Survived the Lost Soul Ultra last weekend. And when I say survived, I mean I finished without having a heat stroke or being crippled or dying or some such adjacent horror.

It’s a tough race in the coulees along the Oldman River in Lethbridge, made especially brutal this year due to extreme heat. My poor feet were still suffering from previous races, but held up as well as they could. So that’s a bonus.

I went in with the goal of just finishing, honestly, so it was nice to snag a cool finishers rock.

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Writing

Folks might not know, but I’m the VP of Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society (AWCS) and the society took over the When Words Collide (WWC) literary festival in Calgary, Alberta this year. I was the co-chair of the festival and we held our inaugural edition in mid August, to great acclaim. Such a fabulous time. In addition to helping out, I was on a few panels including one on Prairie Gothic, which was well attended.

Current projects:

• Completed a draft of a co-written (with Sarah L. Pratt) Trace and Solomon novella titled “Charlemagne’s Ring” for inclusion in our forthcoming On the Road with Trace and Solomon book.
• Completed a little flash bit called “To the Bone.”
• Currently working on a story set in the Badlands of Drumheller.
• MANY other projects. Too many…

Next publications:

• My cosmic horror novel A Queen in Amber should be out late fall or winter, wee!
• A short story titled ‘Eden’ coming out in the Spring of 2025 in the Prairie Devil anthology.

Running

Race season is over, so time for recovery and cross-training for a few months. Next race will be the Frozen Ass Fifty in February.

What I’m Watching – TV

Love Island USA (Season 6) – After Season 5 I’m still not sure why we continue to watch this. Oh, the humanity!

Futurama Season 10. Episodes thus far are a bit uneven, but even lesser Futurama is still great fun.

What I’m Watching – Movies

Deadpool and Wolverine – Not fine art, but bloody entertaining.

What I’m Reading

We Used to Live here by Marcus Kliewer. I liked this book, though it had a few issues that prevented me from loving it. I do need more stories about Old House.

The Worm in Every Heart by Gemma Files. Listening to the audio book, which is well done.

Skull Slime Tentacle Witch War by Rick Claypool – Not sure exactly what the hell this was… but it was bonkers.

What I’m Listening To

The Crafwork Podcast (Mike Thorn and Miriam Richer)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Wild God

Jim Jackson – Alsetius Blues

The Handsome Family

Darkest of the Hillside Thickets

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

View from the top of Cypress Hills during last weekend’s Hidden Oasis Ultra. Fun, smallish (by ultra standards) local race with around a hundred runners on all sorts of trails and paths through some beautiful scenery. The race was officially 53km, though it ended up being 55km for me since I managed to take a wrong turn somehow and ended up an additional mountain!

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Writing

The final draft of my King in Yellow/cosmic pulp horror novel titled A Queen in Amber is complete. Letting it rest for now.

Started on the sequel titled A Priest in Rags as well as working on some new short stories.

Next publications:

• A short story titled ‘The Loveseat’ coming out in the Summer in the Necronomi-RomCom Dark anthology.
• A short story titled ‘Eden’ coming out in the Fall in the Prairie Devil anthology.

Running

As described above, ran the Hidden Oasis Ultra race in Cypress Hills on June 8th. Next up is Devil’s Ladder Ultra in Cumberland, British Columbia in July.

Life

New hardwood in the living room looks and feels amazing. Good to have all the brown shag out of here. Next up, painting! The garden is all in and growing like crazy. I’ll get some pictures for my next update.

Work is still over the top never ending busy…

What I’m Watching – TV

Star Trek Discovery (Season 5) – Just need to watch the final episode when I get the chance.

Letterkenny (Season 6 rewatch) – endlessly entertaining.

What I’m Watching – Movies

Synchronic – Not as solid as the other Benson and Moorhead movies I’ve watched and thoroughly enjoyed (Resolution, Spring, The Endless). Mostly decent, even with the gaping plot holes. I’d give it a one thumbs up.

Stop Motion – Okay, this was rather terrifying. A bit more body horror than I wanted and damn creepy. Honestly not sure what to think of it.

What I’m Reading

What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier, #2) by T. Kingfisher. Just started, but a nice continuation of the story and characters.

Elric of Melnibone (The Elric Saga, Vol. 1) by Michael Moorcock. Listening to the audio book, which is well done. Love any and all Elric!

The Atrocity Engine by Tim Waggoneer (finished) – A fun pulpy romp, I’ll definitely be reading the sequels.

John the Balladeer by Manly Wade Wellman (finished) – A classic!

What I’m Listening To

The Crafwork Podcast (Mike Thorn and Miriam Richer)

Jed Whedon and The Willing – History of Forgotten Things

Bauhaus – The Bela Session

WHAT’S NEW

Wow, it’s been a year since I updated this poor site. Not going to promise to do better because… yeah. Way too many other priorities at the moment.

2019 has been an amazing year thus far. The big news, of course, is that I started a micro horror press with the illustrious Sarah L. Johnson called The Seventh Terrace.

Our first book is a collaboration called Terrace VII: Wall of Fire. It’s a dark little beast. Pick it up and tell us what you think.

WRITING

After a busy summer I managed to get back to some serious writing, both on my novel in progress and numerous short stories. Some great stuff in the pipe that will hopefully find a home ‘out there’ somewhere or in my next collection that’s slowly congealing.

This year I had a couple of short stories published:

• The King on the Beer Bottle Throne – in Black Dog Review #3
• Essential Services – in The Stories We Hide: Enigma Front #5

Also had my story, The Last Wave, short listed for the 2019 Raven Short Story Contest at Pulp Literature. Super cool!

EDITING/PUBLISHING

The publishing business is crazy you know? The four books I’ve been working on over the last eighteen months all ended up being released in a late October and early November. Just the way things roll sometimes. Fabulous books, each and every one.

• Knucklehead Noir – edited with Sarah L. Johnson (from Coffin Hop Press)
• Sleeping Underwater – by Laird Ryan States (from Coffin Hop Press)
• The Black City Beneath – by R. Overwater (from Tiny Sledgehammer)
• Terrace VII: Wall of Fire – with Sarah. L. Johnson (from The Seventh Terrace)

Some cool stuff planned and in the pipe for 2020 – stay tuned!

RUNNING

I ran. A lot. Kept the wheels on for the most part, stayed sane, and found adventure with the best of friends.

Races:

• Frozen Ass 50 km (February)
• Calgary Marathon 50 km (May)
• River Revenge 100 km (June)
• The Great Canadian Death Race 125 km (August)
• Lost Soul 100 km (September)

Just getting sorted for 2020. Should be epic.

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