My Fringe-y Companions

Here's the trio of lovelies I spent 8 hours with yesterday at Fringe. Hey, it's a tough job, but somebody had to do it! (And yes, like cats, it was nearly impossible to get all 3 of them to do anything at the same time... including smiling!)

Fringe Begins Tomorrow (For Us, Anyway)

Vicki and I have our first two nights of Fringing planned, as we're taking in three shows each on Friday and Saturday, alongside Susan for both and Julie for one evening. Once we've gotten that far into the fray, we'll plan how many more nights we want to do over the remaining week. (We're also talking about the possibility of Hamilton Fringe for a few days with Susan in July... fun!)

At last night's Performer Showcase, we saw several teasers that sold us on shows we weren't even considering before that. A couple of them became 'must-see' performances for us, which really made the whole evening out worthwhile.

Honestly, I can hardly wait the last 18 or so hours before we start!

George Soros On The Looming European Union Meltdown

It's a long read, and not necessarily an easy one, but still very interesting.

Death To Intolerance

I love stories like this one about the morons at 'One Million Moms' suffering another defeat, and not just because it features a superhero (who I've followed for 40 years now) thumbing his nose at one of the last examples of intolerance that supposedly reasonable people still think they can get away with.

It's been a great couple of weeks in comics, and in the White House, for gay rights, and long overdue at that.

I Wasn't Thinking About Such Things In 2nd Grade

A kid in Grade 2, possibly at the prompting of someone older (for all we know), asks physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson whether one black hole can swallow another one. After expressing his appreciation for the question and the questioner, Tyson provides his answer. It's only about 3 minutes long, and definitely worth watching!

The Basement Follies

So far this week, in the ongoing basement renovation saga (following the flooding last fall), we've had:

• room dimensions being mis-measured by the carpet company such that they couldn't get my office carpeted when it was supposed to be (Wednesday of this week), further adding to my frustration over my office being in shambles
  
• scratches and scuff marks on our newly painted walls down there, courtesy of the carpet guys
• our first real test of the new sump pump, which I've just determined isn't draining far enough from the house, resulting in the same water being circulated through the pump, over and over and over

But, you know, other than that, it's going great...

Work Has Begun

on the next novel. It's still early days, but over the past hundred hours or so a whole lot has come together for me in terms of plot and characters. Considering that I didn't even have an idea for the book at the end of last week, that's not bad progress at all.

For the record: I initially got on track on Sunday morning, May 27, 2012. And ever since then, it's been dominating my thoughts despite all kinds of distractions (as our basement continues to be renovated following the flood last November). I've even written a couple of pages, although I have no confidence they'll survive for long.

Most surprisingly of all, I already have a half-decent title in mind and therefore won't have to privately refer to it as "3rd Novel" for the next while!

Some Very Special Feedback

This morning I got the following from a female friend who isn't much of a reader and who I therefore hadn't really expected would ever get around to reading No Brother of Mine:

"The world has come to an end ... I have finished your book and REALLY enjoyed it!!!! Seriously, Matt, you did a great job and I can't wait to read your next. Very unusual for a techie kind of person to do so well as a novelist. Give yourself a huge pat on the back . You deserve it."

High praise indeed!

Early Feedback On No Brother Of Mine

Here's a sampling of comments I've gotten on No Brother of Mine, from some folks who've finished it and others who are partway through reading it (edited in places to remove spoilers, not to change the tone of the remarks):

"Up to chapter 6 ... great read! Congrats!"

"I think you did a great job. I meant it when I said you raised the bar. Game Over was good, No Brother of Mine was better. [:)] I look forward to the next one."

"I am super enjoying it!! Can't wait to see where it's heading! I can already tell, it's going to be a hard book to put down! Awesome!"

"Fantastic."

"Just finished the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well done!!"

I am LOVING No Brother Of Mine!!!!"

I've yet to hear of anyone not enjoying it, but maybe anyone in that boat simply wouldn't tell me. Ah well, the fact that I'm getting lots of positive reactions is good enough for me!

Make Good Art

I love Neil Gaiman's commencement speech at the University of the Arts, not least of which because of his advice to those embarking on freelance careers:

1. Do good work
2. Be pleasant to deal with
3. Deliver your work on time

And then he followed that up with the revelation that you really only have to do any two of the three in order to succeed.

It's a great 20-minute speech that I encourage everyone to listen to.

The Difference 24 Hours Can Make

How the pool looked on Monday of this week...


and how it looked the next day...


I'm hoping to go for the first swim of the year tomorrow. Should be hot enough by then!

The Avengers: Even Better The Second Time

Last night Vicki and I took advantage of "cheap Tuesdays" to go see The Avengers again. We wanted to watch it in 2D, which I think was a great decision as we both agreed it was much more enjoyable that way. It's kind of ironic that we spent about 1/3 as much for the 2nd viewing but liked it even more than the 1st one!

I should mention, for posterity, that the theatre was packed! Given that it's now in its 3rd week of release, I had expected the crowds to be considerably reduced. Instead, the ushers were getting people to fill up every empty seat by the time the previews started. The fact that it was Tuesday no doubt had something to do with the turnout, but still!

Anyway, I was able to follow different aspects of the film this time, knowing the storyline going in. I really loved how writer/director Joss Whedon provided so many of the tussles and team-ups that Marvel/Disney fans would expect:

• Hulk vs Thor
• Thor vs Iron Man
• Black Widow vs Hawkeye
• Captain America vs Thor (very briefly)
• Thor actually teaming up with Hulk
• Captain America and Iron Man side-by-side
• and of course Hulk vs Loki!

I was struck last night by just how perfect a super-team movie The Avengers is. That's always been considered a very tricky proposition to pull off, and yet Whedon made it look easy. Here's hoping he signs up for the sequel!

If you haven't see The Avengers yet, what are you waiting for?

Our First One-Word Review Of No Brother Of Mine

My sister-in-law Meena, who is by no means an easy woman to impress, just texted me to tell me she'd just finished No Brother of Mine. She'd read it in essentially one sitting this morning (with only a bathroom break in the middle).

Her assessment, after that marathon session with my second novel?

"Fantastic."

That's even more succinct than Julie's "It's a really good book" comment after finishing the first draft back in February.

I'll be posting a few more bits of feedback that I've received presently. In the meantime, feel free to pass me your thoughts on the book if you haven't already.

Sure Wish We'd Opened The Pool Last Weekend

With the temperature expected to top 30 C today, it kind of sucks that we couldn't open our pool until two days ago (meaning that it's still green, slimy and completely unswimmable at the moment). We had roofers coming last week and decided to keep the winter cover on the pool for that, rather than risk getting nails and bits of grit raining down into it while that was going on. That seemed like the right decision at the time, but with middle-of-the-summer weather arriving this long weekend, now I'm not so sure.

Oh well, hopefully we'll be swimming within a few days, assuming it doesn't turn back into winter by then!

A Book Club Built For Two

Tammy and I decided tonight, via Instant Messenger, that we're going to form our own mini book club - just the two of us! I'm not sure whether two people can really constitute a "club", but to hell with that concern: we're just gonna do it.

Our first, unofficial book was Man Booker Prize-winner The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, which we spent an hour or so discussing this evening. Tammy found it via some targeted Internet searching, and then promptly ordered me a copy through Amazon without even telling me it was coming! We both really enjoyed it, for some of the same reasons and some different ones. It's the kind of story that leaves you with lots of questions that you actually want to think and talk about some more after you finish it.

I've never been a book club member before, and maybe I'm still not (technically)... but regardless, this sounds like a lot of fun to me!

