Will you stay with us till d of July? PLLLLLEEEASE?

That's the message my manager sent me on Monday, so apparently my job's not over just yet! Huzzah. They want me to stay until the end of July - five more weeks of work. Sometimes things just work out! What happened was, a full-timer landed a better job at a rival company and left. This took everyone by surprise, and management quickly tumbled to the fact that they'd need more help. Thus, my contract was extended - to the time I was originally told it would end! A lot can happen in a month, so who knows? Maybe they'll want me to stay indefinitely... Sadly, I have had no such reversal from Flux. You win some...

Two Wrongs... Make A Write?

This is what the end of a job looks like: Drop by when you have a min? Thanks That was the subject line of an email from my manager Friday morning. As soon as I read it, I knew my days at the new job were numbered. My manager confirmed it; they were hiring on some full-time people, and would not need me any more. I shouldn't have been surprised - it was a temp position, with no long-term guarantees. Nevertheless it was a blow; I liked the place and the people I worked with, and the pay was pretty good too. My last day will be June 29, so they actually gave me a week's notice. That's more than most temps get. And there is every possibility I will have a new assignment lined up before this week is out. Sadly, this bit of bad news came directly on the heels of another bit of bad news. I finally received an email from Flux regarding my future with them, and it wasn't good. Sales of The Cupid War and Evil have not been great, so they are no longer interested in publishing my next novel. My time as a Flux author has come to an end. A year ago, either one of those dark tidings would have devastated me. Now, however, I know there are other jobs and other publishers out there. My writing certainly hasn't stopped - I'm on to Chapter 23 of my current project, with many more stories waiting to follow it. I'm certainly not giving up (though the thought did occur to me once or twice), and I'm still going ahead with releasing Walk of Evil one week from today right here in this blog! These are a couple of setbacks, nothing more. Stay tuned.

Something Evil's On Its Way...

I have an important announcement to make. Last year, I was asked to write a short story for an anthology of LGBQT fiction. I came up with a story set in the world of my novel EVIL, featuring Stuart Bradley and Fon Pyre. Chronologically, it takes place a few months after the events of the book. I called it Walk Of Evil. Sadly, the anthology editors turned my submission down. They said it was "too fantastical," and I'm hard pressed to disagree. But their loss is about to be your gain; I have decided the time has come to share that story with the world. And I will share it here, on my blog, on July 1st(Canada Day). Feedback would of course be appreciated. I've had other short stories in the works for a while now, one of which is set in the Cupid War universe. And my Doctor Who Fanfic is still out there, too. Would you, my readers, like to see more of this? Let me know! And mark July 1 on your calendars.

Back To The Mastery

Back in November I took part in a weekend workshop/seminar/life-changing experience known as the Mastery. Details of that event are posted here. Once someone participates in such a weekend, they can drop by any other Mastery event anywhere in the world, to help out or just observe. Last month, that opportunity came up for me when the Mastery returned to Toronto. At first, I wasn't overly enthusiastic about visiting. I would have to give up three hours of Saturday or Sunday in order to have an hour-long visit, once you factor in the transit time. Saturday is the one day in the week when I can spend quality time with my wife Violet (our work schedules don't work well together), and most weekends I make an effort to be as lazy as possible. Nevertheless, I chose to go. I'd made some good friends during my Mastery weekend, and many of them would be there helping out. Plus, the facilitators for the weekend were none other than Larry Gilman and Tammy Cunningham, the dynamic duo of fearless leaders from my November experience. Larry lives in Los Angeles, so a visit from him is a rare treat. While I was there that Saturday afternoon, I could not understand why on Earth I'd been reluctant. Friends surrounded me, and there were hugs and kisses aplenty. It was like visiting family; I was welcome. When I arrived, the new students/participants/fresh meat were in the middle of an activity. I threw myself into it, delighted to take part. I genuinely wanted to help these people whom I'd only just met. The Mastery breeds instant love, with very little room for negativity. Tammy and Larry were in their element, doing what they do best, and it was a joy to see them in action once more. I felt inspired and energetic - more alive - just being there. What is the Mastery? Still can't tell you. As I said before, it's really something you'll have to discover for yourself, should you so choose. It might just be your next step, the thing that puts you back on your true path. I know it was for me.

Titanic - 15 Years Later

A few weeks ago, I saw Titanic 3D with my friend Farrah and her friends. It was a film that had meant a great deal to me when it first came out; I'd been a huge fan of James Cameron's work, and I'd closely followed the progress of Titanic when I'd first heard it announced. Back in 1997, I saw Titanic on opening night with a girl who was very nearly interested in me. The trailer had left me in a frenzy of anticipation, even more so than for the James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, opening that same day. I had read every article, commentary and review I could get my hands on. I loved it. Truly, madly, deeply loved that movie. Yes, it was corny. Yes, Leo-mania was annoying. Yes, they played that damn song way too many times on the radio. There were flaws, some of them glaring. And if the love story had happened on board a less-famous ship (one, say, that hadn't sunk), it would have been a fairly standard rom-com. Yeah, yeah, so what? To me, Titanic was a great movie. I stood up and cheered when James Cameron won the Oscar for best director and best picture (in your face, LA Confidential!). I bought the soundtrack. Both of them. And then I went back and saw it again. Seven more times. At each screening, I felt something that I can't quite quantify, something with tremendous meaning for me. I read a lot into that movie, and got so much out. I saw that life is full of unexpected events, and our time alive is not fixed. Each day, therefore, each hour, each minute is important. Every time I've walked out of the cinema after seeing Titanic, I've felt better about my life, and had a strong desire to live it well.

