As I’d mentioned previously, I get a daily newsletter for free and cheap ebooks for my Kobo e-reader. It’s something I really should stop, because while it sounds good in theory–what’s this? Free books? Yes, please!–the facts are that a) I continue to be a slow reader, and collect way more books through this newsletter…
I’m a sucker for books. My wife foolishly still leaves me unattended in book stores sometimes, and the result is almost always me ending up with a book or two (or… okay, three) for the kiddo, plus maybe one for her and one for myself. And while I’ve written previously about preferring physical books to…
I’m like most writers I’ve heard of, in that I can’t get enough stationery. Yes, I’d love new index cards or a notebook or pencils or pens, thanks. And no, I don’t care how many of all of those I already have. The look of new paper, the feel and potential of those pages and…
My wife is a teacher in the provincial Catholic board, and as one of her many self-imposed duties, has taken it upon herself over the decades to introduce her students–a kind of suburban inner-city demographic–to music they will almost assuredly not have heard before. This isn’t (just) to say “My dudes, have you heard the…
As I was adding links to my previous post, it occurred to me that I was using Indigo (our big Canadian book store chain) to specify what books I was talking about. And I’m pretty sure I’ve linked to Amazon before, which, in case you aren’t online much, has been under a ton of anti-huge…
On the one hand, I was pretty happy with how much I got read this month, what with trying to read more. On the other hand, it occurred to me a couple of weeks back that I don’t know that there’s much point in keeping an annual count going. That first entry? The Witch Boy?…
I was recently struck with an idea for a fantasy story, almost more of a fairytale, that had some dark elements to it. Not Tim Burton dark, but definitely with some heavier overtones. I started brainstorming on it, jotting ideas in my notebook, and pretty soon realized that it had solid potential for being a…
I recently posted that my award-winning friend Ricky Lima had suggested a while ago that I focus on writing comics, and that I had started doing so and was enjoying it. The problem with writing indie comics that you can’t draw for yourself, of course, is that once you’ve written your script, you’ve done as…
And lo, it began: The celebratory ringing in of a new year and, some said, a new decade. Only to be quashed by those who pointed out that *ahem* Actually, no, a new decade starts when the year ends with a one, not with a zero. But there’s more to it. It’s correct to say…
It’s being reported today that drumming legend Neil Peart passed away this Tuesday after battling brain cancer for the last three years. It’s difficult to put into words what Neil meant to me. As a young child, I was cradled in my mother’s arms and she would pat me to the rhythm of whatever music…