Interview – Today
Tonight I was interviewed by a couple of young women from the local high school, for a project for their French Immersion program. I don’t really speak french. But they asked a lot of interesting questions, both in writing and through facetime. I thought it was interesting, so I’m publishing the written portion. Maybe it will be entertaining for you.
Do you think it’s productive to devote time and resources to space exploration and extraterrestrials rather than to exploring our own planet?
Yes, I do think it is productive. I think that the general pursuit of knowledge is valuable, and that we can learn a lot about our own planet, by studying other worlds and the universe beyond.
2. Would it be more or less reassuring to know for certain that complex life exists beyond our solar system?
I’m not sure. There’s something called the Drake Equation. Basically, someone did the math, and calculated that the Universe should be brimming with life, and that it should be all over the place. Even more, they calculated that someone should have already populated the entire universe, several times over.
But where are they? That’s the Fermi Paradox. The Universe should be full of life, particularly intelligent life – so where is it. There are a lot of theories, but no answers.
The consensus is that maybe there is some kind of ”great filter.” Something that prevents life from emerging, or intelligent life from emerging, makes sure it dies off. The question for humanity is are we past the great filter, in which case smooth sailing. Or does it lie ahead of us.
Can*Con A Convention Diary
Our latest youtube video, produced and edited by Dean Naday, starring me.
Actually, I found myself reluctant to watch this. I don’t think the camera likes me – my face is stiff and damaged, worn down and lumpy. I’m inexpressive, my upper lip barely moves. My conversation, my monologue is peppered with pauses and drags, hums and haws. I had to force myself to watch the video.
But… but I actually sounded okay. As I was sitting there, talking to the camera, I think there was something raw and honest and thoughtful to my monologue. Not arrogant. Just… me. Bemused, a little insecure and uncertain, tentative, but honest. It felt like there was something real here.
I liked the segments where I interviewed people, particularly Rachel A. Rosen who was so passionate and colourful, and Holly Tannis so committed to their art.
I wouldn’t have recorded this at all, without Dean pushing me. And it wouldn’t exist without Dean editing it all together.
So thanks, man.
And for the rest of you, check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih4_k9mCaPQ
CAN*CON – Screw the Hero, let’s talk the Scribe’s Journey
CAN*CON 2026 – The Writing Life, Hanging with the Scribes
So, when I wasn’t ambushing and selling books to the unwary, I got interested in the other dealers. Who were all these strange people? Why were they here? What drove them? I wanted to know about them. I wanted to know about their books. I wanted to admire their tables and set ups. To hear their passion.
So, I started to go around, doing brief interviews here and there. I talked to anyone who would let me, and I loved it. And I think they loved it right back. We were all the same people. We were people who loved stories and who loved sharing stories.
This video includes: Bruno Lombardi, Jen Desmarais (Desiree Dubois), Eric Desmarais, Stephanie Ann, M.K. Schultz, Kyle Bentley, Kelsey August da Silva, Danielle Harding Nevins (D.H. Nevins), Barret Nevins, Heather Chambers, Helga R. Paxton, Gail Morrow, Jesse Edwards, Alice Chase.
I’m not sure I can explain this
Okay, so… I’ve been getting antsy. I like to write. It keeps me sane. I get twitchy if I’m not writing. And I like to release books. Ideally, I’d like to make money off of it. But here’s the deal. I’m not going to live forever. I might not even live a long time. My parents got cancer when they were only three years older than I am now. Yikes!
I feel this… tension. What do I leave behind? A hard drive containing a lifetime of work that just ends up in electronic waste. A smattering of electrons wiped by a magnetic field, and it’s all gone? Jesus, that’s chilling.
Okay, so if you know me, I was a big fan of LEXX, and cult television shows, Farscape, Starlost, Doctor Who, etc., and cult movies. I love the disrespected, the overlooked, the unappreciated and unloved, the critters around the margins. And I think there’s value in going off the beaten path. I’ve written nonfiction books about these things, and had something worthwhile to say.
Well, a long time ago, a lot longer than I care to remember, I was on Bulletin Boards for LEXX and Farscape. And I started fooling around with this celebrity deathmatch thing. I conceived that God, or the Gods were a trio of cosmic southern rednecks, absolute moral degenerates with no taste, discrimination or impulse control, and they grabbed the crews of the ships and set them against each other.
Can*Con Literary Festival, October 15-18, Ottawa, Ontario
Well, here we go again. I’ll be heading to Ottawa, Ontario, for the Can*Con Literary Festival. It’s basically a literary and genre convention, emphasis on the literary side of genre.
The first time I went was back in 2016. The Mermaid’s Tale had just been released through Five River’s Publishing. I had a real book. I had arrived… semi-arrived… achieved something. There had been a book launch at When Word’s Collide, but due to scheduling, I hadn’t made my own launch. Talk about Sad Sack. So the next convention coming up was Can*Con.
That was a mixed experience. On the positive side, I remember attending a panel where my Editor, Robert Runte was participating. I’d never met him face to face, so I was looking forward to it. I’m sitting there, and a tall distinguished gentleman walks by carrying my book – it’s Robert. He introduces himself on the panel, holds up the Mermaid’s Tale, and says something like “This book is so good it will make my reputation as an Editor, and I hardly had to do anything.”
Wow. He didn’t even know I was in the audience.
STEINBACH MALL BOOK FAIR
TABLE DAYS – AUTHORS OF MANITOBA.
Well, another excursion selling books directly is over. This one wasn’t nearly as brutal as last week’s Horrorcon, which was effectively 15 hours. This one ran from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, at the Steinbach Clearsprings Mall. So eight hours, plus two hours travel back and forth and set up.
