Merry Christmas! An Interview with Immortal Quest's Alexanda Mackenzie

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Alexandra Mackenzie:  I'm more of an elf!

 

EDGE:  Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Alexandra Mackenzie: I volunteer for the local Audubon chapter's annual Christmas Bird Count, which we're actually doing on New Year's Day this year.

EDGE: What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration
here gift you ever received?

Alexandra Mackenzie: A roll of joke toilet paper!  It was my worst Christmas ever -- home alone, feeling miserable, but happy to have some presents -- which all turned out to be *awful*.  And the last one I opened was the toilet paper, with silly quotes printed on it.  Ever since then, I focus on giving gifts rather than getting, and make sure to buy myself something nice!

EDGE:  What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Alexandra Mackenzie: Christmas cookies with icing.

 

EDGE:  If a character in Immortal Quest was celebrating Christmas how would
they do it?

Alexandra Mackenzie:  I suspect that Marlen would get quite tipsy at a party by drinking rum-laced eggnog.

EDGE: Thanks for joining us for Countdown to Christmas! Merry Christmas!
-------------------------------------------------

IMMORTAL QUEST: The Trouble With Mages

If only he could remember...

500 year old Mage Marlen will do anything possible to get mortal Detective Nicholas Watson to remember their past lives together.

Confronted by an arrested thief who claims to be his best friend of many lifetimes, the young detective sargeant struggles to come to grips with Marlen’s story. Nick’s skepticism begins to wane, however, when the mage tells him details — intimate secrets about himself no one could know!

Before Marlen can reveal more though, he needs Nick’s help!
In a bid to secure a spell to help the detective remember the truth, Marlen accidentally releases Vere, one of the world’s most powerful immortals, from her multi-century imprisonment.

Cast into a quest across Wales and Scotland, Nick and Marlen must rapidly retrieve three Objects of Power before Vere can find them and use the hidden objects in her most potent spell — one that could destroy the world! 

Buy Immortal Quest on Amazon.com

Our Christmas Gift Came Early - Barnes and Noble Best Vampire Releases of 2010.

On behalf of all of us at EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, we wanted to thank you for having joined us for Countdown to Christmas this year.

Our Christmas gift came early to us this year - we made Barnes and Nobles "The-Best-Vampire-Releases-of-2010". We thought the vampire lovers in your world might like to know of it as well, so we have shared the link with you.

http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Explorations-The-BN-SciFi-and/The-Best-Vampire-Releases-of-2010/ba-p/767920

Best wishes for the holiday season, and for the New Year! Until we see you again in 2011, stay warm and stay happy!

Janice

A Holiday Conversation with EVOLVE's Mary Choo, on EDGE's Countdown to Christmas

My name is Mary Choo, and my short story, "Resonance," appeared in the vampire anthology Evolve, edited by Nancy Kilpatrick.

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or a Scrooge?
Mary Choo: I'm definitely a Santa.

EDGE: Do you have anything special that you do for Christmas?
Mary Choo: We always spend Christmas with those who matter to us most.


EDGE: Do you have any particularly strange or favorite gifts that you remember?
Mary Choo: I can't think of a particularly strange one, but my favourite gifts are those small things, or actions, that show someone really thought about what I wanted or needed – even when I didn't realize it myself.

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat?
Mary Choo: As do so many people, I have a passion for chocolate – in my case, the darker, the better. I also love seeing all the fabulous Christmas light displays that are found throughout the Lower Mainland.

EDGE: How would a character in your story celebrate Christmas?
Mary Choo: My vampire protagonist, Peg, would throw a huge party for all the neighbours, with her violinist friend, Sophie, providing some of the music. Peg would also request a small donation from each guest, to go toward her favourite wildlife sanctuary.

Special 10th Anniversary Memories - EDGE's Steam & Steel Social

We promised to share some special memories of 2010 with you...with 2010 being EDGE's 10th Anniversary, one of our most memorable times was our Steam and Steel Social.  Here are some pictures from this spectacular event held at the Aerospace Museum in Calgary.  If you have photos you would like to share as well, please leave a comment below with links to photos, if you have them posted for us to see, or email us at events@hadespublications.com Thanks!

Brian Hades - Publisher of EDGE welcomes our guests...

Professor D. G. Wilson hosts the selection of the Lord and Lady of the Steam & Steel Social

Selecting the Finalists - Never an easy task!

The Lord and Lady of the Steam and Steel Social, as they win their copies of "Apparition Trail by Lisa Smedman", EDGE's Canadian Steampunk Adventure!

The Apparition Trail
Steampunk meets the supernatural in a Canada that might have been....

The year is 1884, and Corporal Marmaduke Grayburn of the North West Mounted Police always gets his man. But when he is assigned to the secretive Q-division — an elite unit of paranormal investigators founded by legendary Mountie Sam Steele — Grayburn discovers that his own psychic powers might lead to more than he bargained for.

With the aid of the eccentric paranormal researcher Arthur Chambers, Grayburn sets out in search of a missing minister and a magical Native artifact known only as the Manitou Stone. But in a land where perpetual motion machines and locomotives meet ancient sorcery, can Grayburn discover the secret of the stone and maintain the uneasy peace between the scattered Indian tribes and settlers? Or will his own buried secrets lead him towards the dark fate that waits at the end of the Apparition Trail?

Lisa Smedman

Lisa Smedman is an author and a game designer. She has done ­extensive work on various role playing games for Wizards of the Coast, TSR and the ­extremely popular game - Deadlands! She is the author of five best ­selling Shadowrun novels - including The Lucifer Deck, Blood Sport, Psychotrope, The ­Forever Drug and Tails You Lose. In addition, Lisa has authored two novels and contributed numerous short stories for anthologies set in the ­Forgotten Realms world. Extinction was on the New York Times best seller list. Lisa lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Countdown to Christmas: A group holiday conversation with Patrick Johanneson, Matt Moore, Suzanne Church, Catherine MacLeod,and Michael R. Colangelo from Tesseracts Fourteen: Strange Canadian Stories

 Just for a change of pace, we are combining the author questions and answers together. Enjoy!

