Thursday, 13 November 2025

Scomac Goes North

 


During the pandemic, I got into Dungeons and Dragons. I took a bunch of race/class/species quizzes, tried some story-based play until it got boring, and eventually challenged myself to write about my life as if I were a character, adhering to the race, classes, and species determined by the quizzes I took. 

My life adapted to fantasy quite easily, and The Tale of Scomac Andrellan started to write itself.

Explained here, my tale begins with Scomac as a sickly, crippled boy. His parents move the family from a seaside port to the capitol of their land in hopes of better resources to help their son. With the aid of potions and alchemy, Scomac begins to improve. A monastic academy helps build his physical and mental health, and a system of magical writing allows Scomac to write and craft stories without physical exertion. Through a guild called the Seal of Eastar, Scomac regularly visits the Merry Wood, a refuge where he meets others like himself, becomes a leader, and gets his first of many experiences as a bard.

While studying storytelling, magic writing, and other skills at a bardic college, Scomac learns he's a Joubare. Joubares are a rare type of human known for having an aptitude towards magical forms of communication and for each individual being uniquely different from the rest. Meeting with other Joubares and leaders of their society, Scomac travels far and wide, using his bard experience to spin inspirational tales of his life, until a great plague begins to ravage the world!

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Going back to it recently, I added a second, shorter update to the story.

After two years of sequestering himself indoors, among the comfort of his books and writings, the global scourge subsides enough and Scomac goes on a series of journeys. First, to the vast steppes and prairies of his nation, learning about the dragons and other magnificent beasts that once roamed there. Later, he visits a region of deep mines and lakes so large they seem like oceans, said to be ruled over by an ancient panther god. Then, Scomac returns to the place of his birth for a reunion with family.

When he arrives home, Scomac is offered work in the northern territories of his land. There, he works closely with various officials in a number of capacities, such as bookkeeping and matters of the crown. He becomes skilled with linguistics, combining that with magic writing to find employment with a group of bards and messengers.

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And that's it so far. 

Geeky? Yes. 

Did I think it would be weird to write and share this? You bet!

Was it fun, though? Also yes.

Cheers!


Wednesday, 29 October 2025

That Time I Met an Astronaut

 


Tonight, I met an astronaut!

Col. Chris Hadfield was one of the guests of this Fall's edition of the Ottawa International Writers Festival, in Ottawa to promote his newest book, Final Orbit, and speak about his career.

I've read and enjoyed Hadfield's two previous novels, have been looking for something to do, and have always been into space stuff, so this event was a no-brainer.

Hadfield spoke about his writing process, certain plot points in his novel, and the personal experiences from his time as a pilot and astronaut that he drew on for inspiration. He got right into the audience, was personable, and shared plenty of interesting, and even funny, anecdotes and facts about the Space Race, Cold War, and America and Russia's respective space programs.

Afterwards, he personalized copies of attendees' books. Very nice guy. Being space-obsessed, I geeked out harder than I've ever geeked out in my entire life! Externally, I was perfectly composed. Internally, my brain was going "Be cool!" the entire time I was lined up. 😜


Got a couple selfies with the mother afterwards since it was a really nice night, then went home.

Another Bucket List-type experience, for sure.

Cheers!

Monday, 20 October 2025

In Memory of my Nanny

 


Sadly after nearly 94 years of life, the last 10 with Alzheimer's, I said my final goodbye to my Nanny, Donna Perkins (maternal grandmother), early last week.

For the better part of 40 years, she spoiled me rotten. Christmas was always filled with the latest VHS or DVD release, Piroulines, MAD Magazines and, unquestionably, the best ginger cookies (thankfully, I got her to teach me the recipe the last time she was in Ottawa). 

When I went to college, she'd call me regularly. 

Later on, she played a big part in my travelling independently. First inviting me to fly down and stay with her for a few days over the summer (seven of them), then being the first person (before even my parents) who was okay with me going to TCAF and Toronto on my own.

A couple years after my first trip to Toronto, she was formally diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Visits and conversations were fewer and farther between from then on, save for Christmas. 

My last visit with my Nanny was two years ago to share one last coffee and show her some photos from a comic convention in Halifax (photo above), during a Hymn Sing at the long-term care facility she was living at. Her memory was poor, and the vibe of a room full of senior citizens "dancing" to Spirit In The Sky was definitely something else...😆, but she looked great compared to two years prior in her home, almost like she used to. 

