No updates for the last couple of weeks. That’s because "Leaves Brown" and The House on Ashley Avenue (it’s reached novella length now and officially earned its italics status) have been going like a house afire. "Leaves Brown" especially is coming along well; right now it’s hovering around 5,300 words.

I mention them by way of explaining my absence here lately, but also because I’m taking them with me on my vacation which I leave for in a few hours. What better place to finish a couple of stories than in Newfoundland?

That’s right, folks, I’m off to the far east … the far east of Canada, at any rate. I figure if I really like it there I’ll end up staying and working for the Shipping News or something.

I’m really looking forward to the trip, hoping to see some whales and some icebergs and get drunk with some rowdy Newfies. I’ve always been curious about Newfoundland, because it’s “out East” and because it’s the setting for one of my favorite novels, The Chrysalids. In the book, the world is slowly recovering from nuclear war and Labrador/Newfoundland is one of the few places that survived mostly unscathed. I don’t expect to see many similarities between the real Newfoundland and the one depicted in the book, but you never know.

Ian

I didn’t intend to post an update tonight, but then I didn’t intend to write 3,000 words on a new short story, either. It’s not done – far from it – but I’ve finished up for the night and thought I would brag before I went off to bed.

It’s a ghost story of sorts, or rather a ghost story about ghost stories, and it’s set on Cape Breton Island. Yes, I know my writing has been very Canada-centric lately, and yes, I know that might not be a good thing for a writer hoping to sell his work to an audience both wide and large. But right now I don’t care. The story is hot and fresh and I think it will be a good ‘un. I’ll worry about its salability after it’s finished.

No excerpt tonight, alas. What I have so far is still in rough shape. But I can tell you it will probably be called "Leaves Brown" and that it sets the groundwork for more supernatural tales set on Cape Breton Island. (One of these is a novella that I have already outlined extensively.)

Again, I don’t know if this is a good thing or not. I have plenty of stories that take place in the States that will probably find a wider audience, but conversely I don’t see the harm in exploring a smaller market, especially one that doesn’t seem to have been exploited that much (if at all) by other writers. I’ve read a lot of fiction set in the Maritimes, and the only thing that comes close is E. Annie Proulx’s The Shipping News. It contains some elements of the supernatural, but they are so far in the background as to keep it from being labeled an out-and-out ghost story.

Of course if it had been, I doubt it would have won the Pulitzer (ha-ha).

Ian

Boy, it’s a hot one today. The kind of day you really don’t want your air-conditioner to break down. So guess what happened today?

But forget about my daily toils in the hot, smelly city. Plans are already afoot for our exodus from Hogtown. Ironically, I am drawing closer to finishing the first in my series of supernatural stories set in Toronto. As of last night, "The House on Ashley Avenue" is almost seven thousand words long. Of course, size means nothing, but there’s still something to be said for hard work.

As you know, I’m wary of posting excerpts on this website. For one, I think electronic copyright is a joke (and not a particularly funny one, either), and for another I don’t like to give away too much of the story. Movie trailers are okay (although some give away far too many plot points), but when it comes to books, I’d much rather wait and read the whole thing in one sitting.

As such, I’ve decided to post a very short excerpt from my new story that has nothing to do with the story. It’s a bit of a tease, I guess, but at least you won’t be wondering what’s going to happen to the unfortunate people who moved into a certain house on a certain street in Rosedale. Enjoy.

The living room was decorated in a style Sally thought of as Toronto Trendy. Imitation antique wood furniture, Robert Bateman prints on the walls, and an honest-to-goodness wood burning fireplace that looked as if it had never been used. A living room decorated by people who shopped out of the country living section of the Pottery Barn catalogue — people who had not spent any significant amount of time in cottage country but who wanted visitors to their home to think they did.

Ian

A new rejection today, but one that gives me a bit of hope. Regular visitors to the website might recall that a couple of months ago I received my first rejection from Talebones, a magazine I hadn’t submitted to before. That time they sent me a form letter, the bane of every writer’s existence, but this time around I received a form letter plus comments. That’s called progress, folks.

Also, I was doing some research on thoughtography — the psychic ability of projecting one’s thoughts onto photographic film — and came upon a pair of useful dictionaries.

The Skeptic’s Dictionary, an online version of a book by the same name, is an encyclopedia of people, places, and things in the world of the paranormal. It also includes entries on some of the better-known topics in Ufology (alien abduction, Area 51, Roswell, etc.). Includes useful links to “further reading.”

PsychicScience.com’s Glossary of Terms in Parapsychology is not quite as thorough as The Skeptic’s Dictionary, but provides a quick-look listing of many terms in parapsychology.

And while we’re on the subject of useful online resources, I should also mention About.com, a handy little site with info on a bit of everything. I came upon it while doing research on architectual styles, and their section on the different types of houses was incredibly useful – itemized lists of unique characteristics, historical perspective, and some actual pictures so you know what the damn things look like.

Yes, folks, it’s sad but true. This is what gets me excited these days.

Ian