to the older side of the river, as a SF and (sometimes!) horror writer, I have a keen awareness of the ineluctable flow of time. Impossible to ignore the tic-tic, of the great horloge.
Nancy didn’t to my limited knowledge, talked about her health, but she stopped sending her newsletter in June 2024. In the last one, she wrote: For a variety of reasons, I will not be sending a Newsletter out monthly. I will send a more irregular Newsletter out when I have anything new to say or to promote something that you might find of interest.
A long time ago when I was younger and starting in the field, I thought, a bit naively, that horror writers were devoid of empathy. Oh was I wrong! You can measure the degree of empathy, humanity and maturity in Nancy Kilpatrick by reading her blog entry in 2020, where she shared the sadness of losing her best friend.
At least, Nancy Kilpatrick leaves us her stories behind. Her translated books are available in French at the publishing house ALIRE.
May she fly over the oceans, under a full moon.
A word for you, visitor, fan or colleague
I share this loss because I want to remind you that you, fans and friends, do count in my eyes, even if I do not talk or wrote often to you. I do appreciate the emails you send (fortunately I don’t have thousands of fans, I can read and answer!) And I am happy to meet you in person at the various events, like theSalon du livre du Grand Sudbury (Sudbury Book Fair. May 8-11th), and the next Scintillation 6 in Montréal (June 6-8th).
To you, visitor, thank you for reading. If this post touches you, please, do something in Nancy’s memory: phone or visit a person that you have not seen in a long time.
Send that person an email or a paper letter, like a flower. In a world where empathy is decried by the powerful, your small gesture will warm a few hearts.
Pic by Pixabay, but one of my neighbours has a bush of those marvelous yellow roses…
Looking back, here are my contributions to the larger field of SF in 2024. Several short-stories, one graphic novel, one novella, and the links to the publishers.
(That post is for all those interested, wheter tyou are eligibile to vote for the Hugos or not. )
When my dear father Jacques E. Laframboise was very ill, in 2014, we talked a lot about Science fiction, of which he was a avid reader. We were discussing dirigible flight, for my steampunk universe. He was the one to introduce me to the genre, especially with the Asimovian robots. I had gone on to become a scientist then, later, a science-fiction writer.
So there at the hospital, I promised him two things: that one day, I would get published in Asimov’s magazine. Which happened in 2021. The second thing I promised my dad was that, one day, I would hold the Hugo rocket, as a winner.
This might be a far-fetched dream. First, there are many wonderful writers out there who craft deep, original universes and mind-bending plots. Second, winning an award it is less important than telling many good stories. Third, I already have several awards under my belt. But I am still thinking about that promise.
Maragi’s Secret is my first novella-length story published in Asimov’s SF magazine.
So, here are my 2024 publications, and some links to read them. The nomination deadline is March 15th, final voting at the Seattle Worldcon.
Maragi’s Secret, Asimov’s May-June 2024 – 20 000 words
CATEGORY : novella
genre: SF steampunk (nothing to do with the big robot on the magazine’s cover!!!)
Short blurb: Maragi learns the ropes as a mast «monkey» aboard her father’s heavily-mortgaged airship, climbing its glacial hull six thousands meters over the poisoned Earth’s surface. She hopes to navigate the endless sky, humanity’s last refuge, but must face the scorn of crewmen who resent her presence. Little do they know the worse fate waiting a motherless girl in the straight-laced, rigid Cloud society.
Then, a fragile secret left by clandestine passengers forces a hard choice on her. Is saving it worth losing everything she cares about?
The When Words Collide convention in Calgary from August 16 to 18, provided a golden occasion to see old friends again and meet new writers and readers! It is an annual ReaderCon, meaning, focusing on books and reading more than movies and media SF.
Hanging out with friends
Yes, there are the presentations, lectures and workshops, but also, just meeting people from the four corners of the country and the US, people I haven’t seen since before the Covid, is a great moral booster. I met some of them in Montréal at the Scintillation 5 organized by Jo Walton and a dedicated team.
At home or visiting family, I rarely discuss my WIP, my projects (all the contrary in my teens).
I do mention the novels I’m working on, briefly, but expending about any challenge, lack of inspiration, difficulty would bring glazed eyes. But in a convention, interacting with peers who experience the same kind of problems give me courage.
Friends recharging their batteries in the central lobby of the Delta: Robert Runte (who knows a lot about Canadian SF) , Graeme Cameron, waving (who does a lot of work publishing Polar Borealis), Allan Weiss (Making Rounds) and a fine author I don’t have a name for.Michele with Susan Forrest (at the launch of Undaunted) on August 15thWith Brenda Carre, whom I met in 2016 at an Anthology workshop in Lincoln City. Brenda had a beautiful vest.Lyn Worthen and Michèle. Lyn writes dark fantasy and thrillers.
Books, books, books!
A host of new books covering the coffee table!
Adding to my pile of books:
Super Earth Mother, Guy Immega. Guy does hard-SF and takes his time to craft a believable story.