I do have a few minor regrets not visiting her after that, but that visit alone is a perfect final memory, encompassing everything I loved about her.

Will love and miss her always.



Friday, 3 October 2025

Summer of 2025

Old photo but, why not?

 This has been the longest I've gone without posting since 2014, so I feel like readers deserve a bit of an update.

I mostly worked, the first few months of a new contract. Spent a few weeks on my own in July while my family was in Nova Scotia. No complications, a rare weekend of nice weather spent at the movies, downtown, and on the back deck, and I even kept all our plants alive this time!

More work and more movies followed, then I moved rooms. 

Switching to a bigger room ended up being a month-long process. Cleaning, schlepping, re-organizing things, finding spots for my many little Pop vinyls, mini-figures, and knick-knacks. And books. So. many. books!! 

Much deliberating over what to keep, sell, donate, or trash. But, after many drop-offs at our local second-hand store and the purchase of a second bookshelf, I think I'm okay for the moment. Much re-reading to be done over the next few months, but I'll save that for later posts.

My Summer ( a few days into Fall, but I'm counting it) ended with me attending a talk with Kevin Gillis, creator of The Raccoons. 


Put on as part of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, it was a retrospective and celebration of the cartoon's 40th anniversary. Some great stories, good music, and a fun part of my childhood!

Working on Fall now, with a few tentative events being lined up.

Cheers!

A Bookish Blogtober

 


Blogtober is here once again and, this time, I even found a nice, appropriately spooky banner for it!

I haven't been in the greatest of blogging moods in recent months (writing for a job will do that, I think) so this year, I think I'll keep it mostly light and literary, with posts about Scriptwriting, books, movies, and maybe some fantasy stuff. 

That said, I am doing some disability-related things with work later that'll tie in nicely to JS Awareness Month, so I'll surely keep people posted.

First post is on it's way...

Cheers!

Saturday, 19 July 2025

Swords, Shadows, and (Overdue) Super Summer Activity

 


Last weekend, it got REALLY hot in Ottawa!

The heat lasted until Wednesday which meant that for much of the work week (which felt like an eternity!), I was in our basement, stepping outdoors only to quickly water our plants. Much-needed rain on Thursday finally broke the scorching temperatures, perfect timing for a relaxing day off. Friday and today's weather were perfect, so I took full advantage and booked some outings.

I met some people yesterday to see the new Superman movie, which was really good! A great cast, bright and colourful (unlike a lot of DC's previous movies), and fun. A lot of world-building and characters hinting at future stuff, none of whom/which took away from the main story.

Today, I dove into my fantasy-heavy Summer reading pile, choosing the penultimate Shadowhunters novel (top, smaller book) to take downtown for some lunch, fresh air, and a nice little walk, where I got photos of some really fun Canadian animal-themed posters.




I continued reading on our back deck this evening, after being able to pick some herbs from our garden for the first time all week. All in all, a nice couple days.

Rainy weather tomorrow, so probably a very indoorsy snack and cleaning kind of day, then back to work on Monday. 

Cheers!

Thursday, 3 July 2025

Planning for a Fall Event??

 


It's been roughly one month since I went to Toronto, and I have the urge to plan for another event, preferably something local (although my uncle just linked me the guest list for Hal-Con 2025 in November, and it looks fairly decent...).

I've been looking into other events I've attended or wanted to attend in the past, and there doesn't look like much of a shortage of potentially fun things to do this Autumn around Ottawa.

  • Robert Englund (THE Freddy Krueger!) is the headliner of September's Ottawa Comiccon (with A Jason Voorhees, though not Kane Hodder), so that goes right to the top of my list! 
  • The Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD) is holding a conference in Ottawa around the end of November. I'd be going as a patient (IF the price is right, that is...), and might be persuaded to book a room at the hotel it's at to avoid troubles with Para Transpo/have a little getaway.
  • Ottawa holds a literary convention called Can-Con in October. Last year's agenda had some fun stuff, and I may know a few people there.
  • There's always hoping the Ottawa Writer's Fest has some fun events for their Fall schedule. 
I already have "placeholders" in my calendar for when I have more information and a better sense of my own schedule and can rule things out, but it looks like I've got some decisions to make over the next month or two.

Cheers!