Question One:
EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or a Scrooge?

Michael R. Colangelo: I probably missed the point, but I thought that Scrooge was either a total jerk or a weepy chump in that film. Nobody wants to be that guy. So Santa... by default.


Suzanne Church: I am definitely more of a Santa. I love this time of year: the lights, the decorations on the tree, the music, even the snow. And when I shop, I tend to over-spend and agonize over getting the perfect present for everyone.

Catherine MacLeod: Santa. I enjoy Christmas. I'm one of those annoying people who sings carols along with the muzak at the mall.

Patrick Johanneson: From October 31st till about December 14th, I must confess to being a Scrooge.  Only once we're deep enough into December do I start to feel a little Christmassy.  (If that's a word.)

Matt Moore:
Interesting question. Let's see:
* Both are old. I am not. RESULT: Neither
* Santa is fond of bright colours in his clothing, but Scrooge prefers more practical attire, as do I. RESULT: Scrooge
* Santa's mid-section resembles jelly. Scrooge is rather gaunt. I try to stay in shape, so RESULT: Scrooge
* Santa hangs around with elves; Scrooge hangs around with ghost. I do not associate with supernatural creatures of any sort. RESULT: Neither
* Santa works with his hands; Scrooge in an office. I work in an office, so RESULT: Scrooge
* Santa is generous and works for the good of all. Scrooge insists on working on Christmas Day for the sake of profits. I enjoy my job since it allows me to help others, so RESULT: Santa
* Santa is full of good cheer and other such misguided nonsense. On the other hand, Scrooge is a shrewd pragmatist, which I admire. RESULT: Scrooge

So, I am more Scrooge-like than Santa-like.
==============================================
EDGE Countdown to Christmas Question # 2
Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Michael R. Colangelo: Not really. I get a tree sometimes and forget to water it. The cats like to eat the needles and get sick.

Suzanne Church: Christmas is definitely about food! I tend to do Christmas baking, then on Christmas day, it’s a decadent event, usually involving eggs Benedict for breakfast and turkey for dinner. But I tend to over-spend at the grocery store, buying lots of treats from chocolate to cheese, and from pies to Yule-log-cakes. Yum.

Catherine MacLeod: For me it doesn't feel like Christmas until I've seen "A Christmas Carol"--the 1951 version with Alastair Sim.


Matt Moore: I am originally from New England, where we normally don't use coloured Christmas lights or large Christmas displays. In general, a wreath on the door, *maybe* some white icicle lights, but the main thing is (electric) candles in every window. It is a simple, but very pretty tradition that I miss around Christmas.

Patrick Johanneson: I try to make sure to watch "The Nightmare Before Christmas" every year before Christmas.  The other thing I enjoy is listening to French carols, which is a rare treat given that all the radio stations around here are English.  I have a CD I made years ago with some favourites, though -- "Ca bergers" and "Les anges dans nos campagnes" and "Il est né".  It comes from going to a French immersion school, I guess.

===============================================
EDGE Countdown to Christmas  Question # 3
What is the strangest Christmas present you have ever received?

Catherine MacLeod: The strangest Christmas present I've ever received was also one of my favourites. A friend bought a big white garbage can and painted black skyscrapers around the inside. Then she made a plaster model of King Kong and glued him on the bottom, so it looked as if he'd just fallen from the Empire State Building. I kept that can for years, until the plaster rotted. But I never had the heart to throw garbage in it.

Michael R. Colangelo: Growing up in rural Ontario, nowhere near the water, somebody thought I might like a surfboard one year for Christmas. I broke bones and the board trying to surf the dirty snow piles beside the highway near the house less than a week later.

Matt Moore: Most of my gifts have been pretty tame, so nothing comes to mind.


Suzanne Church: My grandmother used to make a somewhat unpleasant stuffing for her holiday celebration dinner. Most of us pretended to like it, because she was wonderful and we didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I remember one year, as the stuffing was being passed around, my uncle said, “I don’t want any stuffing. I don’t like it,” to which his wife, my aunt, said, “No one likes it, but you have to eat it like the rest of us, and pretend to like it.” He did.


Patrick Johanneson: One year I got a knife switch, along with a bunch of other electronics hardware.  At that point I was quite the little budding scientist -- I had the Radio Shack 201 Electronic Projects kit, and a chemistry set, etc.  I managed to not burn the house down.

Another year I got the third volume in Stephen King's Dark Tower series.  I'd waited years for it to be published, and now I had it in my hands.  I read it in two days, only to discover a huge cliffhanger
at the end.  (And it was almost five years, I seem to recall, before Volume IV was published.)
===================================================
EDGE Countdown to Christmas  Question # 4
What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?


Michael R. Colangelo: Cigarettes?

Catherine MacLeod: Stollen, a lightly-sweetened bread stuffed with cherries, raisins, currants, and almond paste. It goes down especially well with a cup of hot tea.

Suzanne Church: Chocolate bombs – which are chocolate squares made with crunchy peanut butter and mini marshmallows. Yummy AND easy to make.

Matt Moore: Eggnog, with or without rum. I could drink a liter of it in a sitting. That, or a snuggle from my wife.

Patrick Johanneson: Every year, my Welsh grandmother made trifle.  Now I have the recipe
and a trifle bowl, I make my own, but I still usually reserve it for Christmastime.  Whatever genius thought of combining cake, custard, fruit, and whipped cream deserves a Nobel prize or an Oscar or something.

==================================================
EDGE Countdown to Christmas  Question # 5 (optional)
If a character in your book/story was celebrating Christmas how would they do it?


Michael R. Colangelo: It would probably be a pretty sorry Christmas since death and/or madness conclude both stories. I don't know how it would go, precisely, but it wouldn't be very festive, I'm guessing. Some sort of murder to celebrate, probably. If they could be bothered.


