Summer is drifting away. At least the weather here in Okotoks has been excellent the last couple of weeks, making up, somewhat, for the six weeks of rain and gloom.

One highlight of August was the annual Calgary literary conference When Words Collide 2025. Beyond being the co-chair and on the conference committee, I ran the Merchant Room and was part of a number of panels and events including Sword & Sorcery: Now and Then, The End of Evil, Live Action Slush (Fantasy/Urban Fantasy) and Noir at the Bar (in a real bar for a change!).

And speaking of literary pursuits, my story “Cheeseburger Philosophy and the King of Kings” will be out in a fabulous new anthology Monstrous Angels come November. Love the cover!

Now that all the Summer events are done, it’s time for…Fall events. But still time for writing.

Current projects:

  • Completed writing (with Sarah L. Pratt) a Trace and Solomon story called ‘The Boiling Confluence’ for our upcoming Purgatorio Sloth anthology.
  • Editing all the stories for the upcoming Purgatorio Sloth anthology from The Seventh Terrace.
  • Tuning up a few short stories to resubmit to various markets.
  • Outlining a new Prairie Gothic novel.

Next publications:

  • Cheeseburger Philosophy and the King of Kings story (from Terrace VI: Forbidden Fruit) will be in Monstrous Angels, in November 2025.
  • A flash titled ‘To the Bone’ will be coming out sometime in 2025. Hopefully…
  • My cosmic horror novel A Queen in Amber will be out Fall of 2025.

The Great Canadian Death Race ended up being less than ideal. Rainy, muddy, and injured. At least I’ll have time to recover before racing in 2026!

Recent movies and television:

  • Ghost Stories (2017) – Was okay until the end.
  • Junk Head – An excellent stop motion movie – track this down!
  • The Girl on the Third floor – hmm

I’m currently reading:

  • Moonflow by Bitter Karella (decent)
  • A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck (thought provoking and excellent)
  • The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers (re-read – all time favourite)
  • The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman (fun)

I’m currently listening to:

  • Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
  • Van Halen – 1984
  • Billy Idol – Cyberpunk

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