Run . . . Zombies!

I like to run, but my biggest tendency to get bored. For that reason, I have been combining running with listening to audio books and/or podcasts.

But even still, sometimes running for more than just a few kilometres is a bit of a challenge.

That's why I was excited to learn about a new app called Zombies, Run! from a friend of mine at work. (Just a few weeks ago, Nathan (an avid runner) mentioned receiving an email regarding a Kickstarter project he had helped to fund. The minute he explained what the project was about, I was sold)

Zombies, Run! is an immerse audio game built right into your iPhone. The story unfolds between the songs from your custom playlist, and you automatically pick up supplies (ammo, first aid kids, water, clothing) as you reach certain distances.  When your mission (and run) is complete, you can use these supplies to help the survivors in your home base. 

I purchased and downloaded this app just this past Friday and gave it a whirl.

On Saturday, I used it to go for a 5 K run on my treadmill and played the very first mission. Since the story unfolds between songs, I figured it would be best to not try to listen to a podcast or audio book, but, rather, listen to music.

The story was immediately addictive and fun. Instead of just running and focusing on my speed and distance, I was intriuged by the items I was collecting, paying attention to the unfolding story and curious to see what was around the next corner.

On the treadmill I was using the experimental Accelerometer option that attempts to record your pace.  Within that mode, random Zombie chases will not occur.

While the story was good, the idea of Zombie Mob Chases thrilled me. It's supposed to work out that, when you're running, you might hear a sudden warning of "Zombies Detected!" with urgent beeps and the sound of zombie moans getting closer. In order to escape them, you need to increase your speed for up to 1 minute.

A scene from The Walking Dead

That's why, on Sunday, I thought I'd switch over to the GPS tracking and thus get a chance to try out the random zombie chases.

Sadly, though the run on Sunday was even more fun (I found a new neighbourhood route a the approapriate 5K I was hoping for), I didn't stumble upon any of the zombie chases.  I even purposely slowed down a few times just to see if my slower speed might prompt the app to kick those chases in -- but they are apparently not based on your speed, but, instead, are random.

The only issue I had with the app (and it's something I logged onto the support site to register officially so it could be addresses) was the way the playlist works.

On Saturday I was having so much fun that I wanted to run a second mission. So, after completing the first, I stopped the mission, but stayed on the treadmill while fooling around with the app to check out the supplies I had collected, distribute some supplies to the hospital, housing and armoury locations of the home base. Then I selected the next mission and started again.

The playlist started up again -- but it started from the very beginning. And there was no way to skip ahead to the other songs, nor was there a way to set up a shuffle for your playlist - it simply plays the songs in the order they were built into the playlist.  That was a bit disappointing.

I got around the playlist challenge by building a series of custom playlists each with 5 to 10 songs in them.  That way, if I played a second mission after stopping, I could simply switch to another playlist so as not to have to hear the same songs over again (something which I would find tedious and boring)  - [UPDATE:  As mentioned, I logged a query regarding this issue with the good folks at Zombies, Run! and have heard back from them informing me that a shuffle option will be appearing in the next update - Woo Hoo!]

One neat feature, supporting the desire to keep running without stopping at the end of a mission is the "radio mode" that automatically kicks in.  It features, instead of the mission, (which has an instructional voice telling you where to run to and warning of the location of zombie groups), the voices of two survivors from a nearby town who are broadcasting a radio station. They chat about the apocalypse and play songs (from your playlist) just like a real radio station. It's fun and adds flavour while you keep running, and continue to collect supplies.

In all, this is a fun app and adds a whole new dimension to my running.  It'll keep me wanting to use the GPS feature and do more runs outside, which will be good. After two short runs, I have already built up my base to level two and am enjoying the gamification of my runs. Looking forward to more . . .

. . . and, of course, being able to outrun the zombies during one of the random zombie chases.

Pictures From Graduation - 1992

Nine years ago today my father died.

I think about him often, but days like today, Father's Day, his birthday, I spend a bit more time reflecting.

I was recently looking through some old photos I had of my buddy Steve and his father (who died not all that long ago), so I could scan them and email them to him.  I came across these two, taken in the same time period.

These pictures were taken in 1992, the summer I graduated from Carleton.  My parents and Baba had come down for the ceremony. It was funny, I didn't even want to attend. I got my degree and just wanted the papers and to move on. It was my parents that were insistent on celebrating the event. They were obviously proud and had invested a great deal in my education. So I'm glad they pushed it. 

Even when I was an "adult" they were right. It was at about that stage in my life when I was beginning to finally see just how much my parents knew and evolved from the "know it all teenager" who never listened to what they had to say and into a man who respected his parents and began to properly take heed of their advice and suggestions.

There's a wonderful old thought that constantly comes to mind when I think about this.  It's along the lines of:  "I can't believe how much my parents learned about the world while I was away at college."

I'm a lucky man. Great parents, good memories.

Dad and I at Carleton University - after Graduation

Dad, Mom and I having a beer in their Ottawa hotel room (air conditioned, as opposed to my place)

Memory Lane:

2011 - HNT - No Regrets
- Pictures of my Dad and me (Wedding day, playing Mattel Intellivision) further musings and a link to the previous posts - kind of like this . . .