Suzanne Church: My story’s main characters were immersed in a war. I think they would celebrate by having a day of peace where they could relax and not worry about being shot or captured.


Catherine MacLeod: Since Reann Zanberger admits she has a sweet tooth, there would be chocolate, for sure. I like to think she'd trim a small tree, find one special present for her husband, and plan something naughty for Christmas night.


Patrick Johanneson: At sea, or possibly on the island of Farfelu, deep in the tropics. But they'd be wary, since they've got a ghost among them...

EDGE: Thanks for joining us on EDGE's Countdown to Christmas! 

Patrick Johanneson, Catherine MacLeod, Michael R. Colangelo, Suzanne Church, and Matt Moore are all featured authors in Tesseracts Fourteen: Strange Canadian Stories, edited by John Robert Colombo and Brett Alexander Savory.

A Christmas Conversation with Theodore Judson, author of "Hell Can Wait", on Countdown to Christmas.

With 4 more days to Christmas, we are pleased to share the rare opportunity of a mini-interview with Theodore Judson.
=====================================
My name is Ted Judson, and my book title for Edge in 2010 was Hell Can Wait.

    In answer to your questions:
    1.  What was my strangest Christmas gift? 

When I was a boy on the farm in Wyoming, the neighbors once dropped off a dead pig in our yard on Christmas Eve.  Our neighbors were a clan of ne'r do well outlaws who had kept the pig in a fenced-off area and had fed it on the remains of the wild animals they poached.  They knew the beast was probably inedible after several years of such an odd diet, but they thought we might have a use for the hide.


2. What is my favorite Christmas treat? 

I have a cousin in Pennsylvania who every Christmas used to send us a package of minature people made out of maple candy.  I have no idea what these confectons might taste like, but my daughter used to make crowd panoramas with her dolls and the little maple people.  After a couple Holiday seasons, she had a entire village of the light-brown people in her bedroom, and they only grew harder and more indestructable as time went by, which was more than could be said for her dolls.

3.  Do I do anything odd to celebrate the season?

 I don't know if it is odd, but I always make a cherry cake for Christmas dinner.  My grandmother (my brothers and I were raised by our grandparents) used to make a cherry cake for every birthday or special holiday, and I do it in memory of her.

4. What character in my book would enjoy celebrating Christmas? 

Mr. Banewill, one of Lucifer's minions, would enjoy Black Friday, a day that would confirm everything he believes about humanity.
========================================
Read Chapter One of Hell Can Wait

Hell Can Wait by Theodore Judson

After 1800 years of waiting, Maternus’ Judgement Day is here...

For 18 centuries after his death, Maternus has waited for the bureaucracy of Hell to find his records. Now, in a bid to claim his soul, an angel and a demon argue over the fate of the Roman soldier.

The decision is made to bring the warrior back to life, not in Ancient Rome, but in modern day Colorado. There he must complete three seemingly impossible challenges laid out
before him, under the ever watchful eyes of the celestial duo.

Without a sword and shield to protect him, the soldier must rely on his wits coupled with a bit of divine inspiration (found in the strangest places) as he faces unfamiliar customs in this strange new life. Fortunately, the warrior is blessed with a weapon he did not have in his previous life — the ability to read!

With books in hand, the ancient Roman soldier begins his quest for a second chance!

Theodore Judson
Judson grew up in western Wyoming. A graduate of the University of Wyoming, Judson has dedicated his life to teaching. He began writing after his wife’s death, publishing Tom Wedderburn’s Life (2002), Fitzpatrick’s War (2004), and The Martian General’s Daughter (2008). His short story The Sultan’s Emissary appeared in the anthology "Sideways in Crime".

Theodore Judson currently lives in Wyoming, where he teaches high school History.

5 more "Sleeps" till Christmas - A holiday conversation with Michael Martineck on Countdown to Christmas

Name: Michael Martineck
EDGE Title 2010: Cinco de Mayo

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Michael Martineck: I'm a Santa.  Love buying presents, especially toys.  The scent of fresh plastic is actually my favorite Christmas smell.

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Michael Martineck: I listen to Patrick Stewart's A Christmas Carol every year.  Lots
of parties and dinners and presents, but that's just for me.

EDGE: What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration here gift you ever received?

Michael Martineck: An iron.  From my mother.  I ended up really appreciating it.  Eventually.

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Michael Martineck: Raspberry jellies from Kelly's Country Store. 
Rare, delicious, terrible for your teeth!

EDGE: If a character in your book/story was celebrating Christmas how would they do it?

Michael Martineck: Most of the characters in my book would suddenly be celebrating a mixture of holidays this season.  Things they never celebrated before, but suddenly couldn't live without...
=========================================================

Cinco de Mayoby Michael Martineck

Secrets: some feel freed having them out. Others will kill to keep them.
On May 5, in a flash of pain, every man, woman and child on the planet receives a second set of memories. A new name, a new language, a whole new life slips into their minds, along side their own.



In Chicago, a transit worker knows enough about the Aryan Brotherhood to mark him for death.
In Abu Dhabi, a playboy experiences modern day slavery.
In New York an advertising executive shares the memories of a blind railroad worker in China.

In this transparent world of instant intimacy, no one is left untouched...

Countdown to Christmas, Tesseracts Fourteen: Strange Canadian Stories, part one

Because so many of the Tesseracts Fourteen: Strange Canadian Stories edited by Brett Alexander Savory and John Robert Colombo have responded to our Christmas conversation questions, we have the feature split into two pieces...here is the first, featuring: Jerome Stueart, Brent Hayward, Sandra Kasturi, Jon Leitch, Michelle Barker, and Susan Forest. Enjoy!