How Publishing Really Works

I had never heard of Yog's Law (of publishing) before, but now I have:

Money flows towards the writer.

I like it!

Why I Won't Be Buying (Or Reading) Before Watchmen

I've been thinking about this ever since word began leaking out last year that DC Comics might be doing some sort of Watchmen-related sequel/prequel series. Then, early this year, it was confirmed: there would be a group of miniseries collectively called Before Watchmen, with some big name talent attached to them, including J Michael Straczynski and Darwyn Cooke (two creators I normally go out of my way to read).

But as time has gone by, and the launch of Before Watchmen has loomed closer and closer, I've realized that I have no intention of buying or even reading these series. Part of the reason is that Alan Moore, the genius behind Watchmen, specifically asked that this not happen. Because of the contract he and artist Dave Gibbons signed back when Watchmen existed only in their two noggins, Moore can't actually stop Before Watchmen from happening. Still, considering the millions that DC has made off that property and its countless reprints over the past 25+ years, you'd think his wishes would be honoured. But of course you'd be wrong.

The other reason I'm taking a stance here is that I think Watchmen is complete as it is. Moore and Gibbons put everything into it, and the 12 issues (typically read in one collected form nowadays) constitute the entire length and breadth of it. There's no need to go back and fill in backstories for the characters, unless you're simply looking to cash in on them with no eye toward artistic expression or purity. Which is exactly what Before Watchmen is, and it's a very sad statement on the world of comics today that it's happening at all.

Anyway, I'll be sitting out this particular comic book 'event.' I'm sure most, if not all of the series will still be best-sellers this summer, but those sales figure won't include any of my money. It just doesn't seem appropriate to me to reward such crass treatment of the 'Citizen Kane' of comic series like this.

For more on Before Watchmen and the controversy surrounding it, you can also see this article.

Huge News In The Music World

Hard to believe but true! This case and the law at the root of it could actually end up transforming the commercial music landscape beyond recognition.

Chip Kidd On Book Cover Design

Thanks to the ever-reliable AgileBoy, I got directed to this TED talk by Chip Kidd, on how to design effective book covers.

Of course, after watching it, I couldn't help but wonder what Kidd would think of this:



I like to think he'd approve. Nice job, Mr. Carl Pettypiece!

What A Party!

Yesterday was the Book Signing Party for No Brother of Mine, and boy, was it a party!

I wish I'd thought to take some photos once people really started arriving, but in all honesty I was much too busy by then anyway. However, here's a shot from the setting-up period before the party started, showing Vicki and our friend - and hostess with the mostess - Susan with the surprise decoration that she'd brought:



Yes, that's a small, light blue pair of running shoes on that floral display, with one of them missing its lace! How brilliant and considerate was that of Susan to construct, echoing the cover image for No Brother of Mine? Vicki and I were both blown away!

And here's my sister-in-law Meena and I with her incredible contribution to the event: a collage of "Favourite Foods of Famous Authors"!



How Meena ever thinks of things like this (let alone making them), I'll never know! Her grandchildren routinely benefit from her creativity at Christmas time, but I was lucky enough to be the object of her affection this time, somehow making it onto her list of famous authors (my fave foods include Dr Pepper, hot dogs, ketchup and spaghetti). What a thrill!

As for the party itself, we had 33 guests show up, ranging in age from 1 year old to... well, I won't embarrass anyone specific, so let's just say "late 50s/early 60s". Susan took care of all manner of food and drink, freeing Vicki and I up to socialize.

Over 20 copies of No Brother of Mine found new homes before we were done, along with a couple of Game Over editions. I got to talk to a couple people about GO, but really had to bite my tongue about NBoM since no one there but Vicki, my brother Rich and I had read it yet! Oh, the irony of it all!

I was thoroughly distracted once the crowd started to build, and felt bad that I didn't get to catch up with as many folks as I'd have liked to. I spent most of the three hours having very short conversations with whoever could manage to claim the chair beside me before having to give way to the next person waiting, book in hand. And I certainly had little or no ability to follow whatever else was going on around me.

Several people who I hadn't expected to make it showed up and surprised me, and a couple who I'd really hoped would come, didn't. In other words, it was about what you'd expect. I was definitely exhausted by the time it was over, and Vicki and Susan were kind enough to leave me out of the cleaning up portion of the day. I haven't heard from many of the party-goers yet to know how they felt it went, but it was clearly a success from my point-of-view. So much so, in fact, that maybe I'll do one of these shindigs for the next book, too! Of course, that assumes there is a next book! At this point, all I'm missing for that to happen is a story idea, and some characters, and a few themes, and...

The Avengers: Well Worth The Wait

Last night, Vicki and I went out into the world to see The Avengers on the big screen. We'd spent the extra money to get VIP reserved seating, which is about the only way I'd ever try to see a blockbuster on Opening Night these days.

Funny story on the way into the theatre: we decided to get our food in the VIP lounge, rather than at the regular concession stands or at our seats (which you can do in the VIP theatre). There were about 4 or 5 people ahead of us when we lined up, and we had about 20 minutes before the start-time. No problem! At least, no problem until the couple ahead of us tried to buy their popcorn, drinks and candy using their Scene card points (or something like that), at which point the process ground to a complete halt. Despite there being three servers behind the counter at one point, they wouldn't open a second cash, and so we all stood there. And stood there. And after about 15 minutes of waiting, Vicki and I finally gave up and headed inside to get our seats.

We discussed the possibility of ordering our junkfood at our seats, but decided that we didn't really want to reward that poor service model by giving them even more of our money for their highly-overpriced fare after the long a wait. So we didn't.

They started the Coming Attractions right on time, and I was excited to see the trailers for The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises on the big screen. I think they showed one more trailer after that, and then the lights came back on, followed by an usher explaining that there was going to be a short delay because people were still coming into the theatre at that point. We looked at each other and knew: it was the long line behind us at the concession stand outside that were just now getting their orders filled!

Anyway, eventually The Avengers began and my long wait was finally over! We both once again didn't enjoy the 3D aspect of the presentation, but other than that it was fabulous!

Our plan is to go see it again, in 2D this time, once the crowds die down in a few weeks. There were so many great lines of dialogue, some of them lost because the crowd was still laughing at the preceding joke, making it fun to see again, I'm sure. Three of my favourite parts both involve the Hulk, who probably has the least screen time of any of the 6 team members (on account of being Mark "Bruce Banner" Ruffalo for most of the film). The first comes when Captain America is commanding the Avengers on what to do as they try to defend against a maurading horde, and he gives very detailed instructions to everyone else before ending with, "And Hulk.... SMASH!" That was extremely well-received by the audience! Another one involved Loki, which I won't spoil, and the final one came between Hulk and Thor which I definitely won't give away. Those 3 scenes alone made Greenskin's inclusion in the movie worthwhile!

I wouldn't put The Avengers quite on the same level of The Dark Knight as far as cinematic quality is concerned, but in terms of pure comic book geekasm, it's an incredible thrill! I'm so happy it didn't disappoint, and I can't wait to see it again and then own it on Blu-Ray in a few months.

The blockbuster movie season of 2012 is off to a great start, and there's only 5 weeks to go before Prometheus gets here.

Guess The Turnout

Susan, our gracious hostess for this Sunday's launch party for No Brother of Mine, asked me in an e-mail this week to estimate how many people will show up. I gave her the most honest answer I could think of: somewhere between 10 and 100. That's about as much as I could narrow it down, given that I decided not to ask for RSVP's from people as that scares some off. I'm also faced with not knowing whether people will come solo or bring family members, which obviously affects the numbers. Susan, of course, has to plan the food for the afternoon, so my response probably didn't help a whole lot.

