Good morning, Readers.

You know those self-help books that tell you to pick out a word for the year and to try an live that word for the year?  I do that.  2015's word was "courage."

I already have the word for 2016:

Sigh.

I'm an idiot.  I won't go into why just yet, because I still burn with shame, but I feel bad and I should feel bad.  Here's something that cheered me up:

By Jake Clark Comics. Click for link.

Onto brighter things!

I am now Standard First Aid certified.  After a two-day course that ate up my weekend (luckily, fellow trainees were hilarious, making the training very fun), I have my proper certification, and I'm prepared (ish) in the case of an emergency.

Beta Reader number three has turned around the manuscript for Sky Road Walker in record time.  Three days.  Three.  Today will be spent combing through the comments and doing probably a lot of editing.  Beta Reader number three is usually the harshest of the three.

That said, he really did enjoy it, so that's good.

For those of you not aware, Sky Road Walker is a story I wrote via democracy.  What that means is, I started with a section of story here on this blog and gave three possible choices for a course of action.  The readers then voted on which course of action they wanted the character to make and the action with the most votes won.

I then wrote the next section of story accordingly.

It was a lengthy process.  I thought it was going to merely take a year.  Well over two years later, the story finally came to a close.  Lo and behold, I had enough story for a full novel.  I was expecting a novelette.  Apparently even democratically, I'm unable to write anything but a novel length piece.

*grumbles about personal ineptitude*

The goal right from the off was to create this book for charity.  The plan was that all proceeds from the eBook sales and $3.00 from the paperback sales (which would pretty much be the profits, cost of books + shipping factored in) would go to a charity of my choosing.

I had a Kung Fu sister who did some work with the Ottawa Caring and Sharing Exchange, which does fantastic things for families with nothing.  Their Christmas Exchange programme ensures that underprivileged families get a proper meal or gift certificates so that they can have just as joyous a Christmas season as the rest of us.  Their Sharing in Student Success programme offers school supplies and lunch kits to families that need them so their children can have every opportunity the rest of us did to succeed in school and life.

It's important work, and I loved their programmes so much I decided to make them my charity of choice for this book.

I'm almost done the book.  I will edit this last round of comments, write the foreword and the dedication, and then send it off to the formatter to make it look all professional and stuff.  Then I have to send the specs for the book dimensions to the cover artist and I'm all done!  That's a weird feeling.

This book isn't supposed to be out until Hallowe'en of next year.  Go figure.

Right.  There is a lot of work before me today.  I must be getting on.  Have a great day everyone.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers.

Today I am feeling sad.

An email I've been hoping for and expecting this month hasn't come, and I'm genuinely heartbroken.  There have been tears.

Many, many tears.

The writer's life is full of disappointment.  I knew this when I started down this road.  But after five years of nothing but disappointment, and this latest one - which is a special kind of disappointment - I'm feeling a bit like giving up.

I'm not going to, of course.  I'd go mad if I wasn't writing.  I just feel like it today; just bone-weary and sad.

I can't even work through my sadness at training.  I've injured my foot and I'm taking the rest of the week off to rest it.

Le sigh.

I'll get over it.

Good news helps.  And today, there were two announcements that made me happy.  Technically there was one yesterday and one today, but I'm counting them as both today.

Firstly, awesome human being and great writer Geoff Gander announced that a story of his will be appearing in New Tales of the Old Ones, an anthology paying homage to the creatures of H.P. Lovecraft.  Check out the book here.

The second piece of exciting news is from fabulous human and awesome writer Nicole Lavigne,  I got to know Nicole a bit better after this year's Can-Con, and I can genuinely say she is a wonderful person and I'm so excited for her.  'What news?' you ask.

Well, her very first novel will be published December of 2018.  It's been formally announced, and I think we should all kick up a huge fuss about it.  This book is part of Ed Greenwood's new Folklore The Affliction world.  It looks pretty amazing.  You should all look it up here.  And then follow Nicole on all her social media platforms.

So there is reason to celebrate, even if I'm feeling blue.

Now, I'm off to drown my sorrows in YouTube.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers.

So... Amazon has been removing reviews.

This isn't really any news to most people, It's sad that due to certain authors gaming the system with paid reviews, sock-puppetry and other slimy activities that such a measure is even necessary.  Alas, a few bad apples spoiled the bunch, and now we're stuck with review removal.

But Amazon has gone a step far too far in their latest round of review purges.

According to Anne R. Allen's blog, which reported on this very issue (read it here), Amazon is removing reviews by people who know the author via social media.  That's right.  Follow your favourite author on Twitter? Had them follow you back?  Your review could be removed.  Have you liked their Facebook Page? Uh-uh-uuuh!  Naughty, naughty.  You know the author.  Review removed.

Ahem.

What the fuck, Amazon?

Look, I don't mean to whinge, but most authors build their readership on social media.  That's how they get to connect to their readership and (hopefully) grow their sales.  That's how they get word out about new releases, or old releases, or events where they can be found.  It is increasingly a very necessary part of selling books.

Not to mention that it's actually quite fun to meet new people and connect with them over the stories you've written.

Now, I get that family and friends would write biased reviews.  That's just the nature of the beast, really.  But people who have "liked" a writer's Facebook page aren't necessarily friends.  They're more often people who have loved the writer's work and so decided to follow them on various social media channels.  Now, because they've publicly declared their affection/admiration for an author, they cannot review any of said author's books on Amazon without risk of having that review pulled.

However, people who deliberately and maliciously leave terrible reviews are immune to all of the Amazon review purges.  There are a fair number of people who do troll Amazon and leave one star reviews not based on the book in question but on some political agenda or personal vendetta, serial stalkers of writers who follow them on Amazon and leave one star reviews, whether or not they've read the books in question, fellow authors who feel like writing a bad review for revenge purposes, and so many other misleading reviews in the other direction; all of which is perfectly acceptable according to the Amazon review rules.

Amazon, you are punishing writers who have a social media following for no damned reason, and rewarding those who are deliberately harassing writers.

Vendors, the people who sell on Amazon, have our hands tied.  There is very little recourse for us (as fellow Amazon sellers are well aware).  Our complaints go unanswered, our causes uninvestigated.  We get a "Well, it's not really against the rules, so..."

If it is true that Amazon is trying to provide an honest review section, then they need to crack down on all the misleading reviews, not just the positive ones.  They need to start cracking down on the troll patrol over there, and remove the bad reviews by people who have obviously not read the book/have a particular agenda/intensely dislike an author for any particular reason, as well as cracking down on the positive ones.

Otherwise, if it's anything goes for one side, leave it as anything goes. Period.

Writers like myself, small, unknown, struggling, rely on word of mouth.  Amazon's review policy is making it nigh on impossible to be seen beyond our small circle of family and friends.

It's frustrating.

Anne R. Allen finishes her blog post with a call to action, one that I will also reiterate.  Reviewers, speak up if you feel your review was unfairly pulled.  Readers, complain if you see reviews by people who have obviously not read the book.

Report abuse where you see it.

Maybe then Amazon will actually start to have an honest reviewing system.

Now I have work to do.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

So, as many of you with men in your lives know, this month is Movember - a movement to raise money and awareness for men's health; prostate and testicular cancer specifically, I think.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Of course I have friends participating this month, and on the weekend one reached out to me.  With a week left, he's a little shy of his goal.  I promised I'd help him out in any way I could.  Please, if you can spare a buck of two, help a bro out?

His Movember page is HERE.

Thanks for your help!

In other news, there's an awesome event happening here in Ottawa - the ChiSeries Ottawa Holiday Extravaganza!  

Alas, I am unable to attend, but you really should go.  The awesome folks at JeEric Designs will be there selling their awesome wares.  There will be prizes, and readings, and general shenanigans!

It's honestly a great time - the ChiSeries events are always a great time - and you might just find the perfect gift for someone!  Who knows?

You can find all the details of the event HERE.  Do go.  You won't regret it.

Lastly, but certainly not least, a friend of mine wrote a blog post about her realisation that she might just have Aspergers.  She linked to this list of traits, which now has me thinking that perhaps I might be in a similar boat, if at the high functioning end.  I mean, I checked off pretty much everything on this list.

I've learnt to cope/mask most of the behaviours, but I definitely see all the behaviours listed reflected in my childhood; crazy temper tantrums highest amongst them.  I don't really have temper tantrums any more, but I do have emotional breakdowns every so often.

In adulthood, I do find myself easily overwhelmed in social or unfamiliar environments.  I usually cope by focussing on tasks - handing out cake or drinks, for example - or finding a quiet space to rest.  I am moody and very prone to bouts of depression still, so there's that.

Hmm.  Oh well!  I'm not about to go for a formal diagnosis.  Whether I am or not, I am perfectly happy being the bizarre human that I am.  I mean, I function pretty well... now.  So yeah.  Maybe I'm neurologically a-typical.

Welp, now that I have you all pondering if you're also my kind of weird, I'm off to paint, then write, and probably a whole lot of daydreaming as well!

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

This weekend, I belatedly celebrated my birthday.  The Amazing Flatmate was back briefly from her job out of town and I wanted to celebrate with her.  So, rather than throw the do on my actual birthday, I waited a week.

Friday night, a gaggle of friends and I headed out to dinner and then, then, we went out for some crazy fun!

We all headed out to Ottawa's new archery tag join, Archery Games, and for roughly an hour, we battled with foam-tipped arrows.

It was so much fun, guys.  SO. MUCH. FUN.

I cannot explain to you just how incredibly fun this is.  You kind of have to experience it for yourself.

Our group was fairly sizeable, and we were enough to split into two teams - Team Shot in the Dark, and Team Sherwood.  I'll let you guess which team I was on.  Here's a clue:

Hey, it's still one of my favourite movies of all time, okay?

​Anywho, the warm up round was merely a 'steal the other players' round.  The goal was to shoot a person on the other team.  This magical arrow would then make the player turn on their former team, cross the safety zone in the middle and fight for the opposition.  Team Shot in the Dark won that one, but since it was only the warm up round, it didn't count for points.

We played six games after that, each a variation on the same theme - eliminate other players, or hit all five central targets, to win.

My favourite game had to be "Medic".  In this game, instead of catching arrows or hitting a central target to return eliminated players to the field, we had a medic.  With only a small, buckler-sized shield to ward off the arrows and no way to return fire, the medic ran the field "healing" injured archers so they can again join the fray.  This was the final game of the night.

Tied at two all, Team Shot in the Dark pulled through by eliminating all five central targets... and quickly, too!  In fact, that round was so fast, we played Medic again.  This time, Team Sherwood won by eliminating the other team.

We ended the night three points a piece.

No friendships were lost, as my Kung Fu brother Jon noted.

MVP for Team Sherwood had to have been my Kung Fu brother Harrison, who was not only a great shot, but a real team player.  I spied him providing covering fire for teammates, and was even the armed escort for our medic in the last game.  I was continually congratulating him between games.  Seriously impressive.

It's tough figuring out who the MVP was for Team Shot in the Dark.  I'm putting my money on my Kung Fu brother Jerry, though.  His aim was impeccable, and he dodged like a pro.  Anyone from Shot in the Dark want to nominate another?  It was tough from where I was to pick it out.

I will never be an MVP, because I focus too much on my own tasks and not at all on the team.  This is why I failed at all team sports I have ever tried. My gravestone will read, "Does not play well with others."  Also a possibility; "Giggled too damned much."

This was such a great night.  It was such a blast.  I couldn't stop smiling after I went home.  I grinned like an idiot as I watched some YouTube in the hopes that I could calm my blood a bit and sleep.  I chuckled idiotically to myself in the shower.  I smiled up at the ceiling for hours after all the lights were out, trying to sleep, too giddy and fully of adrenaline to nod off.

The games ended at midnight.  It took two hours for me to stop smiling.

Archery Games is looking to start a league come January.  I'm intensely interested in joining, though my already demanding schedule may make that impossible.  Martial arts training four nights a week makes scheduling difficult.  That said, I'm willing to give up one night a week to do this, and will make it work on the weekends.

In fact, I'm so enamoured with this, that I've decided I'll be going at least once a month (more if the league thing works out), starting in January (December is just too damned busy to schedule a game).  I think I can spare roughly $30.00 once a month to play.

If you're in the Ottawa area, I highly, highly recommend giving this a go.  Just do it.  It was wonderful fun!  Thanks to everyone who came out to play with me on Friday, and especially thanks to Archery Games for providing such an awesome, fun evening.  I cannot think of a better way to celebrate surviving another year!

And now I must spend some time actually working.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

So, yesterday, I watched the trailer for the upcoming action film Gods of Egypt.  Not going to lie, I want to go see it.  I'm a sucker for action flicks, and throw any kind of mythology in there (accurate or otherwise, and since this is Hollywood, it's going to be otherwise), and I'm totally down for it.

There is something, however that really bugs me about this trailer.  Can you guess?  Here, watch it for yourself:

Have you guessed it yet?

I'll give you a clue:

It's set in Egypt.

Have the problem yet?

I'll give you another clue... oh hell, I'll just tell you.

Gods of Egypt, your Egyptians are extremely... white.

​Why, Hollywood?  Why must you always whitewash everything?  Over two minutes of footage and not a single character in it who looks remotely the part.  I mean, you do understand that Egypt is in Africa, right?  You do know that it was a meeting point for various cultures; Northeast Africa, Northwest Africa, Sahara, Sub-Sahara, the Near East and the Mediterranean.  Where are all the black people (I spotted one. ONE)? Any Arabs in the house?  Someone who could pass for ancient Greek?

No, instead we have two Egyptian gods played by European actors; one is a Scot and the other is a Dane.  A very white-looking thief and an incredibly white girl who sends him off on his quest.

Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy both Gerard Butler and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.  I've had a crush on Mr. Coster-Waldau since I saw him in the only romantic comedy I have ever enjoyed... and that's because it had tennis in it.

But they are decidedly not Egyptian.  Neither are, apparently, the people of Egypt.

For fuck's sake, Hollywood!  There are surely wonderful Egyptian actors who could have filled these roles, right?  Even if only the role of the thief and his love interest/could be sister, I don't fucking know.

And whhhhyyyyyyyyyyy are the people of Egypt speaking with British accents?

UGH!

It's 2015, isn't it?  Surely the movie-going audience is perfectly capable of accepting an Egyptian cast for a film SET IN FUCKING ANCIENT EGYPT!

Why am I going ballistic over this?  I'm white.  Why does it bother me?

Well, purely from a story-telling point of view, I expect to see Egyptians in my films about Egypt.  I'm a little weird like that.

Secondly, representation matters.  I'm so tired of see white faces where they don't belong.  I want to see different faces, more accurately representing both the region/time in which the film is supposed to be set and the fact that white people are not the only kind of people on the planet.  Life is increasingly multi-cultural.  Why are films still not?

I can give a lot of leeway on the accuracy of films such as this. They are, after all, fiction, not documentaries, but this is just absurd.

Thinking on my own writing, I think I would be very upset if any film-maker bought the rights to, say, The Seraphimé Saga and then cast a very white actress in the main role.  Seraphimé is not white.  She is the fantastical version of a woman from a culture approximating a mix of the ancient nomads of the Russian Steppes and the semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers of prehistoric northern Europe.  I would like to see her played by a Mongolian actress, or perhaps an American First Nations actress, like Tanaya Beattie:

You know what, I will pre-emptively state for any interested parties, all of my contracts regarding any film rights for any of my stories will have a clause in them, and that clause will merely state:

Any whitewashing of any characters immediately nullifies the rights transfer. No refunds.

The same rule applies to any changes made to make homosexual or bisexual characters straight.  It's not happening.

It's 20-fucking-15!

I'm being facetious, of course.  I'm not big enough for anyone to even consider buying the film rights to any of my stories, and chances are very slim that I will ever get big enough for that (hell, some big enough names aren't having people knock down their doors for film rights), but this whitewashing shit really irks me.

Representation matters, and it's high time we acknowledged the wealth of talent and beauty in people who aren't white.

It irks me most of all because these film makers assume that I, their audience, am not sophisticated enough to handle a brown or black face on the screen before me.

Think better of me Hollywood, and perhaps I'll think better of you.

Now I have work to do.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

So, this weekend is Ottawa Pop Expo.  My good friends at JenEric Designs are attending this year.  You can find them at tables 2214 and 2216 at the convention.

They've very kindly offered to take a few of my books along to sell on my behalf.

Can I just say, I have the best friends on the face of the planet?  I mean, I don't know why I'm asking your permission to do so.  Screw it!  I don't need your permission!

I have the best friends on the face of the planet.  Honestly.

Now, I will not be there for signings, as I'm still recovering from a really hectic end of year.  BUT if you hang on to the book, and are subscribed to my eNewsletter, you'll know where I'll be at least once a month next year.  If you're really desperate for a signed copy, just bring the book along to a monthly meet up.  I'll make an exception to the "no signings" rule for books purchased at Pop Expo.

Also, side note, Jen makes the most amazing crocheted geeky goods and Eric's coffee is amazing.  I highly recommend his coconut coffee.  It's my favourite.  His seasonal coffees are great too (egg nog anyone?).

Do keep up with their blog for more details on the convention and their various, awesome projects.

There isn't much else for me to say.  I'm busy with work, and should really get back to it.  On that note, have a great day everyone!

​Ciao!