Your name:  Jerome Stueart

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Jerome Stueart: I'm a Santa.  I like spreading joy.   And I live right near a whole pack of caribou who would love to fly....  away from hunters.  (I see you Sarah)

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Jerome Stueart: Call my folks on Skype.  I always watch a few favorite Christmas movies:  The Bishop's Wife, The Snowman (the animated one), and It's a Wonderful Life. 

EDGE: What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration here gift you ever received?

Jerome Stueart: I got a Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist doll one year for Christmas--within hours, his mouth was stuck open from being talked through so much.  It was a bad omen...

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Jerome Stueart: Puppy Chow (aka White Trash):  Rice chex covered in peanut butter, chocolate and powdered sugar, placed in a Christmas tin.  Lasts about as long as it takes to read that recipe outloud.

EDGE: If a character in your book/story was celebrating Christmas how would they do it?

Jerome Stueart: (from "One Nation Under Gods" in Tesseracts 14)  I think Celia is a very traditional person, despite the fact that she can't memorize history.  I think she would make a new quilt every Christmas.  I think she'd put out all the decorations too, and light candles, embedded in holly wreaths.  She'd get an old phonograph and play Christmas songs too, and she'd want to hear stories about the family, not the gods.  I think she'd be the dessert chef for the season.  And I think when she had baked cookies that she'd bring them to everyone in the living room, everyone wrapped in one of her quilts and sit around the tree eating and talking....
========================================

Your name: Brent Hayward

EDGE:  Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Brent Hayward: Santa. My kids are young, so Xmas is exciting again, just like it was several decades ago.

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Brent Hayward: My wife is from a Jewish background, and I am from a Protestant family, so now we have a tree and a menorah. Not too unique, but that's all I have.

EDGE: What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration here gift you ever received?

Brent Hayward: A friend of mine once left a large yam on my door stop.

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Brent Hayward: I quite like Xmas pudding with hard sauce, a British dessert at this time of year.

EDGE: If a character in your book/story was celebrating Christmas how would they do it?

Brent Hayward: Lucinda would drink to excess while listening to full blast Motorhead; Moira would imagine she was at the Nutcracker.
============================================

Your name: Sandra Kasturi

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge? (Elaborate as much as you want around that.)

Sandra Kasturi: I'm a Rudolph, with a red nose from too much rum and eggnog.

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Sandra Kasturi: Well, traditionally, I like to plan lots of events and social things and try to host or attend as many as I can, just so I can work myself up into a state of stressful, frenzied, financially exhausted lather, to eventually collapse sobbing hysterically onto the bed, insisting that no, I will not make another trifle, while my husband stands over me shaking his head and saying, "Oh, monkey..."
Oh, and I get out my "Christmas Books" and reread them: Agatha Christie's "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding," Susan Cooper's THE DARK IS RISING, C.S. Lewis's THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, and a bunch of juicy murder mysteries. There's really nothing so comforting as a murder for the holidays. That, and a nice latke brunch.

EDGE: What was the strangest Christmas gift you ever received?

Sandra Kasturi: My stepbrother gave me a self-help book called SUCCESSFULLY SINGLE, when I was about 21. I was confused. I was pretty sure I was supposed to be single at 21.

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Sandra Kasturi: Favourite holiday treat: I know it sounds disgusting, but probably the Estonian blood sausages, and also their jellied veal, with super-hot spicy mustard, also from Estonia, that comes in a tube like toothpaste. Also, my mother's gingerbread cookies, and this Italian Sienna cake that I sometimes make, with cocoa and different kinds of nuts. Yum!

EDGE: If a character in your book/story was celebrating Christmas how would they do it?
Sandra Kasturi: If a character in my book/story was celebrating the holidays... hmmm. Well, in my story "Foxford" the two sisters kind of hate each other, so I imagine the one might eat the other one instead of having a Christmas turkey. Now isn't that festive?
===============================================
Your name: Jon Leitch

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Jon Leitch: I’m more of a Santa. I actually enjoy shopping (but not at Christmas time) and I’m one of the best wrappers I know. I think the best part of Christmas is watching someone open a present I’ve bought and be really surprised and appreciative.

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Jon Leitch: When I was young we used to open 1 present a day until they were all gone. My wife refuses to do that.

EDGE: What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration here gift you ever received?

Jon Leitch: A large cardboard box (in the times when we opened 1 present a day). It was eventually pointed out that there was a pen taped under wrapping paper on one of the flaps.

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Jon Leitch: Nanaimo Bar and rum laced eggnog.

EDGE: If a character in your book/story was celebrating Christmas how would they do it?

Jon Leitch: Thomas and Vicki would head for Hawaii
==============================

Your name:  Michelle Barker

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Michelle Barker: I'm a Scrooge in November when I'm not ready for snow or Christmas music or pre-Christmas sales. Now it is December. I'm still not ready for snow or Christmas music or pre-Christmas sales, but I do love the idea of our whole family coming together and spending time with each other, so I think I edge towards Santa as the 25th draws nearer.

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Michelle Barker: Yes. Just before Christmas we exchange names (in secret) and then we each have $10 to go out and buy the other person a great gift. This is something of a contest. Greatest gift wins. However, it was most fun the year we were in Mexico when bargaining was involved. The contest was, greatest bargain wins. The market was small and we kept catching glimpses of each other scurrying from one store to another trying to make a good deal.

EDGE:What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration here gift you ever received?
 
Michelle Barker: Pots. I mean, I needed them, but come on.

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Michelle Barker: My mother bakes and sends us elaborate gingerbread men every year. They're the greatest.

EDGE: If a character in your book/story was celebrating Christmas how would they do it?

Michelle Barker: My poems are all about death. I do not believe my mouth-less man with the generous moustache who stands guard at death's door has ever heard of Christmas.
========================================

Your name: Susan Forest

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge? (Elaborate as much as you want around that.)

Susan Forest: Definitely, Santa -- love everything about Christmas!
The cup is definitely half full -- okay overflowing.

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Susan Forest: I make a gingerbread house (with stained glass windows lit by a little lightbulb from the inside so it shines on the pond outside the window) every year.