After my eighth time seeing it on the big screen, however, I'd more or less had enough. Several months later, I got the VHS copy for Christmas (in widescreen, of course), and watched it with my brother and sister. It was... different. Less affecting, somehow. And it didn't help that my siblings absolutely reveled in pointing out the film's flaws. I didn't pick up the DVDs, not even the 10th Anniversary Special Edition. Part of the reason was that the film was split onto two disks (why, James, why?). But mostly, seeing it on the small screen just couldn't compare to the experience of the cinema. The magic wasn't there. My heart had gone on. When I heard that Titanic was coming back to cinemas in 3D, I thought, "That's nice." I didn't go on opening day. Or even that week. When my friend Farrah insisted on seeing it as part of her birthday party, I wished she could have picked The Hunger Games instead. When the lights went down, I put on my polarized glasses and prepared to lose three hours of my life. The 3D did absolutely nothing for me, unfortunately; a few scenes had a bit more depth, especially those involving height, but that's it. But I didn't care about that. Five minutes in the magic was back, and I felt like I was visiting old friends. I let it all come back - everything I'd felt the previous eight times. And, because I was so familiar with the story, I had the opportunity to take in more of the smaller details. Like the look on old Rose's face when Lovett (Bill Paxton) tells her the diamond must have gone down with the ship. Or James Cameron's fingers, drawing the portrait of Rose. Or the scene where Rose points out people to Jack, and says "his little wifey's half his age and in a delicate condition. See how she's trying to hide it? Quite the scandal." This time I realized the delicate half-aged wifey was married to John Jacob Astor, played by that guy who was Victor on that soap. I cried, more than once. After the 3D screening, my friend asked me if I was having an allergy attack! Nope. I'm a sensitive guy, and those tears represented genuine emotion. I didn't cry because Jack died. I cried because of all the things Rose had done with her life, without him. It's both beautiful and tragic, just like the movie. And the ship itself.

I'm so grateful my friend Farrah insisted on Titanic that day. Nine times is a lot, but I could still see it on the big screen again. The film is timeless, as relevant now as it was when it was first released. And, for me, it is still just as powerful. Well done, James Cameron. Thank you.

Killing Characters and Fixing Mistakes

I just killed off a minor character. Then I brought him back. One of my main characters stabbed him. And then he didn't. It occurred to me that the stabbing was a possibility, so I gave it a go for a couple of sentences. It was sudden and completely unexpected, but it wasn't quite right. That, and I didn't really know what to do with it. So I took it out. I turned back time. You can do that, when you're an author. Sometimes, though, it takes a lot more than a couple of sentences for me to realize I've gone the wrong way. Once, I had to excise an entire chapter to fix a mistake. More recently, I had to chop about five chapters from a novel. And, both Evil and Epoch required a three-chapter rewrite near their ends to correct some serious gaffes (that my editors caught, not me). Mistakes happen. Even in writing! Even when you're still in the super-creative, make-it-all-up part of the process. Realizing you've made one is actually a sign that you're doing something right; you know your characters and story well enough to detect when something's wrong. It's a gut thing, for the most part. Trust your gut. Try things out. One way might look right; go for the one that feels right. The one that feels like it's part of the story. That minor character of mine gets to live. It wasn't his time to go. Not yet. I killed off a major character instead. I'm a whole chapter past that point now, and still going. It works. The story is happy. So am I.

Work: Good For Writing?

I returned to work last week, and by work I mean a day job. My writing is my other job, but that still doesn't pay the bills. This day job is a data entry temp position acquired through the Manpower agency. My job is to book ad space in newspapers, or fix problems with existing booked ads. I'm still learning, and waiting to be completely set up on their system by IT. There's a bit of stress as I try to fill my brain with all the information I need to do my job. The question for me is, will this position be good for my writing? It doesn't matter so much to my creative side whether or not a job is good or bad. More important is how I feel about it. A job can be low-paying and fairly boring, but if I am well treated I will usually be happy. If, on the other hand, I am treated like I'm less valuable than the furniture, I find it very hard not to internalize it. A bad job can motivate me to write as a means of escape, but a lack of respect from a boss or co-workers will strangle my soul and kill my creativity. I won't necessarily lose the ability to write (although that has happened from time to time), but my output will slow considerably. So far, this job has been all right. My co-workers have been great, and my writing output has increased a little bit. I won't know for sure how conducive this position will be for my creative soul until I've been there a few weeks. I'll check back in a month, and maybe go into more detail about which jobs have helped and which jobs have hurt, and why. In the meantime, I'm considering the creation of a new blog about temp work. I've had more than a little experience working for agencies, so I have plenty to say. If this is something you think you'd like to read, leave me a comment below.