When I told my brother about this development this afternoon, he predicted 57 people (hitting pretty close to the midpoint of my range, I notice). Vicki says 35 or so. I'm hoping for more than my low-end figure (10). Does anyone else care to hazard a guess between now and Sunday @ 2:00? If so, leave it as a comment here.

Regardless, I'm getting more and more excited at the prospect of getting NBoM into some new hands. Hopefully we'll see you on Sunday afternoon and yours can be some of the hands I'm referring to!

The Chutzpah Doctrine

If you want to know what sort of news items drive me crazy, here's one:

A few weeks ago, Republican candidate for president Mitt Romney declared that the Obama administration was engaging in a "war on women" (in response to earlier Democratic claims that Republican fighting against birth control funding within health coverage was just that). He justified this claim with the statistic that 92% of the job losses since Obama took office were felt by female workers.

This extremely misleading figure reflects the fact that the majority of the recession's job losses happened under Bush's watch and dramatically impacted male-dominated industries like construction. By the time Obama took over, that wave of layoffs had passed and a second wave had begun to affect government positions, including office jobs and schools - both of which are more likely to have women in them than men. These cutbacks were then greatly exacerbated by austerity measures that Republicans like Romney insisted were needed (paradoxically along with tax breaks for the wealthy) under the guise of reducing the deficit. In other words, Romney's party pushed vehemently to cut the very jobs that he was now blaming Obama for losing!

Which, as Paul Krugman pointed out in a column about this, is an amazing example of chutzpah. That Jewish term is often described as being when a man kills his mother and father and then throws himself on the mercy of the courts on the grounds of being an orphan! Romney, and the Republican party in the U.S. in general, are currently masters of chutzpah, it seems. And yet few people seem to be calling them on it!

Less Than A Week To Go Now

Yes, my Book Signing for No Brother of Mine is now within a week of actually happening (next Sunday afternoon), and that's very exciting. But something that I've waited most of my life for is even closer to reality!

In just 5 days, The Avengers film debuts, and Vicki and I already have our tickets! We'll be watching it in 3D, with reserved seating, and I can hardly wait. If you'd told me when I was 10 years old that someday there'd be a big-budget Avengers movie that would feature Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and the Hulk, and that it was getting very enthusiastic reviews from comic fans who got to see it early, I probably wouldn't have believed it. And yet here we are.

Pretty much counting down hours now...

New Type Of Particle Discovered

This definitely doesn't happen every day!

No Brother Of Mine Is In The House!

(Yes, it's true: I'm enjoying coming up with blog titles that play off the name of my new novel.)

The anxiously-awaited two boxes of books arrived today, and we now have 60+ copies of No Brother of Mine in the basement, just waiting for new homes. The plan is to hold a Book Signing Party here on the afternoon of Sunday, May 6th, for precisely that purpose. I sent out a mass e-mail this afternoon with details on the party, so if you didn't get one I likely don't have a valid e-mail address for you. Feel free to contact me, though, and we can correct that situation.

So now that we're just over a week away from the publication of No Brother of Mine, I'm starting to get excited at the prospect. Early drafts of it have only been read by a handful of people so far, but they've all been enthusiastic in their reactions to it. Julie had perhaps the most succinct assessment: "It's a really good book." Naturally, I'm inclined to agree with Cooper's mom in this case. And I hope that, once you've got your copy and have had a chance to read it, you'll do likewise!

Excellent Resolution To The Prisoner's Dilemma

I love the way this guy resolved his prisoner's dilemma at the end of the UK show, Golden Balls: watch and see if you can predict what he does (Vicki and I both did, independently)!

Tammy Up Over

Our Down Under girl is now in Ontario for a few days, as part of a trip back to the northern hemisphere for a friend's wedding in Turks and Caicos next weekend. She promptly caught the flu after arriving in Toronto on Friday, and is only now feeling well enough to come this way for a short visit. It's always something with that girl when she travels!

She's due here in a couple of hours, having decided to drive herself after we offered to go get here. We haven't seen her in about 5 or 6 months, so it should be quite the reunion.

Dark Matter: Fact Or Fiction?

This is crazy! Just when we were all starting to believe in dark matter, recent investigations are throwing doubts up as to its very existence. Wacky!

Another Agile 101 Session Is Behind Us

I did what must have been about my 6th or 7th Agile 101 session of 2012 today, and the last one I have scheduled (for now). It was definitely a challenging group this time, but most of them seemed to be fairly happy with the workshop by the end of the day, based on the feedback results:

Presentation portion: 8.6 out of 10
Hands-on activity: 8.9 out of 10
Overall effectiveness: 8.9 out of 10

Not quite up to the levels of the last session we did or possibly even the one before that (depending upon how you measure things), but still very good.

No Brother Of Mine Is In Hand!

After taking a week to print (usually a 1- or 2-day operation), my print draft copy of No Brother of Mine practically flew here, arriving about 24 hours after it finished printing! I've checked it over, made a few small changes, and placed the big order. I'm hoping there won't be further printing delays, but we'll see.

Current plan is to have a Book Launch event here at the house, with friend Susan helping out on the hosting end. Our tentative date right now is the afternoon of Sunday, May 6th; however, I'll firm that up soon and send an e-mail out to all interested parties, once we know for sure that the big order is on its way to us. I hope we can get a good turnout for the Book Launch, as that always makes it a special event.

We're nearly to the finish line on this project, which is exciting news, indeed!

Prometheus Viral Just Adds To My Already-High Anticipation

I love how we get stuff like this now, really whetting your appetite for an upcoming movie by providing background that isn't simply clips from the film that give away everything that's going to happen in it.

Tivo Vs SARA

We have a Tivo box in our house because I worked one day over the Christmas break, 7 or 8 years ago. We were doing something with Tivo at that time and they requested that we support them over that holiday period, and those of us who agreed to were given both the box and a lifetime subscription to the service. Vicki has loved it ever since I brought it home, not the least of which because of its knack for finding interesting things to record that she ends up enjoying.

Anyway, last night's episode of Mad Men wasn't watched by us "in real time" as it usually would be because Julie was over and the 3 of us were talking our way through the Freakonomics movie that we streamed on Netflix. I wasn't concerned, though, as I knew that SARA (our Rogers box) would record each showing of it. And it did: there were 3 copies of it waiting for us tonight when we sat down to watch it.

Unfortunately, it seems that the show before it on AMC, The Killing, ran long, forcing Mad Men to start (and end) late. Despite having 3 different recordings, we didn't have the final couple minutes of the episode. Quite frustrating!

But then we remembered that the Tivo box always records Mad Men upstairs, which is how we saw Season 4 after I got into it last year. So off Vicki went to check, and sure enough: there it was (once only), with adjusted start time so that it got the entire episode!

And there it was: the difference between a first class PVR box and... well, SARA. Now I know enough about the cable industry to realize that problems like this often boil down to the upstream data provider's accuracy and timeliness, rather than the software or hardware on the box. But somehow Tivo always seems to get it right, whereas Rogers just doesn't.

Problem Solved?

Less than an hour after my online chat with someone at Lulu and tweeting "@Luludotcom Surprised I had to start an online chat with Lulu support to find out printer problems are causing delays. #BetterWays2TellFolks", I got an e-mail telling me that my book had printed and was being shipped. Probably a coincidence, but it sure felt like all my complaining had had some effect!

Now I'm just waiting for the parcel to arrive so I can check out how the cover looks (along with the rest of it) and then prepare the big order.

Problems At Lulu

I had an online chat with someone in the support area of Lulu this morning, and they're saying that there's a problem with the printers that's causing delays. I figured something had to be up, as it's now been a week since I ordered the print draft copy of No Brother of Mine and it still hasn't printed.