Some background – Steinbach is a town, mostly Mennonite, about 45 minutes out from Winnipeg. Population about 20,000, it’s sustained by local agriculture, and feeding off of Winnipeg’s commerce – it’s the place for car dealerships for instance.
Clearspring Mall is a fairly active mall on the outskirts of Steinbach. Main tenant is a Sobeys, it’s got a mix of stores. A lot of malls are dying, but this a fairly lively shopping center.
Authors of Manitoba is a local writing organization driven by perky little human dynamo, Casia Schreyer. Casia is from Steinbach, hence the Authors event at the Clearspring mall.
Honestly, I had my doubts. I’ve come to appreciate that there’s an entire culture or industry of these small vendors – not just writers and book sellers, but soap makers, jewelry makers, knick knack sellers, clothing sellers, 3D printer afficionados, crafts-people of every possible stripe and variety. And there’s literally a circuit of flea markets, church bake sales, small collectors conventions, local festivals, street parties, etc. etc., where people gather, and where these vendors show up.
Some of them are incredibly elaborate – lovingly crafted handmade stuff, big detailed booths that are practically a cottage with roofs, signage, all kinds of stuff. Some… are selling knick knacks and junk from Temu. It’s all over. Mostly, there’s some degree of personal investment.
I don’t really wholly understand it all. Do people make an actual living at this? I’ve come to think that at least some do, although it feels like a tough way to do it. For some, it’s a labour of love. For some it’s a hobby of sorts for a little extra money to supplement income or just get out of the house.
I think actually, there’s scope to examine these people and this interesting little culture of travelling vendors. Someone should do a Master’s Thesis or something.
Anyway, so Casia organizes one of these events at the Steinbach mall. It turns out there were about fifty-something vendors. I was impressed. About half of them were writers by my count – there’s the usual jewelry makes, knitters, specialists. We all occupied two rows of tables, down the two main wings of the mall.
Like I said, I had doubts. It didn’t seem to me that an Author’s event like this was, in and of itself, going to attract much of a crowd. With something like the Horror Con, or Collectible Cons, or a Science Fiction Convention like Keycon, people are going there for the thing itself. You get a table or booth there, you know people are coming for that.
This? I didn’t see us getting much more than regular Mall traffic. It might attract a few extra people. But not that many, particularly considering its in an outlying town of 20,000 rather than in the city of a Million.
But I thought, what the hell. Give it a try. Who knows.
HORROR CON 2026
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2026
Tomorrow is Horror Con 2026, at Assinboine Downs in Winnipeg. This is my first time with a solo dealers table at a major convention. Well, first time with a solo dealers table at all, and first time dealing at a major convention. I’ve decided to jump in. Set up was tonight, and tomorrow morning. I got in about quarter to seven. Anna drove me in, it’s out at Assiniboine downs. I think it’s a good spread. I’ve got about forty titles out. Mostly mine, Scott Ellis’, Eve St. Albert, Ewen Campion-Clarke have two or three each.
It feels weird. First time I’ve done a table by myself. First (hopefully) big Convention. The other times I’ve done tables have been a literary or fan conventions – Keycon, When Words Collide, Can-Con. Membership a few hundred, and there mostly for other things.
This one, membership in the thousands I would assume. I have no idea how to estimate – but presumably anywhere from a few thousand to ten or fifteen? And unlike the other conventions – this is literally all about dealers. Everyone coming here is coming to look and buy things. A few other literary types are going to be here – A.P. Fuchs, I.D. Russell, I think I spotted GMB Chomichuk and Chadwick Ginther sharing a table. A.D. McDonald. The horror bookstore people are here, as is at least one used bookseller. I hope it’s going to be a literary crowd.
WRITING ACTION SCENES: Violence, Trauma and Altered Consciousness
By D.G. Valdron, an online Presentation, Tuesday, September 22, 2026, for Nicole Whisler’s Facebook group
“Finish My Fantasy Novel: Write My Best Book”
All too often, violence is sugar coated, from Finn giving a football whoop as he blows up his former friends in The Force Awakens, to Legolas and Gimli’s friendly rivalry keeping score on their murders in Lord of the Rings. Fantasy action is armies and battles either abstracted or cheerful all too often.
But in the real world action is violence. It’s traumatic and terrifying, your body goes through changes, your mind doesn’t work the same way. Instead of heroism there’s desperation and terror, a cavalcade of emotions. Your heartrate shoots, adrenalin floods, your attention narrows. And afterwards? Collapse, elation, depression, ptsd.
I’m really looking forward to this. With a personal history of violence and trauma, and having encountered it professionally, I think that I can offer a lot of insight into the inner dynamic, the emotions, the sensations, the alterations to consciousness that a lot of writers are missing when attempting action or fight scenes.
A Review – Amazing Stories Online
CLUBHOUSE: Review: “Murder-Chickens on Mars” by D.G. Valdron – Amazing Stories
Review by R. Graeme Cameron, Amazing Stories Online.
He covers both Murder Chickens on Mars, and B-Movie Monsters in Love, I am impressed. I would have thought these books would have been impossible to review, they’re so off the wall.
They’re basically a series of specula-fictions. So an examination of the Godzilla Cinematic Universe (the first one), or an evolutionary history of the Gill-Men, tales of Murder Chickens, Martian Civilizations, and strange examinations of cultural artificats.
For example, one of the pieces looks at Harryhausen’s goat legged cyclops, and goes on a tour through Paleantology, Folklore, Biology and Evolution to figure out where and how an 18 foot tall, goat-legged humanoid fits in.
In an ‘Unnatural History of Slurpasaurs’ I look at all those lizards that posed as dinosaurs in B-movies of the old days, treat them as real animals and discuss habitat, development and ecology.
So tall order, but Graeme managed.