OTTAWA, May 18, 2026 — As I type these words, my six year-old, Baobao, is patiently waiting for me to finish, while reading a volume of Doraemon: le chat venu du future on the couch across from my desk in our living room. School’s out so that we can (not) celebrate the queen’s birthday, while her mother is in the air flying to a conference in Regina. And I am doing my best to juggle publishing and fatherhood.
But onwards.
As usual, there is a lot of news from triple Aurora Awards nominee Rachel A. Rosen, who (as you can see in the photo above) spent the weekend in Halifax, attending TriCon 2026 and participating in at least a couple of panels while there. Yet another event I wish I could have been to. Well, there’s always CanCon later on this year, I hope.
Besides that, Rachel’s Aurora-nominated podcast (co-hosted with David L. Clink), Wizards and Spaceships, launched its 3rd season last week, in which Rachel and David interviewed award-winning SF/fantasy authors, Vajra Chandrasekera, Samantha Mills, and Gregory A. Wilson.
And of course, she will be back in the classroom tomorrow. The woman amazes me, no doubt about it.
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In less happy news, Black Grass author (and, yes, my father), 92 year-old Carl Dow, is in the hospital awaiting surgery to deal with an infection in his hip. He is (as he almost is) in good spirits and has made friends with the other patients in his ward, but nevertheless is eager to return home (and, I hope, put the finishing touches to his forthcoming novel, Wildflowers: The Women Who Made McCord Chronicle).
Needless to say, I wish him a speedy recovery as his son and his publisher.
If you want to offer him moral support, the best way to do that would be to buy one (or both) of his books, which are, of course, available in both paper and ebook versions in our shop. To make him even happier, once you’ve read it and/or them, you could drop a review, here or anywhere else you leave them on the web!
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And on that note, my patient child has asked for lunch and a trip to Gatineau Park, so I will end this entry here. Happy Victoria Day to those who celebrate, or even just get a day away from their regular labours. We need all the joy we can find in these nervous times.