2010 - A Man, His Son & Their Laughter
- Includes a poem I wrote for my father back in 1996)

2009 - Mourning Son
- I talk about my still unpublished novel Morning Son, much of which was inspired by stories from my father.

2008 - And I Miss You Just The Same
- Mostly pictures of my Dad

2007 - Dad, Four Years Ago Today
- Memories of the last hunting trip with my Dad and my cousin on Manitoulin Island

2006 - Still Miss You, Dad
- Basic memories, a lot of which I have repeated in this blog over the years; and the father/son poem

2005 - Miss You, Dad
- Simple thoughts of being a new father myself and thinking of Alexander and my Dad interacting

The Ides Of March Are . . . Free

Julius Caesar was warned by a soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March" - at least, according to Shakespeare's version.

I had always been fond of that soothsayer, wondering if Tom Stoppard might one day base an entire play on the character.

My story "Ides of March" is a very subtle nod to that legendary warning.  It concerns a fateful day in the life of a man who witnesses two strange beings who arrive with the intent of kidnapping a snowman.

You can download the story for free in an ebook collection entitled Snowman Shivers - available free at Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple & Smashwords (among other places)  If you really want to spend money on it, it's available for $0.99 at Amazon. But, seriously, save your money and download the mobi version from Smashwords for free.

Snowman Shivers contains two snowmen stories. Ides of March and That Old Silk Hat They Found.  Both of these stories were published in my collection One Hand Screaming, which is available in print and ebook.

If you read it and enjoy it, go ahead and review it or give it a rating at the online review place of your choice (places like Goodreads, etc)  Don't worry, I won't mind at all if you do.

Seen Wanting

I was delighted to see a picture of my friend and fellow book lover Steph (of the awesome Bella's Bookshelves) holding an advance copy of Julie Wilson's forthcoming book Seen Reading, which is based on her wonderful website Seen Reading.

(Seen Reading was the result of Julie seeing a person reading in public, making a note of the book as well as what page of the book the person is on, then head to a local bookstore to jot down some of the text from that page report it all on her website. I blogged about my love for this project In Jan 2011)

So I created a Pinterest board for it called Seen Holding Seen Reading.

Wouldn't it be really cool and very meta to collect pictures of people excitedly holding Julie's awesome book? As the book prepares for launch, I'm making it a personal mission to find photos of people holding Julie's book - then, when it is released, I'll want to collect pictures of it on display in bookstores, being held by booksellers and customers from as many sources as possible.

I think it would just be good, clean fun.

I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the book - so in the meantime, I snapped a picture of myself holding a print-out of the cover of the book.

I call it "Seen Wanting Seen Reading"

Can't wait to add a picture of me holding the REAL BOOK.

And can't wait to read the book too!

10 Neat Quotes From BookNet Canada Tech Forum 2012

Yesterday I attended BookNet Canada Tech Forum 2010: Digging Deeper Into Digital.

On a personal level, the day started off interestingly enough. On my way into my car, I dropped my iPhone. It only fell about 2 feet (the case slipped off my hip and onto the driveway) but when I checked it was showing the white screen of death.  Various reset tricks didn't work (although I could still take phone calls using a Bluetooth headset - suggesting it was just the display that was fried and everything else was working)

But the result was that I wasn't able to use my smartphone for all the normal things I usually would. 

First, GPS for navigation checks (normally only used when traffic issues led to a change in route plan - which, fortunately didn't happen on the way in).

Second, for checking in to the venue on Foursquare (mostly for the gamification of going places, and seeing who else is checked in)

Third, for the ability to quickly dip in to my inbox and scoop out the most urgent emails. Yes, I was away at a conference - but that doesn't mean messages coming in to my inbox didn't need to be considered.

Fourth, for the opportunity to snap some really quick pictures of speakers, groups of people, the crowd, interesting and amusing slides (mostly for sharing in social media)

Fifth, for the entire Twitter back-channel of conversation that has become an important part of these events (Not being able to easily follow the #TechForum12 hashtag along was strangely disconcerting - almost like being denied access to a particular track.

(Okay, I just noticed that I didn't mention making phone calls -- although I do also make phone calls on my mobile phone . . .)

But I didn't let the lack of an operational smartphone stop me from absorbing the great presentations, discussions, ideas and sharing that took place at BNC TechForum 2012. I ended up taking 9 pages of notes, in fact. (Likely more notes than usual since I wasn't as occupied with following the Twitter stream and typing neat things I heard said, responding to other people's comments or re-tweeting the gold nuggets.

There's lots to say about how wonderful this day was, and I would love to expand upon several of the things captured in my notes (which I might just do in a future blog post), but I thought I'd simply quickly dip back into my notes to highlight . . .

