Hello Book Lovers,
My book, Everdome, and plenty of other awesome books are being launched on Saturday.
Here’s the press release:
Join us Saturday October 5th at 4 PM, at 3 Brewers (240 Sparks, Ottawa) for the launch of seven extraordinary novels!
Humour, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, and reality TV? There’s something in here to please everyone!
There will be author readings, you can get your books signed, and we’ll be drawing absolutely fabulous door prizes. Plus, there will be much fun and merriment!
ACCESSIBILITY NOTE: the elevator is situated in the back of the pub. Please ask staff upon entry and they will guide you to it!
Because of the large numbers we usually bring in, they asked us to tell our guests they will have a choice from the group menu. We went with option number one; there will be gluten-free options such as gluten-free buns or lettuce wraps, and there will also be vegan alternatives on site.
When the outermost interstellar Way Station suddenly ceases communications with Earth, Commander Skye and Team 6 are sent to investigate. They discover a new alien threat—the insectoid Ragnar, who move through space consuming resources like a virus. Humanity and daemon-kind realize they must unite in the fight to protect Earth.
Read more! | Watch the trailer!
For thirteen lucky contestants, when a man dressed as a knight offers them the opportunity to visit their favourite fantasy world as an immersive reality show, there’s only one answer they can give: YES!
The impressive realism is beyond anything they can believe and some of them start to wonder why.
Read more! | Watch the trailer!
After submitting to mandatory conscription,
two young men begin Basic Training, or, “Vacay in Hay.”
Little do they know the bond they feel will lead them to become the venerable military pairing known as
The Stealth.
Read more! | Watch the trailer!
In a desolate system on the outer edge of Pan Galactum, the skin of the universe has ruptured, tearing open a portal to an alternate reality. Witnessed only by the sentient science vessel N’Dea, a massive, battered ship falls through, housing a community of refugees fleeing an enemy that has pursued them across the cold reaches of space for decades.
But have they come alone?
Read more! | Watch the trailer!
All Spider wants is to seek his fortune as a thief. Is that too much to ask? Must be, since a break in gone wrong leaves him babysitting a powerful magic-user with sporadic control over his spells, and even less of a grip on functioning in society. And that’s just where it starts. Each misadventure takes Spider further from his goals, but he’s about to learn that sometimes we get what we need instead of what we want.
Read more! | Watch the trailer!
Attractive, wildly unconventional, and happy in an open relationship with his partner Annie, Zak seems to embody everything missing from Jeremy’s life, but when the arrest and death of a marginalized student at the Brooklyn high school where they both teach trigger Zak’s mental breakdown and slow descent, Jeremy and Annie are compelled to cross boundaries, both external and internal, in a desperate attempt to save him.
Read more! | Watch the trailer!
Blaine and his friends haven’t always been lucky in love. They’ve stumbled throughout lust, hoping to find their hearts desire, or at least a good lay. They have made their way through life, stumbling a few times, and have finally found their way to comfort and acceptance…Or have they? There are all kinds of love in the world and Blaine and his friends will have to find the love that works for them.
Read more! | Watch the trailer!
Hope to see you there,
Éric
Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am completely obsessed with Amazon Prime’s miniseries Good Omens. The book it is based on is written by Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett.
And it is incredible.
The miniseries, I mean.
The book is pretty good, but the miniseries is something special.
And part of why it is special makes it worthy of being a Blush post: the non-binary representation of the angels and demons. (No, I’m not referencing the Dan Brown book.)
The Geekiary writes about it here, and it is definitely worth being a Recommendation Wednesday.
If you’re enjoying the Blush blogs, consider learning more with Blush: The Card Game from Renaissance Press.
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
My newest book, Everdome, is available to buy. You can get the Ebook or the Hardcover at Renaissance Press’s Website.
Also available as ebooks at Amazon, Indigo/Chapters, and Kobo.
This is the best book I’ve written so far and I’m very proud. I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Thank you!
Éric
Putting Sacre-Coeur to your back, you look out over the entirety of Paris from the top of Montmartre. Absolutely breathtaking view.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 4.5 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12
The screen sat there blinking, “Hello.”
The three of them looked at each other and eventually it was Seren who said, “Hello.” They all watched the screen waiting for something to happen.
Nothing did and Jan asked, “How does it know our language?” The others shrugged and they added, “It even has the same configuration as our keyboards.” They point to the old-fashioned looking keyboard in front of the screen.
Feeling silly, Seren said, “Maybe it’s not voice activated?” She typed in, “Hello”.
They once again looked at the screen, this time their text appeared under the first hello and the screen replied with, “It has been 3,920,002 planetary rotations since your last session. Welcome back.”
