Apr 23
This 1949 letter from Aldous Huxley to George Orwell is from Letters of Note. While these two authors shared a dystopic view, they disagreed on how it would be realized. Not to put too fine a point on it, Huxley feared the carrot while Orwell feared the stick. Wrightwood. Cal. 21 October, 1949 Dear …
Feb 19
My book showed up in a magazine profile of the bag of famed fashion blogger and friend Anita Clarke. This means my book probably goes to more parties than I do. She says: My good friend Ryan Oakley had his first novel, Technicolor Ultra Mall, published this year. I pre-ordered it months in advance and even got him …
Mar 08
Last week I started up on the fine edits for my novel. It’s tedious work but I should be done in about a week. After that I think I’m just about done with the thing.
Feb 16
Yesterday, while on the Twitter, I came across this interesting little commercial via @codejill. Some Canadian authors are shocked that under Bill C-32 it will be legal to use small portions of their work in classrooms without paying them. They’re taking a principled stand against subsidies. Or are they? Let’s cue the doom and gloom piano …
Jan 24
As I child, I’d watch Blue Jays games with Dad. The bat cracked, the ball sent on a line into a gap for a sure double. We’d hold our breath. Devon White loped towards it. Then, somehow, he’s there. Waiting. Never seemed to speed up. Always seemed to jog. But his glove always found the …
Jan 02
As if a blogger needs a special day to talk about themselves . . . But if I let one pass, I’ll probably have my blogging licence revoked. 2010 was a long year. Something like 365 days. And some of those days seemed to be of greater personal import than others. I was married on March 4 …
Dec 21
In the whole history of The Grumpy Owl, I don’t think I’ve ever blogged less than I did this December. Two posts? In a month? What the fuck is going on around here anyway. I know I’ve been getting slack when I start getting a lot of links sent to me. Like people are trying …
Sep 06
Like any community of malcontents and weirdos, writers have certain quirks in common. One of these is the trunk. While it might look like someone just sits down and writes a novel, the process is much sloppier than that. Stories are started and abandoned. Some are finished but remain awful. There are pages of notes, …
Jul 05
I’ve sold a science fiction novel to EDGE Books. It’ll be published as part of their spring 2011 lineup. I will, of course, give you more news and tell you more about the book as time goes on (we have time) but I just wanted to finally let you, The Grumpy Owl readership, know. I …
