Hmmm ... seems I haven't posted in a few days. That's because I'm working non-stop. I'm starting to hit the wall, I think. This is day 6 or 7 of 9 in a row. I'm losing track. Then I've got 1 day off and back to it. Yes, I'm complaining, but I've no one to blame but me. I could always find another line of work, right?

I've got 2 weeks off in August. Hoping to get away a few days. Also hoping to score tickets to the Eddie Vedder concert somehow, even though they sold out in about 8 seconds. I posted a want ad on Craigslist, that's how desperate I am.

I've got a week off in September, too, when we go to the Toronto International Film Festival. And there's the last week in October when we go to New York for the first time. Really looking forward to that. And to that end, our new Passports arrived today. Yay! So light at the end of the tunnel and all that.

Sounds like folks had a great time at ReaderCon and Necon. I should try and make it to one of those conventions some day.

Would like to get out and see Dark Knight and Hellboy 2.

Okay, time to get some coffee and shake the cobwebs from my skull.

Hmmm, there aren't a lot of venues for 11,000 word tales that are too mainstream for horror publications and too dark (read depressing) for mainstream publications, are there? Didn't think so.

There's a raffle for tickets for some great prizes to help the KGB reading series in New York. I've kicked in a few bucks. There really are some great things you could win in the auction; your very own wormhole, a short story critique from the likes of Ellen Datlow, Gardner Dozois, Rick Bowes and Nancy Kress, etc. Take a look:

http://www.kgbfantasticfiction.org/store/

Okay, since everyone is off watching Hellboy II, I've been renting DVD's. The local store has a promotion where you rent 4 DVD's for $10. Some recent films:

Diary of the Dead: Crap! Utter crap. It couldn't decide if it was a horror or comedy film, and, thus, was neither. Abysmal. Also, enough with the Zombies, I say. Enough! Romero's original Night of the Living Dead was cool, and scared the hell out of me when I was young. And the only zombie novel I've ever liked, and it's a great one, is Thomas Tessier's Nightwalker. So, there's your Zombie quotient. Can we please stop it now?

Wrong Turn: Hey, there are Orcs living in the back country woods of West Virginia. And they trap and kill young, good-looking, unsuspecting and clueless people. Why? I don't know. Maybe they taste good. Or maybe it's just what Orcs do.

Apocalypto: No plot! No plot, I tell you. Yet, it was still quite watchable. A violent and bloody jungle action-adventure. Oh, those wacky Mayans!

Yesterday was my son's 18th birthday. 18! God, how time flies. He's a good young man, and I love him dearly. Don't worry, he doesn't read this journal, so it isn't another instance of his Dad embarrassing him.

And, I've sold my mainstream short story (it's only 1000 words), On the Road with Rutger, to the fine folks at Flash Fiction Online. It'll go live next month. Who doesn't love Rutger Hauer?

http://www.flashfictiononline.com/

Why not pop over to Horror World and read Simon Strantzas' Pinholes in Black Muslin. Or you can read an extract from Tim Lebbon's next book. As well, they've put up my story The Kraken, long-listed for a British Fantasy Society Award.

All of this is brought to you from the fine folks at Humdrumming.

Went and watched Wall * E last night. It really is a lot of fun, and a movie the whole family can enjoy. Yes, it's got quite a moral undertone to it, and a message about how we are destroying the Earth (no kidding), but it never seems heavy-handed. It's got a great new Peter Gabriel song, as well.

I've got an hour before everyone gets up, so I think I'll sign off and try to get a bit of writing done.

Starting today, as I worked yesterday, I have most of the week off. Will try and get a few things done, maybe take a couple day trips, museum, art gallery, wolf centre up north. We'll see. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

I started a couple new short stories. Both are in the very early preliminary sketchy plot/idea stage. A few notes and a few paragraphs jotted down.

Had a great Canada Day visiting friends. Hope everyone had a happy July 4th and happy Canada day.

