Archive for the 'Press Room' Category
I met Nina briefly in Paris and we got her book, Darwin’s Paradox, into the hottest bookstore there: Shakespeare and Company. This bookstore, which offers shelves of books from a variety of genres and topics–and all in English–is situated in the Latin Quarter, which for centuries has been the centre of bohemian Parisian creativity and intelligentsia.
For over fifty years, the bookshop has housed numerous writers and hosted readings by published and unpublished authors. Run by Sylvia Whitman, daughter of the legendary George Whitman, the bookstore looks like something in a Harry Potter movie, with stacks upon stacks of all sorts of literature. Upon entering, you’ll find yourself in a place Henry Miller described as “A wonderland of books”.
Shakespeare and Company is open evey day from 10:00 to 23:00. If you’re touring Paris go check it out. The selection of English books is impeccable, with many by local writers.
If you’re a young traveling writer looking for a place to crash, Sylvia might put you up too!
While I was there, we briefly toured the city, including the impressive Tuillerie Gardens on the Right Bank.
Nina took me to her “outdoor” office, located in Place Saint-Michel on the Left Bank with a great view of Notre Dame Cathedral. I asked her how she liked Paris over a pastis (anise-based liqueur) and cafe creme.
“I love Paris,” she said. “I love everything about it, the food, the people, the architecture, the streets…The street performers who sing with feeling…the couples kissing on every street corner…that quiet reserve that just melts once they recognize that you are lost… their reverence for art and literature… Parisians know how to live. They have no problem waiting at length in line for fresh croissants at their favorite patisserie or will linger over lunch at a cafe to discuss the finer points of life over an espresso or cheese and wine. They are so civilized.”
I asked her how her research was going.
“I confess that I have done some of my best work here… that pastis can be very inspirational!” Nina confided to me with that typical impish smile of hers.
Guess what? My book, Darwin’s Paradox, has been nominated for the Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Aurora Award for 2008! I am so jazzed! I should be…This is a prestigious award, basically Canada’s top prize for science fiction writing. And I’m honored to be among some of the giants of the SF & F craft in Canada. People like Robert J. Sawyer (Rollback), Guy Gavriel Kay (Isabel), Robert Charles Wilson (Axis), Dave Duncan (The Alchemist’s Apprentice), Tanya Huff (The Heart of Valor), and others in a sea of powerful literature. Here’s some information on the Aurora:
Of course, it’s named after the Aurora Borealis, which has become a glowing symbol of Canada’s beauty and magnificence. Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) are latin for ‘the dawn of the north’, and were first used by Galileo in circa 1620 to describe the red northern lights phenomenon. Aurora is, in fact, the Roman goddess of the dawn—again, an apt icon for an award that could very well launch some new careers.
This will be the 28th year that the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association awards will be presented. Each year a different convention or group has hosted the awards. The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards (”the Auroras“) have been presented annually since 1980 with the exception of 1984. In 2008 they will be presented in May at a ceremony hosted by Keycon 25 held in Winnipeg, May 16-19.
On a per-capita basis, the Aurora Awards have the largest voter turnout of any national SF award in the world, exceeding that of the American-dominated Hugos, the Japanese Seiuns, the British Arthur C. Clarke Awards, and the Australian Ditmars.
This year, for the first time, Canadian fans will be able to nominate and to vote on-line at the Prix Aurora website. In addition, over two thousand nominating and voting ballots will be distributed through Canadian SF specialty bookstores (such as Vancouver’s White Dwarf, Calgary’s Sentry Box. and Toronto’s Bakka-Phoenix); with subscription copies o
f Canadian SF magazines (including the English-language On Spec, Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine and the French-language Solaris…); to all members of various associations for SF writers and many flavours of SC & F Clubs and groups; and at over a dozen science-fiction conventions coast-to-coast. Any Canadian resident may nominate and vote for the best Canadian-authored works of Science Fiction and Fantasy published the preceding year in either of the official languages.
Science-fiction conventions and occasionally other groups bid to be designated the year’s “Canadian National Science Fiction Convention,” or “CanVention,” where the Aurora Awards are presented.
So, if you’re a Canadian (or even if you aren’t) and you like science fiction, take a look at the list then read and then vote. This is a good opportunity for readers anywhere to see what’s out there in Canadian science fiction and fantasy.
Posted in Press Room; Tags: aurora award, award, Bakka-Phoenix Science Fiction Books, books, Darwin’s Paradox, prix aurora award
I just wanted to share with you a most wonderful book review from Tricia Ares at Modern Matriarch…
Book Review: Darwin’s Paradox
November 19, 2007 — Tricia Ares
Munteanu, Nina. Darwin’s Paradox. Dragon Moon Press. 320 p. ISBN-10 189694468X (ISBN-13 9781896944685) $19.95
If you read the acknowledgements at the front of Nina Munteanu’s latest book, you’ll realize Darwin’s Pradox is more than just a fast paced eco-thriller. Among others she thanks her high school English teacher, A.E. Whittal, for teaching her “the importance of metaphoric writing.”