This is particularly worrisome because it's never happened before, and my pessimistic mind immediately begins considering more dire possibilities within Lulu that "There's an issue with the printers causing delays" would be the natural cover story for. I hope it's nothing like that, but...

Anyway, until I get further word on this, the release schedule for my second novel is in a bit of a holding pattern. :-(

Tennessee Takes A Big Step Backward

Stories like this always make me stop and wonder, "Are we really in the 21st Century?" Because I swear sometimes it feels like the 19th...

Back From Vacation Part 2

In Part 1, I covered the first four days of our trip to Orlando with niece Peggy and her kids, Natasha & Bruce.

After another quiet day following Universal Studios, we headed to Disney World. I'll admit right upfront that I'm not the biggest Disney fan on the planet, or probably even in the Top 1,000,000,000 of that category. My impression from previous journeys to the Florida theme park when Tammy was a kid was that it was crowded, overhyped and underwhelming. I'd say this year's experience didn't do much to change that opinion.


Of course, Disney World's really supposed to be for the kids, and the two we had with us seemed to enjoy it well enough. We went on Splash Mountain a couple of times (once with a 45-minute wait, and once with a FastPass that allowed us to bypass the line and get right on), Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Manor, a paddleboat ride, and Space Mountain. I do like how clean they manage to keep the place, but that's about all it had going for it as far as I was concerned. It was a scorching hot day when we were there, and yet we still managed to spend about 8 hours there, which I thought was impressive.


We followed that up with another pool-day, and then used our last full day in Orlando to visit a Dave & Baxter's arcade for Natasha's 17th birthday (one day early). All of us were blown away by the selection of games there, as they had just about every variety imaginable. Vicki and Peggy were even referring to it as "Las Vegas for kids", which seemed like an apt description. Several hours of fun there were followed by dinner out at a fancy Italian restaurant, and then it was home to pack up for the drive home.

Thanks to a couple of clever detours engineered by navigator Vicki, and the fact that we were driving on Saturday and Sunday of Easter Weekend, we had a much, much nicer time getting home. We probably spent at least three hours less driving time, and really the only downside over the two days was Bruce not feeling well and throwing up several times in the back seat. His mom was always quick with the sickness bag, but we still all felt extremely bad for the little guy.

Eventually, though, we were all home again! I'd driven just over 2,000 kms in the two days, so I was happy to let Vicki do the honours for the final short leg, from Peggy's house to ours.

The next day we retrieved Lucy from her "vacation home" at Julie's, shown here checking out one of her three housemates. Julie kept Lucy safely tucked away from Coops and Finley most of the time that we were gone, but would occasionally let them interact under her watchful eye. Julie actually got some quality Lucy-time over that period, which is more than she's ever gotten in all the dozens of visits she's paid to our home.

And that was our 2012 Orlando trip!

No Brother Of Mine Is At The Printer!

(I think that's technically true: I don't believe I have a brother at the printer right now.)

I ordered my print draft copy of No Brother of Mine from Lulu tonight, so I should have it to check over within a week or so. Once I'm sure it's good to go, I'll place the big order. Right now I've got around 30 pre-orders, so I'll likely print twice that number initially. I'll provide more details on when and how it'll be available once we get a little closer to having copies in hand.

Back From Vacation Part 1

Vicki and I are now back back from a 10-day vacation in Orlando with our wonderful niece Peggy and her two great kids, Natasha and Bruce. What follows is the first part of our travelogue, the rest of which I'll complete later in the week.


Here are Peggy and 16-year-old Natasha early on during the drive down there, little suspecting just how grueling the trip's going to turn out to be. We encountered the worst traffic I've ever seen on an Interstate, as we spent 3 hours late that first night traveling 20 miles on I-75 from Kentucky into Tennessee. Apparently there'd been a rock slide a week or two earlier, and that had caused them to shut down several lanes. It was an absolute nightmare, as it happened on a stretch with no exits, meaning that we were stuck and couldn't get to a motel with vacancies (since tens of thousands of fellow travelers were caught in the same mess) until around 2:00 a.m.! Not a great start to our vacation, unfortunately.


The next day was better, although we still hit several significant slowdowns. Then, to top that off, Bruce and I were chasing each other on the grass at a rest stop, and I stepped on what looked like a pile of red dirt. Immediately, I began to feel itching and stinging in my sandaled feet, and stopped to pull the footwear off. Apparently it had been a hill of fire ants I'd stumbled into, and I had about a dozen stings or bites to prove it! Vicki came to the rescue with some sort of ointment, and the pain went away pretty quickly. Eventually we got to Orlando, and were in our house-for-the-week by around 11:00. Yay!


We took our first full day in Florida to recover, and spent most of it in or near the backyard pool. Then it was time to head out for our first adventure: to Universal Studios! The place has changed completely since the last time Vicki, Tammy and I were there (probably back in the 90s). It's now two parks (U.S. and Islands of Adventure), and most of the attractions are new.


We started off with two that we knew, though: Terminator 2 (in 3D) and the Horror Make-up Show. Both were excellent, and much as we'd remembered them. Then we visited the Simpsons ride, an updated version of the old Earthquake setup (now called Masters of Mayhem: Disaster!), Men in Black, Twister, the Woody Woodpecker rollercoaster (as it was small enough Bruce could go on it) and the big Red Rocket coaster that only I was big enough and brave enough to go on.

To be continued...

No Brother Of Mine Pre-order Reminder

If you haven't pre-ordered a copy of No Brother of Mine yet, but would like one, please let me know ASAP. I'm hoping to place the big order sometime next week, if all the stars line up. Tammy has 4 chapters to go, as far as editing is concerned, so we'll see how she makes out.

Book Update

No Brother of Mine is now very close to being finished. Tammy's edited the first 9 chapters, leaving her 5 more to go. Once I get those from her - hopefully sometime in the next week or so - then it'll be time to order a print draft copy to check over. When that's taken of, I'll place the big order and we'll be off to the races.

Despite being very busy at work at the moment, Tammy's been providing excellent edits all the way from Australia. She's thorough, and insightful, and clearly invested in the story. I find that I end up incorporating the vast majority of her suggested changes, as well as making other alterations to address concerns that she's raised at various points. I lost Julie as an editor beyond the first 4 chapters this time around because of her hectic schedule, but Tammy has subbed in extremely well, and I can't thank her enough for that!

And just a reminder that if you want a copy of No Brother of Mine and haven't pre-ordered it yet, please do so ASAP. I'll be figuring out how many copies to order soon and I want to make sure I get enough to satisfy everyone who'd like to read it.

Agile 101 On 2 Hours Of Sleep

For whatever perverse reason, I woke up at 2:30 this morning, after having stayed up relatively late (12:30) specifically in the hope that perhaps that would improve my recent crappy sleeping record. Instead, I was wide awake for good a 'mere' 4 hours before the 6:30 alarm that was set to allow us to get downtown ahead of our 8:00 start. That's right: Vicki and I had yet another full-day Agile 101 session scheduled for today, and I ended up doing it on 2 hours of sleep.

Rather shockingly, this sleep-deprived performance received possibly the best survey results yet:

Presentation portion: 9.1 out of 10
Hands-on activity: 8.8 out of 10
Overall effectiveness: 9.2 out of 10

Those are insanely high scores, especially when you consider that a non-trivial percentage of the population typically doesn't give 10's out (on principle) when asked to rate something from 1 to 10.

Anyway, from this experience I've come to the conclusion that AgileMan's secret power has finally been revealed: I can do amazing feats on little or no sleep!

