My Reviews on the 2025 Aurora Ballot

My speculative fiction reviews in The Ottawa Review of Books in 2024 are on the Aurora Award ballot for 2025.

The Reviews were:

1. Review of The Year's Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction, Vol 1. Stephen Kotowych (Ed.), Ottawa Review of Books, January 15, 2024.
2. Review of The Lost Expedition by Douglas Smith, Ottawa Review of Books, March 15, 2024.
3. Review of The Downloaded by Robert Sawyer, Ottawa Review of Books, April 16, 2024.
4. Review of Shadow Matter by S. E. Mayse, Ottawa Review of Books, May 16, 2024.
5. Review of Super-Earth Mother by Guy Immega, Ottawa Review of Books, June 15, 2024.
6. Review of Kyber by Chadwick Ginther, and Shared World by Ball, Chomichuk, Gillespie and Ginter, Ottawa Review of Books, Sept 15, 2024.
7. Review of Zebra Meridian and Other Stories, by Geoffrey W. Cole, Ottawa Review of Books, Nov 18, 2024.
8. Review of Starlost Unauthorized and the Quest for Canadian Identity by D.G. Valdron, Ottawa Review of Books, Dec 15, 2024.

Tha Auroras are voted by he membership of the Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction Association. Memberships are a modest $10/year.

My thanks to Ian Shaw for publishing my reviews.

Review of "Muscle and Other Stories"

My review of Matthew Hughes' "Muscle and Other Stories" is up at the Ottawa Review of Books.

https://www.ottawareviewofbooks.com/single-post/muscle-and-other-stories-by-matthew-hughes

Excerpt from The Assurance Published

The first 4000 words from my novel, The Assurance, has been published by Embark Literary Journal in issue #22:

https://embarkliteraryjournal.com/issues/issue-22-april-2025/the-assurance-robert-runte/

This is not to suggest the novel is near completion—I still have to cut another 24,000 words from the current draft—but I needed a little validation to re-motivate me to finish the damn thing. Thanks to editor Ursula DeYoung of Embark for providing that.

The original artwork is an excerpt from Fred Gambinos wrap-around cover for the novel—Yes, I commissioned a cover before the book was finished.

Writer/Editor Relationship

Very pleased that my article "The Writer/Editor Relationship: What Should You Expect" is out today in Westword (April-May, 2025) pp.13-14 (the magazine of the Writers' Guild of Alberta).

"Memory Loss" Reprinted

My poem, "Memory Loss" is Poem of the Month for April, 2025 for the Worchester Public Library Poetry Place (Click "Poem of the Month" on the menu on the right--in April 2025-- to read it.)

First Day on Nightshift Republished

My short story, "First Day on Nightshift" was reprinted in The Appraratus Almanacfrom Jayhenge publishing.

Heavens to Murgatroyd

I have two stories, "Murgatroyd and the Clerk" and "Murgatroyd and the AI" in the Lintusen Press anthology, Heavens to Murgatroyd. My entries are "Murgatroyd and the Clerk" and "Murgatroyd and the AI".

I also reviewed the collection (not including my own stories, of course) for the Ottawa Review of Books.

The Ghost in the Casement

My short story The Ghost in the Casement"is up at Horrid Scriblings.

As an added bonus, the illustration is by my daughter, Kasia.

Review of Noah Chinn's Lost Lives

My review of Noah Chinn's lost Lives (and the rest of the triology) is up at Ottawa Review of Books. https://www.ottawareviewofbooks.com/single-post/lost-lives-by-noah-chinn

"Randsom and the Giant" Published

My short story, "Ransom and the Giant" has been published in Big Smoke Pulp from Pesto Comics. The anthology is an all genre all action adventure collection. As the title implies, another in my Ransom and Friends urban fantasy series.

"Ransom in the Woods" Published

My short story, "Ransom in the Woods," is out today in Neo-Opsis #36. As the title suggests, this is another in the Ransom and Friends series. And this is the first time I've shared a table of contents with Canadian national treasure, Matt Hughes, so that made my day. http://www.neo-opsis.ca/Thirty-Six.htm

Review of Valdron's Starlost Unauthorized

My review of Starlost Unauthorized and the Quest for Canadian Identity is up at the Ottawa Review of Books.

Review of Cole's Zebra Meridian

My review of Geoffrey W. Cole's Zebra Meridian is up at the Ottawa Review of Books

"Alan" Story Reprinted

My mainstream short story, "The Missing Elephant" is up today in CommuterLit. (Free to read)

It was originally published in They Have to Take You In anthology, Ursula Pflug, ed., Hidden Brook Press, 2014 and reprinted in Costal Shelf Issue #1, Nov 20, 2020.

This is an "Alan" story from my series about life in the 1960s, this one about things one did not talk about and the overwhelming power of denial.

Guest Spot on Re-Creative

I'm featured in Episode #58 of the Re-Creative Podcast.

Hosts Joe Mahoney and Mark A. Rayner invited me to come on Re-Creative, the podcast about art and writing that inspire writers. I took a long time to think about which writer or artist had had a big impact on me, but they had already talked about Den Valdron's The Mermaid's Tale and Douglas Adams, and I was debating amongst so many other possibilities (Terry Pratchett, Samual Marchbanks, Dave Duncan, Guy Gavriel Kay, Shane Koyzan, Lois McMaster Bujold, etc etc) that I just couldn't focus: until I read R. F. Kuang's Yellowface (See my text review). I could not shut up about how brilliant and relevant Yellowface is, a must-read for every aspiring writer, so that became the natural topic to propose to Mohoney and Rayner.

We also talk about a bit about my writing, editing, and breakfast.