10 Neat Quotes from BookNet Canada Tech Forum 2012:

1) "We love to declare the death of everything."
     - Liz Ross

2) On the drive towards the bottom for ebook pricing: "The $1.99 Solution is a momentary spark thrown at the fumes of gasoline."
     - Evan Schnittman

3) "Print must thrive for publishing to survive."
     - Evan Schnittman  

4) "Books are objets. Ebooks are pure reading."
     - Evan Schnittman

5) With regards to the experimentation many self published authors perform with ebook price points: "What is the thrill of the unknown actually worth?"
     - Michael Tamblyn

6) "Discovery happens in a lot of ways, but there is no magic bullet."
     - Kyusik Chung

7) "Agile is not a special sauce that you add to a project. It's the way the web works."
     - John Maxwell

8) On Publishing: "There are easy and cheap ways to experiment with doing it differently."
     - Hugh McGuire

9) On a fundamental game design question about how it should make the player feel: "Foursquare is designed to make you feel like someone who goes out a lot - like a man about town."
     - Jon Ingold

10) "Books aren't passive - they never were passive. Good books are exhausting."
     - Jon Ingold

Again, these are merely high level quotes that I thought bore repeating - they likely would have been the type of thing I tweeted.  But instead, thought I might share them here.  As mentioned, I did take a full 9 pages of notes that include presentations from more great speakers, and drew a great deal of value from the day.

And that doesn't even begin to mention the great networking and hallway discussions that took place, which is always one of those added value benefits that is hard to put a price on.

An eBook For Book Lovers

Because it's "Read an eBook Week" I'm offering an eBook collection of 3 short stories for book lovers -- sort of a "Twilight Zone" style collection of short stories for book lovers, which normally sells for $1.50 for free.

ACTIVE READER and other Cautionary Tales from the Book World includes the stories ACTIVE READER, BROWSERS & DISTRACTIONS

ACTIVE READER is a cautionary tale about book loyalty programs.

BROWSERS involves walking into a bookstore that you can never leave.

DISTRACTIONS explores an obsessive writer's reaction to a self-help book.

This ebook, which has received some great reviews, normally retails for $1.50 and is available at Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble and more.

But for the rest of this week, you can download it for free from Smashwords using the special code RE100 during checkout.  You can choose from a variety of formats to read the book in - even if you don't own an ebook reader you can still choose a variety of ways to read an ebook.

Check out other great Read an Ebook Week Specials via Smashwords.

Read An e-Book Week 2012

It's "Read an E-Book Week" (March 4 to 10, 2012)

To celebrate, I've kept a "chapbook" sized collection of two of my short stories (snowman themed) free via as many places as possible.

Snowman Shivers - Scary Snowmen Tales contains two "Twilight Zone" style stories involving snowmen.

If you have ever cast an uncomfortable glance over your shoulder when passing the silent snowy sentinels that stand looking at you as you pass on the icy sidewalk, if you've ever questioned what might really happen if the old silk hat placed on Frosty the Snowman's head was truly magic, then these two dark humor snowman tales by Mark Leslie are for you.

THAT OLD SILK HAT THEY FOUND
Why does that classic song always portray a jolly, happy snowman dancing around and celebrating life? What if, once the kids placed that old silk hat on Frosty's head, it wasn't quite the magical experience?

IDES OF MARCH
In the middle of March a middle-aged man frustrated with the benign activity of filling out his annual tax forms is confronted with a bizarre event - two hulking creatures appear in a pick up truck and are intent on kidnapping the snowman from the front yard. 

Here are the places you can download the ebook of Snowman Shivers for free.

Kobo
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
Apple (iBooks)

Unfortunately, I can't lower the price on Amazon, so it's still listed there for 99 cents. However, if you want to read it on a Kindle, you can download the Mobi file from Smashwords.

Check out other ebooks either for free or at reduced prices as part of the Read an E-Book Week Specials at Smashwords.

Please note that many great ebook reading platforms (oh, like Kobo, for example) allow you to download free applications so you can read an ebook on your computer, on your iPhone, your iPad or your android device.

So, if you've never read an ebook before, why not give it a try? Download and install one of the free apps and check it out.  There is usually something available for virtually everyone's tastes.

Bookstore Quote Fairy

I have long been following a delightfully refreshing blog that is covering all of the trials, tribulations and gritty details that a Hamilton couple are experiencing renovating and building their downtown Hamilton bookstore: J. H. Gordon Books.

Julie, the main blogger of Reno Challenge 2012, has been posting interesting tidbits about their experience.

Her profile description which begins: "I am a writer, bookblogger, and soon-to-be bookseller. I live in Hamilton, Ontario and I freaking love this town!" really caught my eye. 

I mean, what better way could you show that you love a town than to give it a bookstore? Hamilton is rich with some great bookstores already. But this one will be in a downtown neighbourhood that doesn't have their own local "go to" cultural meeting place that a bookstore offers. So it makes my city that much richer.

Photo from  Reno Challenge 2012

What caught my eye today is that it seems someone in the neighbourhood who wants to show their appreciation for the forthcoming shop has printed up and taped 15 literary and book quotes onto their front window. This appears on the post entitled:  Day 175: quote fairy.

Photo from  Reno Challenge 2012

One of the quotes spotlit is from Jerry Seinfeld and reads:  "A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking."

I'm curious to know what the other quotes are.