EDGE: What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration here gift you ever received?

Susan Forest: My friends aren't all that imaginative. I win at strange.

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Susan Forest: Doing a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle of the world while watching "The Devil Wears
Prada" while drinking Bailey's in front of the wood fire -- with no one else in the house.

EDGE: If a character in your book/story was celebrating Christmas how would they do it?

Susan Forest: Watching Shakespearian movies, drinking wine and smoking a joint.
=========================================

TESSERACTS FOURTEEN: Strange Canadian Stories

TESSERACTS FOURTEEN: Strange Canadian Stories, edited by John Robert Colombo and Brett Alexander Savory, features innovative short stories and poetry by 23 of Canada’s finest speculative fiction writers.
This anthology joins a 20+ year Canadian literary legacy that features the writing and editing of more than 200 of Canada’s best known authors, including Margaret Atwood, Robert J. Sawyer, Elisabeth Vonarburg, Spider Robinson and William Gibson.

TESSERACTS FOURTEEN: Strange Canadian Stories Features Works by:

Robert J. Sawyer
Michelle Barker
Tony Burgess
Suzanne Church
David Clink
Michael Colangelo
Margaret Curelas
Susan Forest
L. L. Hannett
Brent Hayward
Patrick Johanneson
Sandra Kasturi
Claude Lalumière
Michael Lorenson
Catherine MacLeod
Matthew Moore
David Nickle
John Park
Jonathan Saville
Daniel Sernine (translated by Sheryl Curtis)
Leah Silverman
Jerome Stueart
Jon Martin Watts

About the Editors

John Robert Colombo is the Toronto-based author and anthologist whose byline appears on over 200 books of quality.

Brett Alexander Savory is a Bram Stoker Award-winner, has over 45 short stories published, is the author of two novels and of the foreword to TESSERACTS TWELVE.

Countdown to Christmas Day Four: A Holiday Conversation with EVOLVE authors Natasha Beaulieu, Kevin Nunn and Tanya Huff

Your name: Natasha Beaulieu
EDGE title(s) of 2010: EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead

EDGE:  Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Natasha Beaulieu:  I feel closer to Santa but I prefer to give gifts through the year whenever I see something that can please a friend or someone else I appreciate.

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Natasha Beaulieu: The fact that I can still enjoy my mom and dad presence. They come at my place for Christmas diner. It is the only day in the year I cook a real big meal but that is a great pleasure and every time we spend a wonderful memorable evening ;)

EDGE: What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration here gift you ever received?

Natasha Beaulieu: Sorry, I can't tell. But it was bright pink and you can add batteries in it. I never used it. Let's say it was a turnoff....

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Natasha Beaulieu: Fruit cakes.

EDGE: If a character in your book/story was celebrating Christmas how would they do it?

Natasha Beaulieu: Choosing more bloody red than green for decoration ;)
======================================================

Your name: Kevin Nunn
EDGE title(s) of 2010: EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Kevin Nunn: I'm a jolly old Scrooge! I'm not a bad person, I've just spent so long in the arts that I've gotten used to doing everything on the cheap.Or I guess you could call me a miserly Santa. Hard to say. Jolly and Happy and very cheap.

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Kevin Nunn: It's not Christmas until we watch out Christmas movie. We're no Angels with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray, Basil Rathbone. Awesome movie, hard to find, but highly recommended.

EDGE:  What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration here gift you ever received?

Kevin Nunn: A jeweller's desk. A large sheet of brass. 500 saw blades. a gallon of white glue. No shortage of stuff there! I'm always receiving odd stuff since I'm always on the lookout for odds and sods for my art projects.

EDGE:  What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Kevin Nunn: My Mom's cloverleaf rolls. Of course I make a wicked molasses cookie myself!

EDGE: If a character in your story was celebrating Christmas how would they
do it...

Kevin Nunn: Kenneth (from my story in Evolve) would have a quiet day reading by a fiery Yule log before going out to a formal dinner in white tie and tails. He's an inconvenient sort like that.

=======================================================

Your name: Tanya Huff
EDGE title(s) of 2010: EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead

EDGE:  Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Tanya Huff: Kind of a harried Santa.  I worry about buying the "right" gift most of
the time -- well, except for our Angel kids.  Every year we "adopt" a pair
of siblings from the local CAS Angel Tree and try to give them the kind of
Christmas both Fiona and I remember as kids.

EDGE: Very cool. Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the
holiday season?

Tanya Huff: Well, there's the pig-in-a-can solstice tradition that started when one of
our boys brought us a Pepperidge Farm box and we've continued even though
all our boys have grown up and moved away. (the neighbourhood teenagers
used to fight to shovel our driveway; we're 22K from town so jobs are few
and far between before you can drive)

EDGE: What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration
here gift you ever received?

Tanya Huff: I'm sure there must've been something over the years that others might
consider weird but for the life of me, I can't remember any specifics...

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Tanya Huff: I love the little marzipan pigs you can get at this time of the year!
Haven't seen any this year though.  ::is sad::

EDGE: If a character in your story was celebrating Christmas how would they
do it...

Tanya Huff:  I've actually written that story: SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS, collected in Blood
Bank, where Vicki learns to be less Scrooge-like.

Tony stared at her suspiciously for a moment, then continued. "You will be
visited by three ghosts."

"You have got to be kidding me."

His shrug set the lunch boxes clanking.  "Yeah, surprised me too.  I'd
have bet you were more the IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE type."
==========================================================
About EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead


Vampires have Evolved and They are Here!

Kelley Armstrong, Tanya Huff and twenty-two other Canadian dark fantasy and horror writers re-imagine the future of vampires in this new collection of all-original short fiction. One of the most unusual and original vampire anthologies ever compiled.

EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead includes works by:
Kelley Armstrong, Tanya Huff, Claude Lalumière. Mary E. Choo, Sandra Kasturi, Bradley Somer, Kevin Cockle, Rebecca Bradley, Heather Clitheroe, Colleen Anderson, Sandra Wickham, Rhea Rose, Ronald Hore, Bev Vincent, Jennifer Greylyn, Steve Vernon, Michael Skeet, Kevin Nunn, Victoria Fisher, Rio Youers, Gemma Files, Natasha Beaulieu, Claude Bolduc, and Jerome Stueart.

Amazon Link
EVOLVE:Vampire Stories of the New Undead

Tomorrow, join us for many of the authors of Tesseracts Fourteen: Strange Canadian Stories edited by John Robert Colombo, and Brett Alexander Savory

"Countdown to Christmas" Day Three: Christmas with Lynda Williams - here, and in the Okal Rel Universe...

Your name: Lynda Williams
Featured EDGE title of 2010: Avim's Oath

“...pure Space Opera, with spaceships that travel faster than light, and arguments that are settled by swordplay”  -- Ron Hore, CM Magazine

EDGE: Joining us today is Lynda Williams, creator of the Okal Rel Saga, and author of "Avim's Oath". Hi Lynda, thanks for joining us...what can you tell us about Avim's Oath?

Lynda Williams: Avim's Oath is part six of the Okal Rel Saga, a series brimming with larger-than-life characters who dramatize the challenges we all face in the modern world through the medium of a fictional setting designed to personalize decision.

In this book, brothers Amel and Erien compete for a bride and to realize their very different visions of a better world. Amel is in love with the idea of love. Erien doesn't know what ails him. Amel wants to preserve what's good about Demish values, including the sanctity of marriage. But he will have to sire a child the Vrellish way to secure the oath of Vretla Vrel. Meanwhile, Erien flies out to the wild and warlike Knotted Strings with Vretla to rescue kidnapped children caught in the middle of clan rivalry while Amel goes super-Demish, artistic and refined Demora to compete with the woman he is woeing in a rough competition for possessing the more beautiful soul.

EDGE: Thanks Lynda. To learn more about the Okal Rel universe, where can people go?

Lynda Williams: The Okal Rel Universe website can be found at http://www.okalrel.org/, and of course the EDGE website http://www.edgewebsite.com/books/avimsoath/ao-catalog.html


EDGE: To get into the spirit of the holiday season we have asked our authors some questions, the first of which is, "Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?"

Lynda Williams: Depends on the year. I've been a Santa some years and a Scrooge others. Working on staying on budget this year so we're not spending as much on Xmas as usual. But I did make a $300 donation to a charity, if that counts.

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Lynda Williams: Yes, because the family gets together over Christmas we can count on at least a couple family readings. Both myself and my daughter, Jennifer Lott, are writers and the rest of the family are supportive fans. Sometimes we can coax them into reading, too, either from a favorite book or something of their own.

EDGE: What was the strangest holiday gift you ever received?

Lynda Williams: A set of Okal Rel Universe trivia cards from my middle daughter, Angela, was the most unique.

EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat (sweet or otherwise)?

Lynda Williams: French and frosted mints by Laura Secord. My mother always had a few boxes out for Xmas.

EDGE: If a character in Avim's Oath was celebrating Christmas how would they do it?

Lynda Williams:

Amel would do Christmas surrounded by as many of the people he loved as possible. He would hug the women, enjoy the food, and play with the kids. He'd help with the dishes, too. In fact he'd probably like that part best because of the happy gossiping that takes place in the kitchen.

Alivda, on the other hand, would get bored unless she got to take charge. Then it wouldn't be exciting enough for her unless there was a fire on the stove or a hot guy she could seduce, whether or not he was there with his wife.

Erien would be awkward about the social aspect until he found someone he could talk to about ways to improve the traditional aspects of the season to get through it more efficiently. 

Horth would stake out a corner of the living room and stoically endure the babble of unintelligible conversation for as long as necessary to prove he could cope with it, then go jump in a rel-ship to clear his head with a little reality skimming. Unless Ilse was there. Then he'd stick it out.

Ranar would look like he was being very social but he'd actually be collecting data for an anthropological study on what the holiday meant to those present. Perry would have a hell of a good time and take home doggie bags to her Killing Reach rebels.

Ayrium would make Ameron come, incognitio, and insist he didn't talk politics with anyone.

Luthan would throw the party, with some help from Samanda O'Pearl as convener.

Eler would make a scene at the height of the evening and start a fight.

EDGE: Thanks Lynda that is great! Thanks for joining us on EDGE's "Countdown to Christmas"!
============================================

Read Chapter One
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-894063-35-7
6" X 9"
$16.95 US / $16.95 CDN
288 pages
 
About Avim's Oath

Avim's Oath (Part Six of the Okal Rel Saga)

Love and titles are lost and won as two brothers struggle to attain power, recognition, and acceptance in a world filled with treachery and hatred.

The Queen is dead. Two princes are suddenly thrust center-stage to vie for a throne neither really wants, orchestrated by the ambitions of power-hungry princesses.

Amel, the elder, would prefer a quiet life — but is being pressured into the pursuit of power by the alarmingly beautiful princess Alivda.

Erien, the younger, wants to start an academy of science on their planet — but is being pursued by the leige Vretla, who intends to bear the prince’s child.

Trapped in a tangle of torment, the two brothers must prove themselves, choosing between lives they desire, and the roles for which they are demanded.

Avim's Oath is available on Amazon.com 

==================================================
Praise for Avim's Oath

Better and better and even more so, Lynda Williams just keeps on delivering the goods with her Okal Rel saga. I've just finished reading Avim's Oath, the sixth volume in the series, and I loved it. It's a well-balanced blend of politics, action and romance (a love triangle, to be exact). Moreover, Williams is one of the best at making you believe that you are experiencing a unique culture filled with vivid and endearing characters that really draw you in. Avim's Oath is a captivating read. -- Nathalie Mallett, author.

http://www.beacon-news.com/avim-oath-review/222014/
"Avim's Oath Receives Top Review"
============================================

Countdown to Christmas Day Two (Nine Days Left): A Holiday Conversation with Dave Duncan

Hi Dave, thanks for dropping by the virtual 10 day EDGE Christmas party here at the Countdown to Christmas blog.
=================================
EDGE: What can you tell us about Pock’s World?

