I’m off again for the ‘borough today, so I thought I’d celebrate the new year early by quite literally taking a page from my notebook.

I’m not so pompous to think that my meager audience will ooh and ahh over an honest-to-goodness piece of the Writer’s beloved chicken-scratch handwriting. I just wanted to do something a little different this year, something I hadn’t done before, and I didn’t think a photograph of Thor decked out in his New Year’s best would serve (I’ll save that shit for Lit Thor, if there ever is such a website, God help us).

These notes are from a brand new short story called "A Night in the Library with the Gods." It’s out of context with the rest of the notes, but I thought that would be part of the fun. Who is the man in the bathrobe? Why isn’t he referred to by name? Is it a mystery, or is the Writer just lazy? It can go either way, folks!

And there’s also a little doodle of Cthulhu at no extra charge.

Happy New Year!

• Currently reading: Afterlife, by Douglas Clegg

Received another Xmas gift tonight … and an unexpected one, at that.

Just before I went to bed, I checked my e-mail and discovered that "The House on Ashley Avenue" has been accepted for publication in All Hallows, the journal of the Ghost Story Society.

This marks not only my second acceptance but my first Canadian acceptance, as well. I don’t want to ruin the story for you, but I can say that "The House on Ashley Avenue" is a ghost story set in Toronto, and it contains elements that I plan to expand on in later stories. Seeing as how my first sale, "The Tattletail," is a standalone story, I am especially excited to know that "Ashley" will be published and that my mythology (such as it is) will soon begin.

A happy new year, indeed.

• Currently reading: Afterlife, by Douglas Clegg

Just got back from Peterborough and Oshawa the other day, and boy am I wiped. Nice to sleep in my own bed again.

It would be fair to say that Kathryn and I were righteously spoiled this holiday season. I won’t give you a full play by play, as it would feel a bit too much like bragging, but I will say that we got our first piece of wooden furniture for our new house – a very snazzy pine blanket box (yes, you heard it right, folks; I’m excited about a blanket box). I myself got a 70-300mm Sigma macro lens for my camera, and I have to tell you, it is soooo beautiful. I’m going to take some nice pics with this in the new year. I also got some new books and DVDs, and my sweetie got me the very gorgeous "Hipeponymous" Tragically Hip CD/DVD box set.

I suspect it’s all part of a plot to soften the blow of her leaving for Peterborough in a couple of weeks, leaving Thor and I to wallow in misery and TV dinners.

Oh, the humanity!

• Currently reading: "Mr. Pettinger's Daemon," John Connolly
• New books: Every Dead Thing, by John Connolly; The Killing Kind, by John Connolly; The Black Ice, by Michael Connelly; and Afterlife, by Douglas Clegg

I’m getting ready to leave for the holidays, so this will be my last post until after Christmas.

In honor of both the holidays and the new year, which marks my tenth year as a published author, I thought I would give you an unusual sort of Christmas gift. A little peek at my very first short story ever published (in a small-press ‘zine, of course).

"Black Iron Shadows"
(PDF format)

Bear in mind — please for the love of God — that this is the very pinnacle of my juvenilia. Don’t forsake me too much this story. It’s a contrived, clichéd pastiche, replete with a "Satanic" pentagram that any Wiccan worth his or her weight in mascara will tell you is not Satanic at all. But I was a younger man then. I’m much more knowledgeable in the arts of Satanic worship now.

Happy Holidays!

• Currently reading: "The Cancer Cowboy Rides," by John Connolly

First of all, Happy Festivus! I just started my Christmas holidays today. I’ve got almost two weeks off, which is pretty sweet, especially seeing as how I have two new short stories to write, and a novella to finish. "Silver Falls" has been put aside for the time being (more on that later).

Got some really good news this morning that is not writing related (not directly, anyway) but still quite exciting. Last week, Kathryn went to an "informal interview" for a new job in Peterborough. Her current contract ends in March, and we both have been planning to leave the city by the end of 2006, anyway, so she decided to start looking for a new job early.