More than that, I'm curious about the act of doing this itself. And I'm tempted to pick one of my own favourite quotes (Cicero's "A room without books is like a body without a soul.") and post it. Or ask bookish fans if this type of activity might be a fun thing to do at your own local favourite neighbourhood bookstore.  You know - stick up some supportive book loving quotes, take a picture or make a video of it, and record the whole thing.

It would be a fun way to show your support and love of books and bookstores.

In her blog post Julie calls up one of her favourite book quotes, from Neil Gaiman's American Gods: 

"What I say is, a town isn't a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it's got a bookstore it knows it's not fooling a soul."

Fitting quote.

What's your favourite bookish or literary quote?

100% Chance of Cloud Today

I have always enjoyed the free-flowing creativity involved in word clouds.

For complete fun I used Wordle's online word cloud generator for a few sites. Here are the randomly generated images . . .

My website (www.markleslie.blogspot.com) . . .

My "I, Death" blog - rolling out the first third of my forthcoming novel I, DEATH in real-time . . .

 

And finally, this Blog . . .

Mark Leslie Newsletter

So far 2012 is going to be a busy year, at least with respect to new releases.

I have three books coming out via traditional publishers this year (which will be available in both print and ebook form). I also intend on continuing to experiment with pushing content out via alternative digital media.

I thus thought it was time to put together a monthly newsletter.

Sign up for my free newsletter! 

clicking will open sign-up form in a new window with pretty colour and everything - don't be frightened

I intend on only putting out 12 updates per year and filling it with information about forthcoming events and appearances, products and news that would be interesting to those who enjoy reading my work.

I will also be including special coupons, links to free stuff and other fun giveaways and promotional material -- so if you're a fan of my writing and want to have access to some cool discounts, free stuff and previews of forthcoming work, the newsletter is for you.

If you are a friend and aren't particularly interested in my writing updates, then don't subscribe - the newsletter is not for you. It is meant for fans who want to know more, get more and be privy to special insights and updates related specifically to my writing.

Lend Me Your Books

There has been a lot of talk about Amazon being generous to authors who make their titles exclusive within their KDP Select program (getting a portion of a shared fee based on how many times their ebooks are borrowed)

However, based on what I have been reading from various authors regarding the actual resulting numbers, it seems apparent the average author doesn't end up seeing much of the approximately half a million  "pot to be shared." Sure it's a big pot, but it is shared broadly.

On the other hand, I just cashed another annual cheque (or check if you prefer) from the Public Lending Right Commission.


The Public Lending Right (PLR) Commission, which is celebrating 25 years distributes annual payments to Canadian authors for the presence of their books in Canadian public libraries.

PLR does a random sampling of libraries across Canada, and every time they find one of your titles, they issue you a small fee for it.  The goal is to promote Canadian authored titles in Canadian libraries and compensate the authors for lost royalties.

The cheque I deposited was $144 -- it was based on one of my books being found in 3 out of 7 libraries sampled.

So far, this is the largest single royalty cheque I have received in 2012. It is certainly a delightful bonus. 

As an author you need only register your title once for them to do an annual poll and issue a cheque. I believe this is the 4th or 5th year I have been enrolled in the program.  It is an amazing Canadian program that benefits authors and readers.

A few handy links:

Check eligibility - Register

I should also note that in June 2011 consultant Paul Whitney submitted a report to the PLR Commission entitled "EBooks and Public Lending Right in Canada" (link is to a PDF of report) and the PLR Folks are beginning to collect eISBN numbers and assess how ebooks could be included for payments by the PLR Program.

Three cheers for the good folks at PLR Commission!



The PLR Registration is currently open.

Registration period: 15 February to 1 May 2012 (postmark as proof)
Registrations by e-mail are not accepted. You must fill out a registration form and mail it to the Public Lending Right Commission along with the required support material.

Can't Blog . . . Writing

Everyone once in a while I get so consumed with multiple writing projects that I neglect this poor blog of mine. I do feel bad about it. My blog and I go back quite a few years. I have been feeding it since 2005 and it has been providing me with a regular way to ensure that I'm constantly writing.

Even if that writing is a self-reflective thing, it has keep me pushing out words.

Even if those words are regularly "rough" and "draft-ish" it is important for me to ensure I follow the basic rule that a writer writes. Every day.

One of my favourite inspirational quotes about writing comes from Hugh Prather:

"If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire is not to write." - Hugh Prather

This blog, then, has helped ensure that I regularly write. And I will admit that, despite my desire to write every day, I don't necessarily push out words to my writing projects nor my blog every single day.

But I come close. And I try my best.

Ironically, it is when I'm busy doing actual writing - working on articles and fiction and other writing related projects related to actually getting my work published, this blog, that gives me so much and asks so little, gets pushed aside.

Admittedly, like a little "Audrey II from Little Shops of Horrors, I hear the occasional soft cry of "Feeeeed me . . . ." coming from my blog.

And that's exactly why I wrote this post. I was in the middle of reading submissions for an anthology that I'm editing, but I had to pause for a few moments, pay heed to the cries of my blog, and respond with this post. Even if it's a rambling, round-about post, at least I have strung words together and sated the needs of this blog for a moment longer.

