November 12th, 2006
Some Awkward Stranger is a short story about a teenager named Cactus Joah who drops out of high school and all of the possible outcomes of this decision. The story was inspired by an art piece by Alice Zheng which depicts a young man who seems to be thinking really, really hard about something; after spending a few days trying to figure out what he was thinking about, I came up with this story. I also took inspiration from dreams, where absolutely anything can happen without anyone batting an eye.

I'm lucky to have had Alice Zheng agree to illustrate the story, as she has provided an original piece that is both touching and clever. Alison Berry provided the melancholic portrait of Cactus Joah that introduces the second part, while Marisa Williams edited the short as always.

August 12th, 2006
The Strangest Result is a dream exhibition from the mind of Joel Hentges. Outside of some very minor embellishments on my part, it is an accurate portrayal of a dream that came to Mr. Hentges in December. He approached me with the dream while it was still startlingly vivid in his mind, and from there I began a sculpture of words as Joel oversaw the process every step of the way. My goal was to construct a reproduction of the imagery from his dream that would function as an art piece by itself, dying to be interpreted by the most imaginative of minds.

For this project Joel Hentges has crafted an elegant presentation to accompany both his uniquely beautiful pieces of art and the dream that I helped bring into the waking world. Marisa Williams edited my transcription.

July 29th, 2006
Chapter 3 of Memento Mori – titled Aimless Wandering in the Fields of Nowhere – is more of a direct continuation of the first chapter than Melodrama/A Play was. In it we find Amitai and Vera back in the mysterious field, trying to make sense of their situation; they become holistic detectives in a world where subjectivity rules all.

Winston Chmielinski, a gentleman and a prince, knows exactly what this story is about and captured its essence in his utterly striking painting. For this he has my eternal thanks. Marisa Williams continues to edit all of these stories and chapters with heart and precision, and has my eternal thanks as well.

June 19th, 2006
Melodrama/A Play has arrived. This new part of Memento Mori is the culmination of some of the experimental literary concepts I toyed with while attending secondary school. It also contains my first attempt at writing a play. I feel that this part as a whole expands on the emotional identities of the characters more so than any other part; it of course also gives greater insight into the relationship between Amitai and Vera.

Mel Stringer's touching illustration matches the tone and mood of the story as a whole; I'm grateful that she has added her unique vision to the project. Marisa Williams has edited the part with as much precision as always and I thank her dearly for it.

May 16th, 2006
A Brief Case of Theft is the first chapter of a novella titled Memento Mori that will begin serialisation today, with subsequent chapters appearing every two weeks or so. The story follows the misadventures of Amitai as he attempts to give his memories physical weight.

Recurring artist Cocor created the wonderful illustration accompanying this first chapter, while Marisa Williams has taken care in editing it. So as not to alienate anyone disinterested in this novella, I will continue to publish self-contained short stories as usual.

May 2nd, 2006
Still in Movement is a very long and comedic short story. I wrote it during the months of February and March, writing at least one page a day; I recommend printing the story off to save your eyes. One of the major scenes originated from a concept by Dorian Hall, where he wanted to see characters actually sit down to play video games for a while in a story with literary merit. Hopefully what I ended up writing will be to his liking. The rest of the story is not so alienating, although I've managed some self-parody with the wealth of literary references. I believe the story to be one of my best. I'm thankful of Valerie Thornton for providing the story with a beautiful and original visual base. Her illustration takes the sincerity of the story and presents it in a startling, interpretive light. Marisa Williams edited the large bulk of text that makes up the supposedly short story; I'm incredibly thankful of her as well.

April 8th, 2006
Everything Shakes is a short science fiction fable that is both utterly bizarre and completely fun. Written after Seven Lucky Gods, the story is made up of three parts, with each part consisting of a single page crammed with as many different ideas as it can handle. I feel it is successful in promoting an entirely unreserved and childlike level of creativity, which is one of the most extravagant compliments I could possibly give myself. Of course, none of this would have come about if John Wilkins had not asked me to write the story for his storybook. John Wilkins is also the creator of the illustration that accompanies the story; his art encapsulates the short as perfectly as possible, presenting the story's world exactly as I envision it. The sense of movement in the illustration is startling and the humour of the situation depicted is subtle to the extent of being beautiful. As always, Marisa Williams edited the story itself.

April 2nd, 2006
The Seven Lucky Gods of London, Ontario was written back in January after a month of working on a stronger storytelling style. The concept of using seven different characters interacting with one another in a soirée setting stems from a number of plays I had been reading at the time. The story itself takes place about twelve years after 12 November 1993; however, it's not at all necessary to read November in order to understand Seven Lucky Gods, especially when taking into consideration that 12 November 1993 is borderline unreadable. Marisa Williams has edited Seven Lucky Gods with her most discerning eye. Eva Black created the two panels of art that accompany the story, suiting the atmosphere to a fine cup of tee.

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