Drunk Slutty Elf and Zombies Den Waldron
Making Rounds, Allan Weiss
A crane among Wolves (just for the cover)
Undaunted, Dave Sweet with Susan Forrest
Skeletons in my closet, Dave Sweet with
War of the Words, a collection of short stories
Those I met but in passing, Rob J Sawyer, who in a presentation explained how the J in his name help people find him among the thousands of Robert Sawyer. Robert Runte, knowledgeable in Canadian SF.
Enjoy the Slush fiction!
I was deeply impressed by Rhonda Parrish, Adria Laycraft, Shirlee Smith, Ella Beaumont, Greame Cameron: super editors, able to detect a story’s faults and clichés. The panels of slush fiction I attended were fountains of fun (to put a bad cliché) and really instructive. Some pet peeves here:
Starting a story with a character waking up in bed
Having a POV character looking, observing… doing nothing.
Form the start, we need to know WHO is telling the story, or WHo we follow, and the story problem.
The Slush fiction panel with Left to right: Greame Cameron, Susan Forest, Michael Martinek, Ella Beaumont, Kevin Weir. Thank you!
Know your rights: contracts with Den Valdron
Den Waldron handing out a book to an audience member.
Den is a fantastic author of fun or gritty Sf books, but alse a lawyer, and here, he walks us through the pitfalls of copyright and contracts, those contracts that writers are soooo eager to sign to get published!
I never saw Den pleading in court, but as a presenter, he is lively as he walks around and tells it as it is. His booming voice still echoed in my ears as I write this.
Stop pushing us onto the sidelines!
One of the most useful panels about the presence of “disabled” persons in stories, and how they don’t want to be seen as a sidekick to the abled hero. A lot of good discussion. Left to right: Cait Gordon, Arlene F. Marks, Madona Sakoff, Rick Overwater and Fiona McTaggart.
Too often an author introduces a disabled secondary character into a story, mostly to check the disability box. BUT the treatment shows that often those writers have no idea what it’s like to live the experience. (I plead guilty here at least once, however, in Phoenix Clouds, Blanche is the heroine.)
My favorite panel, We are the heroes, not the sidekicks: Building worlds and stories in SFF that center disabled protagonists, with Cait Gordon, the author of this book, Iris and the Crew tear Through Space, and her colleagues: Arlene Marks, Madona Sakoff, Rick Overwater, Fiona McTaggart. Few people marginalized because of a disability recognize themselves in fiction.
“it’s just as infuriating when the person who looks like us is just a sidekick. Or, we “cure” the person’s disability and there, yahooo, everything is beautiful!” says Cait Gordon.
Or, the hero saves a pitiful disabled person but, oh the lottery winner! that person turns out to be the talented “whizkid” who will save the colony!
I learned a lot, and appreciated this inclusive vision. We need to stop ignoring persons who just have special needs for technical assistance and accommodation. In Cait Gordon’s universe, everything is accessible and no one considers themselves “disabled”.
One person noted: this is similar to the trap that many Paralympic athletes experience: pity or inspiration. Just for that panel and the friends I met there, the trip to Calgary (with the patient husband) was worth it.
Exploring around Calgary
After saying goodbyes to many new author friends, we went on a beautiful promenade at heritage Park.
Lake near the Bow River, Heritage Park
After the convention, my husband and I walked in the Heritage Park, passing close the the Owl’s Nest Bookshop that was present at the Convention. The next day, we follwed the trails along the Bow River, to the Calgary downtown.
My author interview is out, published in the Astounding Analog Companion. There, I discuss the premises of my new story, Maragi’s Secret, a novella set in a distant future where humanity has taken to the…. sky. The full story is available in the current May-June 2024 issue of Asimov’s.
There’s some cool factoids for the hard-SF aficionados out there, plus photographs of me learning to fly a glider (taken by my wonderful father at the time). It was a fantastic experience, even if I did not pursue that activity. There, you learn to respect the three ‘Ws’: wing, weather and wind. I had a few bad landings (not shown on the pics) before getting the hang of it (ha-ha).
The world-building was, and still is, challenging. And fun, even if the plot seems to swerve in unexpected directions!
I consulted several sources about living in altitude, health problems, not forgetting the perils of dirigibles, especially in the first part of the XXth century. You would think lifting humans in a floating balloon would be a simple volume-weight equation, but the engineering challenges and the huge size of those mastodons, with the then-available materials, were daunting.
Nowadays, the are start-ups trying to push the concept off the ground (in the literal sense). Beside slow traveling, transporting heavy loads over harsh terrain, if time is not of the essence, can be done.
I love to illustrate writing hurdles, so here is one below. That manuscript was a hard act to follow, to say the least.
There may be several stories coming up in this universe, so stay tuned!
Analog Science Fiction & Facts has a blog where the editors interview the authors. This is my Q&A session for the latest story, “Living on the Trap”, published in the Nov-Dec 2023 issue of this SF magazine. And yes, I put on this picture, illustrating the perils of writing hard-SF !
Echoes of a Sunday artist 
