JK Rowling needs a slap

I haven't until now had a reason to slam JK Rowling or the Harry Potter series. I personally really enjoyed reading the books, and seeing all the children come together over the books has been great. She has taken a lot of heat over the past few years, some of it quite undeserved.
But Ms. Rowling has stepped over the line. She has recently declared that Dumbledore is gay. WTF. I kept waiting for this to be a joke. It looks like 'this is how she always thought of him'. WTF! It's not in the story line. Is she really that desperate for more media attention that she's going to stoop to this of type of oh-by-the-ways for years to come? What's next? It was all a dream? Harry wakes up with a concussion under the stairs and now we're gonna get the real story?

C'mon, Rowling. You've just completely blown your credibility.

Introducing Nathalie Mallet

We have another author lurking in the mist of Prince George. (Okay, the mist is actually a lethal blend of pollutants - but that's another post.)

Nathalie Mallet has just launched her first novel, The Princes of the Golden Cage, in paperback from Night Shade Books.

I met Nathalie through our local writers workshop, and recently she came to Con-Version 23 in Calgary where I was glad for a chance to get to know her better. A very intelligent, fun lady! I'll be reviewing her novel for Neo-opsis Magazine and will try to get it in the local paper as well.
Available at Books & Co or on Amazon.

Summer Update

The guilt monster of blog neglection has kicked in.

After a looong winter, I'm a bit relieved and a little sad we're not mountain biking this summer. With some changes and a new approach for next year, we should be back at it.

All is well on the home front. Kids are glad to be done school. I'll be spending the summer immersed in a few things:

BMX racing - my daughter is racing regularly locally, and my stepson will be going to the World Championships in Victoria in July. I'll be tagging along and catching up with some friends while I am there.

Writing - still poking away at my novel. It's coming slowly. (I meant sloooowly.)
I'll be attending Con-version 23 in Calgary in August, and Nina Munteanu and I have planned a couple extra days for a mini-writing retreat before the start of the convention. So looking forward to that - not only having some quiet time, but Nina is such great fun and we always have the greatest conversations (and mucho de la beer).

A group of local friends has been getting together to film some short sketches. It's all off-the-cuff and a lot of fun. I hope I can make more of the weekly meetings between hopping in and out of town.

Publishing - Bundoran Press will soon have a few exciting announcements to make. I'll be reading and editing in the midst of the above chaos.

I still have paperwork galore and websites to work on in an attempt to keep up with the bills. I was thinking this would be more of a relaxing summer? Well fer...

Canadian SF wiki

A long overdue wiki site for all Canadian Science Fiction. Big shout-out to Marcel Gagne and Robert Sawyer for creating this site.
http://www.canadiansf.com/

Lloyd Alexander

Lloyd Alexander, author of the Chronicles of Prydain (Taran the Pigkeeper) along with many other works, has passed away at age 83.

'The Black Cauldron' was my first introduction to the world of 'fantasy' as a child. (My mother was horrified that I was past the realm of Anne of Green Gables, and thought it was all crap.) I would voraciously shop our small town second-hand bookstore for anything fantasy, and it's still my favourite genre to this day.

I give a moment of remembrance to a writer who touched the lives of many.

Ten Rules for the Good Life

1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you have it.
4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap; it will never be dear to you.
5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
6. Never repent of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8. Don't let the evils which have never happened cost you pain.
9. Always take things by their smooth handle.
10. When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, count to one hundred.

Con-Vention 23, Calgary

Woowoo! Got my membership and room booked for Calgary.

Oh, scratch that woowoo. It's Calgary - I'll have to learn how to YEEHAW!

Muppet Show

I found it! I've been ranting for years about seeing this scene when I was young(er). Miss Piggy does Meg Ryan from "When Harry Met Sally". Freakin byooootiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4O0ftwqZn4

Sick to my stomach of the Park.

You may have heard of the big Tragedy in Stanley Park, Vancouver. A couple large wind storms recently whacked down most of the park, devastating the trees and making a big mess.

