Happy Canada Day!

So, apparently back in 1867 on July 1st Canada officially declared themselves a country (or you know, a commonwealth of Britain or what have you). Apparently three years prior to that date representatives from some of the colonies had gotten together in order to discuss the possibilities of organizing and then, BOOM, three years later: Canada! (For a far more lengthy and accurate history of those events I refer you to the following wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_day.) Warning: following the aforementioned wikipedia link may result in drawing you into a wikipedia rabbit hole and you might not get anything else done with your day. But, that can be said of ANY wikipedia link, so proceed at your own risk. (I for one just spent the past hour of my life learning lots and lots about the history of Canada Day, followed by when Alaska became a state, followed by the population density of Alaska, followed by the population density of Nunavut, which of course was then followed by a list of available jobs in Nunavut.)

Ahhh... wikipedia. You are such a lovely way to spend a morning. 

In the meantime, here in Manitoba (and the rest of the country) it's CANADA DAY! Which means people take the day off, get together and barbecue, drink beer, and blow shit up. Sound familiar my southern friends? Tell me if it looks more familiar on the other side of Friday...

I am, of course, celebrating Canada Day by getting some work done, but that's largely because mother nature has decided to celebrate Canada Day by pissing on everyone, knocking a few trees down, and lighting the occasional house on fire. Apparently mother nature can't hold her liquor.

Meanwhile, we're huddled up in our nice cozy apartment, which is 80% unpacked. Yesterday, I spent over six hours writing and revising, which allowed me to put up a brand new chapter for Blade's Edge. Part Three: Chapter 2 (also known as chapter 18) follows Taka and gives us a little more of an idea of how much time has passed since Part Two and what has happened in the meantime. Part Three: Chapter 3 will be up later this week. These chapters are taking a bit longer than usual because they are not only complete rewrites (the latest one contained 100% new material) but they are also pivotal for setting the track for what remains of the book, so I have to be very careful about where each step is taking me. 

Rain on a Summer's Afternoon the short story collection is coming along nicely, and should be right on time for release next week! So get ready, tell your friends, and help me test run Kindle Direct Publishing by picking up a copy as soon as it's released. Just to tempt you, here's a sneak peak at the cover I designed for it (please note that I am not a graphic designer by trade).  

As you can see, the cover is themed according to the title of the collection rather than any of the stories contained within. (For those curious about the theme it could most easily be described as 'women kicking ass.' The stories cover a range of genres from contemporary adventure, to fantasy, to suspense.)

In other writing related news: I am starting to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) this week on a new project that I have been doing a ton of planning for over the past few months. I have mentioned it before, it will be a series of novellas, and also my first foray into self-publishing and kickstarter campaigns. More on that later.

Oooh! And I almost forgot. Later this week I will be posting a special blog entry in which I interview the bestselling (and self published) author A.G. Riddle. He has recently completed and released the third book in his Atlantis trilogy. Books 1 and 2 were both #1 bestsellers on amazon in the category of science fiction. I will tell you more about him in a subsequent post, and in that same post he'll tell you more about himself as he answers some interview questions of mine. Should be a fun post.

Well, I'm going to go get to work on those various projects I mentioned. I hope you enjoy the new chapter of Blade's Edge!