Latest Posts

Distancing your work from someone else’s work

Posted on by

In June I released my book, Scouts of the Apocalypse. Scouts is a book that started as a campfire story probably six years ago and has been one that I’ve long wanted to see in print. As you might imagine, I was pretty happy to have it finally available. It was only a couple weeks later that I got my first email from a friend asking me if I had seen the news about a movie with a similar title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. That was followed by the question, “Was it based on my book?” I hadn’t and it wasn’t. I must confess, I was pretty disappointed at first. And then I started to realize how different […]

Share
Read more

Creating Worlds

Posted on by

One of the things I truly love, whether it is in books, movies, comic books or whatever, is when the property hits a certain tipping point and stops being a collection of material and becomes a living breathing entity. Several such properties come to mind (and might make what I’m talking about easier to envision): Star Wars; Star Trek; Discworld; Wizarding World of Harry Potter; Pern; Asterix and Obelix; Narnia. This is just a very small list; there are many MANY other examples out there. In each case, the original work has grown well beyond what was first conceived, gaining a life of its own. Hmm…now that I think of it, perhaps the word, “Conceived” is very appropriate. What makes […]

Share
Read more

Doldrums

Posted on by

Every once in a while, and for me it is usually the beginning of summer, we experience a drop in productivity or energy or motivation to do the things that are important for us. In my case, I think it happens when it does because I’ve just finished a major project (or two) and I need some down-time to relax and rejuvenate. The problem with doing this (definitely for me) is getting back out of relaxation mode and moving into productivity mode. I call this period my doldrums; basically, I know I need to get busy because I have lots of things on-the-go or coming up but I don’t have the momentum to get working on them. That lack of […]

Share
Read more

The Occasional Misfire

Posted on by

I consider myself to be a good speaker. I have done many book readings, presentations and convention panels where I have received positive feedback. I am able to (usually) think on my feet. So, when I was asked to both participate in and moderate on a panel about humour at the 2012 World Fantasy Convention (in Toronto) I accepted without too much concern. Then I saw the write-up about the panel. The names of writers mentioned in the write-up (again about humour) were names I had never heard before. When I Googled them, I discovered that many were writers from the turn of the 20th century. Clearly, the person who conceived the idea for the panel was either an ancient […]

Share
Read more
1 … 71 72 73 74 75 … 269