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Here are the remarks I made while accepting the honor of being inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame:

Let me begin by saying thank you to the people who nominated me and to those who thought I had done enough to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

I guess I have to face the fact that I am indeed a science fiction and fantasy author.  The funny thing is, I actually started out to be a crime writer.

In the nineties, I sold a crime novel to Doubleday, sold stories to Alfred Hitchcock’s magazine, and even won an award from the Crime Writers of Canada.

Then, after the turn of the century, publishers began offering me contracts to write science fiction and fantasy novels.  So I shifted focus.

Though not entirely.  I wrote stories in space opera and fantasy settings that were strongly reminiscent of the worlds Jack Vance created.  But my characters tended to be thieves, burglars, fraudsters, henchmen, rogues.  None of the wizards I created would ever have been mistaken for Gandalf.

I suppose this is because my family has produced more minor criminals than scientists or magicians.  Though I am the white sheep of my family, the genes still come through.

So, having received the Association’s accolade, I suppose I have no choice but to go one writing about disreputable types who just happen to have space ships or magic wands.

My current project is an authorized sequel to Jack Vance’s iconic series, The Demon Princes.  But I’ve been trying to make my main character a reasonably decent person.  We’ll see how that works out.

Again, thank you for the honor.  I appreciate the encouragement.