I didn’t plan it this way, but I’m not going to complain about the timing. This originally came out in KODT for their epic 300th issue, and I guess it’s only appropriate to put it up on my website now that I have a new release out!
I’ve written “Off The Shelf” since issue #199, and while I haven’t quite reached 100 articles yet (Barb does one every now and then) this feels like a milestone to me as well. So, to celebrate, I’ve been allowed to write about some loser nobody you’ve probably never heard of: me!
My journey as a writer didn’t technically start with KODT, but it’s close. I wrote a number of gaming articles for them while teaching in Japan. At one point, I took a picture of some plush toys I had, roleplaying with tiny books and dice, and posted it on the KenzerCo forums.
Next thing you know, I was producing Fuzzy Knights online and for the magazine as a photo comic. Good times! That experience helped me become a proper writer, putting in the work every day instead of just whenever inspiration struck. By the time I got back to Canada, I was writing novels.
A G**damed Love Story was the first of these. Originally called Bleeding Heart Yard, the core idea here was an insidious curse: What if you were fated to find your soul mate, but never be able to say a kind word to them? Then I threw a werewolf into the mix. It was also a chance for me to explore the Hollywood notion of a “soul mate” as opposed to reality.
Trooper 4 was my next novel. The simplest way to describe it is a zombie apocalypse with a major twist. It’s hard to talk about this one without giving too much away. But if you would like to see a zombie-like story where nothing is what it seems, check it out!
I am a fan of cozy mysteries, and have written a couple set in the 1980s involving a husband and wife team: James and Lettice Cote. Getting Rid of Gary was written with a simple premise—what if you had a murder mystery without a murder? Who in James’s large extended family hated his Uncle Gary so much to ship him off to Peru, but not kill him?
The next James and Lettice Cote mystery is The Plutus Paradox. Lettice Cote learns that the father she thought was dead is alive, and missing. The Cotes end up being hired by the 5-year-old sister Lettice never knew she had—for a dollar a day, in quarters.
The Professional Tourist is set in the early 2000s and follows Az, fresh out of college and directionless, who decides to move to Japan to teach English. His neighbour is a foul-mouthed and cynical expat from Canada who Az can’t get out his head, one of his students might be part of the yakuza, and the homeless man he sees outside his school every day might not be who he appears to be.
As much as I love writing, it sadly doesn’t pay the bills. For that, I edit other people’s novels, and one of the authors I’ve worked with most is romance writer Lauren Smith. We work so well together that we co-wrote a science fiction romance.
Across The Stars is set in a future where Earth has been lost and humanity is on the run from their own creations, synthetic humans who have been granted stewardship of the regular “freeborns” by the Galactic Protectorate. When one freeborn is captured by the Silver Legion as just another runaway, little do they know that she is about to change everything, starting with the second-in-command’s heart. She might just be the key to a new home for all branches of humanity, human and synth alike.
While doing the world building for this book, I realized I wanted to use that setting myself for an adventure/comedy SF series I was working on. If Across the Stars is a romantic Star Trek with a dystopian twist, then my next few books would be its version of Lower Decks.
Lost Souls follows the misadventures of Maurice Foote, a man with a very convoluted backstory who just wants to be left the hell alone. After finally getting his ship back from a junkyard, he finds himself stuck with Hel, a stowaway with a faulty memory. Unfortunately, a group of pirates also want her, which means “Moss” is not going to get any peace any time soon.
Lost Cargo continues the misadventures of Moss and Hel. Moss has come across a chance for the score of a lifetime. One last job and he might be able to retire on an Elysian pleasure world. Unfortunately, things don’t go according to plan. They never do. The cargo isn’t at all what he expected, and Moss ends up having to go to the one part of the galaxy he never wanted to see again… the Sol system.
The final book of the trilogy, Lost Lives, is still a work in progress, but I’m hoping to have it written in the coming year.
I’ve recently taken up drawing. And, as if coming full circle, I’ve decided to revisit Fuzzy Knights as a drawn comic instead of using photographs. It picks up their story years after where it left off. The Big Guy has a kid now, but the game must go on!
I know how hard the life of a indie author can be, and it looks like you’ve been at this longer than I. I wish you luck with reaching your audience, the hardest part once you figure out how to write a book.