My novel The Shrine of the Siren Stone had its book launch at the Polaris Science Fiction Convention in Richmond Hill, Ontario, on July 17, 2010. The maids of Cafe Delish, Anime North's maid cafe, assisted me in promoting the book (see photo). They performed a song and dance act at the launch.
The Shrine of the Siren Stone is published by Orchard House Press (formerly called Windstorm Creative) of Port Orchard, Washington. Thanks to Cris DiMarco, my editor, for publishing this novel.The Shrine of the Siren Stone takes place in the same universe as The Moon Under Her Feet, but you don't have to read The Moon Under Her Feet to understand The Shrine of the Siren Stone. Description:
Ishiro is an otaku, an anime-obsessed geek without a decent job or loving parents. His only friends are Mr. Endo, owner of a maid cafe in Akihabara, and Yuko, a waitress in a French maid uniform. Ishiro falls in love with Yuko, a but she turns out to be an android using him to learn about human love. Does she have real feelings for him or is she just programmed to act like a girlfriend? When Mr. Endo splits the couple apart, Ishiro joins the Japanese Navy and goes to war, and Yuko's behavior becomes increasingly human and rebellious. Their paths cross again at the mysterious Shrine of the Siren Stone, where a telepathic meteorite holds the secret of the human spirit...
"It's Romeo and Juliet meets Benny and Joon in a futuristic Japan. Then stuff blows up! The Shrine of the Siren Stone is a wonderful, female-friendly story and a welcome departure from the stereotypes of the science fiction genre. The plot twists surprised me, I got teary-eyed in a few places, and I laughed out loud in others. What's not to love?" - Liana K., host of Ed and Red's Night Party on G4
"Derwin Mak creates a dazzling mix of artificial intelligence, future warfare, otaku romance, and Japanese religion. His characters are comic, then heroic, and finally self-sacrificing. He achieves something of great rarity in science fiction: a novel of heartfelt poignancy." - John-Allen Price, author of The Mutant Chronicles
Photo: The Dragon and the Stars, World's Biggest Bookstore, Toronto. The Dragon and the Stars, edited by me and Eric Choi, is in bookstores now! It's in major bookstores like Chapters, Indigo, and Borders. Look for it in the section for science fiction and fantasy anthologies.
From the back cover of The Dragon and the Stars: This unique anthology of science fiction and fantasy tales includes stories by authors of Chinese ancestry, who make their homes in places as varied as the United States, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. The talented authors included here have drawn upon China's rich and venerable heritage as well as the traditions and cultures of their current homelands to create imaginative and fascinating stories. From the tale of a murder that can only be solved by spirit possession to a fortune cookie that offers an uncertain future...from a man who believes his wife has become a Chinese dragon to an inventive army officer in the Ming conflict with Japan...from a young woman's fateful encounter with a Chinatown shopkeeper to a Chinese rocket scientist caught in the perils of 1950s America -- here are eighteen science fiction and fantasy visions that showcase the diversity of the Chinese experience around the world.
Introduction by New York Times bestseller author Tess Gerritsen. Stories by Tony Pi, Charles Tan, William F. Wu, Derwin Mak, Emery Huang, Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo, Emily Mah, Eugie Foster, Melissa Yuan-Innes, Shelly Li, Gabriela Lee, E.L. Chen, Eric Choi, Susan Ee, Brenda W. Clough, Urania Fung, Wen Y Phua, Ken Liu.
Photo: the cast of Dead Genesis at the Fox Theatre, Toronto, April 18, 2010.
I attended the premiere of Dead Genesis, a zombie movie made in Guelph, Ontario. It's part of Guelph's growing independent film industry. Read about the premiere and view photos of it at www.hardcorenerdity.com:
Photos: top: Father Funes talks about the evolving universe. Bottom: Derwin Mak and Father Jose Funes. Both photos were taken at the St. Thomas Aquinas Church in the Newman Centre, University of Toronto, March 16, 2010.
Father Jose Funes, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory, came to Toronto on Tuesday, March 16, 2010, to give a lecture as part of the Naming the Holy Lecture Series, sponsored by the Newman Centre and the Regis College Jesuit Community at the University of Toronto. His topic was "The Evolving Universe" and was about the scientific research being conducted by the Vatican Observatory.
Contrary to the stereotype held by many science fiction writers and fans, Christianity and science are not mutually exclusive. The Roman Catholic Church, one of the larger denominations of Christianity, has long supported scientific research. Catholic clergy, such as Gregor Mendel,Georges Lemaître, and Christopher Clavius, have made contributions to science.
Father Funes's lecture, while describing the serious work going on at the observatories at Castel Gandolfo and Tucson, Arizona, had its humorous side. He showed a photo of Pope Benedict XVI holding an alien -- a meteorite from Mars. Newspapers put the caption "Mars is in the hands of the Pope" on that photo.
Particularly interesting is that the Vatican Observatory has a summer school for astronomy students. It asks universities to send the future leaders of astronomy. Students do not have to be Catholic. "We don't ask for baptismal certificates," Fr. Funes said.
He ended his Powerpoint presentation by showing photos taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. But he inserted a photo of U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek into the series of photos, and the music was the theme from Star Trek - Voyager. He told me he is a big Star Trek fan. Ah, isn't that wonderful: the Pope's chief astronomer is a Trekker.