40 Days & 40 Nights

That's all we have to get through now, before we can watch this:

Somebody's Got A Cute New Hairdo

And it's not even me this time:


For comparison, here's what she looked like last weekend when great-niece Emma was over for a Movie Night sleepover:


Of course, they're both a couple of cuties, no matter what their hair's doing!

No Brother Of Mine: The First Few Pages

As we get close to the finish line on my 2nd novel I figure it's about time I let everyone see how it all begins. Keep in mind that, since the editing process is still underway, the precise wording of the early pages may change between now and publication time. But the following should still give you a very good idea of how NBoM kicks off (no pun intended):

-----------------------------------------------

When the doorbell rings around dinnertime on Monday, I’m in the middle of emptying the kitchen garbage. I used to be really bad about dealing with it before it got completely disgusting. After Sarah complained about the smell for the umpteenth time, though, I finally got better at noticing it. She may be gone, but at least some of the domestic training still remains.

The tied-off handles of the plastic bag are still looped over the index finger of my right hand as I make my way from the kitchen to the front door. I open it to discover a man and woman, both well dressed, standing on my front porch. The male is tall, like me, has short brown hair and is clean-shaven. His companion is about 5-foot-6 and blonde, but has her hair tightly bound up on the top of her head. Both are wearing dark blue suit pants and white collared shirts. He has a plain blue tie, while she’s wearing a beige jacket, currently buttoned up, which complements her serious expression.

My first thought is that they must be Jehovah’s Witnesses, and so I begin running through a mental list of possible escape clauses that might cut this interruption short. ‘My dinner’s on the stove and I think it’s starting to burn,’ maybe. Or ‘Actually, I’m an atheist who becomes extremely violent around religious types.’

But then I spot the badges. His is hanging off his hip, while hers is flopped over the bottom right pocket of her jacket.

“Mr. James?” the woman asks, while her male companion takes a quick look behind him, toward the brown four-door sedan parked on the street in front of my house.

I nod slightly, one hand on the open door and the other still clutching the tied-up kitchen bag.

“Mr. Mitchell Robert James?” she asks again, consulting a little black notebook in her hand.

“Yeah, that’s me,” I respond. “What can I do for you?”

“Do you mind if we come in for a few minutes?” the male officer asks, as he starts to enter without even waiting for me to answer.

I shake my head mutely, stepping out of the way. I lightly toss the garbage bag back toward the kitchen, hoping that it doesn’t spill out anything gross in the process.

We head for the living room, with me leading the way. I do a quick scan of the area, hoping it looks presentable. It’s not bad, and I’m sure cops see a lot worse than my slightly messy home in their travels.

The TV’s still on one of the sports channels, now showing highlights from last night’s games. The second round of the NHL playoffs are underway, meaning that Canadian interest in the sport is approaching a fever pitch now. I grab the remote from the couch as we enter the room and mute the analysis coming out of the mouths of the ‘expert panel’ before directing my two guests to please take a seat.

I ask if either of them would like a coffee or soft drink.

The man accepts the offer, saying, “Any sort of pop, please,” while the woman politely declines.

I head off to the kitchen to grab a Coke out of the fridge, nudging the thrown garbage bag further out of sight with my foot as I pass it. I’m trying not to think about the fact that I have a couple of cops in my living room. It’s almost never good news when that happens, after all.

I quickly return with the can and hand it to the plainclothes officer. He opens it after thanking me. His companion has unbuttoned her jacket while I was gone, I notice.

Once we’re all seated, the woman says, “Mr. James, I’m Detective Constable Wozniak and this is Detective Constable Harrison. We’re with the New Markham Police, and we’d like to ask you a few questions.”

I say, “Um, well, I’ve never actually been to New Markham, so whatever it is you think I did, it wasn’t me.” I give a little laugh at the end, to show that it’s a joke.

Neither of them laughs, but Detective Wozniak at least rewards my silly remark with a faint smile.

Detective Harrison sets his drink down, looks me in the eye and asks, “Mr. James, when did you last speak to your brother?”

“Ray?” I reply, confused.

“Yes,” Detective Wozniak says, nodding. “Raymond Edward James is your brother, correct?”

“Yeah, he is,” I say, looking down. I’m suddenly overcome with a bad feeling about where this conversation is going. “But we haven’t spoken in years.”

“How many years?” Harrison asks.

“Almost 20, I guess.”

“I see,” Harrison responds, as his partner writes something in her book. “Then are you aware that he’s been reported missing?”

“Missing?” I repeat, stunned. Had my little brother somehow…? Shaking my head, I say, “No. I… Who reported him missing?”

“His wife.”

“Ex-wife,” Detective Wozniak corrects her partner, without looking up from her scribbling.

“Thank you. His ex-wife. You did know that he was married, didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t,” I admit, feebly, my head swimming. “Or that he’d been divorced. Or even that he was in New Markham, for that matter.”

“I see,” Detective Harrison states, again. “Then the two of you really haven’t kept in touch?”

“Not at all,” I answer, my voice cracking ever so slightly. I can’t seem to get my bearings in this conversation at all. “But you say he’s gone missing?”

“Back in February,” Wozniak confirms, tapping her book.

“I’m… I… I really don’t know what to say,” I stammer. “Do you have any idea…?”

“Actually,” Harrison says, “I’m sorry to have to tell you but we have an unidentified body that matches the general description of your brother.”

“Oh,” I reply softly, awash in a wave of regret and guilt. Then I close my eyes and gently rub my forehead. “Is it him?”

“That’s actually why we’re here, Mr. James,” Detective Wozniak tells me, with a hint of compassion in her voice. “We’d like you to come to New Markham and help us determine that.”

“Me? But I haven’t seen him since he was in his teens. I doubt I could… I really don’t know that I could even pick him out of a line-up now. Wouldn’t his wife – sorry, ex-wife! – be a more logical person for that… responsibility?”

“Mrs. James is refusing to cooperate in that regard,” Harrison informs me. He’s speaking slowly and watching my reactions carefully. “Apparently there was some bad blood between them when the marriage ended. Of course you wouldn’t know that because, like you say, you haven’t spoken to him in 20 years. His ex-wife has refused to get involved in that way. She did mention you as an alternative, though.”

“She did? How could she? I don’t even know her.”

Harrison shrugs, and says, “She seemed to know all about you. She knew enough to send us here to Stafford, and even produced your current address not long after we talked to her.”

“That’s… very strange,” I reply, slowly. “But there must be someone else who can… Jesus, like I said, I don’t know that I’d even be able to recognize Ray, after all these years. His body, I mean.”

“We’d like you to at least try,” Wozniak says, hopefully. She smiles slightly and continues, “Frankly, we’re running out of options. We haven’t been able to locate his dental records, and you seem to be the closest family he has.”

I take a deep breath in, and then let it out. “I suppose I am. I mean, our parents are dead, and we don’t have any other relatives here in Canada. Ray was never big on going to the dentist when we were kids, so I guess it’s not all that surprising…”

“We’d be very appreciative if you were able to come to New Markham with us right now,” Detective Harrison informs me as my voice trails off. “And we’d be happy to bring you back home again afterward.”

I think for a moment, trying to wrap my head around what these two strangers are telling me about my own brother. My thoughts are all jumbled up, though, and I can feel my heart racing. What I desperately want right now is to be left alone, so that I can have a chance to think. I’m also worried about tonight’s appointment, which I really don’t want to mess around with.

Finally I say, “Well, that sounds like a lot of running back and forth for you two. And anyway, I’ve got some things I really need to take care of here tonight. Would it be OK if I got myself there first thing tomorrow morning?”

