So, this is the first post of my Substack. I'll be running it concurrently with this blog, but this way you can have entries e-mailed to your address. Please subscribe, and I'll add some extra fiction along the way...

I flew in to Calgary early Friday morning (and I mean really early; I got up at 3:45 a.m. to grab a taxi into Region of Waterloo International Airport, and the line-up for the WestJet, FlairAir and Air Canada flights out were huge!) to attend When Words Collide.

I hadn't expected it, but When Words Collide was much more of a writers' craft and connection convention than something related to an appreciation of science fiction and fantasy. Those elements were there (and there was a strong SFF contingent, including Robert J. Sawyer, Candas Jane Dorsey, R. Graeme Cameron and more), but the seminars were more about how to improve yourself as a writer, tropes to avoid, and marketing skills to use rather than a study and appreciation of science fiction and fantasy books, movies or television series. Fortunately, When Words Collide is a conference that rewards people who jump in with both feet, which I did.

One of the things I took part in was a Live Action Slush event. That's where people submitted the first 250 words of their story (be it short fiction, mystery, romance, sff, YA -- there were separate sessions for each genre) and that submission would be read anonymously in front of three judges (often editors of various publications or publishing houses). The reader would read the submission until two of the judges raised their hand, indicating the point where they'd stop reading. The judges would then comment on the things they liked, and what pushed them out of the story.

That sounds terrifying, and it is, except that everybody makes a point of noting how brave people are to submit themselves to such scruitiny, and there's something to be said about pushing outside your comfort zone. My own submission got about halfway before getting two hands raised, and the comments that I received were fair and useful.

One reason I was able to attend was I pitched a seminar of my own, entitled The Names of Things, talking about how we go about naming our people, places and things in our stories, and how that can impact what we write. They accepted the submission, and brought me on as a panelist alongside authors Konn Lavery and Onyx Shelton, with Erik D'Souza moderating. Publisher R. Graeme Cameron showed up, initially thinking that this was a session he was supposed to attend (it was scheduled for the hour after us), but we welcomed him in, and he added some great flavour to the discussion. I'll talk a bit more about The Names of Things at a later date.

I was also attending When Words Collide as a sort of soft re-launch of my urban fantasy novel The Night Girl. It was complicated when my publisher unfortunately broke his ankle (get well soon, Ed!) and couldn't attend, but he gave me enough warning so that I could contact the convention and ask to be allowed onto the Shared Author Table. I'm grateful that the organizers were able to accommodate me, in return for volunteering about an hour of my time to staff the table, which I was more than happy to do.

The presence of people eager to write, from all ages, all walks of life, and all stages of their writing careers, was a invigorating and reenergizing experience. I came away there newly eager to sit down and write, and do what I can to promote my writing so that more people can read it.

With that in mind, I hope you enjoy my new Substack. I've seen a few of my fellow writers, such as J.M. Frey and Arthur Slade, take on this medium to good effect. The writing for it has a similar feel to writing on a blog, and more than a few authors are writing on their Substacks and blogs simultaneously. So, my blog's not going to go away. But if you want my writing sent to your e-mail, rather than having you step over to visit, please join the list. I'll be adding some stray fiction, updates about my writing process, and discussion about Canadian and transit politics.

Thank you all for your time and attention. Let's see where this thing goes...