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New engagements and events conspired to keep me from adding new pages on this blog. This fall had deadlines falling along with the leaves.
More to come, for I will be signing my new science fiction novel at the Montréal Bookfair.
Posted in Art, Comics, Event, humor, Science-fiction
Tagged art, artist, Author visits, Comics, deadlines, Webcomics, YA science-fiction
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Meddling with physics is still big fun for a SF writer!
Thanks to my hyperboles suppliers Pascal Colpron (eternity), Robin Dumont (hair) and André Lavoie (minus a thousand). The ET visitor comes from a Le Bob original creation.
Matter falling in a black hole get heated up, so much that it emits a stream of X rays. In the panel with the car in space, a Cygnus X1 like binary system is illustrated, a star with a companion black hole.
The mean universe temperature is about 3 Kelvin. The fossil microwave picture is a courtesy of NASA.
The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking was an inspiration for the universe 4-dimensional models. The Hawking radiation is the name given to a black body radiation when a black hole evaporates.
As for the Big Crunch, well, there’s still some time before, if it happens!
Posted in Art, Comics, humor, Science-fiction, sciences
Tagged artist, Comics, humor, Hyperboles, Physics, Stephen Hawking, Universe, Webcomics
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The relation between our recent cold weather spells and global warming involves complex phenomena, the Gulf Stream current among them. For the more eager :
To better understand our irrealists expectations regarding science, conditioned by our “I-want-it-now!” culture: The Problem with Science: from Action Movies to the Real World!
For a innovative use of our fossil resources to mitigate the climate change, see une solution au casse-tête arctique.
To read about the projected effects of a Shutdown of thermohaline circulation, and here is a map of the thermohaline circulation.
For a more higher level paper, about the Gulf Stream, see this abstract of a paper published in 2015 by Jaime B. Palter, from the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences of McGill University: The Role of the Gulf Stream in European Climate (Annual Review of Marine Science Vol. 7: 113-137)
The real demonstration will be given by the planet, as soon as the last ice and land glaciers will have melted.
Posted in Comics, Event, Science-fiction, sciences, Society
Tagged Arctic ice, climate, Climate change, Comics, Environment, global warming, Gulf Stream, humor, sciences, Shutdown of thermohaline circulation
We lost a good friend this last week-end. The light rain waking me up the same night was Joel’s goodbye or at least, a poetic coincidence.
Joel Champetier did a lot for many of us, and has kept his simplicity and warmth. His SF stories created new trails for us to walk at our rythm.
Posted in Event, Science-fiction, Writing
Tagged Comics, Joël Champetier, Science-fiction, Solaris magazine
You’re competent, cool and brave, but if you’re a female Avenger, you get erased by Disney.
I saw Age of Ultron, the last Avenger movie, and applauded at the cool action scenes avec amusement, with Black Widow (played by Scarlet Johansson). It was a treat to see her jump from the Quinjet and retrieve the shield «forgotten » by Captain America, with cool effects.
Then, I learned about the lack of merchandising (the big revenue for movie) Hasbro not only erased Black Widow from her own scene, it put Captain America in it. (My favorite Comic Shop does exist and sells action figures and cards, plus holds various artist’s meetings, but the scene is fictional. )
The erasure of Black Widow from her own scene in a toy merch had made the news. You may say it’s just toys, but… think of the message it sends, to girls. The action figures and toys are decided upon by commercials following a target group optimization practice.
A tweet (in fact, three that I put together) resumes the problem (hashtag=#wheresNatasha )
“What really burns me re: erasing female superheroes, whether Gamora or Widow or Scarlet Witch, etc:
1) it tells girls they’re not worthy and
2) it tells boys that girls are to be ignored & erased. Because seriously, like there aren’t little boys out there who love Black Widow?”
One Marvel exec actually said: “That’s not why Disney bought us. They already have the girls’ market on lockdown.” With Brave and Frozen princesses, there’s no incentive to make more Marvel merch for women. I’m happy that the Diney princesses have come a long way from the simpering-whimpering-sort, but give girls a choice, too!
To quote Amadi (@amaditalks): This is @Marvel and @Hasbro telling every woman and little girl — 52% of Marvel’s audience — that they aren’t significant or good enough.”
Cheers to hardy princesses and fun superheroines – and heroes!
Posted in Art, Comics, Science-fiction, Society
Tagged Avenger movie, Avengers, Black Widow, Comics, Disney, Marvel, Scarlet Johansson, sexism, target group optimisation
Here’s an overview of the works in progress and deadlines, for the edification of my fantastic fans.
Running towards new adventures and deadlines!
