All of Pat's Dirty Laundry
Then, I got to thinking that if I wanted a career in writing, I could start by taking on editing contracts. What I picked up instead was a contract to novelize a movie script by Jonathon Parker. The result:
Judge Not
. We self-published that puppy, and it's still my top selling book.
Shortly thereafter, I self-published
The Fog of Dockside City: The Obliteration Machine
, loosely based on one of my radio play series. A year later, I published its sequel: The Ghastly Bargain.
Then, suddenly, things took off. My first
short story
accepted for publication. Then came
Helix: Blight of Exiles
. Then came Helix: Plague of Ghouls, and then Helix: Scourge of Bones was accepted for publication. Then another short story, and another! Exciting times!
During the day, I work at my full-time, bill-paying job. By night, I run
www.mythhawker.com
, and in my "spare time", I run
www.ninedaywonder.com
, a blog specializing in interviews. And once a year, I participate in the
Muskoka Novel Marathon
, a fundraiser for literacy programs in Ontario.
Never enough time in the day.
So, yeah...that picture's already older than I am. It is my personal Portrait of Dorian Gray. The more I look at it, the older I feel.
I promise to post something a little more recent. At the very least, you now know what I look like, five years younger, with longish hair, while standing in front of an industrial fan. I've since given up the suit, added a ball cap, clipped the locks down to a pixie cut, and I can never find enough fans.
As for my personal backstory, I haven't much to tell. Been writing since I was seven (jumped straight to cursive because block letters were too slow). When I was eleven, my mother bought me a manual typewriter, stuck duct tape on all the letters, handed me a typewriting instruction manual she'd picked up at an auction, and told me to get cracking. (I presume it was because my cursive was a disaster.)
Throughout high school and university, I wrote like a fiend (I was too broke to socialize). But, despite having 40 novels, 65 two-act radio plays and a smattering of short stories, I sold no full-length story until after 20 years of trying to get published. I'd even been shortlisted for the
Unhanged Arthur
for a historical mystery I'd written.
About Helix
About Dockside City
About Judge Not