An Introduction
It’s only polite to introduce yourself properly, and as this is my fourth posting on this blog, a proper introduction is really overdue. So: Who am I, and what am I doing here?
I’m a writer. I’ve had two short stories published so far, including “The Word of Azrael” in the most recent issue of Black Gate (previewed here), and I’m working on a novel. Several novels, actually, but at the moment only one is actively ongoing.
I also write non-fiction, most notably articles for Old News magazine, short biographies telling true stories from the past. I’ve written criticism and journalism for places including The Comics Journal and the Montreal Gazette. Oh, and I helped cover the 2009 Worldcon for the Gazette (you can find my blog posts about the convention here, along with posts by my colleague, Claude Lalumière, who wrote a comic column for Black Gate a few years back).
I’m also a reader. Like, I’d imagine, most people around these parts, I read a lot, and I love browsing book fairs and used book stores looking for an oddity, a novelty; trawling through the past, magpie-like, looking to pick out glittering fragments that would otherwise be lost in the ocean of published texts.
My sporadically-updated personal blog, Hochelaga Depcta, is mostly a record of what I’ve read, a venue to put down the thoughts that strike me. I’m hoping to do something a bit more focused here.
The masterminds at SF Signal have asked the contributors and editors of Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword & Sorcery — including some of the biggest names in fantasy — to define Sword and Sorcery, as part of their Mind Meld series.
From his first appearance in print in the pages of The Story-Teller in October 1912, Sax Rohmer’s criminal mastermind, Dr. Fu Manchu took the world by storm. While Rohmer would complete three novels featuring the character between 1912 and 1917, the Devil Doctor would extend his domain to include film and comics in the fourteen years before Rohmer bowed to commercial demand and revived the series.
Freedom, love of neighbour, and personal responsibility are steep slopes; he could not climb them for us—we must do that ourselves. But he has shown us the road and the reward.
Luke Forney wraps up his detailed, three-part examination of Black Gate 14 with a look back at Part II:
No seriously, I can’t believe I’m writing this. But here goes.
On Monday Amazon.com 
“If any man wishes to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts…”
For those of us who relish Shakespeare and thrill to antique forms of language, this brilliant passage is highly enjoyable. Yet there is no doubt that its style is vastly outdated and many modern readers would shy away from this fantastic novel simply because of its weight of style and ponderous language. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but keep in mind that Eddison published his masterwork way back in 1922. Although beautiful and perfect for the feel of high fantasy, that language just doesn’t fly today…unless you’re staging a production of HAMLET.
As previously announced, Black Gate subscriptions will increase from $29.95 to $39.95 for four issues, starting August 15.