My story "Family Tradition" has just been published in Night To Dawn, issue # 17, a vampire fiction magazine edited by Barbara Custer. In "Family Tradition", the ghost of Abraham van Helsing pesters his great-great-great-granddaughter, a Hooters Girl who doesn't want to take up vampire hunting. Then a mysterious Romanian arrives at the local Hooters...
Two Chinese Canadian Writers and Overseas Compatriots Together in Chinese Science Fiction Book
By Wendy Yang
Published in Ming Pao Daily News, Toronto edition, February 8, 2010, p. A2
Overseas Chinese writers are numerous, but those writing science fiction are few. Two Chinese Canadian science fiction writers, with overseas Chinese writers in different countries, have created a book of 18 science fiction and fantasy short stories, to be released on May 11. This will be North America's first all-overseas-Chinese anthology of science fiction and fantasy.
The anthology, called The Dragon and the Stars, will be published by well-known American science fiction publisher DAW Books. It contains 18 short stories from Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Singapore. The 18 Chinese authors wrote their stories in English over six months. Five of the authors are from Canada, and they are strong in Canadian sci-fi circles.
Tony Pi was born in Taipei, immigrated to Canada when he was 8 years old, and grew up in Toronto. He earned his Ph.D. in linguistics at Montreal's McGillUniversity and has worked at several universities in Canada. At present, he is administering the graduate program in Cinema Studies at University of Toronto.
For the new book, he wrote the fantasy story "The Character of the Hound". The story centers on a war between the Southern Song and Jin. The ghost of a soldier adopts the word "Dog" as a tattoo on his body and acquires super powers to solve a murder in the army.
Tony Pi likes science fiction, in particular, Japanese manga (comics). "I like to use imagination to explore the present and the past and things that do not exist in the world. I like to create." In 2006, he wrote his first story, "The Stone Cipher", which won second place in the first quarter of the Writers of the Future contest, an international competition that finds cutting-edge science fiction writers. So far he has published 20 short stories, each of about 4,000 words.
Derwin Mak is another Chinese science fiction writer. He was born in Peterborough, Ontario. His father is from Hong Kong, and his mother is Malaysian Chinese. He is a chartered accountant, a member of Royal Canadian Military Institute, and a lecturer at the Institute.
He wrote "The Polar Bear Carries the Mail", about a Chinese company that joins with Inuit in northern Canada to build a spaceport but are opposed by environmentalists. The main character is a Chinese astronaut, and the story involves feng shui problems.
Derwin Mak began writing science fiction in 2001. His 2005 story "Transubstantiation" won the Prix Aurora Award, Canada's national science fiction award, equivalent to the United States' Hugo Award.
He said the new book is significant in correcting the past image of Chinese people and their culture in science fiction, which has been often negative. "The stories in The Dragon and the Stars all have Chinese themes, and many have ethnic Chinese main characters. Chinese culture is 5,000 years old, there are four great inventions of China, and Chinese history is full of scientific and technological development. This is a rich basis for science fiction and should be reflected in current stories."
There are another three Chinese Canadian science fiction writers: Eric Choi, Melissa J. Yuan-Innes, and Elaine Chen. Eric Choi's first story, "Dedication", was published in 1994, making him the first Chinese Canadian science fiction writer.
Derwin Mak says that overseas Chinese are now writing science fiction because North American tastes are changing. First, North Americans are more accepting of Asian culture, such as Japanese manga (comics) and Chinese martial arts movies. Secondly, North American society has become more diverse and inclusive of ethnic minorities in popular culture and creative fields, resulting in the emergence of Canadian Chinese science fiction writers.
Addendum to the English translation:
Eric Choi is co-editor of The Dragon and the Stars. His story "Dedication" won the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing (now called the Dell Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing).
The original Chinese text refers to The Dragon and the Stars as a science fiction anthology, but it also contains fantasy stories.
Ming Pao Daily News, a major Chinese newspaper, published this article about The Dragon and the Stars in its Toronto edition, February 8, 2010. The reporter Wendy Yang interviewed me and Tony Pi.
作 品集名為《The Dragon and the Stars)》(龍與群星)﹐5月1日將由美國著名科幻出版商DAW Books出版。它收錄的18個短篇科幻小說﹐是由加拿大、美國、香港、菲律賓、新加坡等國家的18位華裔作家﹐在過去半年內用英文創作。其中加拿大有5 位﹐他們是加拿大科幻圈中頗具實力的華裔作家。
他此次為新書創作的奇幻作品為《The Character of the Hound》(犬的特點)。故事以南宋和金國之間的戰爭為背景﹐講述一個鬼魂通過士兵身上的「犬」字圖騰進入其身體﹐使士兵具有超能力﹐解決發生在軍隊內的謀殺案。
畢 家怡從小就喜歡科幻作品﹐尤其喜歡看日本漫畫﹐「我很喜歡用想象來探索現在和過去都不存在的世界﹐我喜歡進行創造。」2006年他創作了第一篇科幻小說 《The Stone Cipher》(寶石密碼)﹐為他贏得了當年第一季度未來作家競賽二等獎﹐這是一項旨在發現新銳科幻作家的國際性賽事。至今他已出版了20篇、每篇大約 4000字的短篇科幻小說。