Here is the format of the Vancouver Global news cast.
1. Whining about the weather.
2. Crying about the Park.
3. Very short segment on the homeless and the cold, and the overcrowded shelters, and the chance of dying in the subzero weather.
4. More crying about the cost of cleaning up the Park.
5. A DEDICATED PHONE-IN LINE AND FUND RAISING COMPAIGN, WITH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS COMING IN TO CLEAN UP THE PARK.

What?? What about the people? What about the people dying on the street? Business after business is donating $25,000 to clean up some branches and replant trees (let's not forget the value of the timber that is coming in from the clean-up.) A shelter could do a crap load of good with $25,000, I'm fairly sure. A $9 wool blanket can make all the difference to a kid living on the street.

What is wrong with this picture. Save the trees!! Save the tourist trap! Save the jogging run! Screw the people! Let's especially screw the people that scare away the tourists. (A constant complaint - the homeless in Vancouver are keeping tourists away in drastic numbers.)
That's my favourite part. Why save the park if no one is coming to look at it anyway?

What's the code for a puke smiley?

Rant

Why do so many women use nearly naked shots, (of either themselves or just stock images) as their profile pictures for blogging and forums? Why do they want to be envisioned only as a set of boobs or as an ass with a thong in it? Do they think they're going to be on top of the mating chain? Do they not realize that the net is filled with a lot better/more explicit portrayals of sexuality and their tiny square of cleavage is not going to assert any type of advantage? Many of the women seem to be quite independent, intelligent and even feminist, so it seems bizarre to revert to such am lascivious tactic of voyeurism. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I'm not.

No NaNo

Well, I made somewhat of an effort, not quite valiant. I haven't made it past the word count below for NaNoWriMo. However, I feel great about what I have so far, and I came out if it with an outline and many notes. I've finally birthed the damn thing, after a two year gestation period.

I have a good excuse. With all this snow, we were able to open the hill on the 26th. Last year was Jan 17, so we're just a little ahead of schedule. Everything went fairly smoothly, even with technical difficulties and such. I had a couple great staff members in and we went hard all day.

Happy winter to all! Hope my fellow NaNo'ers had good results with their projects.

Having a verclempt kind of day

Thought I would go pyscho and post some old pics, seeing as I never do. The fat face in each pic is mine, except for the skiing shot. That's my daughter.














These two are screen grabs from a tv commercial we did in 05. Couldn't get a high res image.
The first is my stepson, 14 at the time, grabbing some big air for the camera, and the second is my daughter. She doesn't care what she's on as long as it goes fast.

super snort

So many diversions, so little words

I'm back, with a vengeance

It's day four of NaNoWriMo, and I'm just getting started. After a few days of distracting distraction, and a couple days of being sickly sick, I'm back.
I bought a shitload of music from Puretracks. (I know, I know, I can hear all your groans out there. I'm sorry. I don't walk out of a music store with CD's in my pocket either.) It turned out to be the purchase from hell. Puretracks and its digital rights management has an issue with Windows Media Player 10, it turns out. I had to downgrade to 9 just to get my new stuff to play, and haven't yet got my older songs working properly. Needless to say, they heard from me. YEAH.

Got my Hershey's with Almonds, got my beer, got my friends, got some tunes. All is good. Real good.

NaNiWriMo

I'm doin it! For real. *panic*

Anyone else giving it a stab? A try? A feeble poke? A colossal whammy?

Where did my life go?

Hello all. It's been way too long.
Some of you know, things fell apart and I didn't make it to LA. Not only did I throw away money and tons of Air Miles and other points, I was so disappointed to not be in that con bubble of creative people, ideas and high energy. (Well, for the first few days, anyway. Depends on your con stamina smarts.)

I am going to VCon this weekend, come hell or any depth of water. This will be my (ummm, Lynda?) fourth year going. Smaller crowds, but always good. The con committee has really pushed hard this year with marketing, so hopefully all their hard work pays off. They always do a great job. *Hats off*

Big news. Big big news. I am proud to announce the launch of "The Best of Neo-opsis Magazine" Anthology. I am part of the new small press Bundoran Press.

We have a launch slated for Sunday at VCon, and we'll hold a couple other events as well later on in October.

Here's the front and back cover.




Take care all, and Happy Thanksgiving!! (Every year, I miss the damn turkey.)