Whoo, boy, can Stuart Gibbs write. I hadn’t read any of his books before–and he’s done a few–but this one catches you right away, as good fiction should, right from the prologue’s first page… nay, the first paragraph… nay, the first sentence: “Albert Einstein was dying.” Okay, I’m in.I’m so in. Taking me to the…
Being in Canada, we get plenty of our entertainment from American sources. Sometimes on TV, that comes via American broadcasters who, of course, run American commercials. And sometimes–not often, but plenty, thanks–those ads are for pharmaceuticals. And I’m struck more often than not when those ads play, just how little of the ad time talks…
Regulars here may notice that I freshened up the site with a new look. What do you think? Gone are the bulky header photo (on every page, which was an… interesting choice on the part of slightly younger me) and extraneous header title info on the other pages of the site.Trimmed down is the sidebar…
I continue to work on my novel when time allows, my own dumb distractions can get effectively put aside (I’m a writer, so will put my ability to procrastinate up against anyone else’s), and I’m not working so late into the night that I’m literally falling asleep as I type. Yes, that’s happened. And it’s…
As it’s World Book Day–and most of the planet remains in isolation due to this pandemic, so we’re all hopefully getting even more read than usual–I wanted to share some of my all-time favourite books. These are in no particular order, just however they popped into my head. An angel and demon who have lived…
Bit of a light month for reading, oddly, but most of what I’ve gotten to has been enjoyable. ReadGlitch – Laura Martin Started and stoppedSpace Runners: The Moon Platoon – Jeramy Kraatz ReadingTrigger Warning – Neil Gaiman Glitch was quite a bit of fun. Doing time-travel stories must be tricky to write, but Martin does…
Recently I’ve been listening to a podcast by comedian Mike Birbiglia called Working It Out. Episode 4 is less his usual quasi-formatted approach to interviewing comedians and notable personalities, and is instead Mike and his wife Jen Hope Stein having a talk about collaborating on creative work with someone you’re married to, with Matt Berninger…
I’m continuing to toil away at what will be my first novel, but have once again run into the “What exactly am I doing here?” stage. Meaning, in this particular version of the question, what the book will end up being. And more pressing right now, what it even is at the moment. Here’s the…
A big chunk of January was spent finishing off Y.S. Lee’s The Agency series (well worth your time if that genre is your thing, or perhaps even if it isn’t), but I squeaked in a couple of others as well. ReadZeroes – Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah BiancottiThe Agency: The Body at the Tower –…
I realized some years ago that I had long preferred to not touch up my photos. I would sometimes need to–cropping is not uncommon to lop off bits distracting from the focus, of course; and I knew that certain photo printing services (remember those, fellow old people?) would tend to print a bit dark compared…