DOUGLAS SMITH | Writing the Fantastic

Willi Paul interviews me at Planetshifter.com on the new mythologies, inspirational sources, myth making and innovation, shamanism and alchemy, animal identity, and many other things, in one of the more unusual interviews I've had the pleasure to be part of. Check it out here. As an added bonus, you get to read a small extract from my first novel.

The 2010 edition of the SFWA Handbook ("The Business Side of of Writing, By Writers, For Writers") has now been published, containing my updated article on "Selling to Foreign Language Markets."

The article contains the same information that I maintain here on my website, outlining my recommended approach for reselling your short fiction to non-English language markets around the world. My approach, of course, leverages the Foreign-language Market List (FML) that I maintain here as well.

SFWA, for those who don't know, is the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, an organization that aims at supporting professional SF&F writers. Despite the name, its membership includes writers outside of the US. SFWA membership criteria include at least two sales to professional markets that meet SFWA criteria.

I'm be appearing at the inaugural edition of the brand spanking new SFContario, Toronto's newest annual genre convention, being held in downtown Toronto, Nov 19-21. Here's my schedule of panel appearances, signings, and readings, including a special screening of the indie film based on "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down."

Friday 9 PM – Aurora Pin Ceremony (Ballroom BC) A ceremony to present the new Aurora pins (which are quite spiffy) to all past winners and nominees who are attending SFContario.

And the wins keep coming for Anthony Sumner's indie film based on my story BY HER HAND, SHE DRAWS YOU DOWN.

The movie won four awards at the Terror Film Festival in Philadelphia last week: Best Actress (Zoe Daelman Chlanda), Best Actor (Jerry Murdock), Best Director of Photography (Bart Mastronardi), Original Musical Score (Gene Hodson), as well as being nominated for Best Short Film and Best Director.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

I'm actually having trouble keeping up with the news around the BY HER HAND, SHE DRAWS YOU DOWN movie, but I have to share the latest news.

BY HER HAND has won BEST HORROR SHORT at the Chicago International REEL Shorts Film Festival!!!

Congratulations to everyone involved: producer Alan Rowe Kelly, director Anthony Sumner, actors Zoë Daelman Chlanda and Jerry Murdock, and photographer Bart Mastronardi. And thanks once again for taking such good care of my story!

More cool movie news! The indie film based on my story "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down" has received ever so many nominations at the Terror Film Festival in Philadelphia, including Best Short (Alan Rowe Kelly / Anthony Sumner), Best Director (Anthony Sumner), Best Director of Photography (Bert Mastronardi) , Best Actor (Jerry Murdock), Best Actress (Zoe Daelman Chlanda), and Best Original Music Score (Gene Hodson).

Congratulations to everyone involved, and best of luck! The festival runs Oct 21-23.

Claire Horsnell interviewed me for the Torontoist website a while back, and the interview is up on the site now. The interview is a wide-ranging one, covering early influences, favourite writers, use of myth in fiction, my recently completed first novel, dystopian futures, corporate power, Avatar, the "By Her Hand..." movie, and, of course, Springsteen. And Claire does a great job of making me sound way smarter than I am. Here's an excerpt:

"Most science-fiction, fantasy, and horror fans can point to an early discovery period during which they came to their genre, but for prolific Toronto writer Douglas Smith, author of the recent short story collection Chimerascope, it seems fitting that he had not one, but two significant exploratory phases for his field. 'When I was eight, a friend introduced me to Robert A. Heinlein’s young-adult SF novels,' Smith recalls. 'They were essentially rocket and ray-gun books aimed at young boys. I devoured all of those, but then stopped reading the genre. Then in Grade 11, I had to do a paper in English comparing the works of multiple authors. Amazingly, the teacher actually included a group consisting of Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ray Bradbury, which, of course, was the group I picked. That assignment got me back into reading SF and fantasy.'

Read the full interview on the Torontoist site here.

The September issue of Fangoria Magazine has an article and review of the movie adaptation of my story "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down." Here is an extract:

"With vampires currently enjoying their all-media heyday, it remains a challenge for writers and filmmakers to put a new and different spin on the bloodsucker story. Acclaimed Canadian writer Douglas Smith delivered just that, coming up with a unique twist in his short story “By Her Hand, She Draws You Down.”

When producer/writer/director Anthony G. Sumner and producer Alan Rowe Kelly read the tale, they contacted Smith and got his blessing to turn the disquieting story into a short film [with] a final reveal that emerges as quite unexpected, satisfying and sad. ...

BY HER HAND’s acting is superb, and it comes as no surprise that both Murdock and Chlanda took home awards for their efforts at the 2010 Oklahoma Horror Film Festival....

BY HER HAND, SHE DRAWS YOU DOWN is now hitting the festival circuit—and worth seeking out. "

You can read the full review here. I also came across this YouTube review of the movie.

It's hard keeping up with the success that director Anthony Sumner and the cast of "By Her Hand..." are having with the movie. Following right on top of the Best Actor and Best Actress wins for Zoe Daelman Chlanda and Jerry Murdock at the Oklahoma festival, Anthony has announced another slate of festivals where the film has been picked as an official selection:

• Dark Woods Con Film Festival, Oct 1-3, Lebanon, Kentucky (Official Selection) New!!
• Queen City Scare Fair, Oct 22-23, Mississippi (Official Selection) New!!
• Buffalo Screams Horror Festival, Oct 21-24, Buffalo, NY (Official Selection) New!!
• Vampire Film Festival, Oct 27-31, 2010, New Orleans, LA (Official Selection) New!!
• Blood Bath Film Festival, Nov 13-14, 2010, Dallas, TX (Official Selection) New!!

And thanks to everyone who voted in the trailer competition. As you can see from the above, you helped get the film accepted in the New Orleans festival! Full information on the movie here as always.

At the Oklahoma Horror Film Festival last weekend, Zoe Daelman Chlanda won Best Actress and Jerry Murdock won Best Actor for their roles as Cath and Joe in the film adaptation of my story "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down."

Congratulations to both, and a thanks from me for the wonderful jobs they both did in bringing the characters to the screen. Well deserved wins!

Director Anthony Sumner was also nominated for Best Director and Best Editing, and the movie for Best Film, and imo, should have won them all. He did a fantastic job on the film, and I'm very proud to be associated with this movie.

The movie has several more upcoming screenings across the US at various film festivals, including the latest addition – the ninth annual Spooky Movie Film Festival in Washington, DC, Oct 21-25.

I have the complete list of the movie's festival appearances, plus lots of other info on the film on my dedicated "By Her Hand" page. You can help with getting this film into one particular festival.

I mentioned the movie trailer contest for the New Orleans' Vampire Film Fest in an earlier blog post. This festival picks its entries based on the votes that trailers for the candidate movies receive. Check out the link to the trailers in my blog, and if you like the one for "By Her Hand...", please vote for it (you have to sign in to your YouTube or Google account in order to vote). And congratulations again to Zoe and Jerry!