Had the pleasure (and pain) to run the Devils Ladder Ultra two weeks ago. Beautiful fifty-two km course in the mountains west of Cumberland, British Columbia with, I’ll admit, the most technical trails I’ve run in some time. It was brutally hot and my poor achilles were destroyed, so definitely type-2 fun – but there was a fantastic beer garden to recover in.

After the race we slacked around in the Comox Valley for a few days, strolling beaches and investigating cool brew pubs and distilleries. I’d highly recommend Gladstone Brewing, Fern + Cedar, and Wayward Distillery.

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Writing

My short story titled “The Loveseat” is officially out in the Necronomi-RomCom Dark anthology (and in the omnibus of the Light and Dark volumes). The books look fantastic and I’m happy to see my weird little tale included.

Current projects:

• A new Trace and Solomon novella titled “Charlemagne’s Ring” for inclusion in our forthcoming On the Road with Trace and Solomon book.
• A Ligotti’sh short story called “Obfuscation.”
• A little flash bit called “To the Bone.”
• Continuing to chip away at the sequel to A Queen in Amber titled A Priest in Rags.

Next publications:

• A short story titled ‘Eden’ coming out in the Spring of 2025 in the Prairie Devil anthology.

Running

As described above, ran Devil’s Ladder Ultra in Cumberland, British Columbia in July. Next up, The Lost Soul Ultra in Lethbridge, Alberta in September. My feets are in poor shape though, so I may have to sit this one out and volunteer instead.

What I’m Watching – TV

Love Island USA (Season 5) – Not exactly sure why I’m watching this (I totally blame Sarah…) but now that we’re in, we’re committed… (or should be).

What I’m Watching – Movies

Something in the Dirt – Another entertaining Benson and Moorhead movie filmed during the Pandemic confined to a couple of locations. It’s about two neighbors, John and Levi who discover a piece of carved quartz that floats in Levi’s apartment and decide to make a documentary of the surrounding supernatural phenomenon. Two Thumbs up.

The First Omen – Wasn’t sure about this one to start, but it was well done and a good prelude to the Omen series. One Thumb up.

V/H/S Viral – Watched this specifically for the Bonestorm short by Benson and Moorhead. Every short was entertaining, its own way, and the connective tissue weirdly disturbing. I especially enjoyed Bonestorm and Parallel Monsters. Two Thumbs up.

What I’m Reading

An Unkindness of Shadows by John Linwood Grant. I absolutely adored this book wherein art collector and appraiser Justin Margrave traverses seventies England, encountering strange people and stranger situations. I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Elric of Melnibone (The Elric Saga, Vol. 2) by Michael Moorcock. Listening to the audio book, which is well done.

Haunted Scotland by William Meikle – Just getting into it, but excellent thus far.

Skull Slime Tentacle Witch War by Rick Claypool – Just started.

What I’m Listening To

The Crafwork Podcast (Mike Thorn and Miriam Richer)

Petty Country – A Country Music Celebration Of Tom Petty

Nash the Slash – Reckless Use of Electricity