Nathan Sims's Blog

A Rain Check on the Pizza
“Daaad! Ophelia’s on fire again!”

She was and it was glorious.

Ophelia stood in the middle of the field, her back to Jake and Quinn, her face toward the sky. Her graying hair was loose and cascaded down her back. Her arms were spread wide, like a scarecrow. Or a crucifix. Billowing from the center of her chest up into the sky was thick black smoke, masking the sun. It danced around the hem of her long black dress, blurring it from view.

“Well, she’s done it again.” Quinn...

Curtis, Anders, and Luc are back for a second round in ‘Nathan Burgoine’s Triad series. This time they’re trying to figure out why the bodies of dead demons keep popping up (something both physically and supernaturally impossible) and, more importantly, who’s killing them. More of a mystery than the first novel, Triad Soul has the trio racing across Ottawa to find the killer before they can attack again.

While the whodunit was fun and I had the satisfaction of guessing what...

It's been a while since I've updated this page. That's largely due to my day job but more importantly a great opportunity I've had to direct a show at The Ohio State University this fall. Writing was my first love and theatre my second. In college theatre eclipsed writing for me, and I ended up getting an MFA in acting and taught for several years. Because of...well...life, active participation in theatre became a non-entity for me many years ago, but it came roaring back this fall. I've had...

When it comes to my sexuality, I consider myself a late bloomer. I didn’t start coming into my own until the last half of my twenties -- which isn’t to say there weren’t clues along the way.

During grade school there was my utter hero worship of Gil Gerard as Buck Rogers, Sam Jones as Flash Gordon (Flash! A-ah! Savior of the Universe!), and Patrick Duffy as The Man from Atlantis. Then in junior high there was the deep swelling of pride in my chest the first time I saw Boy George sing Do You Re...

Whenever I pick up a Jerry Wheeler anthology I know I’m in for a good time. Over the last several years he’s created some of the most memorable and uniquely-themed anthologies out there, and I always know I’m in good hands when Jerry’s at the wheel (heh – and I didn’t even realize what I’d done there until after it was written).

There were some authors here whose work I’ve read before and thoroughly enjoyed. Burgoine’s Range of Motion, Bright’s What a Coincidence, and Wheeler’s own i...

Back when Buffy the Vampire Slayer made it big on TV and Jim Butcher started writing about Harry Dresden, I remember hunting the shelves of bookstores for urban fantasy reflective of my life and my relationships. I wanted the vampires and the werewolves and the magic, the exciting twists and turns – yeah, all of that. But I also wanted a gay man’s perspective. 

I wasn’t looking for erotica or romance masquerading as urban fantasy. I was looking for the real deal. Full-blown crea...

I'm not a big fan of mysteries. I get frustrated when the sleuth follows a lead off screen (or off page) and discovers a clue that breaks the case wide open. I always feel cheated when the 'big reveal' happens at the climax and clues are exposed that if I'd known about I could have figured out who done it too. Having been burned more than once, I shy away from most mysteries. But I'm glad I didn't let past experience cause me to avoid Josh Lanyon's Fatal Shadows.

Mystery author and used book s...

I'm not a big fan of mysteries. I get frustrated when the sleuth follows a lead off screen (or off page) and discovers a clue that breaks the case wide open. I always feel cheated when the 'big reveal' happens at the climax and clues are exposed that if I'd known about I could have figured out who done it too. Having been burned more than once, I shy away from most mysteries. But I'm glad I didn't let past experience cause me to avoid Josh Lanyon's Fatal Shadows.

Mystery author and used book s...

Jeffrey Ricker scares me.

It seems like any time I pick up his work these days, I find he’s tapped into my brain (The Unwanted: the answer to my teenage fantasies; Fool for Love’s “At the End of the Leash” feeds my love of dogs and my secret voyeuristic streak; Riding the Rails’ “Mount Olympus” brought back memories of the television miniseries of Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles from my childhood, while also reminding me of Burroughs’ John Carter series, and a smidge of my favorite show from the...

I’m a selfish S.O.B. No, it’s true. I am.

I know this because of the barometer by which I gauge myself: my partner.

Like countless others we have those conversations about what we would do if we won the lottery. Tom wants to open a privately-funded homeless shelter that doesn’t get mired in all the bureaucratic red tape. Or maybe it’s a senior citizen home? See, I’m too selfish to remember. Me? I want to quit my job and focus entirely on writing.

Priorities: gotta have 'em.

I’m not proud of this...