Watched a film called "In Bruges" the other night. Loved it. Dark and funny, profane and violent.

Is anyone else watching this classic Wimbledon final? The Williams sisters were great yesterday, as well.

Happy July 4th to all my friends in the States. Have a great weekend!

Happy Canada Day, folks! It's a national holiday here today, where we get together with friends, eat good food, drink some beer, and chat convivially. Oh, wait, we do that almost every day, anyway. But it's a holiday, so we get fireworks, too. Later we are going to Di and Phil's house for their annual Canada Day bash. It's always fun.

Yesterday I barbecued a nice big salmon fillet with some lime and mango chutney. I also grilled up some mini sweet peppers that I stuffed with goat cheese. Mmmm! I served it with some jasmine rice and a nice crusty Parmesan baguette. Here is pictorial evidence of my culinary deeds:

If you're a voting member of the British Fantasy Society, or just someone who likes free reads, please check out this site:

http://votehumdrumming.co.uk/

Good times!!

Had a fun time with the gang on Saturday night. We had dinner and drinks at The Madison. Beautiful night. We split time between the patio and the inside bar. Played some pool. Got beat by that Savory jack_yoniga dude (who beat everyone, it seems). Got to finally meet Joel joelasutherland and his wife Colleen. Good people.

Was nice seeing everyone else, too, like Seph & Derek, the other Derek, the other Michaels, Simon & Fran, Richard & Laura, Bob, etc. As usual, Simon avoided me. Was it something I said?

Bob and I decided, before common sense and cold sobriety hit, that we'd start a new "online hardback magazine" of stories that had been rejected by every other viable market. Brilliant!

Best part of the night was when Michael Rowe said I was like a pair of Khakis, because I go with everything.

Reminder to Toronto-area folks that we're having dinner tomorrow at the Madison Pub, starting at 5 pm.  Hope to see a bunch of you there.

Watched a pretty decent independent horror film the other night called The Signal.  It's directed by 3 different people and is shown as 3 distinct, but connected, strands.  It basically tells the simple story of what would happen if some sort of weird electronic interference or signal made half the population snap, and go on killing sprees.  Each strand is unique, from realistic modern horror to campy black humour. Definitely worth the rental.

In sad news, to me anyway, when I switch my electric guitar toggle switch to "rhythm" it cuts in and out.  Bummer.  Maybe I just need to clean the connections.

I borrowed the neighbour's power washer Sunday and washed off the back patio.  Amazing.  It was greenish with mold and algae and now the stones look new.

Yes, these are exciting and wonderful times.

Just a reminder for Toronto-area writers from Sephera Giron, about the upcoming HWA and Friends dinner. All are welcome, whether in the HWA or not. You can RSVP to me or Sephera.

Hello Everyone!

The next Horror Writers Association and Friends Dinner is on:

Saturday June 28 at 5 pm

at the

Madison Pub


Please RSVP so I can give the numbers to the manager so they will staff accordingly.

http://www.madisonavenuepub.com/

Party with Horror Writers on the Holiday Weekend! Whoohooo


As always, you are responsible for your own bill.

There is parking on the street and in the lot out back. Read the signs so that you don't get a ticket.

We will likely have the VIP room. The patio was fun but not as good as the VIP room for mingling and chatting.

Also, try to join the facebook group. Horror Writers Associations and Friends Dinners

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7053226575

Invite other horror writers but let me know who is coming.


Sephera

Okay, it's been a number of years since I was a video game nerd player.  My kids are game geeks, though.

Yesterday, my son Daniel and I went downtown to see Video Games Live.  It's a full working orchestra that plays the music from video games.  I was amazed at how much of the music I recognized and enjoyed, from Mario Brothers to Legend of Zelda.  My favourite piece was the stuff from Myst.  We had a good time.  Our only disappointment was that we didn't see any street corner hotdog vendors, so we didn't get our street meat.  Usually they're all over the place.