The Victor Frankl quote at the front of the book, “What is to give light must endure burning,” is the first indication of the numerous paradoxical references you’ll find throughout the book, as Munteanu sets the stage for a story on the verge of transcending its genre.
In Darwin’s Paradox, Julie Crane is civilization’s darkest pariah and only hope. The alpha patient who carries a highly evolved virus, she is blamed with the death of thousands and the murder of law enforcement officials who tried to detain her.
We first meet Crane in the wilderness where she ekes out an existence with her husband and daughter. However, her reoccurring nightmares and the desire to protect her family agitate her growing sense of restlessness. When her highly evolved senses warn her that they are being followed, watched, perhaps even hunted, Crane decides she has no choice but to face the past.
Returning to a populous devastated by the virus that still resides deep within her, Crane finds a civilization struggling in the grip of a new uprising. Proteus is not a passive virus but an intelligent one, and it has joined forces with the ‘artificial’ intelligence that keeps the city running. In order to save her family, Crane must join forces with the manipulative individuals who ruined her life.
Like any ambitious eco-thriller, there is a lot of science underscoring the plot, but Munteanu does a great job of breaking it down into bite size portions that even the uninitiated can swallow.
The page turning pace subtly weaves expositional elements through a storyline propelled by action and mystery. Blurring the line between good and evil, Munteanu creates characters as paradoxical as the storyline itself.
Darwin’s Paradox also boasts a cast of exceptionally strong and complex women whose relationships intertwine and evolve like the deadly virus that binds them together. From the chair of the governing body, to Julie’s daughter, each of these characters serve pivotal roles throughout the book.
To give it depth, Munteanu has built her eco-thriller on a solid foundation of natural philosophy and symbolic allusions that meld pulp fiction with literary sensibilities. In doing so, Darwin’s Paradox delivers a story that is both entertaining and metaphoric, creating a layered effect that will engage even finicky readers.
Allusions to the French utopian movement founded by Etienne Cabet and the 19th century anti-industrial movement in Great Britian, underscore the conflict between nature and technology, while references to cooperative rather than competitive evolution hints at possible resolution.
Munteanu’s vision of the future is both frightening and inspiring, embracing the dark/light dichotomy dominating Darwin’s Paradox. Icaria’s vee-set wearing society, with their mechanical movements and vacant stares, resembles the disconnected iPod population of today. The contrast between the sterile environments of glass towers and the rubble of the inner city mirrors our own growing economic tensions. But just as Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortal man, Julia Crane carries the key that can transform civilization as we know it.
Darwin’s Paradox is a fascinating look into the future where man ceases his attempt to subjugate nature, while embracing its ability to adapt.
Darwin’s Paradox is on sale now at leading bookstores and at amazon.com. Visit us tomorrow for a one on one interview with the author, Nina Munteanu.
Posted in Book Reviews. Tags: Book Reviews, Darwin, Darwin’s Paradox, Evolution, Nina Munteanu, Science Fiction, SF, speculative fiction.
You can visit her inspiring blog here:
Worldwide Release
DARWIN’S PARADOX IS OUT TODAY!
It’s been an incredible journey bringing Darwin’s Paradox to light! It has just been awe-inspiring to watch this project develop into a global affair…
Please join us in celebrating!
The book is currently being sold at:
Amazon United States
Amazon Canada
Amazon Germany
Amazon United Kingdom
Amazon France
Amazon Japan
The book can be found throughout North America (both at stores and through their online webstores) at:
Barnes & Noble United States
Borders.com United States
Chapters-Indigo Canada
White Dwarf Books Vancouver, B.C.
The Sentry Box Calgary, Alberta
Blackwell Books United Kingdom
It is also being offered through various online bookstores as an ebook!
You can also buy or order the book at Target , one of the major department stores in the U.S. as well as India and Malaysia. It can also be purchased through Wal-Mart, a major retailer, or online at Buy.com, yet another major retail store.
It’s been only half-a-day and I noticed that it’s ALREADY temporarily out of stock/sold out at most stores. YOU did that! Thank you so much! Those of you who haven’t ordered it yet; not to worry…go ahead and order…more are coming!
Here is the Press Release from PRWeb:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/darwins-paradox/nina-munteanu/prweb568631.htm
Shine on SFgirl, shine on!
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One day away from “Darwin’s Paradox” launch at Amazon (and other bookstores around the world)…I’m kind of beside myself, looking on and whispering: “Hey! Comb your hair, girl!”…
Oh, in honor of the book, Karen Mason created the really neat widget of “Darwin’s Paradox” over to the right there. If you like the book, or what I write here, or just plain like “me” (embarrassed grin) … and want to support/advertize the book, please go ahead and put the widget on your site. I thank you so much for your support, dear reader.
