On January 20th, at 10:00am, the authors of ‘Edmonton: Unbound’ will be at the 1975 111st. YMCA selling and signing copies of our new anthology. ‘Edmonton: Unbound’ contains fourteen stories by twelve local authors, unified only by the common theme of their current hometown, Edmonton, AB.
Ranging from simple domestic interactions, to futuristic sci-fi adventures, to deep psychological introspections, these stories take a look at Edmonton from viewpoints as different as the writers themselves. This anthology is a love letter to our hometown, and demonstrates our incredibly varied approaches to literature, and to life.
As a gesture of our gratitude, all proceeds from the sales of this book will be donated to the Edmonton Public Library, which has been gracious enough to host our humble group at the Capilano branch for over a decade and a half.
Click the Image to buy ‘Edmonton: Unbound’
To celebrate this release, we have an interview with one of the ‘Edmonton: Unbound’ authors, Simon MacKintosh.
- I read an earlier draft of your “Uncle Charlie’s Tiger Hunt.” What kinds of things did you do when revising the story?
Simon MacKintosh: Mostly, I tried to tighten up the humour. There are several things that can make a story funny. One is a sequence of events, all commonplace but ridiculous (like sliding down a hill unable to control yourself), that build towards a hilarious climax. I tried for that because the story started as an attempt to do that. Other elements of humour are ordinary things made ridiculous by an unlikely context, or the relationships between people. I worked on those as well.
Apart from that I just polished up the language a bit. My initial copy of anything is little more than a poorly expressed idea. It takes multiple passes of editing to get it to a point where I am near satisfied. I am never completely satisfied.
- What do you like about writing humour versus writing science fiction?
Simon MacKintosh: Humour creeps into my science fiction as well. After all, humour is part of life and any story is, in the end, about life. I just thought that if I tried to write a science fiction story without any science, what would be left would be humour. I really have no preference.
- Who are your favourite humour writers?
Simon MacKintosh: Tom Sharpe. Filthy, but hilarious. Spike Milligan, his book ‘Puckoon’ includes a textbook example of a sequence of escalating ridiculous events, when a group of people escape from a lunatic asylum during the night in the middle of winter.
And of course Douglas Adams.
- What is your science fiction novel about?
Simon MacKintosh: A guy invents a time machine and starts to go back and fore in time, as one does with a time machine. But then his time machine is wrecked and he is stuck on a future Earth where society is slowly decaying. So he escapes into outer space and travels the galaxy before discovering that galactic civilization too is coming to an end. So he goes home, only to realize … but I won’t spoil he story by telling.
- What does your own lawn look like in the summer?
Simon MacKintosh: In order to keep Bylaw Enforcement from my door, I will refrain from answering that question.
Simon MacKintosh’s story, “Uncle Charlie’s Tiger Hunt”, is featured in ‘Edmonton: Unbound’, which you can purchase now on Amazon.
Remember to come by to get your copy at 10:00am on January 20th, at the 1975 111st. YMCA!
-Brad OH Inc.
Brad OH Inc. 