A collection of short stories where the humour runs dark and the slipstream bubbles up.
...imagine if Raymond Carver called up George Saunders and Joe Lansdale, and they all went drinking with Neil Gaiman.
“… it's clear that Terlson is way ahead of the curve in terms of crafting an engaging premise that reaches for elevated territory and reinvents enduring archetypes of action and suspense.” J. Schoenfelder
"Sometimes brutal, often demanding and always complex, this novel will repay the reader who likes their assumptions challenged and is happy to walk away from a book with minor questions unanswered but the big ones definitely dealt with! It’s likely to satisfy those who enjoy Hammet and/or Philip K Dick and who like their fiction very noir indeed." Kay Sexton
"I love a novel that you can't put down, and this is one of them." L. Cihlar
Friday, November 23, 2007 at 09:49AM 
No, it is not a misspelling, and I am not talking about Graham Greene again. This is a blog all
about fiction and writing, but I need to make a side step into the world of sports just for a moment.
When I was a kid somebody, maybe my dad, gave me a shirt with the number 34 on the back and a very well known football logo on the front. Number 34 was George Reed, the logo was the Saskatchewan Roughriders. So I was born into this heritage, and those who follow Canadian football know there is nothing like a Rider fan. You find them everywhere, in every city across Canada and even in other countries. There is a joke about landing on another planet and listing the people you would find there - I think it goes like: a lawyer, a reverend, etc., and a Rider fan.
I used to play a bit of football, and watch a lot of it. I don't watch it, or really any sports on TV anymore. I still go to baseball games for the meditative experience, but I don't follow the big leagues. Though, there is a time when my heritage burbles up (if heritages could do that), and it doesn't happen often, barely once a generation. It is when the Riders make it to the big game, the Grey Cup - I don't like calling it Canada's Superbowl, because there is something so uniquely Canadian about it that is defies parallels. There are those people who have never watched a game all year become football fans during Grey Cup week. Although, this does depend on who is playing. And if you believe the media, this year, the year Saskatchewan finally made it to the final, it seems like every man, woman, child and dog has suddenly become a football fan. The ultimate underdogs with the best fans in sport have made it to the show, and it's better than the best fiction.
Me, I'll be thinking of that shirt from my childhood and finding me a case of Saskatchewan Pilsner. That's the one with the green label.
Go Riders.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 at 02:39PM 
And continuing the mini-theme of well written movies.
Last night I watched a pair of my favorite film makers (the Coen Brothers) adapt one of my favorite authors (Cormac McCarthy).
The result: a stunning movie. No Country for Old Men is McCarthy on the screen, his tight tense dialogue matched by the Coen's precise camera work and editing. The performances are all strong, Tommy Lee Jones is cast perfect as the Sheriff and the scenes are full of characters that just wandered in from deep Texas.
It feels like you are watching an novel unfold, I am not sure how to explain that, but in the end you feel all of McCarthy's themes of good, evil, senseless violence and death without redemption bubble up in the Sheriff's last monologue.
The resonance is huge and I leave the theatre thinking, unsettled yes, but knowing I'd just seen a masterwork.
A snippet of dialogue:
Llewelyn: If I don't come back, tell mother I love her.
Carla Jean: Your mother's dead, Llewelyn.
Llewelyn: Well I'll tell her myself then.
Friday, November 16, 2007 at 07:56AM 
On the subject of well written films, I watched the movie Brick last night. This was the third time I had seen it and it is one of those movies that just keeps getting better. The concept is to take some good hard-boiled dialogue, Dashiel Hammet style, and put it in the setting of California suburbia. That has been done before, I am thinking of Altman's The Long Goodbye (not suburbia, but it has that pale sun-washed look to it).
The twist in Brick is that it all happens with in the sub-culture of High School. Instead of Sam Spade or Philip Marlow, we get a high school kid, Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) trying to figure out who killed his girlfriend. He has the brainy helper (named, of course, "The Brain"), who instead of nervously fumbling with a cigarette plays with a Rubik's cube. There's plenty of femme fatales and girls on the wrong side of the tracks. There's a crime boss called The Pin (as in King Pin) that has a cape and a walking cane and is one of the "older guys", clocking in at 26.
The script is so sharp in bouncing between film noir and dark dark comedy, so dark it is barely there, as they play it mostly straight. But I am a smirking through the classic scene where the private dick goes toe to toe with the head of the police (you know the scene, where the shamus asks for some room, lay off, and the cop asks for the inside scoop or he will have to come down hard) - it's all there, except this time it is Brendan in the office getting the heat from the Asst. Vice-Principal. Mr. Trueman.
Trueman: Alright Brendan. I've been looking to talk to you. You've helped out this office before.
Brendan: No. I gave you Jerr to see him eaten, not to see you fed.
Trueman: Fine, and well put.
Brendan: Accelerated English, Mrs. Kasprzyk.
Trueman: Tough teacher?
Brendan: Tough but fair.
Trueman: Mm. Anyway then, we know you're clean, and you've, despite your motives, you've been an asset to us. I think you're a good kid.
Brendan: Uh huh.
Trueman: I want to run a couple of names by you.
Tense stuff. Great movie and quite cool website.
You never heard it from me.
...um, well actually you did, but you know, on the low side, quiet town.
Monday, November 12, 2007 at 02:00PM Turns out the secret to long life... naps - and lots of them!
I am a tenth degree black belt power napper. I plan on opening a school some day.
By Dr. Maoshing Ni Provided by:
Dr. Mao's Secrets of Longevity
This is one of my favorite longevity tips, but don't get the wrong idea! Sleeping your way to 100 means power naps. Power naps: 10, 20, 30 minutes a day really rejuvenate and refresh your body. Read on to discover how they factor into your longevity plans.
Power Up with a Power Nap
A long-time tradition in Latin countries, a siesta is a great way to jumpstart the second half of your day. Famous nap enthusiasts have included some of the best minds in history, such as Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Thomas Edison.
What they knew was that a midday snooze - while seeming to be an unproductive use of time - could actually increase their effectiveness. Some of the reviving benefits of naps include enhanced cognitive function, better reaction time, more patience, stress relief, and better overall health.
So how long should your power nap be? It differs from person to person, but on average, a brief nap to revive the brain should be between 15 and 30 minutes. Sleeping for any longer will get you into deeper stages of sleep, from which it is difficult to awaken. (If you are napping to compensate for significant sleep loss, you would of course want to take a longer nap, and research has much to say about the restorative benefits of lengthy naps.)
Nap Advice to Take to Heart
In America, coronary heart disease is the single largest killer of men and women. Taking a midday nap is one of the best ways to lower stress on your heart.
The body follows a circadian rhythm and according to Chinese medicine, noontime is the peak hour for the heart. In order to strengthen your heart, Chinese doctors advise that you rest and engage in calming activities at this time of day. Studies show that people who napped 30 minutes every day were 30 percent less prone to heart disease than those who didn't take a midday snooze. If you want to live to be 100, you need to take a few naps along the way!
Snoozing on the Job
In this modern society we are pressured to work hard and then play hard, living by the saying, "You can rest when you're dead." Although catchy, it should probably say: "If you don't rest regularly, you'll be dead a lot sooner."
