SF Contario 2 - A Big Success

Joanne Elder, author of SF thriller, SPECTRA was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. She attended the University of Western Ontario where she earned a Masters degree in Engineering Science. As a Professional Engineer, she spent several years in the aeronautical industry, and thereafter assumed a research position in the nuclear industry. Joanne has published numerous technical papers. On July 1st, 2011 Joanne’s debut novel Spectra was released with MuseItUp Publishing, the first novel in the Spectra Series.

Living in King City, Ontario, Joanne spends her time writing science fiction thrillers—those which will leave readers on the edge of their seats and their minds spinning in amazement.

About SPECTRA:

Light years away from Earth a mining exploration crew makes an amazing discovery…intelligent life comprised entirely of energy. This living energy is so pure and unique, it could provide proof of the existence of the human soul. Those exposed to the entities gain unimaginable cognitive abilities but at a terrible cost.

A rogue scientific group will do anything to maintain the mind enhancing gifts, even if it leads to the destruction of the peaceful beings.

Only two people stand in their way, and they will sacrifice everything to end the slaughter.

Could the quest for the secrets of life lead to the creation of true evil; one so dark it threatens to tear down the walls of sanity and redefine our very existence?

Buy Spectra at MuseItUp Publishing

SF Contario 2 Report

For fans and writers of Canadian Science Fiction, the place to be this past weekend was the SFContario 2! Lots of big name authors were seen cruising the halls, putting on workshops, and stopping to chat. The Guest of Honour for the event was John Scalzi. I attended a workshop on the business of writing and he was there to provide lots of advice on the dos and don’ts in finding an agent or publisher, and the contract negotiations, marketing and advertising that follow.

Then there were the Aurora Awards… Once again, internationally renowned, award winning author Robert Sawyer took the award for the Best English Novel, this time for his novel Wake. I was happy to be able to meet him and offer my congratulations at the end of the day. Best Related Work went to The Dragon and the Stars, a collection edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi. Congratulations to them, but personally I was routing for Douglas Smith’s, Chimerascope. I’m sitting looking at an autographed copy of Smith’s book as I write this.

For me I’d have to say the most entertaining part of the weekend was SF Contario’s version of Idol. A panel of judges were present to critique the opening page of several manuscripts submitted. Yikes!!! They were ruthless, hilarious and insightful with their comments. Kudos to the brave authors who submitted. Personally, I was too chicken.

All in all, it was a great weekend and I’m looking forward to next year’s SF Contario 3.

Joanne Elder
Author of Science Fiction Thriller, SPECTRA
http://www.sciencefictionthrillers.com/