Howdy! Good news to share, and an opportunity for Canadian fans of Bane of All Things to put it on the awards map.

BoAT has made the Best Novel Eligibility List for the 2022 Aurora Awards. The Auroras are Canada’s annual English-language Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards. They have been presented since 1980 by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA).

These are popularity awards. Anyone who is a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident, and a CSFFA member, can vote for their picks in any of 12 award categories.

How do you become a CSFFA Member?

Easy. Take an annual membership at the modest cost of $10 (that’s in loonies). Please visit the CSFFA Membership Page to create your account and secure your membership. This helps to pay the bills so that the Awards, and their annual ceremony, can take place.

Your deadline is March 26, 11:59 pm EDT

So, don’t wait! Once you have signed up, you can find Bane of All Things on the Best Novel Eligibility List.

There are 11 other award categories as well. As a CSFFA member, you may select up to five different works in each category (if you wish).

How to make your choices

Select works from the dropdown lists, which are sorted by title. If you want to remove an item that you have chosen, select the blank line at the top of the dropdown list. You must click the Update button at the bottom of each nomination form to save your selections. Your choices will be displayed on your nomination central page.

As the award guidelines state:

“You don’t have to nominate in all categories. Nominate those works that you enjoyed, because this is your chance to have your favorite works from 2021 on this year’s Aurora Awards final ballot. The top five most-nominated works in each category will be selected to be on the final ballot."

The awards ceremony is slated for Aug. 13. Even just having BoAT make that top 5 finalist list for Best Novel would be fantastic!

Cheers

Leo

Hello, friends! It’s update time! I have yet more exciting news for you today.

First of all, I want to reveal a surprise project I’ve been working on. I have not one, but two story launches coming up in the next two months. In addition to Tantalus Depths, I’ve spent the past year working on another short story for the Writing Bloc Collective, for their upcoming FAMILY anthology: Empire of Salt. Like Tantalus Depths and my three previous short stories, Empire of Salt is set in the Calling Void universe, but in a place and time we have not yet seen explored.

Set more than thirty years before Tantalus Depths on the toxic ocean world of Hayden, Empire of Salt tells the story of Masuyo Kosawa, formerly the wealthiest and most powerful man in history. Kosawa’s ruthless ambition helped him rise to unprecedented heights as the rest of the world reeled in the aftermath of the devastating Corsica Event. For years it seemed the Ming-Kosawa corporate monarchy could never be toppled.

That is, until Exotech Industries changed everything.

Empire of Salt is a tale of greed, sorrow, ambition, and futility, and is just one of the 21 brilliant stories you’ll be able to find in this excellent new anthology book from Writing Bloc. Look for FAMILY on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and most other retailers on April 19th, 2022.

Empire of Salt delves deeper into the rich future history of the Calling Void universe, from the perspective of a man who lived through most of it. If you’re interested in learning more about the dark universe of Tantalus Depths, you don’t need to wait until April. I’m pleased to announce the first new lore file on my website: The Home System.

We’ve already learned about Earth, but what about the rest of our solar system? When Exotech developed the superluminal drive, interplanetary colonization throughout our system went from prohibitively challenging to practically easy. The past few decades have seen a lot of growth throughout the system, and each world has a story to tell.

Learn more about the vast terraforming operations on Venus and Mars, the tragic fate of the Shangxi lunar program, the perils faced by the Argos Mining Syndicate on Io, the revolutionary discovery of life on Europa, and much more in the newest edition to the Explore gallery on evangraham.org: The Home System.

Hello my friends!

Another update so soon? You’d better believe it. Things are really building up speed now that we have an official launch date less than three months away. Finally we’re at a point in the process where I can give you rapid and substantial updates on a regular basis. Last week was the big one, and your response was so encouraging. I’m pleased to say that I have another big announcement this week, and I’m almost as proud of this one.

We have a website now! Evangraham.org is now live! I’ve been working on this baby ever since October, and it’s finally ready to be free. Here, you’ll be able to follow all my future projects in one easy place. From now on, every update I send here will also go up on the website, so you’ll always be able to check up on the most up-to-date news on all my writing projects.

The website is packed with exciting features, and more will soon be on their way. For now, though, let me run down the biggest features you can look forward to.

