Eco Fiction that Makes you Care and Gives you Hope

 The environment and how we treat it has always been important to me since I was a child. My passion for storytelling morphed into writing, but the underlying park came through environmental activism. I got a university degree in aquatic ecology, published numerous papers, and now write eco-fiction that is grounded in accurate science with a focus on human ingenuity and compassion. The most meaningful and satisfying eco-fiction is ultimately optimistic literature that explores serious issues with heroic triumph. Each of these favourites intimately connects human to environment. Each moved me to cry, think, and deeply care.

Check out what I say about each choice here: https://shepherd.com/best-books/eco-fiction-that-make-you-care-and-give-you-hope 

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press(Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times ‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020.

"A Diary in the Age of Water" Included in Ecological Fiction that Inspires Action

 

Ursula K Le Guin Receives Lifetime Achievement Award at NBA

Neil Gaiman presents lifetime achievement award to Ursula K. Le Guin at 2014 National Book Awards from National Book Foundation on Vimeo.

Ursula K. Le Guin first told her audience that she wanted to share her award with her fellow-fantasy and science fiction writers, who have for so long watched "the beautiful awards" like the one she'd just received, go to the "so-called realists". She then went on to say:

"I think hard times are coming, when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies, to other ways of being. And even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom: poets, visionaries--the realists of a larger reality. Right now, I think we need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art...The profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art...We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable; so did the divine right of kings... Power can be resisted and changed by human beings; resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art--the art of words. I've had a long career and a good one, in good company, and here, at the end of it, I really don't want to watch American literature get sold down the river... The name of our beautiful reward is not profit. Its name is freedom."

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of novels, short stories and essays. She coaches writers and teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For more about Nina’s coaching & workshops visit www.ninamunteanu.me. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for more about her writing.

Toronto Indie Arts Market Prevails Over Snowstorm

Street Car lumbers on in snow storm

I left The Beaches and hopped on the Queen Street streetcar to The Gladstone Hotel not far from Roncy to check out the Small Press and Literary Festival, part of the Toronto Indie Arts Market, today. Someone on the SF Canada Listserve had told me about this event just yesterday and I'd decided to check it out. Besides, a few friends and colleagues were going to be there and I'd heard that The Gladstone had a cool bar and salon. With thoughts of hot liqueur drinks warming down my throat, I watched the snow billow down relentlessly like it was intent on covering everything in a blanket of white...and succeeding. Cars and people swerved and skidded on the roads as we squealed along the track.

The small press literary event provided a good mix of vendors and genres that ranged from

Sandra Kasturi of CZP in joy

magazines, literary journals and chapbooks to comic books hand-printed and hand-bound notebooks to write in.

Several local publishers were there, including Coach House Books and ChiZine Publications (recently featured in the National Post: "Embracing the Odd"). I met with Sandra Kasturi, Co-Publisher of CZP; she was manning the ChiZine table and we discussed the Gladstone Hotel as a venue for events.

The Gladstone is a Toronto Boutique Art hotel. Built in 1889 by architect George Miller (who designed the University of Toronto) as a stylish hostelry in the Romanesque Revival style, the Gladstone originally serviced the Grand Trunk, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the Canadian National Railway (CNR) companies. It also provided a place to stay for those visiting the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). It's Toronto's longest continuously

Cheryl Kirby, co-founder of TIAM

operating hotel. This landmark building hosts art exhibits, live events, conferences, performances and cool festivals like this one. From the lobby I could enter the Cafe or the Melody Bar, today populated by artists and small press agents sitting behind small coffee tables that displayed their works. I thought it particularly elegant and civilized of them to offer spirits and wine to shoppers as they wandered through the venue.

Letter writer Dave Honigsberg at Piola

I met friend Dave, lead quipster for the Toronto papers, and we ended the event with some fine pizza and salad at the Piola, a cool Italian restaurant.

Ok, Dave...You look like you're about to make a quip... Could it be about that wonderful looking pizza in front of you?...or about our strange conversation?... or that interesting sweater you're wearing?...

