"The Dancer at the Red Door" Interview: Q #7

Mark Leslie Lefebvre interviews me on Facebook regarding my Aurora-nominated story, "The Dancer at the Red Door"...

MARK: Can you please tell us a bit more about IMPOSSIBILIA, such as where the title comes from, how it came to be and the process of putting the book together?

DOUG: Early in 2007, I was discussing the possibility of a short fiction collection with PS Publishing, a small UK press that specializes in SF, fantasy, horror and crime.

"The Dancer at the Red Door" Interview: Q #6

Mark Leslie Lefebvre interviews me on Facebook regarding my Aurora-nominated story, "The Dancer at the Red Door"...

MARK: These are some fantastic "Easter eggs" you've added into your tales. And it's interesting you should bring up "Symphony" because I wanted to mention that story and "Spirit Dance" and what seems to be a recurring theme of lyrics, dance and music in your writing. Does this mean there's not just a hidden poet inside of you but perhaps a musician?

"The Dancer at the Red Door" Interview: Q #5

Mark Leslie Lefebvre interviews me on Facebook regarding my Aurora-nominated story, "The Dancer at the Red Door"...

MARK: It's interesting that you mention this, because I could feel the pulse and beat of the city's song while reading this story. And I would imagine it's your admitted impatience with building tedious description that leads to your strength in writing descriptions that capture the reader. Can you talk a bit about how you decided to use the lyrical interludes of the "city song" between scenes in the story.

"The Dancer at the Red Door" Interview: Q #4

Mark Leslie Lefebvre interviews me on Facebook regarding my Aurora-nominated story, "The Dancer at the Red Door"...

Mark: In "The Dancer at the Red Door" you touch upon all the senses quite wonderfully. Can you discuss how you use these sensual touchpoints to draw the reader into your fiction?

Doug: I've often been described as a very visual writer, which always make me chuckle because I hate writing description. 

"The Dancer at the Red Door" Interview: Q #3

Mark Leslie Lefebvre interviews me on Facebook regarding my Aurora-nominated story, "The Dancer at the Red Door"...

"The Dancer at the Red Door" Interview: Q #2

Mark Leslie Lefebvre interviews me on Facebook regarding my Aurora-nominated story, "The Dancer at the Red Door"... MARK: Thanks for that background, Doug. I'm going to want to ask about your novel a bit later in the interview. But for now I'd like to talk a little bit about DATRD (hope it's okay that I'm abbreviating "The Dancer at the Red Door" in this fashion). This story contains some phenomenal illustrations of the "rut" of commuter working class routines. And I just have to quote from one of them here:

"The Dancer at the Red Door" Aurora Interview

Aurora nominees are currently being interviewed on the discussion boards in the Facebook Group "Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy." Friend and fellow writer, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, has kindly agreed to interview me about my nominated short story, ""The Dancer at the Red Door." I'll be reposting the interview here over the next couple of days. Here's the first Q&A:

Aurora Nominees Pic

Toronto's annual Ad Astra con this year found all five Aurora Award nominees for "Best Short Form" in attendance. Pictured here, left to right, are Stephen Kotowych, Tony Pi, Hayden Trenholm, David Clink, and yours truly. I was nominated for my story, "The Dancer at the Red Door." Ad Astra is always a great con, and I highly recommend it if you've never attended.

Czeching into Enlightenment

I mentioned in my last entry that the long-running Czech pro magazine, Ikarie, had reprinted my Aurora-winning story "Scream Angel." Two issues later, they also reprinted its companion story, "Enlightenment", a 2005 Aurora Award finalist. Check out reviews and the story's publishing history.

Screaming in Czech

My 2004 Aurora Award winning novelette, "Scream Angel", was reprinted in the Czech pro magazine, Ikarie, a while back (2006), but I have only just now received my contributor copies. I'm assuming that the cover was somehow inspired by the story, but some, uh, artistic license is apparent. Still a cool cover.

Seeing that it was about time to update my free "story of the month," I've used this as an excuse to post "Scream Angel" online. If you're interested, you can read some reviews and the publishing history for the story. Enjoy!

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