Homepage

On our homepage, you’ll be able to see all our latest updates, including a countdown clock to Tantalus Depths’ launch day. You’ll also find my author bio and links to my social media accounts, including the Twitter I haven’t used in years but am totally going to start up again.

The Shop

Here you’ll find links to find all my books, including the anthology collections featuring my short stories. You’ll be able to find links to any book seller that carries each paperback and ebook.

My Bio

For anyone who wants a grossly unnecessary amount of info on my boring personal life, there’s a long-winded “About the Author” page. I don’t like talking about myself, and now I have a whole page on the internet about me so I’ll never have to do it again!

The Lore Section

This is the part I am most excited about. In the “Explore” section of my website, you’ll find detailed information about the characters, planets, organizations, and science of The Calling Void universe. I’ll be adding new content to this section weekly, starting with material from my published short stories and building up to the release of Tantalus Depths with articles related to it. Check it out now to read up on Maya Prasad, the daring protagonist of Breach, the shady origins of the corporate titan Exotech Industries, the strange cataclysm of the Corsica Event, and the grim changes Earth experienced in its aftermath.

There’s a lot to see, so hop right in and explore! I can’t wait to share even more awesome news with all of you very, very soon.

Howdy! I hope this finds you well. If you are also connected with me on Facebook or LinkedIn, you may have seen my recent cancer updates. If not, here is the latest recap. 

It’s been four months (early October) since my surgery to remove the cancerous tumor (metastasized melanoma) from inside my head. This was then followed by the initial treatments with targeted radiation therapy. My recovery has been gradual, now also aided by immunotherapy treatment.

But when you are dealing with something such as this, there are inevitably going to be further speedbumps.

Case in point – two weeks ago, my first MRI since the fall revealed the presence of a number of new spots in my head. These required another round of targeted radiation therapy with that good old CyberKnife machine (completed on Thursday). These new spots may in fact have already been there in October, but still been too small at that time to be detected by an MRI.

The trade-off with targeted therapy is that it targets only known cancerous tissue, as spotted on an MRI. The advantage is that it can be aggressive with the dosage, with minimal harm to surrounding healthy tissue. Before the CyberKnife, the only option was to bathe the entire brain in radiation. (It may be more complicated than this, but that’s how my radiologist explains it to this layman.)

That old method had the disadvantage that, well, you’re baking the whole brain, including all the healthy parts that don’t need treatment. This can result in unwelcome side effects related to memory and cognitive function. On the other hand, by hitting the whole brain, you may also be treating by default any cancer spots that remain too small to show up on an MRI. 

For me, targeted therapy remains the ideal way to go. My next MRI in six weeks or so will hopefully reveal that we are getting the upper hand on this game of “Whac-a-Mole” with targeted therapy and the cancer will be in retreat. 

Meanwhile, life goes on

There remains a certain book to tell the world about. Please post those reviews when you have had a chance to read Bane of All Things!

FYI, you don’t have to purchase from Amazon to post a review there. You just need an active Amazon account. And then there is Goodreads.com and your favourite bookseller (the more the merrier). Thank you very much if you have already done so.

Also, I took the leap and registered to attend, in person, this year’s World Fantasy Convention – taking place in November in New Orleans. And I don’t mean for it to be the last time, either. Who knows where the world will be by then – virtual attendance may still be the wisest course, regardless of my health, but still I plan to be there in some form.

Stay safe and keep reading!

I have some great new for those of you who supported Mission 51 during the Inkshares/Nerdist Sci-Fi Contest of 2017. It’s been a long time coming, but HERE IT COMES! A link to download your ebook will be arriving to your email this Friday, Feb 4! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to reach this moment.

Many of you also purchased physical books in 2017, and they will be mailed closer to the official publication day of Feb 15, which is less than 2 weeks away. As promised, I signed those books, and they are at the Inkshares fulfillment center as we speak, ready to be mailed to you at the right time. I will be forever grateful for your support during the contest. That is what made this book possible.

As a 3rd and final reminder, if you have moved or changed your email address since 2017, please update your profile on the Inkshares site, so they know where to send your book and/or download link. If you have any trouble at all, they are glad to help you at hello@inkshares.com.

Thanks again for joining me in this wild ride!

