Cast them as far as I could. Had no idea one of them would end up in Tasmania, but it did, didn't it? And Queens, New York. And London and Wisconsin and Paris and Palo Alto and on from there. Be good, words. Earn that hard-won Canadian pulp.
Read More“We flew through the Alps in the pitch black. If we flew too high, there would be no air for the propellers, and planes would drop out of the sky. If we flew too low, we’d crash into rock. We were flying blind. Those were some of the longest nights of my life.”
Read MoreIt’s not just an ISBN number anymore. It’s real, and the spine makes that lovely cracking sound when you break it open, and it smells delicious, like fresh ink. The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods is in stores and in my hands. Isn’t that something.
Read More“Do you think pirates get a bad press? Have you ever made someone walk the plank? Do you like Gretchen? Do you know the rhyme Solomon Grundy? Do your maggots have names? How do you pickle a herring? If you are such a good strategist, do you play chess?”
Read More“What is it like to be a pirate? I have so many questions to ask you about being a pirate. What is your favourite hobby? Do you go to school ever? Do you have children? Are you guys crazy? How is your life being a pirate? There is a bunch more but that is too much to write, so see you later. Please email me back.”
Read MoreThey are all-limbs, sweaty and clammy and sprawling, one smaller than the other but his equal in scruffiness. They share a room, giggling from one big boy bed to the next. As it creeps by in the semi-dark the universe whispers over my shoulder. You made those people.
Read MoreThe Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods is my book and the amazing bike-riding Sydney is polishing the final chapter illustrations right now and then one more proof and then it hits the presses and it'll be shipping in mid-October and here's the cover and check out the maggots wriggling in Vince's beard.
Read More"I'm serious," he continues. "Every band wants a record deal, but not very many attempt it. They just talk about it. I was standing at the Junos next to Iggy Pop just thinking Holy shit, what are we doing here? but there we were, and it's only because we just did it."
Read MoreIf I had sat at the kitchen table on a Tuesday and said Hey, I Could Write a Book, You Know, A Novel, and Hey, Maybe I Could Get It Into, You Know, Stores and Stuff, and By The Way, Does Anyone Know How To Write A Novel? —I wouldn’t have even attempted.
Read MoreAs we walked along the trail through meadows and tunnels with poplar canopies and over bridges and slippery roots it occurred to me where I might be. This is the old man’s land, where it all happens...
Read MoreI don’t even know how to say this, in case the publisher falls down a well and emerges with amnesia—but I'm told it’s going to happen, although it’s not what you might think. It’s an adventure novel for kids, and in about 18 months, it will be born.
Read MoreIndescribably happy times ten years ago, and indescribably happy times two days ago. Life explosions and upheaval and flotsam resettling in between the two, changing everything, but no one minding a bit that a cheerio-littered floor lies at our feet rather than emerald water that sparkles with glass-like brilliance.
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