I’ll be at Ad Astra tomorrow, wandering around aimlessly, as usual. If you’re going and you see me there, come up and say hello.

• Currently reading: The Little Sleep, by Paul Tremblay

Check out my new “Lost” article, “The Dharma Initiative Wants YOU!”

In other important news, I recently discovered a new taste sensation at Tim Horton’s: the key lime donut. Pretty damn tasty, although it doesn’t quite top their pumpkin spice donut, which remains my favourite.

Yes, folks, this is what I blog about when I’m working on a novel and there’s no other news to report.

Check out my video review of One Week.

• Currently reading: Exquisite Corpse, by Poppy Z. Brite

No “Lost” article this week, but you can check out my video review of Watchmen. Special guest appearance by Thor. The cat. Not the Norse god. Although that would have been cool.

In order to tide “Lost” fans over while we sit through a rerun this week, I’ve written an extra long article on last week’s episode. Swing on over to BIFF BAM POP! and read “The Man They Call LaFleur.”

• Currently reading: Island of the Sequined Love Nun, by Christopher Moore

My flash-fic lake-monster-story-with-a-twist, “Vogo,” is now available in Northern Haunts, an anthology by Shroud Publishing.

I’m not going to list all of the other writers in this book because there are 99 of them. It’s a biggun, clocking in at 366 pages, and it’s available in both hardcover and paperback editions. It’s for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and via the publisher, but Amazon only seems to have the paperback right now, so if you want to get your paws on a hardcover, it looks like you’ll have to order through Barnes & Noble or the publisher, at least for now.

Here’s the cover art:

It’s a very pretty book. You’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but unfortunately some publishers take that to the extreme and put out some pretty horrible-looking books that I wouldn’t touch with a ten-metre cattle prod. Not so in the case of Shroud Publishing. NH is very attractive, with proceeds from the sale of the book going to the American Cancer Society.

So what are the stories actually about? Here’s a description straight from the publisher:

Northern Haunts is much more than an anthology. It is an indispensable guidebook for your journey through the shadowy New England otherworld. 100 original tales of ghosts, creatures, mad men, and other horrifying mysteries. Each story is told in the first person so that you can employ NORTHERN HAUNTS as a fireside ghost story reference book. It is designed for you to customize these treacherous tales in order to tantalize your friends and terrify your family.

I’d like to also point out that the photoblog has been updated, and that my video review of Watchmen should be online in the next day or so. Kat just finished shooting it, but it’s always a toss-up as to how long YouTube will take to process it.

And finally, Shades of Darkness received an excellent review from The Harrow, with the reviewer calling it the year’s best horror anthology. Of course, I knew that already, but it’s always nice to hear it from other people.

Kat and I just finished watching Nights in Rodanthe, adapted from the novel by Nicholas Sparks, and for me it prompted the question, which requires a spoiler warning for those who actually care…

… do any of Sparks’ novels have a happy ending? You know, where one of the love interests, or both, don’t end up dead?

Nights in Rodanthe was fine up until the melodrama came pouring in like… well, like the freak mudslide that kills Richard Gere’s character.

Oh, and that bit with the horses on the beach? I totally called that about halfway through the movie. The only part Kat and I didn’t understand was which one of the horses was supposed to represent the spirit of Gere’s character. Kat said it was all of the horses together, but I didn’t buy it.

I said it was the one with the silvery mane and the squinty eyes.

Dead giveaway.

Received some pretty huge news today. My sf story, “The Bottle,” has been accepted by On Spec, one of, if not the, biggest spec fic market in Canada. Sweet pay, great exposure, and one damn fine-looking publication. If feels especially good to finally crack a market I’ve been subbing to for years.

And this weekend, Watchmen, and, most likely, a new video review by your humble narrator.

Good times.