The two cops look at each other, but I can’t read anything in the expressions that pass between them.

“I understand,” Harrison says. “It would make for a very late night for all of us. I’ll give you my card. It includes the address of the station, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding us. New Markham’s not all that big, after all. If you can be at the station by 9:00 a.m., then Detective Wozniak and I can take you to the morgue and get this unpleasantness out of the way.”

I nod, and my two visitors stand up in unison. Each shakes my hand solemnly before leaving. I stand in the front doorway as they walk back to their unmarked police car.

The pair of them sit in the parked vehicle for what seems like several minutes. They’re talking and periodically glancing towards the house. Finally, Detective Wozniak starts the engine and pulls the car away from the curb. I wave from my perch and I think maybe I get a nod in return from Detective Harrison. Then they’re gone.

And Ray is… what? Missing, possibly even dead? How could something like this happen? He’d only be in his late 30s now. He should be all grown up and settled down. Why would someone like that go missing? What was he running away from? It just doesn’t make any sense at all. What a way for him to come back into my life after all these years!

-----------------------------------------------

My Mother Would've Been 86 Today

It seems kind of crazy to me that I can't even imagine my mother as an old woman, but considering that she died in her 50s almost 30 years ago, I guess it's not all that strange.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to Doreen in some parallel universe where she's still alive and kicking, I say!

Nice Recap Of The Gaiman Vs McFarlane History

It's a long read, but this lovely recap of all the nonsense that Todd McFarlane has put Neil Gaiman through over the past 10 years provides some fine entertainment for those of us interested in comics. It always amazes me, when this topic comes up again, as it does every couple years or so, just how many losses McFarlane can suffer and yet still seemingly believe he's coming out on top! He's like the kid we all knew who had no friends but somehow went through life believing he was popular. (Fortunately, I know it wasn't me because I never thought I was popular!)

This Trailer Gives Me Goosebumps

Great Early Obama Pictures

I'm sure some Conservatives will make all kinds of snide, conspiratorial comments about these photos of Barack Obama as a young man, but I think they're a great look at the President in his youth. Very humanizing, in fact.

Holey Optochips, Batman!

Wow! My one-time employer, IBM, is still innovating in the 21st century, and not just with Watson, the Jeopardy-playing artificial intelligence prototype.

"IBM has developed an optical chip — thats a microchip that uses light instead of wires to transmit data — capable of transmitting data at the nearly unfathomable speed of 1 terabit per second. That’s fast enough to allow someone to download 500 HD movies in one second, or the entire contents of the Library of Congress in an hour."

No Brother of Mine Back Cover Blurb

Here's the current (work-in-progress) version of the back cover blurb for No Brother of Mine, providing you with your first glimpse into its storyline:

When Mitchell James answers his doorbell on a quiet Monday evening, he's not expecting to find two detectives standing on his porch. And he's certainly not expecting the pair to begin asking him questions about his brother, Ray, who he hasn't seen or spoken to in 20 years. But when the detectives go on to tell him that they believe Ray's dead body may be lying in the morgue, Mitch's comfortable little world is rocked.

As the shock of that news forces Mitch to re-examine memories from a painful childhood, he begins a journey to discover the truth about what has actually happened to Ray since their falling out so long ago.

Will the secret the two brothers share come to light now, after being buried for all those years? What part did it play in setting up the events of the present? And after working so hard to keep that secret from ever coming out, will Mitch have no choice but to watch its discovery destroy his own future?

How's that grab ya?

My Birthday Treat To Myself

I just finished my 3rd or 4th reading of The Kraken Wakes, by John Wyndham. (I provided a brief synopsis of it three and a half years ago, after a previous journey through its pages.)

I started this latest go at it on Saturday, as a small birthday treat. It was all I could do to stretch it out over 4 days, as I would've happily blown through all 240 pages on the first day, if I hadn't forced myself to savour it slowly. It's such a great story, and one I never get tired of re-living.

Incidentally, I noticed this time around that Wyndham's style of writing is something that must have subconsciously influenced my own. He's as sparse at describing people and settings as I tend to be, and often writes in the first person. However, he doesn't use flashbacks much, so I guess I'm not following him all that closely. Still, it's interesting to learn where some of my inclinations come from.

Starting My 50th Year

Yesterday's birthday party with Vicki and Julie was a delight, making for a terrific start to my 50th year (which will end next March 10, when I hit my 50th birthday, of course). Julie, Cooper and I went for a walk while Vicki and Finley (and Lucy, in hiding) stayed home to guard the house. Then we ordered pizza and wings and showed Julie some photos from way back in the early 90s. The highlight of that was watching her try to pick Tammy out of her Junior Kindergarten class photo, which only took four tries. She was convinced by the end of it that we'd actually switched kids that year, taking home the wrong class member!

After dinner, I got my presents from Vicki, which included some t-shirts, a great old Thor comic from the 60s, and a surprising hit: a package of Bottlecaps, a candy treat that both Julie and I have very fond childhood memories of! Julie ended up handing those presents out to me, after making me guess what each one was from the worst possible clues (she's really bad at that).

Then it was time for her birthday presents to Vicki and I, which included a headphone splitter shaped like a heart, travel guides to Disney World and Australia, and - incredibly - a Fringe Fest pass for this year! (I didn't think you could even buy those yet!) She opted to make all of the gifts 'joint' to both of us this year, in retaliation for the fact that I had the theme of 'sharing' for all of her Christmas gifts last year. Payback's a bitch, and Julie was dishing out payback! But it was a great haul, and it was topped off with a frozen 'pizza cake' that she'd brought with her.

We all retired to the living room for a Nova episode about last year's tsunami that hit Japan, which was extremely hard to watch but also made us appreciate just how badly parts of that island were hit. After that, Vicki headed to bed and Julie and I sat up talking until shortly after 2:00 (which we thought was shortly after 3:00 since the PVR clock had already sprung forward). And then another birthday was done, and it was time for bed.

Next year: I turn 50!!

My 2nd Novel Revealed... Somewhat

Several months ago, as regular readers of this blog are well aware, I started work on my 2nd novel. A little over a month ago, I finished the first draft of it. In between those two events, a lot of writing took place (no shit, Sherlock!).

As with Game Over before it, the initial draft of this book benefitted hugely from having our friend (and Cooper-owner) Julie in our lives, as she and I talked about it at length on our walks, on her visits here and on our visits to her house. She made several key suggestions along the way, and vetoed some ideas that I now can hardly believe I ever once argued for, and thus once again left her indeliable mark on a book of mine. Julie even found the time a couple weeks ago to edit the first 4 chapters for me, which I wasn't expecting but was extremely grateful for.

Vicki, as always, has supported me throughout the project with encouragement and feedback every time I needed it, and is already well into her second reading of the book, editing as she goes... just as was the case with Game Over, of course.

A big difference this time around, however, was the involvement of my brother, Rich. He not only let me read the whole thing to him, over several sittings, but was also invaluable in providing me with bits of his experience that the story desperately needed. He even came up with several important plot points, after I'd struggled for days trying to get there on my own. It was a wonderful experience working with him like that, and I got the distinct impression that he quite enjoyed it, too. It's a much better book for his contributions, and I don't mean maybe.

The latest draft is now out with several new sets of eyes, including Tammy's, who's doing an incredible job of editing it (and pushing me hard to become a better writer, at the same time, the little bugger!).

But while we wait for her and a couple other people to finish that chore, we do have a beautiful cover image to show. This comes to us from my former co-worker and hobby photographer Carl Pettypiece, who some readers of this blog will certainly remember. The idea for the image was mine, but everything after that stemmed from Carl's mind: the staging, the perspective, the design sense, the lighting and the dozens of high quality photos he took on his fancy camera in the quest to produce the following cover:


So now you have a picture, and you have a title: No Brother of Mine. What do either of them mean? What's with those shoes? And is it just a coincidence that the project my own brother helped out with contains the word "brother" in its title?

