Notes on the doc, A Flash of Beauty: Bigfoot Revealed

Almost embarrassingly enjoyable, the doc, A Flash of Beauty: Bigfoot Revealed. 

Interesting seemingly heartfelt accounts of sightings. Requisite expert talking-heads. Sweeping landscale cinemtography. Great use and mining of established Sasquatch lore.  Almost ... spiritual, really. In short—great fun.

Can-Con 2025 notes

In Mid-October, we tabled at Can-Con, Ottawa's Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Convention at the Brook Street Hotel in Kanata with fab co-pilot AJ Dolman and fab Christian Baines, writer of urban queer paranormal novels, down from Toronto. Attending, tabling and sometimes paneling this con has been our little tradition for several years. We compare notes afterwards ovet supper, perhaps commiserating over a drink. Or four, depending on how things went.

I was selling my novel Town & Train and collection Fear Itself. Or, rather, trying to. Read on.

On the upside, we had some great chats. Looking atchoo', Christopher Shorewick, K. M. Greyburn, Derek Newman-Stille, Dwayne MacKinnon, of the Out Of The Basement Podcast, and the other James by our booth. Our table also talked to other writers and vendors and attended some interesting panels. Heck, I even chatted with a friendly spectacled attendee with the elfin ears at the giveaway table. She read an entire chapbook by Renaissance author R. Haven instead of taking it because it was the last copy. 

However, on the downside, book sales hit a record low, perhaps because of the con's move to Kanata, in Ottawa's far-flung west end.  Also, a noticeable absence was staple Can-Con shutterbug James Coughlan, a professional who volunteers his time each fall. 

As someone who pens hotror, fantasy, sci fi, lit, poetry and book reviews,  I find that the SFF set doesn't quite know how to handle talking with me beyond the niceties of attending a conference or quite what panels to invite me on, save the usual horror-themed and writers''group-themed ones. 

My usual trusty tactic, to redeem myself of the oil-and-water mix vibe of the con, is to pitch a particular publisher a project idea. Three times in a row (and two years running), I have successfully pitched projects. Not so, this time out. The publisher I usually talk to canceled its pitch sessions without explanation, save for a note on the sign-up sheet. I tried to sign up at the last minute with another publisher. However, the list was full. Although I added my name to the sign-up sheet in case of a cancellation, nobody cancelled. 

So, with my mood thus affected, the abysmal sales didn't help.  The lack of takers crushed the morale at the table, and our spirits. The lengthy daily commute was often over 30 minutes in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 417.

If the con returns to downtown, as has been the case for over a decade, we might reconsider attending. For now, though, our trio made the tough call afterwards. We will not be returning next fall. The cost of the booth, registering for the con (about $90 each for the weekend; panelists must, in fact, register), as well as gas and food expenses, all mean that attending this con, at least for us, has cons that far outweigh the pros. 

Hallowe'en 2025: Assorted Random Shots

Alas, last Friday night we saw the worst All Hallows' Eve turnout in years last Friday night, due to a combination of rainy and clammy weather for the trick-or-treaters and the Blue Jays' World Series game six airing at eight. Only 19 kids rang our gnarly-eyeball doorbell. 

Alleyway, downtown Ottawa. Approx. 5:10pm, Hallowe'en, 2025.

Last year, we had about 80 kids, finally recovering from the pandemic and the early canceled lockdown Halloween and seeing an upswing of young families on our block. 

I like a cteepy face in the tree of of our frontyard to greet trick-or treaters. We coninue, though, to be one of only a handful of houses that observes with a lit jack-o'-lantern.

The Tubular Bells vinyl I just scored from a goodhearted DJ colleague.

Some of my handiwork.

What I viddied later after some episodes of Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Fab seasonal pic of Ottawa writer AJ Dolman.

That's our 17 year old carving his first pumpkin. It's the jack-o'-lantern on the right. Tradition passed along! Pretty proud of him.

Captain James, or...Captain Moran.

James Aquilone's Classic Monsters Unleashed

October readin' and dreamin'. James Aquilone's Classic Monsters Unleashed, a who's-who of new stories about famous creatures, from some of the best horror voices in the business. 

Jonathan Maberry's "Höllenlegion", a riff on "The Island of Doctor Moreau", kicks off this delicious autumnal feast. The inimitable Joe R. Lansdale's gobsmackingly good "God of the Razor" caps it. 

Read Lansdale's piece first, I was so excited. Don't do that; it is unfair to all the other great creature stories. Over a year later, I am reading the rest, and enjoying each and every one, from Tim Waggoner's modern werewolf yarn "Blood Hunt" to Lisa Morton's fun "Hacking the Horseman's Code" à la Amazing Stories late 1980's TV incarnation.

Gorgeous cover art, and some stunningly macabre interior story art,  from Colton Worley.

Flattering post about my novel Town & Train

Winnipeg writer David Jón Fuller posted a very flattering comment about my debut 2014 horror novel, Town & Train (Lethe Press). I am quite appreciative of his shot of the railroad tracks, which puts me in a mind of the tracks in my hometown of Cornwall, which I fictionalized in the novel, as they skirted through the woods of my neighbourhood of Riverdale. I also included, for good measure, in my small city of Brandon, Ontario, the Seaway International Bridge, the Domtar Pulp and Paper Mill, and even Brookdale Mall, including Brookdale Cinemas.

Thank you kindly, David. I was having one of those stretches where these words landed just at the right time. And this photo may be new favourite thing to turn to during times of doubt.

It should be noted that Turnstone Press is publishing Fuller’s debut speculative fiction novel, Venue 13, in spring 2026 under the Ravenstone imprint.

Here's what David had to say:

Caution: Octoberly Work in progess

Trying to wrangle: my new short-story collection edits; transcribe/edit a fantastical October tale; pen a book review; file an e-interview about a promiinent queer Canuck poet; wrangle revising my second horror novel Monstrous; wotk up and organize and complete a suite of superhero-related pomes.

Also have two ready-to-print novelettes—one, "Congregation Haul", about an excommunicated queer Jehovah's Witness trying to save upstanding congregation members from their deepest fears made real; the other, "Sketchy", about an empath tracking a serial killer in Ottawa's gay village in 2002; a loveletter to bygone queer bars.

Jason Loo's Dazzler: World Tour

New comic I dug. Absolutely loved writer Jason Loo's Dazzler: World Tour with Rafael Loureiro & Alan Robinson & Terry & Rachel Dodson. 

She's a knockout. Very fun. Gorgeous art. The snappy script is surprisingly nuanced. Hm. Wonder if there's ny more Dazzler in this fellow Canuck writer's future?