Douglas Smith | Writer of Fantasy and Science Fiction

I just posted some additional updates to my Foreign Market List.

I'd blogged earlier (here and here) about my recent translated collection, La Danse des Esprits, that was published in October 2011 by Dreampress in France. I've just received news that the collection has been selected as a finalist for the 2012 Prix Masterton.

The Prix Masterton is a juried French award established in 2000 by Marc Bailly to pay tribute to Graham Masterton, "a writer who has left his mark on fantasy literature since the late 1970s." The prize is awarded in three categories: Best Novel in French, Best Translated Novel, and Best Short Story Collection, all within the literature of the fantastic.

La Danse des Esprits, which includes an introduction by the multi-award winning Canadian fantasy writer Charles de Lint, contains thirteen of my previously published fantasy stories, including five Aurora finalists, a Best New Horror selection, a new Heroka story ("Dream Flight"), and the Aurora-winning "Spirit Dance" that gives the collection its name.

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I've posted a bunch of updates to my Foreign Market List, so check them out if you're a writer interested in submitting to foreign language (i.e., non-English) short fiction markets.

Update: This event will begin at 6:30pm, Jan 30, 2012

Five years ago, on December 13, 2006, my dad passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer's. I was therefore very pleased to be one of the authors invited to attend the inaugural "Authors Fight Alzheimer’s" book signing fundraiser. The event has been put together by Canadian authors and publishers in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Society, and will be held on the evening of January 30, 2012, at the North York Central Library Auditorium, 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto.

If you can, please show up, meet an author, buy a book, get a book signed, or just show your support in the fight against a disease that steals us from the memories of our loved ones and takes them from us before their time.

From the organizers:

Authors of various genres will be present to sign their books with the proceeds going to fight Alzheimer’s disease. The theme "Read…Think…Remember" promotes keeping the mind active through reading, an important defense against the disease.

Author Attendees (as of December 18) include:

• MuseItUp Publishing – Joanne Elder, Sandra Clarke, Kevin Craig, Nancy Bell, Helene Prevost
• Double Dragon Publishing – Deron Douglas, Anne Grobbo
• Chizine Publications – Doug Smith (two-time Aurora Award winner), Caitlin Sweet
• Dragon Moon Press – Erik Buchanan, Jessica Frey
• Dark Dragon Publishing – Karen Dales
• Crime Writers of Canada – Melodie Campbell, Rick Blechta, Joan Boswell, Alison Bruce, Sheila Dalton, Alex Markman
• The Writers Community of York Region – Malcolm Watts, Heather Lambert
• And - I.J. Schecter, Peter Dennis, Mark Pezzelato.

Guest Speaker – Dr. Sandra Black, Director, LC Campbell Cognitive Neurology Research Unit, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Professor, department of medicine (neurology), University of Toronto

Thanks to Deron Douglas for publishing a commemorative book for this event.

Authors interested in participating in the event or for more information, please contact the Event Organizer:
Joanne Elder jelder1@rogers.com

CORPORATE SPONSORS:
Borden, Ladner, Gervais LLP
MuseItUp Publishing, Sunrise of Aurora, Edward Street Bistro

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Thanks to the very cool site at Kindlegraph, you can now request autographs, complete with personal messages, for your Kindle ebooks from your favourite authors. The catch is that the author has to have registered with the Kindlegraph site and set up their own page, like I have here. The other catch is that it only works for Kindle ebooks, not epub or any other format.

You simply go to the author's Kindle graph page, click on the "Request Kindlegraph" button below the book that you want autographed, and follow the instructions. You'll receive a separate ebook file, which will contain just the cover of the ebook, under which will appear a personalized message from the author to you, and their electronic signature. It would be ideal to have it inserted into the original ebook, but this is still a very neat and simple little service, and I hope that they'll expand it to other ebook formats in the future.

So if you or someone you know has any of my ebooks on the Kindle, check out my Kindlegraph page and request a personalized autograph. Or if you're looking for a unique Christmas gift, buy one of my ebooks for the Kindle to give as a present for a friend or family member, and get it autographed and personalized for them.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

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I'll be appearing at this year's SFContario again. The convention will again be at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, 300 Jarvis Street, Toronto.

Here is my final schedule of panels, signings, and appearances for the weekend:

Friday, Nov 18:
8 PM – Aurora Pin Ceremony (Solarium)

Saturday, Nov19:
11 AM – Writing Short Stories (Ballroom A)
12 PM – Half a Century Later (Moderator) (Parkview)
3 PM – Autographs (Bridge)
5 PM – Books and Their Adaptations (Moderator) (Gardenview)

Sunday, Nov 20:
12 PM – Aurora Award Ceremony (Shade Restaurant) Wish me luck!
2 PM – The Business of Writing (Solarium)

Hope to see you at the convention!

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I've blogged earlier about my new collection of fantasy short stories being translated and published in France. Well, the collection is now out, and you can check it out here on the Dreampress site. Cover art is by Daniele Sera. Thanks again to Dreampress publisher, Benoît Domis, for his interest in my stories and for making this happen.

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Update: I've just learned that the deadline to vote for the 2011 Aurora Awards, the official awards of the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association, has been extended to Monday October 17.

Please vote and if you do, please add a vote for my first full collection, Chimerascope, which is one of five finalists under the category "Related Work." I include instructions on voting below.

Why Does Chimerascope Deserve Your Vote?

Fair question. I'm a little biased, but here are some reasons:

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• It was a finalist for the Sunburst Awards, Canada's only juried award for speculative fiction, sharing the ballot with the likes of Guy Gavriel Kay, Robert J. Sawyer, and Charles de Lint.
• Earlier this year, Chimerascope was on the final ballot for the national CBC "Bookies" awards, sharing the ballot with the likes of Stieg Larsson, Suzanne Collins, William Gibson, and Robert J. Sawyer.
• It has consistently received rave reviews in Canada and around the world.
• It contains 16 of my best stories, including an Aurora Award winner, a Best New Horror selection, nine Aurora Award finalists, and three Year's Best Fantasy & Horror honourable mentions
• Still not convinced? Why not download a free ebook of any story in Chimerascope? Just grab your free coupon code and make your selection in my bookstore

This week's ebook special is a 2-for-1 offer. Buy any ebook and add another book of equivalent or lower price for free. Just use the coupon code 2-FOR-1 when you checkout. And remember that you can also pick up a free ebook for any story in my Aurora-nominated collection CHIMERASCOPE by using the coupon code 1FREECHI-191A4178.

I hope that you'll take advantage of one of these offers soon. Enjoy!

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There are still some free ebooks available on the following coupons in my ebook store for anyone who is interested. Some of these have only one use left, some up to five. One use per book per customer. Try them out and get yourself a free ebook. Just pick the book that you want, and proceed to checkout. On the checkout screen, enter the coupon code for a free ebook.

Active free e-book coupons:

SCREAM-ANGEL-FREE
BY-HER-HAND-FREE
DEAD-MAN-FREE
RED-BIRD-FREE

Enjoy! And you can also check out other coupons on this page.