2014 is... Evil?

Already 2014 is off to a very good start. Today, Violet and I both rejoined the world of the employed! I start a new long-term temp assignment on Monday, and Violet has been hired by our local Home Depot. She's worked for the company before, and enjoyed the experience very much. This news could not have come at a better time - both our EIs have run out!

And while that is certainly good news for both of us, I have something else to report that might just eclipse everything. It's been in the works for a little while now, and I didn't want to say anything for fear of a) jinxing it, and b) getting everybody's hopes up before it was more or less a sure thing.

A production company in Germany has approached me regarding the movie rights for Evil.

I know, eh? Wicked!

But that's not all! I've asked if I can write the script, and they appear open to the idea! Now technically, I can demand that writing the script be part of the rights sale. They are mine, after all, and I can make whatever demands I please. I could ask to be paid in green M&Ms! Of course, if I demand ridiculous stuff, they might decide to go after some other author's book. They have a guy in mind to write the script, but they want to see a treatment from me (ie - how I would adapt the book for the screen) to see if we are more or less on the same page. If so, then I might be a screenwriter once again! If not, no worries. Selling book rights is a fairly new thing for me, and I'm delighted enough at their interest. Writing the script would simply be gravy.

The production company have also expressed interest in The Cupid War. Flux still owns those rights, so they'll handle it. I will, of course, get a sweet check out of that sale!

I will of course provide more details as they happen. In the meantime, I'm just delighted to have some really good news to share!

Oh, and our cats got run over. :(

Kidding! They're fine.

7000 Views!

I just checked my stats, and found out that Worlds of Tim has just passed 7, 000 views. I'm a sucker for an even number with lots of zeros, so right now I'm pretty happy.


By way of thanks, I'll reward you all with cute cat pictures. You'll not find anything like that elsewhere on the Internet, let me tell you!

Well, ok, you might just find one or two cat pictures here and there. But these ones feature my two boys, Karma and Ron. So there.

This is Karma.

And this is Ron.








Adorable little buggers, aren't they?

Polaris Saturday Morning

I just missed the bus, so I'll be a little later than I would have liked. Nevertheless, I am soon to be on my way with all my stuff.


Here is a list of the days and times for my panels:

Saturday 11am In Defence of Star Trek: Voyager
Saturday 2pm Communicating On The Internet
Saturday 3pm TimeWarp 87: The Coming of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Saturday 5pm Yes Amy, I Am A Mad Man With A Blue Box

Sunday 1pm A Half-Century of Doctor Who
Sunday 5pm The 15th Anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Must go. I have to wipe the cat hair off my suitcase (Karma & Ron LOVE suitcases!).

21st Century Reminder

As an author, it is important to describe the world around my characters, to give the story a sense of place. I suck at this, at least during my first drafts, so I always have to go back and add scenery to make my worlds feel real.

One thing I've noticed about my writing, as far as scene-setting goes, is that I tend to forget what century my characters are in. No, I don't end up putting characters from a modern-day fantasy into Biblical times or anything. However, I can sometimes displace them by twenty or thirty years.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s, with just a dash of the 90s at the tail end of my teens. My novels, for the most part, are set in the present day, which roughly translates as the year in which I'm writing them. I draw upon my memories for information on teenage life, which is why I often forget about tiny little details about the current millennium.

Like cell phones. Nobody had one during my high school days, but they are plentiful now. Same with iPods. And the Internet. I don't think there is a single cellphone in Epoch or Evil. A cell plays a major role in the beginning of The Cupid War, but that's it. No iPods. Very little Internet usage. My books are stuck in an era that pre-dates the Star Wars prequels!

But they still work, I hasten to point out. The themes in my novels are universal, and I rite reel guud, tue. However, readers will wonder why Stuart Bradley doesn't have a blog, or why Trina Porten's friends don't mention each others' Facebook status updates.

I'm getting a lot better at it. The novel I'm working on now has websites and texting and everything. If I can remember to do that with every story, then who knows? I might just achieve relevance.





Okay, that's enough about my flaws for one post! Here's a picture of my adorable cat Ron to send you off on a good note. Isn't he cute? You bet he is!