Remembering Baba

We lost Baba last year.

Of course, some might argue that we had lost her a long time before that, because much of her personality and mind were subdued and hidden under a murky cloud due to the serious of small strokes that affected her about a year and a half earlier.

You might say that the mourning process began a lot earlier.

And it never truly stopped.


I still think of her every day. Francine and I regularly talk about her - discuss how she might react to something going on, how much she might have enjoyed something else taking place; laughing about a funny comment she made in a similar circumstance. Family gatherings just haven't been the same without her so we often conjure her up in shared personal memories.

Alexander often talks about "Old Baba" - he came up with the name on his own. Baba was always Baba to everyone, so we named my Mom, Alexander's Baba, "Baba Jean" to distinguish between the two. Except Alexander felt the need to distinguish in his own descriptive way, and she thus became "Old Baba" to him - and yes, we all had fun with that.  Of course, Alexander adored "Old Baba" - and she adored children.

There are a lot of pictures of Baba with me and my cousins Rodney & Kevin, all at various stages of growing up (some of them appear in my post "Baba's Boys" & "More Baba's Boys") - but my favourite picture of her is this one where her and Alexander are smiling unabashedly at one another. It's one of those perfect moments that wonderfully captured the special and gentle love she shared with the world.

Baba was very much like a second mother to me; Baba was the epitome of love. When children were worshiping Santa Claus, I was thankful to have a special loving woman like Annie Dusick in my life and I still feel blessed to have had her play such a central role in my life.

I'm thankful for the many memories, all the laughs, the smiles, all those special "Baba" moments I grew up with an enjoyed as an adult. I cherish the fact that no matter how old I got, Baba was always an important figure in my life. At my wedding I danced with my Mom, but I also danced with my Baba to her favourite song - Conway Twitty's "Here's A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)" - Ironically, even through my university years, I was constantly ensuring I called Baba so she knew that I still cared, that I still loved her, that she was still the central special matriarch of our family.

Baba might be gone, but her legacy, her love and all the things she meant to so many still live on.

I love you, Baba!

Shouldn't It Be About The Books?

I read an interesting article yesterday from an editor at BookRiot.

She (Bethane Kelly Patrick, Executive Editor) was conflicted regarding a book she had in her "review" pile. It was a book that she adored.  Here's a quote from her article . . .

"I picked up another book from my stack, simply because I liked the title and jacket design. Just a few pages in, I knew it was love. The voice was individual and authentic, the prose was snappy, and the plot was odd but maintained its own internal logic.

However, I didn’t want to share which book it was, because…Oh, dear. How can I put this delicately? Because I finally looked at this book’s spine and there saw something to make my heart stop for a moment: It was from Amazon Crossing."

- From The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name: An Editor's Dilemna (Bethane Patrick - @justbethane)

I, having a bit of a track record for actively speaking up against Amazon's behaviour and tactics, can easily emphasize with her dilemma.  I'm leery of any one single player dominating the book industry. So I'm not dismissing her conundrum nor the gut response she has. She actually does a great job of explaining why she has this reaction and talking about the concept of imprints vs authors, etc.


In all, it is a great, and offers good fruit for discussion. It runs parallel, of course, with the announced boycott of Amazon published books by so many booksellers around the world. I'm impressed with the solidarity I see among booksellers, where chains and indies are standing together - something I've long thought they should try to do.

But . . .

. . . part of me, even as I'm agreeing with her, wonders if it shouldn't just be about the book, shouldn't just be about the author.

Photo of Read Across America program - via Bookshelfporn

I've had some great discussions with bookseller colleagues who agree that people often don't buy books based on who the publisher is, but rather, who the author is, and what the story is. Think about it for a moment? When you go looking for that next great read, most of the time you're looking for a good book, not a particular publisher. Yes, this applies more to fiction, as there are some branded non-fiction books, reference material, that have a strong brand-publisher association. But for the most part, you're focusing on the story, on the book content, on the author.

So, shouldn't it be about the books?

There are certainly publishers that have done things I don't agree with - heck, there are great publishers that do things I disagree with, but that has never stopped me from enjoying a book that they released nor their author's work. That has never stopped me from actively hand-selling one of their titles when I felt it was just the right thing for a customer.

I, in fact, have participating in printing, selling and distributing books with my own bookstore's logo on it.  When I was at McMaster, operating the Espresso Book Machine, we created many books using the Titles on Demand imprint. I had a great relationship selling books to fellow booksellers and a relationship where we and the author all profited by making local author's books available through great print on demand technology. In fact, I likely sold more units of a particular book through Bryan Prince Bookseller (just down the street from my own bookstore at McMaster) than I did through my store. And it made me, my fellow booksellers down the street, and the customers, very happy to be able to enjoy a great book by a local author.

So, why, then, should that change just because the spine of the book says Amazon?

A book has been published, it is made available. An author's work is presented to be purchased and read.

Shouldn't it be about the book? Shouldn't it be about the writer and reader communicating?

As a bookseller, shouldn't my main concern be with connecting writers and readers? With introducing great new reading experiences to readers? With sharing my love for an author's latest work?