New SF short-stories completed in March (written on the laptop inherited from my dad, a SF lover):
– 2 in French
– 2 English
News in submission:
– 4 submissions to contests and magazines in the last two weeks. Includes three completed mentioned above, and an English translation of a new previously published.
New texts in progress:
– 3 English (end of March). I really enjoyed a 6-week workshop hosted online by Dean Wesley Smith. His writing philosophy was bang on my weaknesses. Down with procrastination!
Foreign language publications
– 1 in the Russian Supernovia review published in January.
Stories:
– 1 French, subject to competition in late February.
Novels
19th in the planning stage (50 000 words)
18th in writing, scheduled to end in early April (60 000 words)
17th accepted with corrections (27 000 words)
16th is currently in print
Comics
My graphic novel Wind Mistress: page 38,39,40, and 41 scanned 42-43 in production.
Caricatures
– this one illustrating this column, the first done since the departure of my father. Note that the nature of the land on which the artist threads changes fast. Hence the slope in the title, as in a learning slope.
-One caricature done at the beginning of 2015, in support of Charlie Hebdo.
The promised project that drags its feet:
The trees – which has not gone too far! since the 24-24 when I began it! It will be 22 pages… Tsssk, tsssk, tsssk!
Posted in Art, Science-fiction
Tagged art, novels, short-stories, work-in-progress, Writing
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This comic is very close to my heart because it concerns my favorite literary flavor ice cream, SF.
To write science-fiction, you have to be not only passionate, but you must also know how to explain the genre to your beloved audience! Most readers associate these words with all other things like (badly written) big movie blockbusters.
There has been intellectual snobbery of genre literature by the “white” litterature, an attitude which fortunately is beginning to fade.
At the end of this article, I put a sketch drawn in 2012 to capture the sense of wonder that came over me during my early discovery of science fiction. I would read late in my father’s library.
If you speak French, I recommend that you visit the blog of Jeanne-A. Debats, a writer who does not shy away from daring ideas! She propvided a few lines from the Paris Book fair which has just ended. When I was on site in 2008, I heard some, among those: “Oh, I do not read fiction because it is unreal! »
The “talking squids” allusion is a recent catchphrase in Canadian SF literature, born of a joke by Margaret Atwood, who wrote good SF anticipation and post-apocalyptic, but did not want at one time be associated with the genre. She finally came around and admit the writing, as she explores many genres.
A website had been put up by Vonda McIntyre, featuring a short-story by Stephen Baxter, Sheena 5, about, of course, squids in space.
Posted in Comics, humor, Science-fiction, Society
Tagged art, Book fairs, Comics, Jeanne-A Debats, Science-fiction, Webcomics
The “OK” fan is the one who seems to agree to everything you say about your book… but is s-he really listening, or simply polite?
Posted in Art, Comics, Event, Science-fiction
Tagged Book fairs, Comics, humor, SF, Webcomics
My father, Jacques Laframboise, left early this Saturday morning for his solo flight, without compass nor map.
A 1951 Ecole Polytechnique graduate, planes and air cushion vehicles were his passion. He was still writing an article about aerotrains and computing figures on his hospital bed. Our current level of technology permitted that he passed away peacefully.
I will miss his sense of humor. But he was very serene about his going away.
My father was the first one who introduced me to science fiction. And to graphic novels, that he read to us the evenings. He has always accepted and encouraged my love of nature and sciences, which I, in turn, endeavour to transmit to the new generations.
Posted in Event, Science-fiction
Tagged air cushion vehicles, death, Ecole Polytechnique, Father, loss, Science-fiction
This Saturday, October 18th, The Mississauga Central library is holding a Science fiction Spectacular Bookfest!
SF authors Rob Sawyer, Marie Bilodeau, RC Wilson, Tanya Huff will be doing presentations at the Auditorium. Robert J. Sawyer recently received a Lifetime Achievement Aurora Award from the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.
I will be onsite with fellow local authors, exposing (and selling) our works at the Atrium. All my 15 novels and 10 graphic novels will be there, in French and English. Signed books are all in the 5$-10$ range.
I’m proud of being a SF author. Below are a few of my recent titles from the Sunday Artist Studio imprint.
The Mississauga Library has most of my novels. Get a glimpse of my SF universe. The full series (La quête de Chaaas) will be available at a discount.
Two books from the Jules-Verne saga, another YA science fiction series.
Here are two “standalone” SF novels…
WHERE: Mississauga Central Library, 301 Burhnamthorpe Rd W, Mississauga, Ontario
WHEN: October 18th, 10-17h
Posted in Art, Comics, Event, Science-fiction
Tagged art, Author visits, Chaaas universe, MIssissauga Library, Robert J. Sawyer, YA science-fiction
Echoes of a Sunday artist 