Dave Duncan: Pock’s World is Science Fiction, my first SF since 1991.  Pock’s World itself is an exotic setting, but any fiction has to involve people.   The love interest involves a high priestess who never dies and is eternally renewed.  The alien who threatens the destruction of Pock’s World and all humanity, is a rather nasty little boy.  The fact-finding committee that is sent there to decide whether the world should be destroyed is composed of four super-achievers and a humdrum bureaucrat, and they strike sparks from their first meetings. 

EDGE: As part of the Countdown to Christmas, we have had each of the authors answering some holiday questions.  Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Dave Duncan: A Santa.  I spend lots of money at Christmas buying presents -- one or two for my wife, Janet, but the rest for myself.

EDGE: Do you have anything unique or special thing you do to celebrate the holiday season?

Dave Duncan: I like to phone bomb threats into toy stores so I can watch the mothers become as excited as their greedy little horrors.  Merry, merry!

EDGE: What was the strangest Christmas/Hanukah/Yule/insert other celebration here gift you ever received?

Dave Duncan: A mermaid.

EDGE: If one, or more of the characters in Pock's World was celebrating Christmas, how would they do it?

Dave Duncan: There are certainly Christians on Pock's World.  That fact is part of the plot.  From what we see of Pope Cyril-Pius XXII, he would insist on a very traditional festival.  The interesting question is how he would calculate the appropriate date.  Would his branch of the church have counted clock time from Earth?  In that case does he recognize relativistic effects?  Or does he use the local calendar, in which case all of the 17 worlds in his domain would have different Christmases.  And how do you squeeze all the saints' days into a year of, say, 225 days?  He'll need more than three wise men to figure all that out.

EDGE: Excellent! Thanks Dave for joining us for EDGE's Countdown to Christmas!
==============================================

Dave Duncan was recently interviewed on Open Book Toronto's blog.  You can read the interview here.


==============================================

Author Bio:

Dave Duncan

Originally from Scotland, Dave Duncan has lived all his adult life in Western Canada, having enjoyed a long career as a petroleum geologist before taking up writing. Since discovering that imaginary worlds are more satisfying than the real one, he has published more than forty novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, but also young adult, science fiction, and historical.

Praise for POCK'S WORLD

"...Very well-written plot and characters, the tale is a page-turner, as the potential for the death of an entire planet and its inhabitants looms large. The story should appeal to a wide range of readers, not just fans of science fiction...Highly recommended." — Ronald Hore, CM Magazine
=========================================================

About Pock's World

POCK’S WORLD is a classic adventure story written by master storyteller Dave Duncan.

Pock’s World, long settled by humankind, is accused of being infected by humanoid aliens. It has been quarantined and may have to be sterilized.

Five people are chosen to go there and examine the evidence: saintly but ruthless Father Andre; Ratty Turnsole, muckraking reporter ripe for romance; ambitious politician Athena Fimble; manipulative bureaucrat Millie Backet; and shady billionaire Linn Lazuline. They all have their own agendas.

Pock’s World surprises them all.

Nothing is what they expect. Quickly entangled in love, politics, religion, and deceit, they discover that the clock is already ticking and the fate of humanity itself is at stake.

Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-894063-47-0
5.50" X 8.50"
$14.95 US / $14.95 CDN
280 pages

Pock's World at Amazon.com

Countdown to Christmas (Ten Days Left ): A Holiday Conversation with Nancy Kilpatrick, Kevin Cockle, Ronald Hore and Michael Skeet.

Hi! Welcome to Day One of EDGE's Countdown to Christmas.  

Joining us today is Nancy Kilpatrick, editor of EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead.  Also, dropping by for a touch of Holiday cheer, are EVOLVE authors Kevin Cockle, Ronald Hore and Michael Skeet.  Our feature interview is on Countdown to Christmas guest Dragon Page, and features a podcast with Nancy Kilpatrick. Enjoy!

Click here to enjoy the Dragonpage Podcast
=======================================


Just for the fun of it - Countdown to Christmas Author Questions


EDGE:  Hi Nancy, thanks for joining us today...and helping us start off the Countdown to Christmas. Our first Countdown to Christmas question is "Are you more of a Santa or a Scrooge?"

Nancy Kilpatrick: I'm a Santa-like Scrooge.  I find unusual and intriguing gifts that are not expensive but seem to be so.

EDGE: Since one of the titles of 2010 is Tesseracts Fourteen: Strange Canadian Tales, we would like to know - what is the strangest Christmas gift you have received?

Nancy Kilpatrick: A Count Dracula punching bag.


EDGE: What is your favorite holiday treat?

Nancy Kilpatrick: Favorite treat is pumpkin pie, which I only have at Thanksgiving and Christmas and which is really hard to get in Quebec.

EDGE: In your minds eye, how would one of the characters in EVOLVE celebrate Christmas?  

Nancy Kilpatrick: Most of them would have a Christmas tree with black ornaments and a dark star atop.  They'd probably try to find a selection of 'vintages' for the holiday meal.  As to gifts, I think some might go for the joke, like a vampire staking kit.  Others would be offering something more liquid.

Thanks for joining us Nancy for the EDGE Countdown to Christmas!
===================================
Name: Kevin Cockle
2010 EDGE title: Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Kevin Cockle: In theory I'm a Santa: I like the nostalgia; I'd enjoy zoo lights; I'd go shopping - like to surprise people with perfect gifts etc.  In practice, I'm Scrooge - rarely (if ever) participate in holiday traditions.  If I could get organized in July, Christmas would happen, but I inevitably look forward to next year, each year.

