Starry and stormy nights at CAO

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

Just spent a fantastic weekend at CAO, the Carr Astronomical Observatory two hours north of Toronto, near Thornbury, Ontario. Any RASC member can avail of the wonderful dark sky facilities at CAO, but every July CAO holds its annual Star-B-Q, an event not to be missed – not if you like launching rockets, flying kites, eating great food, hiking the Bruce Trail, meeting interesting folk, hearing coyotes howl, and gazing at stars, all in the same day/night. Continue reading →

Posted in Environment Matters, Science, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Short story now live at AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

 

aescifi.caI’m pleased to report that my short story “This is not what I wanted for my birthday” is now live at AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review. AE is the only SFWA-recognized Canadian science fiction market, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend you visit and read the eclectic mix of stories up there. Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science fiction and fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

There are trees standing in the water

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

There are definite advantages to living in the urban jungle that is Toronto. For one thing, 13% of the city is park area. (Another is the city’s lovely name, but I’ll come to that later.)

You find pockets of calm green in the unlikeliest places, surrounded by glass and metal towers and busy roads. One such spot is Fort York in the heart of downtown Toronto, bound by Bathurst Street on the east, the Gardiner Expressway on the south and the railway line to the north. It’s a historic site, reflecting the military basis for the founding of Toronto at a time (in the late 1700s) when tensions with the United States were running high. In 1812 the United States invaded Canada and Fort York was the site a pitched battle between the British and the Americans. The Americans occupied Fort York and burned down Government House and the Parliament buildings. The British, in turn, captured Washington and burned down the White House. The war finally ended in 1815. Continue reading →

Posted in Environment Matters | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Short Fiction Update

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

I have a couple of short story acceptances to report, WOOT! So, in chronological order:

AbyssApex_bestofHatyasin was accepted by Abyss & Apex, a highly acclaimed quarterly speculative fiction magazine edited by Wendy S. Delmater. My story is scheduled for publication in October 2014. I look forward to reading the stories they publish every quarter, and I’m delighted mine will be among them! They are closed to fiction submissions until 2015, but you can take a look at their guidelines here. They’ve just published their fiftieth issue, which I think is awesome.

apex-magCharaid Dreams was accepted by Apex Magazine, a Hugo-nominated monthly science fiction and fantasy magazine edited by Sigrid Ellis. The story will be out some time in 2015. My first pro sale! They will re-open for submissions only on 1 September 2014, but meanwhile you can check out their guidelines here and read the current issue here. You can not only read the stories, but comment on them too, which is cool. Continue reading →

Posted in Science fiction and fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Race, poetry and elocution: The Congo

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

congo-poemsWhen I was in the fourth grade – in the La Martiniere Girls’ School, Lucknow – we won the group elocution with The Congo. The following year, most of us went on to the fifth grade, and we stopped winning the elocution prize. Apparently, the fifth grade teacher had not heard of Vachel Lindsay, or of poetry as performance art. It is just as well. As fourth-graders, we did not examine too closely the words we were forced to memorize. Maybe the judges did not bother with the words either, merely judging us on the sound of our rolling “Booms!” and our collectively solemn faces as we chanted:

THEN I SAW THE CONGO, CREEPING THROUGH THE BLACK,
CUTTING THROUGH THE FOREST WITH A GOLDEN TRACK.

Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Another Blog Hop

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

What? Yet another Blog Hop? Say it’s not true, you scream. It is true, I gleefully reply. Blame the post-Easter springiness in my step. It’s sunny out, and I may as well hop, especially as I’ve been tagged by my crit group buddy – writer, editor and book seller extraordinaire, Charlotte Ashley. Charlotte was tagged by Simon McNeil, author of the Black Trillium, and Simon was tagged by Adam Shaftoe, and Adam by Matt Moore. I could go on, but let me quickly start answering Charlotte’s questions before you drift over to more interesting blogs…. Continue reading →

Posted in Books and media, Science fiction and fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Emails from the future, Part 3

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

The other day, I picked up a local newsletter in a café and idly flicked through the pages. The second last page caught my eye. It was filled with the adverts of various spiritual gurus who promised to solve all problems, cure any illness, and vanquish black magic, at a very reasonable charge. I’m pretty sure that the niche for such gurus is not going to go away in the future. If anything, they will be even more popular…  Continue reading →

Posted in Science fiction and fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Particle Fever

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

If you haven’t seen Particle Fever, I highly recommend it. It’s a 99 minute documentary on CERN’s Large Hadron Collider and the physicists behind the search for the elusive ‘God Particle’ – the Higgs Boson. And no, the documentary is not just for geeks. Its for anyone who’s wondered why something exists, rather than nothing. And if there are other universes out there. And what the heck is the Higgs Boson anyway. Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Go NASA Go!

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

nasa-logoWhat’s the best thing about going to Orlando, Florida? (Apart from the fact that its actually warm and sunny, not a ridiculous -25 C in mid-March). That would be the Kennedy Space Center. This is the closest a mere mortal can get to the legendary moonwalkers, and some of the awesome astronauts who today represent human hopes and dreams in space. I just spent a fantastic weekend there, and I’m itching to go back (not least because spacesuits are way cooler than snowsuits…) Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Emails from the future, Part 2

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Rati Mehrotra

squid-cartoon-lrThere’s work to be done, dishes to be washed, taxes to be filed, serious stories to be revised. But right now I don’t feel like being serious. Right now I am thinking of pink tentacles, elegant suckers, and what dating fraud in the future might look like. A tad more interesting than it does today, I suspect… Continue reading →

Posted in Science fiction and fantasy, Writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments