Traditionally, most people write up their year end reading summaries at – well – year end. That would be the logical time to do them, if you were motivated and say – organized. Both things I sometimes struggle with when it comes to writing for my website. I do have…
PlaySmelter 2017 and Entertain Me
This past week Pat the Dog Theatre Production staged its 5th Annual Play Smelter festival which features new and developing work by local and regional playwrights. In previous years, the festival have featured staged readings, and workshops, as well as guest lectures from established playwrights such as Colleen Murphy. This…
Sudbury Ink – A Sudbury Writers’ Guild Anthology
I am proud to be included in this anthology – Sudbury Ink – published by the Sudbury Writers’ Guild. The organisation has a long history of bringing together writers in the community in order to support each other, they’ve been around since 1992. I’ve had the honour of being the…
Con Report: Ad Astra 2016 – Part I
The annual Ad Astra convention in Toronto* is one of those local SF&F conventions that I have been attending off and on since early 2000s. After I moved North ten years ago, its gotten a lot more challenging to attend, logistically, financially, and requires a time commitment from both my work and family…
What I Read in 2015: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Audio Books
So I thought I would take a few minutes to wrap up what I read in 2015. 2015 was the year that I finally embraced the power of Audible. Back when I was living in Toronto and commuting on public transit it was easy to read a book weekly. These…
Return from Viable Paradise
Well it’s be nearly two months since I returned from Viable Paradise and felt it was time to do a wrap up post of sorts. I started a post almost immediately after returning at the end of October, but kept stalling on it. Mainly because it felt too raw, too…
The Final Countdown
I can’t believe it’s October already. There’s so much to look forward what with Thanksgiving (The Canadian Version), the return of hockey (the NHL and my beleaguered Toronto Maple Leafs, not to mention my son’s house league), and a Federal election with the tantalizing promise of political change (I can dream…
Lost In La Mancha (2002)
Lost in La Mancha chronicles director Terry Gilliam’s (Time Bandits, Brazil) attempt to make “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” a long simmering project close to the director’s heart. Johnny Depp was to star in the movie as Toby Grisoni, an advertising executive from the future that is transported in time to…
Sarah Connor and the Strong Female Character
I had the opportunity to rewatch the original Terminator (1984) with my son last night on Netflix. He’s getting to that age where he’s mature enough and patient enough to sit through “classic” grown-up films that I enjoyed and form part of my pop culture DNA. The point of my post,…
Writer: Level Up!
Writing is a long journey and as a writer it helps to stop and get the lay of the land every once in a while. To pause and look back and to see how far you’ve come, but also l to look ahead at that next summit, catch your breath…