On the Red Carpet at the Constellation Awards, July 16, 2011

The Constellation Awards are Canada's awards for excellence in science fiction film and television and are presented annually at the Polaris Science Fiction Convention in Richmond Hill, Ontario. This year, I presented the award for Best Female Performance in a 2010 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie or Miniseries. My co-presenter was the beautiful and talented Katherine Curtis, reporter for The Naked News. The award went to Chloe Grace-Moretz in Kick-Ass.

Photo above: Katherine Curtis and I hold the results envelope for Best Female Performance in a 2010 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie or Mini-Series. My white tuxedo jacket is a Pierre Cardin.

After the ceremony, Katie Uhlmann of TTN-HD News interviewed me about my anthology The Dragon and the Stars, which is nominated for an Aurora Award, Canada's national science fiction award for science fiction. The interview can be seen here on YouTube.

Photo above: Interview with Katie Uhlmann of TTN HD News

Teddy Wilson and Ajay Fry, hosts of the TV series Innerspace on Space: the Imagination Station, hosted the awards ceremony. They sang the opening song, the first musical act ever in the Constellation Awards. They also won the award for Outstanding Canadian Contribution to Science Fiction Film or Television in 2010.

Photo above: I'm with Teddy Wilson and Ajay Fry.

Also present at the ceremony were actors Jewel Staite (Firefly, Stargate Atlantis) and Paul McGillion (Stargate Atlantis).

Photo above: Jewel Staite and Paul McGillion.

Photo above: me, Paul McGillion, and Jewel Staite.

Actor Adam Baldwin (Firefly) won the award for Best Best Male Performance in a 2010 Science Fiction Television Episode for his performance in the Chuck episode "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock".

Photo above: Adam Baldwin accepts his award while Jewel Staite looks on.

Guelph, Ontario, has become a center of independent horror and fantasy filmmaking, and Aidan Harris and Claire Moran are two young actors from Mind's Eye, a fantasy web series made in Guelph. They presented a Constellation Award. Claire was also nominated for Best Female Performance in a 2010 Science Fiction Television Episode.

Photo above: Aidan Harris and Claire Moran from Mind's Eye.

Other awards presenters included science fiction author J.M. Frey (Triptych) and actor Paul Lee (of the TV series Train 48).

Photo above: J.M. Frey and Paul Lee.

The Constellation Awards ceremony was classy, entertaining and fun. It's definitely the most glamorous red carpet event for Canadian science fiction. Many thanks to awards committee chairman Andrew Gurudata, who is nominated for an Aurora Award for Best Fan - Organizational for organizing the Constellation Awards.

Photo above: Andrew Gurudata, chairman of the Constellation Awards.

The Dragon and the Stars is an Aurora Award finalist!

The Dragon and the Stars is on the ballot for the 2011 Aurora Awards in the category of Best Related Work. Many thanks to our talented authors for their wonderful stories (see the list below). Thanks to all who nominated our anthology for Canada's national science fiction and fantasy award.

The Dragon and the Stars is the first collection of science fiction and fantasy stories written by ethnic Chinese living outside of China. It features new fiction from Chinese writers in Canada, the United States, the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong.

If you don't have The Dragon and the Stars, what are you waiting for? Get it now at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com

If you like the stories of The Dragon and the Stars, promote our unique fusion of Canadian and international science fiction and fantasy by voting in the Aurora Awards, which are organized by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.

You can vote if you're Canadian or living in Canada.

Voting by both online form and mail-in ballot begins in early June and ends on October 15, 2011.

To learn more about the Aurora Awards and to vote, visit:

www.prixaurorawards.ca

(More information about the voting process will be posted on the Aurora Awards website later.)

Critical acclaim for The Dragon and the Stars:

"There are wonders aplenty in this hegemony-challenging volume."

- The Montreal Gazette

"Looking to read something a little different in SF and fantasy? The Dragon and the Stars features eighteen (in Chinese lore, a lucky number) new tales written by English-speaking writers of Chinese ancestry...I would be hard-pressed to select the best story from this collection."

- Bureau42.com

"A taste of Chinese culture and fine story telling."

- The Baryon Review

"Given the broad mandate of The Dragon and the Stars and the variety of the stories, it is a solid collection that should appeal to a wide range of readers."

- SFRevu.com

Many thanks to these talented authors for their wonderful stories in The Dragon and the Stars:

Introduction by Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling novelist.

"The Character of the Hound" by Tony Pi (Canada)
During the war between the Southern Song and the Jin Dynasties, a soldier allows a spirit to possess his body so he can solve a murder.

"The Fortunes of Mrs. Yu" by Charles Tan (Philippines)
A Filipino Chinese woman is horrified that each of her fortune cookies has a blank strip of paper inside it.

"Goin Down to Anglotown" by William F. Wu (United States)
In an alternate America that is dominated by Asians, three young Asian men go out for a night of intrigue in exotic "Anglotown".

