I haven’t been online much lately, mostly because I’m trying to reduce the time I spend on the internet, thereby increasing the time I spend on my writing. That’s the idea, anyway.

I guess you could say I’m reprioritizing my writing life. Some writers seem able to surf the web several hours a day as well as post intimidating metrics of the words they have written, but I am not one of them. I have come to the conclusion that my time is better spent offline, preferably reading and writing. The operative word there is “my” time. I’m not judging anyone on the way they work. Whatever works best for you, do it. This is what I need to do for myself. The novel is lagging and I can’t help but think that the time I spend on the internet is the primary cause. The internet is an information funnel and I’ve had it jammed down my throat for many, many years. It’s time to pull it out.

This means my presence online will be fairly limited from this time forward. It seems a bit silly to mention this, because most of you probably won’t even notice. I still plan to keep up my website, my correspondence, and visiting the blogs of my writer peeps, but I’m restricting all but the most pressing of these activities to the weekend. These are not the things sucking up my time. I know some web presence is necessary, but I also look at the authors I admire, and the vast majority of them do not blog, or blog very, very little, and they do not post on message boards. I can’t help but think that the reason for this is that they are too busy writing their novels and short stories. Which is what I should be doing. Maybe when I’ve got a novel or a collection to promote I’ll feel better about spending more time online. But right now it feels like something that’s getting in the way of my writing, and that makes me feel lousy.

Lately my weekly schedule has been: wake up, go online, shower, go to work, come home, go online, eat dinner, go online, watch a bit of TV or a movie with my wife, go online, go to bed, read until I fall asleep, and repeat. It has to change because I can practically hear the stories dying in my brain. They need to get out, and when they can’t, they drown. It makes me feel pathetic and useless, and since I am neither of those things, this in turn makes me feel pissed off. So I have a new rule: if I’m not writing, I’m reading. That’s it. If I’m at home and I’m not working on something, then I better have a frickin’ book in my hand, or else. Yes, it’s true, I can’t exactly kick my own ass, but you wouldn’t believe what a great motivator guilt can be. Or maybe you do. Either way, I’ve reached a point where I feel bad about not writing. It’s too bad it has come to this point, but that’s something else about me. I make mistakes, but I usually only make them once. I’ve fallen into a funk and it’s time to pull myself out, and the only way I can see to do that is to stay off the internet and follow my new rule.

This is not a pity post. I’m not looking for encomiums or virtual shoulder-pats. I don’t feel sad or depressed. I’m just tired of the way things have been going with my writing (or not going, ha-ha). It’s time for a change.

Bye for now.

• Currently reading: Radio Free Albemuth, by Philip K. Dick

Okay, my definition of hot: My wife reading (and enjoying) her very first graphic novel, Watchmen. She wants to read Y: The Last Man next. Partly because I’m reading it and she thinks it sounds good, partly because the creator of the series is now writing for TV’s Lost.

And the geek conversion continues…

• Currently reading: The Hoax, by Adrienne Jones

Spent the weekend visiting with Carrie and Glenn in Ottawa. Friday night, Glenn and I played darts while the girls played Wii. Afterwards, we watched Casino Royale in preparation for seeing Quantum of Solace, which we did on Saturday and really enjoyed. I like that the new Bond movies are actually connected to each other and aren’t just a series of standalone adventures of some debonair spy with a bunch of gadgets who nails a different girl with a stupid name in every movie.

Speaking of stupid names, QoS features a nod to this in the form of the new Bond girl, named Fields. Bond asks her first name, but she won’t tell him, and although it is never spoken in the film, you can find out what it is by reading her name in the final credits. A nice little gag in the same vein as the martini line (“Shaken or stirred?” “Do I look like I give a damn?”) in Casino Royale.

While we were waiting for the movie to start, I explained to Kat that QoS is actually a romance, albeit with guns and violence.

IAN: The whole movie is about Bond getting revenge for the death of Vesper. I heard the original title was Quantum of Love.

KAT: You are so full of crap. Bond hates Vesper. He calls her a bitch at the end of Casino Royale.

IAN: He didn’t really mean it. He was angry because he loved her and she snaked him and her death was so meaningless. At least to him. QoS is about Bond forgiving her.

KAT: Ahhh.

IAN: I’d get revenge for you, babylove.

KAT: Aw, thanks.

Pause.

KAT: Would I have to be dead first?

IAN: Well, I can’t get revenge for you if you’re alive. Duh.

KAT: Oh. Okay.

IAN: That would be murder, Peaches.

KAT: So you wouldn’t murder someone for me?

IAN: Do you want me to murder someone for you?

KAT: No, no, I guess not…

IAN: Hey, look at that, a new Star Trek trailer…

Later that night, I introduced Carrie and Glenn to two TV shows on the Outdoor Life Network that they had never seen before: Survivorman and Mantracker. While watching the latter program, which features a gruff cowboy hunting two contestants (called “prey”) through the Canadian wilderness, I was struck with the epiphany that Glenn and I must go on this program. So, after looking up the information online, we’re now making plans to send in an application.

Wish us luck.

First of all, congrats to Joseph Boyden for winning this year’s Giller Prize!

Joseph and I had the chance to talk about books and awards and what they mean (or don’t mean) when he was here in Peterborough a couple of months ago. A very honest and humble man (and funny!). It was a real honour meeting him, and I’m very happy to see him win this award.