I mean, that's what drew me to become a bookseller in the first place -- that brilliant and beautiful connection I can help make when I link writer and reader together. When it happens correctly, you're part bookseller, part cupid.

So, shouldn't it be about that?

Go Wolves Go!

My nephew Brett is now a relief player for The Sudbury Wolves. For the past couple of weekends he has been playing on the team.

They played yesterday in Brampton and Alexander and I went out to watch the game. We got tickets right behind the visitors bench so we could "say hi" to Brett through the glass (without embarrassing him, of course)

It was an amazing game. Brett played really well, the team kicked ass (they won 3 to 1), the Wolves goalie was a superstar; and Alexander was delighted to see his cousin playing.

I kept thinking back to how, when I was a kid, heading into Sudbury to see the Wolves play was an amazing experience. I was not only delighted to share that excitement with my son, but also proud to watch Brett playing on that very same team I adored when I was a child.

I know that Brett's father, who passed away two years ago (my cousin Kevin - we were raised almost like brothers), would be VERY proud.

I know I was proud to watch Brett play for the Wolves.

Go Wolves Go!

Switch - An Erotic Horror Story

Back in January 2009 I had an erotic horror story "Switch" published in Black Ink Horror XXX (published by Sideshow Press) - it was limited to 100 numbered copies.

"Switch" was, to that date, the most shocking, horrific and erotic story I had ever had published.

"Switch" is about a psychiatrist who, in a desperate attempt to cure a misogynistic patient, undergoes an experimental body-switching therapy.

Part of this therapy, meant to force an empathetic reaction in the patient, includes having sex while in the other person's body. Some nasty side-effects occur within the fragile mind-body link in both doctor and patient, leading to some rather cruel, usual and disturbing activities.

I recently created an eBook for this dark erotic horror tale and it is now available at Amazon and Smashwords for 99 cents.

The cover was something I struggled with. The art that accompanied the story when it appeared in Black Ink Horror XXX was effective, but way too graphic and revealing. I also wanted to use some sort of photographic image.

Because it was both horror and erotica, it was difficult to come up with an image that properly denoted both.  The one thing I knew for sure was that I did NOT want to use the stereotypical "sexy" vampire bite with blood leaking down the neck picture that a lot of erotic horror seems to employ.

I purchased a stock image of a "Demon Girl" which I felt captured the essence of the insane cruelty that takes place in the story, particularly in the female protagonist, Dr. Connie Watson. And because the model is somewhat sexy and alluring (in a psycho-patient, demon-possessed disturbing sort of way), that hopefully covers the suggestion of erotic elements of the story. Of course, the tale is more horror than erotica - and it is DEFINITELY meant for adults (especially non-squeamish adults) - I feel that this image effectively portrays the dark horrific and disturbing elements of the tale.

The story runs approximately 4000 words.

Here is the opening . . .

Switch (By Mark Leslie)

Dr. Connie Watson stared at the naked body in front of her, admiring the way the breasts slightly pouted to the sides yet pushed forward and up. She gazed down the slender stomach, the gentle curve of the hips, then in to the blonde bush of pubic hair.

This was the first time she was ever able to examine her own body without the usual restrictions of a mirror.

It was incredible. The ritual of mutual projection had actually worked.

Her eyes traced the shapely tanned legs and then wandered back up, past the pelvis, past the breasts and to the face. She stared at the round face framed in short blonde curls, at the tiny nose and the full red lips.

But looking at the eyes, she knew it wasn’t her inside. She could tell that it was Bob’s spirit projected into and controlling her body, for the eyes -- though the same beautiful green -- were wide with confusion and perhaps fear. They were also filled with something she recognized in the eyes of men who looked upon her. Lust. His eyes were fixed down on the crotch area of the body Connie was now inside of -- Bob’s body.

As he leered at her, she became aware of a strange stirring below, and as she glanced down she realized she was beginning to have an erection. What an interesting mixture of pleasure with the strain of eager, somewhat painful anticipation. And all from looking at her own naked body. It was amazing that men could become aroused so easily upon visual stimulation.

“Incredible,” she said, staring down at the growing shaft.

[end of preview . . . . to read more, check out the ebook on Kobo, Amazonor Smashwords]

(the tale will eventually be pushed into other ebook retailers via an automated feed from SW)

I had to cut the preview off there because that's where the fondling and other more adult activity begins to happen . . .

In any case, I decided to push this out as an eBook partially to follow up on the experimentation that I did with my short love/Ghost story Spirits (Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo) and partially to test the theory that erotica and erotic fiction is one of the better selling genres.

We'll just have to see how that goes.

I Have A Bad Feeling About This

Last night, my son and I were playing and, jokingly, he said: "I have a bad feeling about this!" I immediately recognized it as a "George Lucas" line and started laughing, because I realized that this "got a bad feeling" or "have a bad feeling" line is one that is used multiple times in the Star Wars movies.


Funny how a seven year old points out something that it took this 42 year old about thirty years to discover. I learn a heck of a lot from my son.

Adults should spend more time listening to children.

