Last Wednesday morning I woke up at 2:00 am with what felt like someone standing on my chest. It hurt to take anything but short shallow breaths, making it very uncomfortable to breathe. I got up assuming my discomfort was simply a case of bad heartburn from our dinner at a restaurant the night before. I drank a bottle of …
The New FireDrakes Cover
The third printing of FireDrakes was completely sold out by mid September 2022. I was leaving in October, however, to spend the winter in the Philippines, so I decided to hold off on ordering a new print run. My trip was an opportunity to make a change that had been on my mind for quite some time. In 2015 the …
Excerpt from Warlock, Chapter 40
I was looking through my reading copy of Warlock, when I came across a note I had left for myself a few years back. Basically, it identified a two and a half page section, that at the time, I considering using as a writing example for my Wizard’s Blog. It is supposed to demonstrate how to combine action with a …
One Month In Paradise
A few months ago I travelled to the Philippines in order to finally meet my fiancée in person. Covid-19 restrictions had kept us apart for nearly two years, so I booked my flight within a week of learning that foreign tourists would once again be allowed into the country. We spent a month together in Caloocan City, which is in …
Elves and Dragons
In the summer of 2015, I was invited to share some of what I had learned about writing with the eight to seventeen year old students during the annual Youth Write Camp. The event took place in the new Jim Pattisan Centre For Excellence at the Okanagan College Campus in Penticton. For my part, during the five days of sessions, …
Nomed’s Button – Story & Script
A few weeks ago someone asked me about writing scripts, so I agreed to post my only attempt at script writing. Nine years ago, I was asked to supply an amateur animator with a script. I wanted to start with something simple, so I selected an unpublished 2500 word story that I had written a few years earlier. I spent …
The Magic of Mars
Entering short story writing contests is a great way for fiction writers to get started. As well as being the first short story I actually ever completed, The Magic of Mars is also my only Science Fiction piece. I wrote this just before I got started on FireDrakes and eventually submitted it to the Hidden Talents Short Story Contest. To …
Daniel’s Demon
Around the time my first book was being published, near the end of 2007, I submitted one of my short stories to L. Ron Hubbard’s Writer’s Of The Future Contest. My story was not selected for publication, but in 2008 I did receive an Honourable Mention certificate in the mail. It was immediately framed and has been hanging in my …
Publishing a Book During a Pandemic
Nothing has been posted on this website in the past nine months, and for that I must apologize. Over the last eighteen months, and especially in the past six, the course of my life has drastically changed. That said, I will not bore you any further with all of my personal details, but instead discuss how my latest fantasy novel …
Penticton ARTS Market
Announcing the new Saturday Morning Penticton ARTS Market Located in the Penticton Art Gallery’s parking lot, adjacent to the Ellis and Front Street roundabout at 199 Marina Way, this new Summer ARTS Market will operate in conjunction with the existing Farmers and Community Markets, from June 29 through August 31. This new market will showcase the work of local visual …
CatNap – First Person Short Story
It is December 21st and tomorrow begins a long-awaited two week holiday – somewhere warm. Just for fun, and with apologies to any offended cat owners, I am posting this –hopefully funny– story that was originally written for an under-1500-words short story contest. The title is Catnap and it is the only fiction piece I have every done in first …
Dealing With Rejection Letters
That infamous rejection letter; the raw, caustic brutality of a few simple – often scribbled – words that can snuff the life right out of an otherwise promising writing career. Conversely those same words can steer a more determined author down the path to self-publishing, usually with little or no idea of what they are getting themselves into. Even one …
Selling Books Online In Canada
It’s December 4th and in10 days the window for getting books to customers before Christmas closes completely. This is final stretch for this year’s prime time for online sales, which actually began a few weeks before Black Friday and Cyber Monday. As founder, and the principle operator of Red Tuque Books, I have watched the company’s direct annual online sales …
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2