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of novels, short stories and essays. She coaches writers and teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For more about Nina’s coaching & workshops visit www.ninamunteanu.me. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for more about her writing.

Books: What Readers Like

human and robot reading

An August 2013 survey by bestselling author Marie Force revealed some interesting trends about what American readers like, what format they prefer and where they find their writers. While the survey was fairly small and restricted to Americans (just under 3,000 people responded to 44 questions), I think it provides a good microcosm of what the trend is out there in North America generally.

Here are Marie’s main findings and conclusions:

1.     FORM: Readers prefer e-books to paperbacks (77%); many buy in multiple formats, including paperback. 52% of surveyed readers do buy their books in print form. Audio books are slowly gaining popularity.

2.     REVIEWS & TESTIMONIALS: Retail reviews such as those on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other retail sites were more important to readers than author endorsements and reviews by professional reviewers on review sites. Fifty percent of readers preferred reviews posted on retail sites for their information; 16% used Goodreads; 72% said that the designation of “New York Times Bestselling Author” did not make a difference in their purchasing choice. 81% did not subscribe or read the major review publications (e.g., RT Book Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, NYT Sunday Edition, USA Today)

3.     BOOKSTORES: A majority of readers bought their books from a virtual bookseller: 80% of surveyed readers buy from Amazon (Barnes & Noble online was second at 23%; iBookstore/Apple scored 13%). 58% of readers surveyed had visited a real bookstore twice or less in the past year. The remaining percent visited more often.

4.     PUBLISHER: readers are more likely to buy a self-published book by an author they know; 94% of readers surveyed are “more likely” to buy a self-published book from an author who is known to them; 68% of readers are “less likely” to purchase a self-published book by an author they don’t know.

5.     CONTENT & GENRE:  Readers are most interested in stories with outstanding characters, setting, storytelling and writing; 75% chose “all of the above” to encompass each of the elements. Unsurprisingly, 81% of readers chose “Romance” is their favorite genre of fiction; contemporary romance is the favorite subgenre with historical romance as the second favorite.

6.     HOW READERS FIND & FOLLOW AUTHORS: the best single-most best social media platform for authors is Facebook, used by 85% of surveyed readers; 75% of readers also subscribed to the newsletters of their favorite authors and 55% subscribed to the blogs of their favorite authors. Twitter was not a major site for readers to find and follow their authors. Goodreads was one of the most frequently mentioned sites in the open-ended portion of the questionnaire.

The numbers don’t always match up; nor is the catchment or method of making statistical conclusions sufficiently explained; but the results as presented make logical sense to me. They make sense because the feedback I am getting in my circles is very similar. So, there you go, writers and readers.

Here’s my take on this phenomenon:

old derelict library

1. Increased sales of Digital Books: the increasing sales of digital books (ebooks) and the rising sales of audiobooks is a wonderful and uplifting icon of rising literacy. More people are reading (and listening) to books now than ever. And we have the digital book, Kindles, Kobos and iPads to thank for it. The “book” has become more accessible and readable. People swarm the public transit, clutching their iPhones and reading devices. 

2. Readers still choosing Print Books: Obviously, print books are cherished by readers for their intrinsic value. Books—their tangible tactile presence—will always remain with us; in collector’s showcase libraries, in trendy artistic venues, and funky local neighbourhood venues.

Vancouver Public Library

3. My Prediction: print books will become the epitome of publishing value and worth. Already coveted by collectors whose libraries will represent the best of the best in the literary world, print books will come to represent the highest status in literature. Only the best stories will endure as print books; perhaps only the “best book” will even be published in print form. Its existence in print form will define its literary value.

4. Take Home Message to Authors: ensure that your book appears in print form and get it into the hands of classy libraries and classy people.

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of novels, short stories and essays. She coaches writers and teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For more about Nina’s coaching & workshops visit www.ninamunteanu.me. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for more about her writing.