in Racoona Sheldon's "The Screwfly Solution") and appeared on the front page of the
Red Deer Advocate for colouring a picture of
Sparky, the Fire Dog.
After being told by a well-meaning teacher that only heretics believe that man is
descended from the apes, and after being told by a well-meaning father that heretics
were burned at the stake for religious unorthodoxy, she began a brief flirtation with
religion. Oops! Another similarity with Candide. Well, three weeks of coloring pictures
at Sunday School later, an auto-da-fe would have been a nice change of pace. For a much
more interesting story of religion in Alberta, check out William Perry Shunn's webpage.
A job at the Vancouver Sun brought the family to the west coast of Canada. After
a summer spent picking blueberries and living next to a mink farm on Lulu Island
in Vancouver, Astrid can't think of a better use to make of her nasty, fuzzy, former
playmates than turning them into fur coats.
Enough! This web page exists because Astrid is a science fiction writer. If you want to see
pics about Astrid and Immy, two little immigrants to Early Canada, give a little click on your
mouse. If you want to learn more about Astrid's fiction and non fiction, read on.
Algis Budrys, when asked in a 1993 interview in Quantum if there were any upcoming science
fiction writers whose writing or ideas had impressed him that year, said, "Astrid Julian if you
want a name most people don't know yet. She . . . speaks several different languages, and
is an altogether delightful person. The only thing that will prevent her being taken up by the
science fiction establishment is that she doesn't write very much. But that may change . . .
she's extraordinary."
It's true. Astrid's bibliography (fiction and non-fiction) is rather sparse. But you don't get
rewrites on the kids. Or on life. And so she plods along. Slowly. Sparsely.
The Cajun Sushi Hamsters from Hell is Astrid's Cleveland, Ohio writers' group. It has
already been the subject of two magazine articles. Over the years, most of the workshop's
members have managed to turn pro. Something must be working. Click on the faces
below to see other Hamster webpages.