"The Polar Bear Carries the Mail" by Derwin Mak (Canada)
Chinese investors and a Chinese Canadian pilot try to start a space tourism business in northern Canada. Unfortunately, they have bad feng shui at their spaceport.

"Lips of Ash" by Emery Huang (United States)
During the time of a historical dynasty, a cosmetics artist uses dark magic to help the ambitious mistress of a nobleman.

"The Man on the Moon" by Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo (Hong Kong)
Yue Lao (月老), the Man on the Moon, hosts a beauty pageant to find a bride.

"Across the Sea" by Emily Mah (United States)
A Tlingowa Native American woman's aunt tells a legend about mysterious visitors who came to America hundreds of years ago.

"Mortal Clay, Stone Heart" by Eugie Foster (United States)
During the reign of the First Emperor, a clay sculptor finds love and tragedy with a soldier.

"Dancers with Red Shoes" by Melissa Yuan-Innes (Canada)
In Montréal, magical red shoes dance by themselves.

"Intelligent Truth" by Shelly Li (United States)
A young Chinese American woman discovers truths about herself and her mother’s intelligent robotic servant.

"Bargains" by Gabriela Lee (Singapore)
A young woman meets a strange shopkeeper in Chinatown. The shopkeeper sells success as a writer – but with a terrible price.

"Threes" by E.L. Chen (Canada)
A Canadian man thinks his dead wife has become a Chinese dragon in Lake Ontario.

"The Son of Heaven" by Eric Choi (Canada)
The Chinese rocket scientist Tsien Hsue-shen (钱学森) is persecuted during the Red Scare in America in the 1950s.

"Shadow City" by Susan Ee (United States)
In a fantasy universe, a gatekeeper must stop people from leaving an evil place called Shadow City.

"The Water Weapon" by Brenda W. Clough (United States)
The British police are suspicious of a talking Chinese dragon and a Chinese princess who appear at the Great Exposition of 1851 in London.

"The Right to Eat Decent Food" by Urania Fung (United States)
Two American English teachers in China will do anything to get decent food during the SARS epidemic.

"Papa and Mama" by Wen Y Phua (Singapore)
A Chinese daughter struggles to remain dutiful to her late parents, who are inconveniently reincarnated as a fish and a bird.

"Běidŏu" by Ken Liu (United States)
In the Ming war against Japan, an ingenious Chinese army officer invents new weapons to defeat the Japanese.

Afterword by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi

Eeriecon 13, April 29 - May 1, 2011

Photo above: I was one of the Guests of Honour at Eeriecon 13, a science fiction convention in Niagara Falls, New York. The other Guest of Honour was the great Larry Niven. In addition to panel discussions, I was on a mission for a friend of mine: to find out how to pronounce the first name of Larry's fictional character, Louis Wu. Is it pronounced like "Lewis" or like "Lou-ee"? I asked Larry, and he said, "Either way goes, but I prefer 'Lou-ee'."

Photo above: For the first time, Eeriecon had a panel about science fiction from outside the North American-British sphere of influence. The panel was called "East Asia SF". Here I am with Ruhan Zhao, who writes science fiction stories for Chinese magazines such as the one he is holding. Ruhan was Eeriecon's first writer from China, though he lives in Rochester, NY, now. Ruhan talked about the revival of science fiction in China, and I talked about Japanese novels now available in English translation.

Photo above: Horror writer and Three Stooges expert Darrell Schweitzer and I give the Communist salute before the masquerade. No, that is not my military uniform. I'm in costume as the Chinese tour guide from the Japanese anime series Ramna 1/2.

Photo above: April 29 was also the day of the Royal Wedding of HRH Prince William, K.G., and Miss Catherine Middleton, the future King and Queen of Canada, so I brought Jaffa cakes to the consuite to celebrate this historic occasion. Jaffa cakes are a biscuit that Giles eats on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The poster is attached to the wall with tape with images of bacon on it. Why do science fiction fans always get the weirdest things?

Anyway, although the Americans were suspicious of the British biscuits at first, by Saturday afternoon, they had eaten all four boxes of them.

Many thanks to convention chairman Joe Fillinger for inviting me to Eeriecon, and many thanks to the convention committee and attendees for this enjoyable convention.

Ghost Stories Film Festival of Fright

Mirvish Productions, which is staging the British hit play Ghost Stories, starting April 1 at the Pansonic Theatre in downtown Toronto, will be running a small festival of horror films at the Carlton Cinema at 20 Carlton Street (Yonge and Carlton Streets), from March 25-27, 2011. I'll be introducing the following films:

Friday, March 25, 9:30 p.m.: Psycho (1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh

Sunday, March 27, 9:30 p.m.: The Shining (1980), directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson

There will be a trivia contest before each film, with prizes being tickets to Ghost Stories.

More information about Ghost Stories and the Ghost Stories Film Festival of Fright is here.

