Good morning, Readers!

Can*Con and the people involved with it have once again earned my love this week when, yesterday, they made an announcement about the whole ChiZine horror show.  Instead of waxing lyrical about it, I've instead copied the whole thing below.  Here, have a read:

Instead of empty words, they've decided to enact something tangible to help the authors who are going through hell right now, offering something constructive to help them out.

Reading this yesterday made me so happy.  It's nice to see the community stand up and do something good.

I'm proud of you Can*Con.

Now I have work to do, so, I'm off to do it.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I have returned to my usual routine this week, which means that I am sore and tired.  For the record, my usual routine is lifting weights every Monday Wednesday and Friday at lunch,  (I say every Friday, but a lot of the time, I'm too tired to do it Fridays, so I often can be found snoozing in the sauna instead.  Naps are great), running and martial arts training every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  Sunday I do nothing physical.  That's my recovery day.

It has been a couple of weeks since I've abandoned my schedule.  I was unwell and otherwise occupied, so as usual my fitness routine was the first to be sacrificed.  I regret this, as I always feel so much better when I'm active.  It's a vital part of my mental health care strategy (it's not foolproof.  I still spiral, but it does help).  I was supposed to return to my schedule last week in the middle of the week.  I did not, because I was a lazy bum.

But I'm back now, and hopefully I'll be able to keep it up for a little while.  It is so easy to break a routine, and so damned difficult to regain it.  Normally, it takes me about two weeks to settle into the routine.  If I can stick with it for a fortnight, I should be golden.  Happily, I think I'll be able to keep up with my run training, as I've now got a running partner in my friend Tom.  It's a lot harder for me to make excuses for not going to train when someone is waiting for me.  So in my running, at least, I should be keeping up.

For the record, Tom couldn't run yesterday, but I still went.  I did not run outside.  I don't have the running equipment necessary to run in the cold and snow, so I have taken my runs inside to the Y and the treadmills once more.  I used to like running on treadmills, but after spending so much time running outside, particularly in the cooler months, I find running on treadmills to be dull and weird.  I get a little dizzy when I step off to find the ground beneath me no longer moving.  It's weird, and I don't like it.  I'll put up with it, though, until I can run outside again.

Hopefully, I can keep this up.  Wish me luck!

Now, I have a book to write.  I had hoped to have it finished already, but, well... that's a topic for another day.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I have news!  Good news!  The lovely folks at Renaissance Press have acquired Sky Road Walker, and will be getting a second edition through them.  YAY!

There is no release date as of yet, so the first edition is still available.  I doubt very much that the second edition will be all that changed, maybe the cover a little bit (but probably not.  Who knows?), from the first so that's not going to be much of an issue.

The book is also still going to be raising money for charity.  Except this time, instead of $5.00 from physical book sales and the royalties from eBook sales, all royalties will be going to charity in perpetuity.  I will not be seeing any money from this sale to Renaissance, and I'm thrilled!

I'm thrilled for many reasons, the most obvious one being that I no longer have to fuss with lugging the books around, keeping stock, and sorting out the finances for donation.  Now Renaissance will be handling all of that, thank heavens.

I'm most happy, however, about the fact that Renaissance has a greater reach than I do.  They will sell more copies than I possibly could - they're at conventions I can't get to, or have folks who sell one their behalf at conventions that I can't get to - and that means that more copies will sell, helping charity.

The charity, incidentally, has not changed.  This book will still be raising funds for The Caring and Sharing Exchange, a charity that helps families in need by offering school supplies for disadvantaged children, and Christmas hampers for families who haven't the resources to offer much by way of Christmas celebrations.  Everyone deserves to go to school with all that they need, and to have a good Christmas.  The Caring and Sharing Exchange helps these things to happen.  You can read more about their work here.

I'm so happy that Renaissance Press decided to say yet when I asked them if they wanted the book.  I will keep you informed about release dates and whatnot for the second edition of Sky Road Walker.  I'm really excited that it's find a better home than I could give it.

Anyway, I'm really excited and happy about this.  I will be having a short celebration for myself, and then I'll be getting back to work.  I have the second book in the Avalon series to get written.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers.

The end of last week sent the Canadian SFF world into a tailspin.  It began with accusations of non-payment and verbal attacks levelled against ChiZine Publishing by author Ed Kurtz.

Then things exploded.  Stories by others associated with the press, either having "worked" for (I put worked in quotation marks, because payment was not something they often did) or volunteered with them, and other authors expression concerns about behaviour and non-payment.  Some of it was truly sickening; verbal and emotional abuse that I found extraordinarily triggering.  I watched unfold over last Thursday and Friday with my jaw hanging open, my heart in my stomach, and my mind whirling.

I knew ChiZine a little.  Not well.  But a little.  Or I thought I did.  They always seems like interesting folks.  Their humour was on the snarky side, which I tend to appreciate, though it was never, in my hearing at least, cruel.  In fact, the only thing I can remember of our interactions was some light teasing of Derek Kunsken, actually.  This is not to say that I don't believe the victims of their malice.  I absolutely do.  I think, at this point, given all the stories and all their similarities, you'd have to be willful ignorant to not.  It's just a way, I suppose, of me trying to explain my shock when the accusations dropped.

It's a shock that has deepened upon learning of all the financial fraud that may have taken place; including fraud against Canadian arts grants.  If you want a fairly good summary of it all, with outside links to other resources, I highly recommend this post by High Fever Books.  Start at the bottom and work up through each update.  It just gets worse and worse.

Despite all I've personally experienced, and all I see in the world around me, I'm surprised I can still be shocked by this.  I guess there are enough wonderful folks around me that it keeps me believing that people are fundamentally good.

In any case, the shock was real, probably exacerbated by the triggering effect it had, and it's taken me the better part of the weekend to really get to grips with it all.

My heart is broken, not because one of Canada's brightest success stories is likely a fraud (that doesn't break my heart, it makes me angry), but, more importantly, for all the people impacted by this sordid mess.  How many careers has this ended?  My heart breaks for all the authors who put their trust in this publisher, and were burnt by it.  For those poor souls who poured countless hours of unpaid work into the publisher, only to be eviscerated by them.  For those people who are now too scarred to write, to submit, to tell the stories that so desperately need to be told, who cannot edit or format without even staring at words on a page like they're triggers....  I can't imagine how devastated I would be to be one of those authors, how it might have beaten me down so badly that I would never, ever seek publication again.  Being caught in this mess might have ended me.

Hell, I'm not even published by them and this whole thing wrecked me for a weekend.

Here is what I would ask of anyone who is feeling betrayed by ChiZine: The authors are not responsible for the behaviour of their publisher.  In fact, many authors are so appalled at the news coming out of this that's they've asked for their rights back, or sought to otherwise nullify their contracts (to ChiZine's credit, they've been quite good about reverting rights and nullifying contracts).  This has made me feel a little better.  It takes courage to stand up for what's right, to take a moral position and stick to if, even if it jeopardises your career.  I'm so proud of those authors, and want to hug each and every one of them.  It can't have been an easy decision.  I'll say nothing of those who are more upset about ChiZine's predicament than the lives and health of the authors, artists, publicists, editors and formatters they've so callously fucked over.

So, try as hard as you can to not hurt the authors further.  They're already hurting.  If you can, find a way to support them.  They'll need it.

Honestly, I had submitted to ChiZine a few years ago, hoping to be included in what was to the outside eye a powerfully rising star in the Canadian speculative fiction scene.  They rejected me.  A simple form rejection.  At the time I was quite bummed about it.  Now, I think they're might be someone out there looking out for me.  Whomever or whatever it is is not granting me giant successes, but it does seem to be steering me away from sparkling chests of treasure, which later turn out to be mimics after all.

I have never been so relieved to have been rejected by a publisher in my life.

Lastly, I want to make special mention of my own small press, Renaissance Press.  They have been wonderful to work with, and I couldn't be more proud to be included in their family.  I don't sell very many books, so while the royalties will not be buying me a house, I've not ever had to worry about non-payment.  I've always been kept in the loop when things are affecting timelines.  I've felt looked after and valued by them, not just as an author, but as a person.  Nathan, one of the press' founders, said to me, "your people are your business card.
I don't understand why you wouldn't look after them."  He's right, you know.

So, thank you, Renaissance Press, for being kind, honest and inclusive.  Thank you for the email you sent checking in on us to make sure we were alright when the news about ChiZine broke (I was not).  I am so grateful to be a part of your little press, and I genuinely look forward to the day when you are as recognisable a household name in publishing as ChiZine was.