On another note, I’ve received a few e-mails from people who said they have either ordered or are planning to order Shades of Darkness. It’s always nice to see people buy the books and mags featuring my work. I really appreciate the support, not just for me but for the various small press markets who have been kind enough to present my stories to audiences all over the world. Okay, to audiences in the U.S. and Canada. And Finland.

I don’t like to do the salesman bit too hard because it’s not really my thing. That’s probably why I’ve never felt the desire to buy a bunch of copies of the magazines or anthologies featuring my work and sell them on my own. I respect the people who take this approach, but it’s not something that interests me. I have no problem promoting the markets and doing any other kind of media-whoring – in fact, I like it – but selling the stuff door-to-door or out of the trunk of my car is not something I will do. No offense to those that dig that kind of thing.

Another reason I don’t like to pimp my stuff is that, in all honesty, I don’t really expect people to buy it. Correction: I don’t expect them to buy it solely for my stories. I don’t expect someone to pay up to $50 for an anthology just so they can read one of my stories. I hope that they buy it to read all of the stories. A lot of the markets I appear in are not available on the newsstand, and those are the ones that are harder to promote because people by and large don’t buy magazines off the internet with their credit cards. Distribution and promotion have always been problems for small press publishers because those things cost money. Therefore most of my work is only available via the publisher or at online marketplaces. A few of the markets I’ve been published in, like Broken Pencil and Cemetery Dance, have been available on newsstands, but they are few and far between. It’s a tough business to break out in, and it’s even tougher to build any kind of following, especially on short stories alone. But I’m trying.

I think my feelings on the subject would be different if I had a collection or a novel. Then I might be more inclined to put on my salesman hat. To a certain degree anyway. I’m still not comfortable with using this website to hawk my wares. If I did have a novel out, I think I’d run contests or post deleted scenes, alternate endings, or some sort of supplemental material to make it more fun and less like a bid to get y’all to buy my book. I do have plans for the future of this site in that respect. Exclusive content, free stories, etc.

So thanks to everyone who has already ordered a copy of SoD, and to those who are planning to do so. And thanks to those of you who have bought the other mags and anthos featuring my work. It’s not always easy to find them, but supporting these markets is supporting my work and that in turn drives me to pump out more tales for your amusement.

Okay, enough love, time to get back to work.

• Currently reading: Wings to the Kingdom, by Cherie Priest

My new story, “Leaves Brown,” is now available in the latest Ash-Tree Press anthology Shades of Darkness. I’ve always wanted to have one of my stories in an Ash-Tree collection, and this one in particular features a number of authors whose work I greatly admire, including Simon Strantzas, Glen Hirshberg, and Gary McMahon.

The book is available in both hardcover and softcover, and features some excellent cover artwork by Jason Van Hollander.

Here’s the ToC:

“The Oram County Whoosit” by Steve Duffy
“Cold Reading” by Simon Bestwick
“Smugglers” by Guenther Primig
“The Old Traditions” by Paul Finch
“The Devil’s Funeral” by Reggie Oliver
“Leaves Brown” by Ian Rogers
“In Old Oaks” by Keris McDonald
“Thyxxolqu” by Mark Samuels
“Flames” by Lawrence C. Connolly
“Soft Little Fingers” by David A. Riley
“The King of Majorca” by Frances Oliver
“Monster” by Melanie Tem
“The Children” by Christopher Harman
“Cargo” by E. Michael Lewis
“A Bit of a Giggle” by Harvey Peter Sucksmith
“Archangel” by Peter Bell
“Brokenback Isle” by Gary McMahon
“Old Man’s Pantry” by Simon Kurt Unsworth
“A Mouth to Feed” by Joel Lane
“In Vitro” by Michael Cox
“Out of Season” by Marion Pitman
“Under the Overpass” by Simon Strantzas
“The Apartment of Bryony Hartwood” by Mark Patrick Lynch
“Grauer Hans” by Helen Grant
“Back Roads” by Barbara Roden
“Esmeralda” by Glen Hirshberg

“Leaves Brown” is the final story in my “East Coast Mythos,” a trio of tales set in the Canadian Maritimes. It’s also the first story where I was asked to write some notes on its creation, which may be of some interest to those of you curious about the development of a story.

Either way, it’s a very attractive book with a great line-up. I hope you’ll check it out.

• Currently reading: Money Shot, by Christa Faust

Michael Crichton died today.

In a strange twist, I’m currently reading a book in the excellent Hard Case Crime series by an author named John Lange. It’s a short novel, fast-paced, and I’ve been enjoying it. This morning — before I heard about Crichton — I decided to look up the author and see what else he had done. So I popped his name into Wikipedia and it took me to Crichton’s page. Turns out John Lange is one of his old pseudonyms.

And the name of the book I’m reading?

Grave Descend.

Freaky.

Big election in the States today. Supposed to be a record turn-out of voters, which would make it the exact opposite of what happened here in Canada a few weeks ago. People here showed they didn’t want an election by making it the one with the smallest voter turn-out in our country’s history.

It doesn’t look like America will have that problem. The polls suggest that Obama is going to win, and maybe by a fairly large margin. We shall see, I guess. The fact that even McCain is distancing himself from Bush, seems to suggest that Americans, by and large, are tired of, if not Republican rule, then at least Bush rule, and are looking for a change.

It’s not even my country, but damn, it’s exciting.

Best of luck to all my friends States-side. I hope you all managed to get out and vote.

• Currently reading: Grave Descend, by John Lange