Alexander and I, Halloween 2011

From Wookipedia, here are the uses in the 6 films . . .

    Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

    "I have a bad feeling about this."
    ―As Obi-Wan Kenobi's first line at the beginning when Kenobi talks to Qui-Gon Jinn onboard Saak'ak

    Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

    "I've got a bad feeling about this."
    ―Anakin Skywalker at Geonosis in the arena, in reference to the approaching execution beasts

    Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

    "Oh, I have a bad feeling about this."
    ―Obi-Wan Kenobi talking to Anakin Skywalker as their starfighters approach a large, closing blast door on Invisible Hand

    Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

    "I have a very bad feeling about this."
    ―Luke Skywalker, when the Millennium Falcon approaches the Death Star

    "I've got a bad feeling about this."
    ―Han Solo, before the walls of the trash compactor start to close in

    Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

    "I have a bad feeling about this."
    ―Princess Leia, while inside the belly of the space slug, just before the mynocks appear

    Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

    "Artoo, I have a bad feeling about this."
    ―C-3PO, when entering Jabba the Hutt's palace

    "I have a really bad feeling about this."
    ―Han Solo, after the Ewoks capture the strike team

Here's a YouTube collection of clips from those movies . . .



Wookipedia also has a listing of uses in books, comics, computer games, the Clone Wars series as well as an extensive use of the phrase both in other George Lucas projects as well as outside the Lucas owned realm.

Self Publishing Success: Digital Book World 2012 Summary

I attended Digital Book World 2012 in New York this week.

It was a great conference with a lot of fascinating discussion about ebooks and the future of the publishing industry. Of course, as new and exciting as the digital space is, there are already tired old discussion points that feel as if we’ve been talking about them for the past 10 years.

Oh wait a minute, we HAVE been having these discussions for at least a decade now.

I’ll take that frustration with a grain of salt because, after all, the publishing industry hasn’t had a major significant change or alteration for about 500 years – so please forgive the industry if it takes a couple of decades for them to get their head around another significant change.


Given my own role within this industry (Director of Self Publishing & Author Relations at Kobo), there was one particular session that interested me a great deal, so I wanted to focus on the Doing It on Their Own: Self-Publishing Authors Find Success panel that happened on Wednesday afternoon.

Jeremy Greenfield did a great job moderating this panel which featured Tony Van Veeth from BookBaby and independent authors Bella Andre, Elle Lothlorien and Bob Mayer.

There were some interesting discussion points, facts and quotes tossed out that I thought was interesting to share.

• Bella Andre sold 400,000 copies of her books in a year and made 1 million dollars in 2011 – the largest monthly “royalty” cheque she rec’d in 2011 was $75,000

• Elle Lothlorien has gone with a philosophy of higher price points for her books and was able to quit her day job in June 2010 to focus on her writing/self-publishing career.

• Lothlorien also states that while she doesn’t subscribe to some of the popular self-published authors like JA Konrath or John Locke who have priced their work at 99 cents, she highlights the importance that you “have to hear all the sides and all the opinions” and make the choice that is right for you.

• Bob Mayer, who not only thinks outside the box but says he and his publishing company designed to help self-publish authors “don’t believe in boxes.”

• Mayer also doesn’t believe in backlist any more based on the manner by which ebooks can be discovered and consumed in this new environment. “If you have backlist you have CONTENT” he says. “That’s GOLD!”

• Mayer believes the traditional advance model has to go away, which would ultimately put less pressure on publishers and more pressure on the actual performance of a book’s sales.  

• Mayer believes that nobody markets the book as well as the author “because nobody cares as much as the author.”  He says that whether a book is self-published or published with a major publisher, the onus is on the author. His frustration is outlined in this statement:  “You go to BEA and see Random House pushing four authors from their entire Fall catalog.”

• Andre hasn’t just seen success in the English language market in North America, but she believes strongly in the global distribution of her titles through multiple languages. She has a team of between 26 and 30 consultants working on her books in foreign languages. And a huge bonus to this author, but she ensures her teams translate not just the content of the book, but take care to translate the metadata.

• Tony Van Veeth, whose BookBaby offers authors various a la carte services ($49 to $250 cover design, for example), recognizes different authors will choose different approaches. 

• Towards the end of the session, Van Veeth commented that “Bella is the most extraverted person in this room, perhaps even in this hotel” highlighting the fact that sometimes authors (particularly reclusive types) might need the support and help from either a traditional publisher or a company like his or Mayer’s

• Andre, who was at the conference specifically to build relationships (she reached out to me weeks before the conference, securing a lunch date with me – an enjoyable and fascinating chance for us to chat one on one and face to face).  “My content is great,” she says, “But my relationship with my retailers is key to my success.”

• Andre offers another bit of advice to self publish authors. “Pay attention!” she declares in a loud voice. As illustration of this, she explains how she follows and pays attention to industry trends, what new markets ebooks are being expanded into, who is moving where within the industry. (Again, she was following the progress of Kobo, noticed they had posted a job for my position and knew exactly when I started in my new role)

Death By Salsa Recipe

My buddy Chad visited a Pepper Palace location in Myrtle Beach when he was in the U.S. over the holidays and brought me a jar of Death by Salsa.

