Free Sci-Fi serial. Two new chapters of A Hundred Ascending are live this week. In “M Willoughby – Personal Log 7 November, Maureen finally shares her thoughts on the strange, impossible situation the 100 have found themselves in. She’s been watching. She’s been thinking. And she has opinions. Then later today, a bonus chapter drops: the Villagers make some startling discoveries about the time and space they now occupy, and what it means for their captivity and means of escape. If you’re new here, welcome. A Hundred Ascending is my science fiction space opera, releasing weekly as a free serial on Royal Road. One hundred strangers,
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A Hundred Ascending – new science fiction novel
One hundred strangers are abducted in beams of light and trapped inside a colossal alien sphere where time moves a hundred times faster. Guided by a rebellious AI with secrets of her own, they evolve far beyond human limits. But as a hidden countdown nears zero, they must choose: escape through time itself or watch Earth fall. Humanity’s future hinges on their impossible leap. This is the start of what I hope to be a multi-novel universe where readers will embark on an interstellar journey filled with complex, multi-racial and LGBTQ2SA+ characters and unexpected twists. The story explores themes of
Continue readingNew Fiction Incoming
This week on Royal Road, a website for posting and reviewing fiction, I’ll be starting a new journey. I’m still working on multiple writing projects, but one I will be posting will be a space opera. I’ve written at least 20-23 chapters and will post at least one chapter a week. I will have links here to Royal Road. The goal will be to continue work on the novel and at some point I will have a completed book to post on Amazon, but in the meantime, it gets me noticed, I will take in feedback from readers on what
Continue readingResume writing a new résumé
I recently trimmed a bunch of stories from the “Library of Stories” page as many of these are going into a collection of stories I am working on publishing. At that point, I’ll have to overhaul this site, but that will come in time. I was kinda hoping that as a writer, I wouldn’t ever have to worry about writing another résumé but alas… grant writing means a resume, plus a whole new level of paperwork. I guess I’ll have to be a successful writer sheerly for the goal of never, ever having to write another résumé. Either that or
Continue readingReal life versus fiction: trauma recovery
At the end (well, multiple ends, but I’ll let that one go) of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings epic, Frodo mentions he feels the pain of the wound on the anniversary of the attack, and he suffers from recurring weakness and shadows of fear tied to the traumatic events he endured. On one hand, I understand it was a way of framing PTSD and trauma recovery at a time when it was just called “shell-shock”. But it always struck me – in my youth – as unrealistic. I’d think “oh, get over it already!” And ever year around April since
Continue readingThe “Dark Matter” of Domesticity: A Paperclip Odyssey
I’m cleaning up and sorting through paperwork, allowing my brain to contemplate the digital revolution. Remember paper? That ancient forest-based communication method our ancestors used? So, story time. Back in my Shell days, I worked with a team providing support to various teams. One individual… let’s call her a “procurement enthusiast.” She had, over the course of her time with the company, ordered paperclips like she was preparing for a global paperclip apocalypse. We’re talking a drawer so full of paperclips, it could’ve been a metallurgic museum exhibit dedicated to “Bureaucratic Hoarding: A Modern Study.” Fast forward to today, I’m
Continue readingNew study suggesting people with ADHD have shorter lifespans
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/adhd-deaths-1.7442958 Since Facebook has blocked Canadian news and also FUCK THEM, I thought, “Let’s experiment with linking to news on my site, then linking to Facebook”. Anyhow, interesting article, relevant to my interests, and I will add (not seriously) the reason people with ADHD die sooner is that everyone else is running at 33RPM, we just run at 45RPM.
Continue readingSo, I’m Still Here…
[looks at the last time I updated my website…coughs nervously] I think in the future, people will look at the years of the pandemic as a really rough decade. It was a difficult time, but to quote Michael Caine, I “used the difficulty”. Background: Actor Michael Caine was rehearsing a play early in his career. He was to enter a room where 2 people were arguing. But the two had gotten so into the characters one had thrown a chair and partially blocked the entrance. When he stopped rehearsal by mentioned to the director the chair was blocking him, he
Continue readingThrowback / Throw a light to the future Thursday
In March 2021 my sister Kathie had been told “yes, the cancer is back, and your time is up.” So, prior to the Easter weekend, I took a few days off work to travel to Edmonton. I visited Kathie, her family, and my other two siblings: Gail and Ken (and Ken’s wife & one of their sons). It was…great. We all talked, socialized, made each other laugh, and generally had a lovely time despite knowing this would probably be the last time we were all together. Then on April 7th, I started my COVID19 journey, resulting in me spending almost
Continue readingChristmas Song of my youth, missing my sister, other thoughts
Back in the late 60s/early 70s, Zellers sold A Very Merry Christmas: Volume 3. It was an album with a lot of big name stars (at the time) and other talent belting out seasonal songs. Mom bought it, and every Christmas growing up, she pulled this one out to play it. It’s actually quite a good album, with the music arranged mid-20th Century orchestral style only slightly veering into elevator music (more on that in a moment). As we got older and left home we heard this less and less, depending on whether or not we could get home for
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