EDGE: Do you do anything unique for Christmas?

Kevin Cockle: About the only thing I do is make a point of reading when the TV shows that burning log.  Sure, I'd probably read anyway, but the burning log seems to raise the practice to the level of ritual.

EDGE: What is the Strangest gift you have ever received?

Kevin Cockle: A tie with the Hulk on it.  I actually liked it, though never had occasion to wear it.  BONUS QUESTION: Strangest gift I ever GAVE was this cool - super scary - latex rubber skeleton mask!  Chilling - and completely inappropriate as it turned out. 

EDGE:  What is your favorite holiday treat or toxin?

Kevin Cockle: Favourite Holiday Toxin...I'm fine with the chocolate-family of toxins.  All good: will eat any in my line of sight.


EDGE:  If one of the characters in your story was celebrating Christmas, how would they do it?

Kevin Cockle:: Character in Sleepless In Calgary celebrating Christmas...As it turns out, the POV character in my story would be working.  Christmas is inconveniently scheduled upon the financial year end - causing all kinds of administrative headaches at the last moment.  Adding to the time pressure, is the fact that all of your support staff is on holiday, or drunk, or otherwise inefficient, so the holidays are actually pretty stressful for financial industry types.  Earlier in his career, my character would have tried to take some time off in November, but since no one else does this, it's not much of a Christmas.  By the time of the story of course, Christmas is not even on this character's radar.  Cue vampire.
Thanks Kevin for joining us for the EDGE Countdown to Christmas!
===============================
Name:  Ronald Hore
EDGE Title: "Evolve" my story "Chrysalis"...

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Ronald Hore: Reluctant Santa while I grumble like Scrooge ... my wife never gives me any useful hints and she is difficult to buy for ...

EDGE: Do you do anything unique for Christmas?

Ronald Hore: Have all the family over to the house for the big turkey dinner, with rum pudding and custard, and then we usually watch a terrible movie. Matter of principle to find the worst movie on DVD, and we have seen some real stinkers. I think last year's "Santa Claus vs the Martians" was pretty bad, although the year before "Cannibal the Musical" was hard to beat. Goes down better on a full stomach.

EDGE: What is the Strangest gift you have ever received?

Ronald Hore: My brother and I have a policy of exchanging pretty bad/strange (and usually childish) gifts. Of course I can't think of many right now, although I do have a Tiki-faced Kleenex dispenser and he has a talking beer bottle opener ...

EDGE:  What is your favorite holiday treat or toxin?

Ronald Hore: Partial to rum balls, rum and hot chocolate, and a turkey drumstick ...

EDGE: How would your character in Evolve celebrate Christmas?

Ronald Hore: The character is a young teenage girl, Lucy, who is half vampire, and in the story, is just in the process of discovering this. Her father would probably show up at midnight on Christmas Eve in a bad mood, (he works nights for a security division) her mother might be tipsy. Lucy, now that she is realizing her powers, might decide to spend the day with her new boyfriend, although she wouldn't be welcome at his house. I can see them going for a horse-drawn sleigh ride in the woods ...
============================  
Name: Michael Skeet
EDGE Title: "Evolve"

EDGE: Are you more of a Santa or Scrooge?

Michael Skeet: I try to pretend to Scrooge-dom, but I am totally and utterly a Santa. I love giving gifts and socializing. I don't even mind shopping, within reason.

EDGE: Do you do anything unique for Christmas?

Michael Skeet: We don't decorate a tree. Instead, we decorate a large (life-size) wooden flamingo. All lit up it's quite impressive. We also start Christmas morning with a breakfast of champagne and caviar. It's essential.

EDGE: What is the Strangest gift you have ever received?

Michael Skeet: I have received a number of flamingos over the years (including a neon flamingo that now graces the liquor stand), but I like flamingos so that isn't strange. The most wonderfully weird gift I ever received was an entire case of vintage port, from my mother-in-law. (My own mother once gave me a farting toilet for Christmas -- to make it fart you had to stick your fingers into it, don't ask -- but I don't want to embarrass her so I won't mention that.)

EDGE:  What is your favorite holiday treat or toxin?

Michael Skeet: It's hard to choose between the Christmas morning caviar or the Christmas evening port and Stilton.

EDGE: How would your character in Evolve celebrate Christmas?

Michael Skeet: As for the bonus question, it's hard to imagine vampires as I perceive them celebrating anything save possibly for a successful kill. If he did celebrate Christmas, it would probably be with blood cake and blood pudding...

Thanks everyone for joining us for our first day of Countdown to Christmas!
=========================================================
“The intriguing Vampires appearing in Evolve all share a common link to the iconic character Dracula”
-- Dacre Stoker

"Vampire fans-this is a must read" -- Parajunkie, Blog with Bite

“With stories from genre veterans Kelley Armstrong and Tanya Huff, as well as a slew of newcomers, EVOLVE: VAMPIRE STORIES OF THE NEW UNDEAD is a worthy anthology for vampire lovers.” — Quill and Quire

=========================================================
About EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead


Vampires have Evolved and They are Here!

Kelley Armstrong, Tanya Huff and twenty-two other Canadian dark fantasy and horror writers re-imagine the future of vampires in this new collection of all-original short fiction. One of the most unusual and original vampire anthologies ever compiled.

EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead includes works by:
Kelley Armstrong, Tanya Huff, Claude Lalumière. Mary E. Choo, Sandra Kasturi, Bradley Somer, Kevin Cockle, Rebecca Bradley, Heather Clitheroe, Colleen Anderson, Sandra Wickham, Rhea Rose, Ronald Hore, Bev Vincent, Jennifer Greylyn, Steve Vernon, Michael Skeet, Kevin Nunn, Victoria Fisher, Rio Youers, Gemma Files, Natasha Beaulieu, Claude Bolduc, and Jerome Stueart.

Amazon Link
EVOLVE:Vampire Stories of the New Undead
=========================================================