Here is the description from their website:

"This ridiculously hot salsa is sure to push the envelope of pain for all but the “tongue dead.” It has a phenomenal sweet flavor for all those who can endure the heat. The Habaneros, Jalapenos, tomatoes and onion supply the flavor while pepper extracts supply the fire If your taste buds must die let it be Death by Salsa"

Needless to say, this salsa is ridiculously hot and painful. Perfect for a chili-head like me.

The one drawback to it, though, is that, because of the intense and over-the-top heat it delivers, most people can't really do more than dip an edge of your chip into it and then eat it.

But with salsa, don't you really want to scoop up a nice big chip-full? If the average person (even one who likes hot and spicy food) did that with this salsa, they'd still regret their boldness. Having watched more than a dozen people try it, there were only 2 or 3 people who didn't gasp and get a panicked "oh no, what have I done" look on their face when trying just a tiny bit on the end of a tortilla chip.

I solved the issue yesterday by mixing Death by Salsa with a couple of other ingredients adding a different flavour to it but allowing the opportunity to dip and scoop and really experience the dance of taste buds that ultimately lead to the nasty tongue and throat-burning sensation the salsa delivers.

I took three equal parts of Death by Salsa, spaghetti sauce (Francine's home-made sauce with lots of chunks and flavour) and Kraft Three Cheese Ranch Dressing & Dip and mixed them together. The sauce cut the heat a bit and added a bit of chunky flavour and the three cheese dressing further cut the heat and added a cheesy sort of tang.

This blending allowed me to scoop up generous portions but it still delivered a painful blow of pain.

You could easily substitute spaghetti sauce for a mild or medium salsa and the three cheese dressing for sour cream or a plain yogurt to offer a similar cutting, chunk adding effect.

And for those less adventurous, I would strongly suggest you don't go with 1/3 of each, but rather 1 teaspoon of Death by Salsa mixed with a full cup of sauce of salsa, and adding perhaps a couple of tablespoons of the cream sauce. Trust me - most people will still find THAT too hot.

I, Death Begins Anew

Back in 2006 I experimented with the idea of rolling out a novella length story in blog format.

The idea was the story would be told from the POV of a young man, Peter O'Mallick, who was writing an online journal as a way of dealing with the loss of his girlfriend and the belief he was inflicted with a death curse, causing others around him to die.

The story was called "I, Death" and was inspired by an extremely short story I had originally written when I was about 16 as well as a sequel to that tale, which I wrote when I was 20.

I had taken these "truck" stories and, finding something worth exploring further, was going to attempt to merge them into a slightly longer, combined piece.

That's when the idea of rolling out the tale in blog format struck me. I took the original short piece, which was told in person first narrative, and started to modify the structure into an online journal format. By the time I had constructed the first three or four posts I thought it might be fun to tell the story live. All I knew for sure were a few specific plot points I wanted to cover as well as how the tale would end. Everything else would be constructed on the fly and filled in as I went.

So, on Wednesday January 18, 2006, I began to tell Peter O'Mallick's tale. Or rather, Peter started to tell his tale. A few friends started following the story. People started to comment. Some of them, who thought Peter was real, needed to be contacted to have their minds put at ease and ensured they knew that both he and his tale were fiction - intrigued with Peter's unfolding story, they continued to follow along.

One of the great things about making the story up as I was going is that I had the pleasure of responding to comments and feedback and modifying certain story elements as I went along, either to tease the readers or to play upon the things that touched them the most.

At one point, there was even a "two paths in the woods" moment where I wasn't sure if I should go left or right, and the readers responded with their votes which affected my decision.

When the story finished, the sequel storyline (which had still been mostly untouched) was still there; but I had invested so much time in character development that I was moved to keep writing the story -- as in, sure, this tale is over. But what might happen next? How might this tale continue?

Those questions were eventually answered with a book length manuscript that incorporated the original online journal. After a couple of years of pitching the book, it found a publisher. My novel I, DEATH is scheduled to be released in November 2012 by Atomic Fez.

So what better way to celebrate than by offering readers who weren't along on that first journey to enter Peter's world, see the pain and tragedy through his eyes? Particularly since the years lined up perfectly and Wednesday January 18, 2006 so easily transforms into Wednesday January 18, 2012 - at least date-wise. Some elements, of course, needed to be updated to better suit the setting. I mean, I couldn't have Peter visiting a Borders anymore, now could I? Just kidding. The story takes place in Levack, Ontario (where I grew up) and in Sudbury, Ontario (about 45 minutes SE of Levack and, from the POV of a person growing up in Levack, the nearest "big city.")

The story, which does tell a complete tale in and of itself, is speculative horror of an extremely graphic and adult nature. It is not for the faint of heart and contains adult situations meant for those 18 or older.

If you're interested, you can check out the tale as it unfolds on Peter's blog, you can also subscribe to the RSS or even receive the story via email. For those who prefer all their action in Facebook, I've created a profile for Peter O'Mallick there so the story can be consumed within that realm.

And if you're following the tale along, do let me know what you think . . .