New Columns : Les Pages aux Folles

If you came to Les Pages aux Folles curious about my writing thanks to science fiction or fan fiction, welcome! You can find the complete text of Alternate Reality Ain't What It Used To Be and What Were Once Miracles Are Now Children's Toys in the Archive Section, as well as three new Alternate Reality News Stories every third week in the New Section. They are clearly marked [ARNS] for easy identification. And, please feel to browse through the other writing, cartoons and miscellaneous oddments - you never know what you might enjoy!

You may already be a winner? Well, actually...

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that I have taken first prize in the Swift Satire Writing Competition. This was for a poem called "Love Amid the Construction. The official announcement can be found here. Details of the contest, including, at some point soon, my winning entry, can be found here. What can I say?

WHOOT WHOOT WHOOT!

The Universe Is Leaking!

Okay, now that I have your attention... Alternate Reality Ain't What It Used To Be, the first Alternate Reality News Service book, has just been given a five star review by the Web site Science Fiction and Fantasy. Yes, that is out of five stars, smartass. Be sure to check it out!

July Appearances

It was touch and go there for a while, but it would appear that I will have (half) a table at this year's (full) Polaris/Trek Con. So, if you're in Toronto and you don't have anything going on from July 16 to 18 (because, let's face it, this city is dead in the summer), drop by and say hi.

I will be giving a lecture on the promise of fame and fortune that the Internet has held out for poor slobs like me called "You, Too, Can Be Famous" at Gallery 1313 on July 21. (HINT: the idea may have been a little oversold.) If you have ever wanted to see me give a talk that wasn't about science fiction (be still your beating heart!), drop by. Festivities begin at 7:30. Debate begins at 7:31.

July is Stephen Harper month at Les Pages aux Folles!

To celebrate the crowning achievement of his Prime Ministership, the G20 summit, I have given Stephen Harper free reign to create My Toronto cartoons throughout the month of July. Of course, when I say "I have given Stephen Harper free reign to create," I really mean, "Stephen Harper took complete control of the creation of." Still, who am I to quibble during his moment of triumph? You can find them on the front page of the site.

To kick off Stephen Harper month, I wrote an ode to the G20 summit called lf{2508::No, THIS Is Democracy::10}. If you cannot get enough comedy at the Conservatives' expense - and, who among us can, really? - you will surely not want to miss this!

The Alternate Reality News Service Grows Up

Have you ever wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes at the Alternate Reality News Service? Of course you didn't! But, now that the question has been raised, it sounds intriguing, no? Okay, probably not. Still, here's the thing: there is now a Facebook group called The Alternate Reality News Service Cafe. If you go there, you will automatically receive a tri-weekly newsletter full of exclusive information. It is also a place where you can contribute to the Alternate Reality News Service and even, perhaps, work your way up the ARNS ladder until you are given a journalistic beat all for yourself. Doesn't that sound exciting?

Don't answer that.

Would you be interested in immortality?

As you may have noticed, there is a weekly feature on Les Pages aux Folles called The Daily Me. Each article in this feature is a collection of bits and pieces of interest to a different person. I probably won't be shocking any of my readers when I say that, to date, I have made the persons up. (If you are shocked, I hear the Girls With Eyepatches site is nice this time of year...) Well, a future Daily Me could feature...you!

Simply send me an email with your name and the names of three or four publications you regularly read and three or four issues/subjects in which you have an interest. Then, let me digest them and, two or three weeks later, The Daily Me could be The Daily You! Your name will appear in my writing...forever! No complicated creams! No messy cryogenic devices! Immortality has never been easier! What are you waiting for?