Prix Aurora Awards Nominations are Open: Nominate My Stories and Books!

Calling all Canadians, at home and abroad, and landed immigrants in Canada: our national science fiction awards, the Prix Aurora Awards, are now open for nominations. This year, I have three short stories, one novel, and one anthology eligible to be nominated in the following categories:

Eligible for Best Short Fiction:

"Cloned to Kill", Infinite Space, Infinite God II, Twilight Times Books

"The Polar Bear Carries the Mail", The Dragon and the Stars, DAW Books

"Family Tradition", Night to Dawn, issue 17, April 2010

Eligible for Best Novel:

The Shrine of the Siren Stone, Orchard House Press.

Eligible for Best Related Work:

The Dragon and the Stars by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi, Editors, DAW Books

To learn more about the Prix Aurora Awards and to nominate stories and editors, visit:

http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/wordpress/

There is no fee or cost to nominate stories.

To nominate stories, go to the above website and register for a free membership in the in the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. Receive your Society number by email, then go back to the Aurora Awards website and submit your nominations. You can submit nominations online (due April 30, 2011) or with the mail-in paper ballot (due April 22, 2011).

You can view my short stories and excerpts from The Shrine of the Siren Stone for free during the nomination period at:

http://www.derwinmaksf.com/Auroras.html

Infinite Space, Infinite God II has its Canadian book launch at Futurecon on New Year's Eve 2010-2011

Photo: Liana K., Futurecon's chairperson (and host of the TV series This Movie Sucks! and Ed and Red's Night Party) and I hold a copy of Infinite Space, Infinite God II. I'm not wearing a costume; that's my St. John Ambulance mess dress uniform.

Infinite Space, Infinite God II, an anthology of Roman Catholic-theme science fiction stories, edited by Karina and Robert Fabian, had its Canadian book launch at Futurecon, a science fiction convention and New Year's Eve party held in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The launch occurred during the cocktail hour that preceded the banquet.

Infinite Space, Infinite God II includes my story "Cloned to Kill", which is about a teenage clone girl who rebels against her creator with the help of a former army chaplain. Editor Karina Fabian says, "'Cloned to Kill' goes beyond the ethics of cloning to explore the nature of free will, forgiveness and belonging to community. As such, it's a story not so much about clones as about us." She also said that the main character, Lorraine, reminded her of Cameron from the TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Futurecon was the best New Year's Eve ever! It was a unprecedented idea: a posh party for science fiction fans, with an upscale dress code (semi-formal or formal or SF-fantasy-anime costumes), hors d'ouevres served with plates and forks, and a code of conduct somewhat based on Russian Empress Catherine the Great's Rules for the Behaviour of Those Entering These Doors. We had none of the ragged clothes and people eating junk food with their bare hands that one sees at most science fiction convention room parties! The live entertainment was splendid, and I felt like I was in one of those parties in War and Peace or Brideshead Revisited combined with SF-fantasy-anime cosplay.

Many thanks to the convention committee: Liana K., Phil Gotfried, Emily Schooley, Steven Kerzner, David Ross, Tina Olah, Lori Dawn Antaya, Marcus Antaya, and Declan Dennehy.

Buy Infinite Space, Infinite God II at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca, and remember, "Cloned to Kill" is eligible to be nominated for a 2011 Prix Aurora Award in the category of Best Short Fiction.

www.derwinmaksf.com/ISIG_II_main.html

The Dragon and the Stars: 5th bestselling mass market book in 2010 at Bakka-Phoenix Science Fiction Bookstore

This was the best news that I could receive for New Year's Eve. The Dragon and the Stars had not only gotten into the Top 10 but had also ranked 5th in the mass market book sales of 2010 at Bakka-Phoenix Books, Toronto's famous science fiction bookstore. See the Bakka-Phoenix announcement here:

http://www.bakkaphoenixbooks.com/2010/12/30/2010-bestsellers/

The Top 10 bestselling mass market books at Bakka-Phoenix in 2010 were:

Mass Market

1. Wake, Robert J. Sawyer

2. Sandman Slim, Richard Kadrey

3. Lord of the Changing Winds, Rachel Neumeier

4. Julian Comstock, Robert Charles Wilson

5. Dragon and the Stars, Derwin Mak & Eric Choi, eds.

6. Gaslight Dogs, Karin Lowachee

7. Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff

8. Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss

9. On the Edge, Ilona Andrews

10. Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett

I owe many thanks to my co-editor Eric Choi and to all the authors for creating such a wonderful anthology: Tess Gerritsen, Tony Pi, Charles Tan, William F. Wu, Emergy Huang, Crystal Gail Shankuan Koo, Emily Mah, Eugie Foster, Melissa Yuan-Innes, Shelly Li, Gabriela Lee, E.L. Chen, Susan Ee, Brenda W. Clough, Urania Fung, Wen Y Phua, and Ken Liu.