To everyone hurting right now, I'm so, so sorry.  You don't deserve what happened to you.  Sending you much love, and I am available for hugs if you need it.  Tea (it fixes everything) and a shoulder to cry on, as well.

All my love.

Good morning, Readers!

Well, this morning was a roller coaster of emotions.  I woke up to find that it was snowing.  I'm one of those terribly annoying people that actually loves the snow, so... It was a good morning for me.  I am daydreaming about the day when I don't have to put up with OC Transpo, who, every year, seems to be surprised by and therefore ill-prepared for the snow.  On that day, I will make myself some tea, and begin my day by sitting by the window and watching the snow fall until I have to start my work for the day.

Having to deal with Ottawa's terribly broken transit system took the shine out of the morning a little bit, but I managed to get to work on time, so I can't complain too much.  I arrived and checked my email to discover that someone in Conneticut tried to access my Facebook account.  I changed my password quicksmart and set-up two-factor authorisation.  Stupid people trying to make things difficult for other folks.

Then, I received my first rejection.  This was, I have to admit, to be expected, though it came in really fast from this agent.  I'm not as torn up over it as I was the first time I ever received a rejection, though I am rather sad.  That's normal, I suppose.  Still, it's not the optimal way to start a day.

Right now I'm sitting down with a coffee and letting myself feel sad.  Rejection sucks, even if it's expected.  While I'm feeling sad, I'm dreaming of my house in the country, sitting at the library window, with a cup of tea, and watching the snow fall, before retiring to my writing desk to work.

Honestly, I'll need to win the lottery to make this happen, so it shall remain a dream.  For a little while longer.  But it's such a pleasant dream...

Right, I have to go.  Despite my desire to dream, I do have work to do.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

So, the main trailer and release date for Netflix’s new nerd acquisition, The Witcher, dropped a fortnight or so ago. Knowing that I streamed the lengthy final game (and its DLCs) in the trilogy not all that long ago and had a good time with it, a number of my friends directed me towards the trailer when it dropped. I may have also had and voiced opinions about the news that Netflix acquired the rites to The Witcher, and then had more opinions when Henry Cavill was announced in the titular role.

A few things to note about me and my opinions. They’re horribly ill-informed. My experience with The Witcher is the third game (The Wild Hunt). That’s it. If you’re curious about how I felt about the game, you can check out my review on Chalgyrs here. I’ve not read the books on which the game was based, though I do plan to (should I make it a thing to do, and then share my thoughts here, do you think?). I don’t have as strong an emotional attachment to the world, the characters or the story as I might have had I read (presuming I enjoyed them) the books, or even had followed the games from the first.

But about the Netflix series….

Good morning, Readers!

I did not go to training last night.  I didn't want to get everyone sick, so instead I went home.  I finally felt emotionally ready to finish watching The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.  I only had two episodes to watch.  The show had wrecked me emotionally up until that point, so I needed some serious recovery and to get myself together before I finished out the series.  It didn't help that I was fast approaching con season and was too busy to breathe, let alone sit for two hours and watch some television.

Anyway, I finished the series.  There were tears.  Still, it was well worth the watch.

I really loved this series.  I loved what they did with it.  I am as enamoured of this series now as I was with the original film when I was a child.  It was a stunning piece of art.  I loved it so much, I also watched the making-of documentary.  It made me smile.

It also made me feel like I'm missing out.  On what, exactly, I could not tell you.  But I felt a little sad that I wasn't part of something so incredible and so filled with such passion and energy.  Writing, as you know, is a very solitary sort of thing, at least for the most part.

In high school I was involved in amateur theatre.  While performing in front of an audience was not my favourite (I'm going to say that I was a fine actor, but crowds are not my scene), I really do miss the enormous collaboration that each production was.  I miss helping build the sets, and painting, and the rehearsals (even when they were incredibly boring).  Watching the making-of documentary made me realise just how much I miss that kind of large-scale collaboration.  I have few happy memories of my time as a youngin' but my days in amateur theatre carry many of them.  Maybe I should find a theatre group and help out.

​Who am I kidding?  I haven't the time.

Anyway, I finally finished watching The Dark Crystal and I loved it.  So now there's really nothing that I'm excited to watch until The Witcher comes out in December.

That's a good thing, I guess.

Out of curiosity, what are you watching or what are you looking forward to watching?  Let me know.  For now, though, I have to go work.

​Ciao!