“Assuming the same amount of days in a year that’s just shy of ten thousand seven hundred and forty years.” Annie thought that number sounded familiar as she said it, but couldn’t place it.
“Would you like to continue with your last session?” The screen’s green text blinked.
Seren looked at the other two and typed, “Yes.”
What appeared next was an interactive, multimedia document that showed the creation of a micro-star. It was absolutely fascinating. Seren had always assumed that the stars were created by compressing the planet or moon until it was so dense it self-combusted. She was completely wrong. The process involved taking a small piece of a micro-stars plasma and introducing it into the planet. Over the next year the piece grew and expanded, eating the planet from the inside and finally bursting through the crust to become a viable micro-star for space travel.
“Ten thousand years. The Great Techo-Mage! This is where they got all their information.”
“That means that this is the birth place of our civilisation,” Jan sat back and rubbed their face absently.
“Do you know anything about the Children of the Stars?” Seren typed.
“Each micro-star is a unique part of the parent and therefore equivalent to a child.”
“That’s not helpful,” quipped Annie.
Seren tried something different, “What are you?”
“I am the Mother of Stars. Born from the collective of my people.” The screen changed again to a long text with images and information about the original inhabitants of this planet. They’d been very similar to Seren and the other Children but instead of taking to space they discovered a way to save their minds into a giant supercomputer. They developed alloys that could self-heal and an army of sentient robots to protect it. They hollowed out their own planet and installed a micro-star.
When they uploaded themselves, they discovered that the micro-star was sentient. All suns were sentient. Over time and interfacing they learned from each other and in the end the consciousness of the people merged with that of the star becoming something else completely.
This new entity made it it’s goal to teach others how to speak with and become stars.
“But what happened? Why did it stop?” Jan asked.
“According to this it got stuck in the void between galaxies. Something to do with a gravity well,” Seren did some more typing.
“So Hokulua was just coming home to tell mum what was going on?” Annie sounded sad.
The screen flicked and moved quickly as Seren typed question after question. Finally she said, “Oh Mother… We did this.”
“What?” the other two said at once.
“The Great Techno-Mage did this. They trapped the Mother so she couldn’t tell anyone else and then took all the information and a plasma sample. All the technology our civilization is built on is from here and we hid it.” Seren felt sick at the idea.
“But why did the micro-stars not come back before Hokulua?” Annie asked.
From behind them someone cleared their throat. The man was tall and thin, his dark cloak and robe sparkled like the stars. His eyes were cold and distant, his sneer and disgust weren’t. “Because the Mother wants to teach everyone to be like her. We can’t let the other tribes and the pirates have the same technology as us.”
“Why not?” Annie stood defiantly in front of their ship’s Techno-Mage.
“We were almost wiped out. There were less than a thousand of us on half a dozen crumbling stations. We were the first to escape our dying planet but we were not meant for space. We were dying and if the others had the same technology, we’d be no better than we were. Our first mission as Techno-Mages was to protect the Children.”
“That was ten thousand years ago. We’re spread out over the entire universe. There are billions of us with powerful stations and… surely we can let the Mother go.” Seren felt disgusted. Her love of archeology was born from a civilization that used it to enslave. Their whole way of life was based on stealing and exploiting.
“We’ve spent ten thousand years trying to make sure the micro-stars stay quiet, subdued, and controllable. We hadn’t anticipated that the new AI would allow the stars to communicate. Once the Mother analyzes the data from the station it will know what we’ve done and it will be furious. It must be contained or destroyed. And now… so must you.”
While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:
Sweden is the last place I would think of to look for the house that Pippi Longstocking lived in.
However, Vimmerby, Sweden is exactly where you’ll find this replica of the author’s drawing of Pippi’s house, complete with lopsided shutters and balcony railing.
Astrid Lindgren’s World is a theme park open in the summer (May to August) dedicated to the stories by the author. Pippi’s house, Villa Vallekulla, is the star attraction.
Jen has retired from working as a travel agent. Hope you’ve enjoyed Fandom Travel.
Hello lovers of warm drinks,
This year at Ottawa Comiccon there was an awesome tea vender, who is based in Montreal. We bought some fantastic Sailor Venus tea that Jen loves.
Since then, we’ve tried a half dozen more of their teas and they’re amazing. They have a great selection of fandom tea.
Bonus; they are also selling an advent calendar.
Go check out their site and get some tea for those that don’t want to drink coffee all the time.
Later days,
Éric
At the top of the highest hill in Paris is a church: Sacre-Coeur. As with all the architecture in Paris, it was beautifully carved.
Tucked in behind it is a series of small gift shops with very reasonably priced souvenirs, and a courtyard where local artists hang out and paint caricatures and landscapes while you watch. And bakeries. Obviously.
