Dark Between Pages Live Chat

I had the opportunity to chat with Nichi of Dark Between Pages the other day during an hour long live chat. Okay, we went one hour and eighteen minutes. But that's because the chat was so fun, and the folks watching and commenting during that chat were so lively and entertaining.

We spent quite a bit of time talking about my Canadian Werewolf series . . .

Canadian Werewolf Series

Though we talked about all kinds of other writing things too, including my background helping authors steer clear of the predators and thieves trying to trick authors out of their money using a combination of "smoke and mirrors," false promises, and highly exaggerated "results" from their useless marketing packages.

It was a load of fun. It's always a grand time talking to someone who adores books.

I Never Thought I Would (Present Margaret Atwood with a Lifetime Achievement Award)

I had a great chat with Jennifer Lieberman on your YouTube show I Never Thought I Would and got to share the great honor of presenting Margaret Atwood with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Booksellers Association. 

This was for Episode 41.

Here's one of the pictures from the night in question. Still one of my greatest honors.

 

“Fantasy—and all fiction is fantasy of one kind or another—is a mirror. A distorting mirror, to be sure, and a concealing mirror, set at forty-five degrees to reality, but it’s a mirror nonetheless, which we can use to tell ourselves things we might not otherwise see." - Neil Gaiman

The same holds true for Science Fiction, which, like all fiction, is fantasy, but fantasy rooted within scientific principles and rules.

 

I was reading Scott Overton's amazing novel Naïda this morning and had to quote something from it.

 

 This excerpt is from a scene shortly after the main character, Michael Hart, and the alien symbiote, Naïda, connect. It's from the alien's perspective.

 

"The symbiote struggles to understand. She has not bonded before....

 

"She now has senses far different from those she has ever known. Distinct, individual senses. Instead of a pervasive awareness of surroundings and accumulating various data about them, she can now choose to collect information through analysis of the wavelengths and other properties of light. Or by vibrations through a medium of gas or liquid that generate interesting resonances and harmonics. Tactile data is not all-encompassing but seems particularly focused into especially sensitive areas of the biped's body, providing a definition that is intriguing. Another sense is designed exclusively for detection of trace molecules in the surrounding air, but is seemingly linked to stored memories rather than being used for strict chemical analysis. And yet another sense is entirely related to the ingestion of solids and liquids used by the biped for fuel. The Controller has defined these senses for her, but comprehending the reality they present is very difficult since the symbiote's own sensory input is much more homogeneous, and measures an almost completely different range of properties.

 

"Most strange of all is that Human responds to collected data from its senses in ways that appear to bypass rational analysis completely and instead trigger autonomic functions with unknown purpose, such as suddenly increased circulatory rate or an equally rapid relaxation of muscles and nerve activity."

I love what this mirror held up to reality says, in a subtle way about the individual way we all process sensory input.

 

It's interesting to consider eating (linked in countless societies to strict cultural conventions, and a major commercial enterprise in western society) as the ingestion of solids and liquids for fuel.

 

Even more interesting to note that humans respond to data collected from our senses in ways that bypass rational analysis.

 

A little confirmation bias thrown into the mix? A combination of new inputs being affected by stored memories? I'm intrigued by the subtle things a passage like this says.

 

Which, I suppose, is why I love how science fiction, fantasy, and fiction in general, can provide plenty of great nuggets of thought to chew on.

 

 

Links of Interest (YouTube Videos)

• Virtual Book Launch - My Interview with Scott 
• Scott on CTV News for the North with Tony Ryma

Scribble Worth's Review of FEAR AND LONGING IN LOS ANGELES

I was thrilled to read this review on the Scribble Worth's blog for my latest novel, FEAR AND LONGING IN LOS ANGELES.

This is a link to the full review

Here are some of the highlights from the review.

How’d your love life be like, if you turned into wolf at night and had to fight crime?

Mark Leslie explores this possibility in a entertaining, smooth and unique way blending romance with fantasy and sprinkling it with a good dose of thriller and action.

Fear and Longing has it all, well-written characters with weight and depth that you fall in love with without effort, a perfect style of narrative for a romance, gripping humor, a solid, reality-like plot that doesn’t go overboard in any aspect, and above all, substance.

 

This book, and author, isn’t just something that you read and let go. No. The book has substance, it has life-changing messages well woven into it, it has reach and grip. The author calls into question many topics of dire need of discussion that people avoid, such as sexism, emotional traumas, appreciation of other’s deeds, authenticity and even homelessness and the social constructs that reinforce them in America.

 

Pros:

• SENSE OF HUMOR!
• Cusses!!!! Yes!
• A narrative that talks to the reader and provokes imagination. Very nice.
• The writer gives off an explicit insight onto how relationships work and the implications of paying attention.
• Nice fight scenes.
• Believability throughout the book, although it has fantasy elements to it, which is hard to come by.
• Solid plot.
• GREAT life-changing messages that will provide to be of great help to people going through hard break-ups, or are unable to let go.
• Good scene suspense build-up fit in the appropriate places.
• An odd, quirky style of narrative that evoques the personality of characters and brings them to life.

 

Knowing the story, the characters, the world, is resonating with readers is fantastic to see as I continue to work on FRIGHT NIGHTS, BIG CITY, the next one in the series.

 

 

 

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me

Do you ever feeling like someone is watching you?

I do.

All the time.

 

But perhaps there's a good reason for it. (Click to see video)

It could just be the more than two dozen skulls in my office.

The side effect of being a horror author I guess.

 

Why Can't I Do Normal Memes? Boop The Floof

It started off as a normal meme.

That cute little audio clip originally created by Matt Cox (@findmattcox on TikTok) while my phone camera sneaks up on Meredith, our lovely cat.

 But I'm not a normal person.

And our pets aren't normal either.

How could they be with so many skeletons in and out of our closets?

Pets of a horror writer aren't normal pets, are they?