Well … she got the job this morning. So, it looks like we’ll be leaving the city sooner than we thought. A lot sooner. The new job starts just after the holidays, which means she’ll be moving to the ‘borough and leaving me all by my lonesome in the wicked city until I get a job of my own out there. But I already have one very large lead from someone who is very interested in me. Can’t disclose the deets right now, but I will say that, like Kathryn’s, the job is in Peterborough, and I should find out for sure in January (they’re currently in the process of finalizing the job description).

It’s not a sure thing by any means, but I do have an "in" and they’re showing a lot of enthusiasm. Either way, I’ll find something; I’m very resourceful that way. Things are starting to move very fast. It’s exciting and a little nerve-wracking (but in a good way). Kat’s new job bumps up our schedule somewhat, but all it really means is that we’re going to have to start our house-hunting, um, right now. Until then, we’ll be staying at Kathryn’s sister’s farm, which is not a bad place to be. Horses, barn cats, and all the peace and quiet a writer could want.

2006 looks like it’s going to be a great year, and it hasn’t even started yet!

John e-mailed me last night with his edits for "Cabin D." He said I was an easy edit, which thankfully is not the same as an easy lay. On the other hand, I do give great story. Uh … yeah. Only two items to address, and neither one was major. Now that it’s in the can, John will be sending the whole package off to the publishers. I doubt if anyone will get a chance to look at it before Xmas, but you never know. Either way, it’s nice to know that it’s out there. Something to look forward to in the new year.

Btw, the snowstorm they forecasted for tonight has started, and Bayview Avenue has become a huge, slow-moving, horn-honking mess. I myself have a thirty-second walk to work, but I can tell you that the sidewalk traffic was cuh-razy. Commuters, you have my sympathies.

• Currently reading: Bad Men, by John Connolly

I’ve had the past two days off work (part of my vacation time purge), and spent the majority of the time reading and writing.

"Silver Falls"

12,229 / 15,000 (82.0%)

"Silver Falls" continues to grow and evolve. Of the 12,000 words I have finished, I would say the first 8,000 are fairly solid. This is really my second pass through the story, tightening things up and filling out those parts I had only outlined in my first pass.

I head back to work tomorrow and Friday, but I still hope to have this one in the can by the weekend.

Thank God I got all my Christmas shopping done.

• Currently reading: Bad Men, by John Connolly

As the holidays loom ever closer, I find myself looking back at the past year and wondering if I could have worked harder (i.e., finished more stories). I’m not a glutton for punishment, and I know that I did get a lot accomplished, but it’s hard to be optimistic when I have exactly one professional story credit to my name. I’m not complaining; there are more than enough struggling writers out there bemoaning their lack of success and million-dollar book deals on the Web. I don’t think I need to join that particular pity party.

I think it all goes back to motivation. I write because I love to write, and I write a lot because I want to do it for a living, and I can think of no better way to do that than by exercising my talent as often as I can. Reading is the other part of that exercise, although it has a passive quality to it that prompts a voice in my head to occasionally say Shouldn’t you be writing? Deep down I know that reading is as important to the development of one’s craft as writing, but it’s hard to note any improvement in one’s ability when all one receives are rejection letters.

This is not a holiday bring-down post, I should add. I’m not sad, just reflective. I turn 30 next year, and although I made a professional sale in 2005, it was also my only sale. I guess I thought things would snowball, and even though they haven’t, that hasn’t affected my ambition or my resolve. I still believe I was born to write novels, and I still believe I will achieve that goal. I understand that these things take time, but on the other hand, I don’t want to be in my forties (or God help me, my fifties) before I finally sell a novel. That is such a long time away for me that I can’t imagine myself hanging on that long just to finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. Not because I feel I’m sooo talented and sooo wonderful that I deserve to sell a book sooner, but rather because I work very hard and my commitment is so steadfast and unwavering that I can’t see how it would take that long. But there’s no such thing as a sure bet in the creative arts, and just as there are stories of incredible and immediate success, there are also stories of writers who endured twenty or thirty years of rejection before they finally sold a book. All I can do is hope that my success comes sooner. All I can do is work my tail off and hope that it will be enough in the end.

This is the introspective version of the 2005 year-end review piece that I will be posting in a couple of weeks (there won’t be any drama in that one, I promise). I have my share of visiting to do over the holidays, but I won’t be leaving without posting a little something for everyone who has taken the time to drop in every now and then to see how I’m doing. I might even have a little present for you, as well.