Sometime in the next week or so, I'll post the current version of the back cover blurb for No Brother of Mine. With that, you'll at least get some sense of what this book is about. Until then, please let the speculating begin!

P.S. Just as all the cool kids referred to Game Over as GO, my 2nd novel has already been coined NBoM, or "N-bomb." It's like the F-bomb, only better!

What Ails Europe? Stupidity!

I think this Paul Krugman article really does a great job pointing out the true cause of the European economic crisis: a single currency, the euro, which "effectively reinvented the defects of the gold standard — defects that played a major role in causing and perpetuating the Great Depression." It seems inconceivable that anyone in the 21st century would actually be calling for a return to the gold standard, and yet some Americans politicians continue to do so. Here's hoping that President Obama's not nearly that stupid, and that he can get re-elected in November to provide a buffer against it over the next 4 years, at least.

The article also calls out conservatives for their unflinching commitment to blaming the Euro-crisis on the generous social safety nets in place within most of the countries there, despite the data completely invalidating that claim. "Never let the facts get in the way of you making your point," I guess.

This is such a crazy time to be alive, where lessons learned 80 years ago can be so completely ignored. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, and we're all along for the ride, it seems.

21 Years And Still Going Strong

Last night, Vicki and I had our wedding anniversary dinner a day early, and for the first time that I can remember, we shared the occasion with another couple. My brother Rich and my sister-in-law Meena took us out to the Keg and treated us to a great night out!

I had planned ahead, scheming with the two other Holmeses to surprise Vicki with news of a trip to Las Vegas for the four of us later this year, and I sweetened the deal by presenting her with an envelope stuffed with 21 $10 bills (US currency) for Vicki to spend there in whatever way she'd like. I've heard that you can gamble at a few select locations in that town, so she may choose to use the cash for that. Or possibly she'll want to go shopping, another activity which Rich and Meena assure us can sometimes be found there. Although no firm dates have been decided on yet, it's likely that this trip will happen in November or December, and probably be for 6 days or so.

This morning, Vicki presented me with several gifts, including the following little item:


That's right, kids: that's Batman # 29, from 1945! Vicki probably thought about holding onto it for our 29th anniversary, but that's still a long way off. So I'm glad she didn't make me wait!

With both of our birthdays just around the corner, R & M also gave us Cineplex gift certificates, which I have a feeling are going to come in awfully handy right around May 4th (The Avengers), June 8th (Prometheus) and July 20th (The Dark Knight Rises). It's almost like they planned it that way...

Back To School Again Tomorrow

Yes, it's time once again for my semi-annual Agile lecture for one of the local university's Computer Science courses. I think this is maybe my 8th or 9th time doing it, so you'd think I'd be good at it by now. Yeah, you'd think so...

Coming Attractions

If you'd like to see the cover of my upcoming novel, title and all, this blog would be a good place to look, on Saturday, March 10th.

For All The Austerity Nuts Out There

People screaming for governments like the U.S. and ours to cut spending right now really need to understand what happens when you do that in an economic environment like we have at the moment. Not just state what they think should happen - unemployment will magically drop, general confidence will miraculously grow, the private sector will heroically fill in the gaps created by the cuts, etc - but actually understand what does happen. And they could do that by, you know, looking at the large-scale experiment that's being run in Europe these days, for example. The results of which are striking, to say the least.

I could be wrong, but I think President Obama, at least, is beginning to comprehend this. He could do a lot worse than listen to economists like Paul Krugman, linked to above, when it comes to matters like this. If nothing else, he definitely has to turn a deaf ear to the lunatics in the American Republican Party who seem Hell bent on sending the world economy straight into the toilet.

Readers Gotta Read

The current draft of my 2nd novel is now in 3 new pairs of hands, doubling the number of people (besides me) who have access to it. I'm hoping that these new readers will provide some fresh perspectives on the story and the writing, and that I can use whatever they tell me to make the book even better.

My current plan is to publish next month, though I don't yet have a good sense of how late in April that might be. I've already been lucky enough to receive a few pre-order requests, and I'll send a mass e-mail out later this month looking for more. Anecdotally, it seems as though virtually everyone who read Game Over and took the time to tell me what they thought of it actually enjoyed it, so I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll get a fair number of repeat buyers from that fact. The new story is quite different from Game Over, of course, even belonging to a different genre, but anyone who enjoyed the style of GO will almost certainly have a similar reaction to the 2nd novel.

I expect I'll be slowly revealing details about the new project over the next several weeks. Stay tuned, if you're interested.

75 Different Flavours Of Awesome

No, I am most definitely not kidding! Check. It. Out!!!

(And the best part is, I'm married to a woman who can watch that trailer and then say, "Yeah, that could be pretty good!" I'm so lucky!)

[And if you're into The Avengers even half as much as I am, you'll also want to take a look at this detailed analysis of the trailer, scene by scene!]

TED Talk From The Future

This faux-TED talk by Peter Weyland, coming to us from the year 2023, is pretty awesome! It's all part of the build-up to Ridley Scott's maybe-Alien-prequel, Prometheus, due on in June. I can't imagine the movie is actually going to live up to my sky-high expectations, but on the other hand: it is Ridley Scott directing it! Alien, Blade Runner and Black Hawk Down are all first class films that I've watched over and over, so maybe Prometheus will be, too.

Just 65 Days To Go Now

"It's a really good book."

That was the entirety of Julie's e-mail message to me, late last night, apparently after she finished reading the early draft of my 2nd novel.

[Update the next day: I've now had a long walk with her, and I'm happy to report that she's extremely enthusiastic about the book. She told me this morning that those words - "It's a really good book." - were what she said to herself, out loud, immediately after finishing the book Friday evening. That's why she e-mailed them to me right afterwards. Which was pretty sweet of her, I thought.]

Great... Yet Another Way For Drivers To Be Distracted!

That's honestly the thought that kept going through my head as I read this article speculating that Google will be releasing "Heads Up Display glasses" by the end of 2012. Gamers know all about HUDs, as most first person shooters have the concept built into them. The difference, of course, is that most of us aren't driving (or generally out in public settings) when we're gaming. Even just the idea that we'll soon have idiots driving around, reading the latest news about Lady Gaga or doing stock transactions while behind the wheel, makes me shudder. I know we can't stop the future from arriving in due course, but this stuff is getting kind of crazy now!

Best Agile 101 Session Yet?

Yesterday, Vicki and I took part in our 7th Agile 101 workshop in the last 10 months. It certainly seemed to be going well while we were in it, but I always reserve judgment until I've seen the survey results from the attendees. I hand out a 1-page feedback form at the end of each session, asking those present to rate the 2 components of the workshop - presentation and hands-on activity - and then provide a rating for the course's overall effectiveness. The results this time around, all on a scale of 1 to 10, were:

Presentation - 8.4
Hands-on activity - 8.9
Overall effectiveness - 9.2

The 9.2 overall score matches the best we've ever received, which is certainly quite gratifying after a long day of being on my feet (as well as on my toes, when it comes to answering questions). I was saying to Vicki this morning how I remember taking courses through work, over the years, and how rare it was that people would come out of them with much in the way of enthusiasm. We'd often say things like "Well, that was a waste of a day, but at least I wasn't sitting at my desk" or "Parts of it were good but the presenter's style was sooo boring!" At the risk of sounding full of myself, I really can't ever recall a single work-related course where I believe the attendees would've given it anywhere close to a 9.2 out of 10. So I guess we must be doing something right!