Here's the table of contents for the next iteration of the Humdrumming Books of Horror. That is quite the line-up.

This year's anthology is larger than the first one was, and so is the size of the type! Larger page count! Larger list of titles! Larger author's names! Larger words! Slightly larger price (due to more authors and more pages)! Same old rubbish inside! What more could you want?! Pre-order your copy today.

http://www.humdrumming.co.uk/books/978-1-905532-62-9.html

The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories

Spawned from Horror and Fear come the familiars of Terror — 15 disturbing tales to haunt your days and upset your dreams — every single one now published for the first time.

The Typewriter which possesses its user
The Storm which eats what it kills
The Sky is not as empty as it appears
The Balm which soothes no-one!
The Terrible truth of the porch lantern
The Sound of Justice which hammers out from beneath the floor
All these never-before-seen stories:

"I Was Tom Waits’s Toy Boy" (highly probable this title is not accurate) by GUY ADAMS!!
“The Hack”, by JAMES COOPER!! and ANDREW JURY!!
“It Sounds a Bit Like…”, by GARY FRY!!
“Nightmare Alley”, by RHYS HUGHES!!
something or other by DAVIN IRELAND!!
“Chelsea Grin”, by MICHAEL KELLY!!
“Seen but not Heard”, by GARY McMAHON!!
“Pinholes in Black Muslin”, by SIMON STRANTZAS!!
“The Tobacconist’s Concession”, by JOHN TRAVIS!!
“Wary Be the Traveller”, by CAROL WEEKES!!
“The Velocity of Blame”, by CHRISTOPHER FOWLER!!
“Falling Off the World”, by TIM LEBBON!!
"Bad Call", by MARK MORRIS!!
"Our Man in the Sahara", by SARAH PINBOROUGH!!
"Late Returns", by CONRAD WILLIAMS!!
All that — plus! a packet! of crisps! — for less than a tenner! (reader must still supply own crisps)

Had a pretty good weekend. On Friday night we went and saw Iron Man. It had some decent moments. It's a popcorn movie. I'll just say that I didn't enjoy it as much as some other folks have, but that's just because I'm generally a sour puss lately. Ultimately, like 90% of movies, it's a forgettable film -- you watch bemused for a couple hours, then you move on to other things. I'm now curious to see the latest M. Night Shyamalan movie, The Happening. Mostly because it is getting bad reviews. See, I've generally liked Shyamalan's films that don't get the good reviews: Unbreakable, and The Lady in the Water. Roger Ebert has given The Happening a very thoughtful and positive review.

Saturday, based on some great first-reader comments, I finished a troubling short story that, given its subject matter and POV, will likely never sell. Then I barbecued some salmon with a Dijon sauce. Mmmmm.

Yesterday we went downtown to have dinner with Greg Lamberson glamberson who is in town with his lovely wife Tamar and their beautiful daughter Kaelin. Sephera Giron and her husband Derek, and their kids, also met up with us for a fun evening. And Derek Clendenning made the trip from Fort Erie. It was good seeing them for a few hours. We alternated betweeen the outdoor patio and the bar, as we had about 3 wicked thunderstorms and showers while we were there.

I painted and stained a lawn chair yesterday that had been a little weather-beaten from having been left out one winter. Also managed to call my dad and wish him a happy father's day.

Last night I had a lot of trouble sleeping. Woke around 2 am and got back to a fitful sleep around 6 am.

Those kind folks at Humdrumming, who are publishing my collaborative novel Ouroboros, (and I don't think I've mentioned that in a while, so excuse me), have seen fit to make available my BFS Award-nominated short story The Kraken for your reading pleasure. It has a, um, Kraken, references to Norwegian black metal, and is about, ultimately, enduring friendship. Really. You can find it here:

http://www.humdrumming.co.uk/books/samples/978-1-905532-48-3_Kraken_BFS.pdf