Hey there!
I realize my plan since 2004 was to regularly write blog entries on the Internet until I became famous but life has a way of getting it’s grubby little hands all over your dreams and drowning them in the bathtub while it makes you watch. It’s not for lack of trying or planning, though. I actually have like 30 draft articles in the admin back-end of this site that will probably never see the light of day.
So instead I’ve decided to do what all the cool kids were doing in 2013 and start doing more stuff on YouTube. Lately I’ve taken to reviewing episodes of the 2022 revival series Quantum Leap. I was a big fan of the original Quantum Leap series when I was a kid and now as I enter middle age I naturally despise everything new and am disappointed by the violation of the zombie corpse of a once-beloved television show. On the plus side, my bitterness makes for funny (to me) videos so you should check them out. I’ve also been thinking about those draft articles on this site and contemplating making them YouTube videos. I’d probably get better engagement.
The other big thing I did was writing a 58,000-word novel called Holocene and publishing it! Many authors report that their stories change and evolve as they write them and my experience was very much the same. I started writing it in May of 2019, finished the first draft on November 30th, 2021. As I wrote, the story changed several times along the way, culminating in what was originally a minor character becoming the ultimate protagonist, and a book that ended with the start of another story. I realized the following story would spawn another, so I’ve settled on the fact that Holocene will be a trilogy (at least).
What’s Holocene about? Here’s what the back cover says:
Jake Taylor mysteriously vanishes while hiking in a remote area of Manitoba, Canada. When his wife Sara receives a ping from Jake’s phone suggesting he’s in Vatican City, she immediately flies to Rome in search of answers. Chaperoned by Jean-Paul Ducharme from the Canadian Embassy, they follow the signal to its source, and in doing so, get caught up in a bizarre story of loss and adventure that changes their lives forever.
Pretty awesome, eh? It’s a science fiction story filled with mystery, adventure, comedy, drama, and tons of interesting trivia about Manitoba. Local readers will enjoy recognizing discussions about places and landmarks they’re familiar with, and non-local readers will get a brief overview of some of the most fascinating areas of largely-uninhabited Manitoba.
Once the story was polished, I submitted it to a local publisher in April of 2022. Unfortunately after a seven month wait my manuscript was rejected but I had a few friends and acquaintances read it and they were really supportive so I decided to go the self-publishing route. It’s been a massive learning experience but I’m not resting on my laurels. I’m already just shy of 10,000 words into book two while planning the book signing for book one!
So buy it on Amazon (ebook or paperback) and follow the official Facebook page to stay up to date on Holocene news and book signings and all that jazz!