Ferd

Welcome to the morning after the snowiest winter blast that we’ve seen in six years in my neck of the woods. I have some exciting news today – the release of the first ever podcast episode where I am featured as the guest author!

It still feels strange to say that out loud – “guest author” – but here we are. 

I had a great time recording an epic fantasy episode of writingbloc.com’s Indie Writer Podcast with hosts Jacqui Castle and Cari Dubiel. 

You can access the podcast episode here.

Thank you again to Jacqui and Cari for having me! We talked about what makes epic fantasy epic, getting started as a writer of this weird stuff, my creative process, and some of the interesting aspects of world-building found in Bane of All Things.

Covered in local magazine

I was also humbled to earn some great coverage earlier this month from theHumm – my local arts and culture magazine. Thank you very much to editor Kris Riendeau and writer John Pigeau for making it happen.

You can read the full article at theHumm Online.

Giveaway on Goodreads.com

My publisher Inkshares also ran a Giveaway on Goodreads.com over the past few weeks. Up for grabs were 25 copies of the trade paperback edition of BoAT. Publishers run these Giveways in the hope attracting more readers (and buyers) who then will post reviews to drive that word-of-mouth buzz that is so vital to the success of any new novel.

I can’t say how successful this Giveaway will be in that regard, but I can tell you that by the time it ended last night, 3,815 people had entered to win one of those free copies! Here is hoping that a few of those folks who did not win a copy are now inclined to purchase one.

Reviews: Your opinion matters sooo very much

As I have noted before, reviews on the big sites Amazon and Goodreads are also crucial to drive that word-of-mouth buzz and help BoAT stand out in a crowded field. 

When you have had a chance to read BoAT, please post a rating/review online. Don’t fear to give your honest opinion – I can take it. No author can expect to please everyone all the time. What matters is having a sufficient volume of ratings/reviews for BoAT to attract attention.

That’s all for now. I hope you are finding BoAT to have been worth the wait. You can reach out to me at any time with your comments. Soon it will be time to talk about what’s up with the next book in the series, The Crucible Tree.

Stay safe and keep reading!

P.S.: If you have still not received your pre-ordered copy or copies of BoAT, please contact hello@inkshares.com. And don’t hesitate to contact me if you need to confirm what you actually pre-ordered those many moons ago in terms of ebook vs. print and number of copies. 

Hello again!

I know... two emails in one week. But I thought I’d again remind everyone who pre-ordered Mission 51 to update their home mailing address with Inkshares, as the books will be mailed in the coming days/weeks. See the detailed instructions on how to do that below.

I had a chance to sign the books as promised. That was tricky, with COVID and all, but we figured out how to get it done! The books are now on their way to Inkshares’ fulfillment partner who will ship them out to your address on record at Inkshares.

If you have moved since you pre-ordered the book, it should be intuitive to change your address on your account at the Inkshares site after you click on the image in the upper right hand corner next to the little bell. But some people have had to do this:

1. Login to Inkshares.com

2. Press the image in the top right, next to the bell

3. Press "more", then "profile"

4. Press profile options in the top right corner

5. Account

6. Address

If you have any trouble at all, Inkshares would be glad to help. You can email them at hello@inkshares.com

Thanks again. Launch in T-minus 30 days!

Ferd

Hello everyone!

I have not reached out through this platform in a long time, but the publication of Mission 51 is imminent, and I wanted to mention a few things.

First of all, my heartfelt gratitude goes to everyone who purchased a pre-order, especially those who did so during the Inkshares/Nerdist Sci-Fi Contest of 2017. Those pre-orders kept Mission 51 in the top 3 of all contestants and garnered a full publishing contract. Since that time, Mission 51 has been in production, progressively improving the story. It is now fully polished and ready for publication.

The publication date is February 15, 2022.

I am signing the pre-ordered books as we speak.

IMPORTANT:

For those who pre-ordered here on Inkshares, like everyone did during the contest, it’s time to update your address. If you moved since that contest in the summer of 2017, you need to update your address with Inkshares so the book will find its way to you.

If you have not yet placed an order but wish to do so now, it remains available for purchase here on Inkshaers, and is also available on Amazon, B&N, Target…

Thanks again, everyone, for your support and your patience, and I do so hope you enjoy Mission 51!

Ferd Crôtte