Also, for those interested in this topic, I recommend this excellent article on "the Tao of Agile" which I think beautifully describes what's really required in order to succeed as an Agile organization.

The Dream Of Every Comic Book Collector

Stories like this one pop up every few years, and always make me wonder, "Why don't I know anyone like that?" My guess is that the $2,000,000 estimate on the value of the small stack of treasures will end up being low.

25 Pieces Of Advice For 'Aspiring' Writers

Lots of good stuff here.

How To Write A Novel

I'm happy to report that, according to this explanation by writer/director Nic Alderton at least, I did everything right in creating both of my novels so far! (Fun fact: both books have weighed in somewhere between 80,000 and 95,000 words.)

Our House As Studio Setting

I recently asked Carl, a former co-worker of mine who has a well-known interest in photography, if he'd help me out with the cover for my 2nd novel. I was initially just hoping for some advice on how best to frame and capture the sort of image I had in mind for it, but he ended up volunteering to come over to the house, expensive camera equipment in hand, and do the work himself. Wow! That was so much more than I could've hoped for. And today was the day when he came and did just that!

There are lots of reasons to love the digital age of photography that we're in, but never more than a situation like this, where neither of us was completely sure what we were looking for. The zero cost investment of taking photos now allowed Carl to snap literally dozens of shots, from different angles, with different lighting, all safe in the knowledge that he could later both examine and manipulate the various images until he had exactly what we needed.

The shoot was today, but the post-production work will continue for a couple weeks, I imagine. I can't wait to see what he comes up with!

I've had great luck with people helping me with my book covers up to now, and that good fortune looks to be continuing. Very exciting!

DNA Robot Kills Cancer Cells

This recent breakthrough is absolutely amazing! It's hard to even imagine how far this sort of technology may go in the next 10 to 20 years.

Another Very Julie Birthday

Although we didn't go quite as all out for her birthday this time as we did last year, we still had a nice little party for Julie on Sunday night. There were no trivia questions or balloons to be found, but fortunately she had lots of presents to open, as well as one each for Cooper and Finley (so they wouldn't feel left out of the fun).

Here's the birthday girl and Vicki showing off two of the gifts from me, a pair of books that fit perfectly within my theme of "Animals" for her this year:


And now Vicki's behind the camera for this shot in which two of her presents for Cooper's mom, some tea and popcorn, are held up in our best The Price is Right pose:


We ended up watching Memento for our evening's entertainment, as we'd gotten into a discussion about short term memory loss, though I can't for the life of me remember how...

After that, Julie and I sat up talking until after 4:00 a.m., as we usually do, and then her birthday was over for another year.

Writing Rules

Here's a lovely little collection of writing rules by the likes of Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, George Orwell and others.

As anyone who's read any of my books would likely agree, I tend to break many of these rules on a regular basis. Oh well, I guess that just means I've still got lots to learn and am not quite ready for the grave yet.

William Safire's list is funny for the way he breaks each rule as he states it, but my favourite rule is probably Neil Gaiman's # 5:

"Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong."

That's a good one that I've often found to be true. (Editor Julie gets Honourable Exclusion from that comment, though, as her suggested fixes are almost always right on the money.)

How To Date (Or Be Married To) A Writer

For Vicki, this Valentine's Day. She does most of the items on that list, already, explaining once again why I'm so lucky.

Vicki's Verdict Is In

Vicki finished reading the new novel just after dinnertime last night, and then we spent an hour or so talking about it. This morning, she gave me her more formal notes on it (that she'd put on small Post-Its as she went) and I made some changes as a result. Then I spent the last hour going through the book, looking specifically at one of character's dialogue, trying to make it as consistent as possible while also differentiating it from the other main characters' voices.

Anyway, Vicki seemed to thoroughly enjoy the book, and had lots of good things to say about it. Who knows, maybe she'll even read this post and decide to leave a comment or two on it, telling us all what she thought...

2nd Draft Complete

I spent the last week and a half doing a couple additional passes on the new novel, as well as sharing the 2nd half of it with (brother) Richard, who seemed to quite like it. The purpose of Draft # 2 was to tighten things up a bit more, add some descriptions in places that needed them, and try to differentiate the characters' voices as much as I could. On that last point, I fear there's still too much of what Tammy commented on within Game Over: "most of the characters sound too much like you" or words to that effect. She was right about that in my first novel, and I haven't quite gotten away from that yet with this one. But I'm trying.

Vicki's reading her way through the book now, although she started over again at Chapter 1 to refresh her memory on the parts she'd read earlier. So I'm still waiting to see what she thinks of anything past about Chapter 6.

Julie, who's read through Chapter 7, now has the complete 2nd draft, and hopefully will give me some feedback soon. She's due over here Sunday night for her birthday party, so we'll see how far she's gotten by then (no presents for her if she's not very far along, I say!!)

I'm not sure what I'm going to do this time around for editors, as I'm not having much luck finding anyone with the necessary skills and time available now. Who knows... maybe this will be my first book that I'll publish unedited, and then I'll have good reason never to try that stupid move again!

This One Doesn't Look Too Bad, Either

I've been super hyped for months now over the arrivals of The Avengers (May 4th), Prometheus (Jun 8th), and The Dark Knight Rises (Jul 20th), but there's also a little flick called The Amazing Spider-Man debuting somewhere around Jul 6th. Here's our first really good look at it:



Is this going to be the greatest year ever for blockbuster movies? It just might!

In Less Than 3 Months...

... we get to see this (and no, I don't mean the commercial):



"We have a Hulk." Love that line!!!

The Real Meaning Of Randomness: Clumping

On Thursday of this week, I had four completely unrelated e-mail inquiries come to me about Agile topics (three pertained to potential work engagements in the future, while the other was looking for suggestions for Agile books).

To put things in perspective, I would not typically get that many e-mails on different Agile topics over the course of an entire month! And yet, here they all were, arriving on the same day.

As I said to Vicki, that's what's so interesting about random events: they often clump, making them seem anything but random. But true randomness does do that, of course, as anyone who's ever seen "the birthday poll" done across a large number of people knows. (Get a large group of people to each write down their birthday, month-and-day, and then tabulate the results. At least a few dates will get three, four or even more hits, whereas other dates won't get any hits at all. It's never an even distribution, as one might expect.)

Anyway, I don't know what was in the drinking water on Thursday, but it was definitely something Agile-related!

2nd Novel Update

After burning some late hours getting that first draft done at the start of the week, I took the last two days mostly off. I needed a little time away from it so that my subconscious could work away at figuring out what I'd forgotten or gotten wrong, and that's still going on. Plus, I just needed a break from it after such an intense period of writing.

Tomorrow, I'll be working with my brother Richard to review some of the later chapters, which will be his first look at them. As I mentioned in the previous post, no one but me has read beyond the midpoint. I'll finally get some feedback on it and then I'll have a better idea how it all holds together. Next week, I'll probably pass it on to Julie and Vicki, after incorporating whatever changes Richard and I come up with. It's a little nervewracking not knowing if it works as is or not, but that's just an occupational hazard with the way I've written it (in big bursts, rather than a steady, regular pace like I had at the start).

While I didn't bother making up a plot chart for this book like I did for Game Over, I did resort to a few notes on the last 3 chapters before I started writing them last weekend. I had most of the plot developments in my head before I did that, but needed to map out which chapter each belonged in and make sure it all flowed with the right pace and rhythm. It was about 1/10th the amount of work of Game Over's big, sprawling plot chart... but it served its purpose!

And that's my update, such as it is.