October 3, 2007

Iceland has come and gone.  I got invited along by my friend, Tanya, to take part in a family reunion.  I’ve never done the group tour thing before, especially with twenty-six unrelated “relatives,” most of whom I’ve never met before.  The stress of scheduling was taken away, a most welcome relief.  But as a compromise, personal travelling preferences couldn’t always be indulged, though Tanya and I did manage a side excursion towards the end of the trip.

Breathtaking in its diversity and pristine natural wonders, Iceland easily stole my heart. The first thing I noticed about this island is the lack of ice.  The ground is bare, at least in the summer, not only of snow but of trees beyond the size of your average adult human. The common Icelandic joke?  If you get lost, stand up.  There are no towering conifers here.  At least, nothing remotely comparable to the grand firs of British Columbia. In Iceland, a tall shrub is a tree, and a copse is a forest.  To find a stand of trees, one usually has to look in the lee side of a mountain.  To find ice, one has to search even harder, which is exactly what I did.

Two red-eye flights left me in a stupor upon arrival in Keflavik. Yet the next two weeks my eyes persistently widened in wonder (which is, happily enough, my favourite feeling).  Clutching my breast in awe of Mother Nature’s unspoiled splendour; gaping at waterfalls that spring from beneath hardened lava rock; spelunking through caverns formed by rivers of lava; traversing between stalagmites of ice; watching seals frolic among freshly formed icebergs broken from the glacier; seeing a geyser spout the Earth’s life fluid hundreds of feet into the air; walking on a beach of black sand strewn with huge chunks of ice; tracking sunsets that lingered for hours; riding the proud Icelandic horses through rivers; hearing the deafening roar of Gulfoss, Europe’s largest waterfall; trekking across the mid-Atlantic ridge where the Earth’s crust has been torn apart—the spectacles are seemingly ceaseless.  I hope to visit Iceland again some day.

I’m currently finding a place to upload my photos. For now, you can see a few here.

October 3, 2007

The third entry--Hospital or Home Birth, Bottle or Breastfeed?--has been uploaded.  This is a topic I have been quite passionate about for a number of years.

June 24, 2007

It's been far too long since my last blog entry.  I have added a new section, Writes and Rants, which I hope to add to on a regular basis.  The first entry is The Ethics of Owning Exotics.  Subsequent additions may include the Writers of the Future experience in San Diego, and the virtues of midwives and homebirth.  Something that has always bothered me about my website is the narrow focus on only one aspect of who I am:  the writer.  I hope this new section will allow me to reveal more of my mutli-faceted personality.

With regards to writing, I have been revising a lot lately.  This is in preparation for a collection of science fiction stories I hope to self-publish later this year.  I currently have two stories in the "final voting round" for a couple of semi-pro publications.  Fingers crossed. Creative non-fiction also keeps me entertained.  In fact, a 10,000-word memoir called Chasing Lightning, finished in April, may perhaps be the best thing I have ever written.

In other news, I am currently taking an astronomy course.  Although I have done a lot of research on planets and stars, this class and lab give me a solid foundation with which to write science fiction.

Even more exciting?  Plans to visit two other continents!  Iceland in August, and then South Korea in January 2008.  The latter trip will be for four months.  I'll be staying with my girlfriend, Jen, who is currently teaching English there.  We will also have the opportunity to visit neighbouring countries such as Cambodia and/or Thailand.  Can't wait!

April 4, 2007

I had a reading today at Kwantlen University College for the "Celebrating our Students' Learning" event.  The excerpt I chose was from "Remembrance:  A Family Love Story," which chronicles the fateful meeting of my great-grandparents.  Thomas Craven, 41, a wealthy priest with four degrees met Bridget McGrane, a sweet Irish lass, 19, poor and illiterate.  They fell in love, changed their names and emigrated to Canada to escape the scandal their union stirred. 

Being my first reading, I was extremely nervous.  Surprisingly, I had far more anxiety a week prior than the actual day.  I'm excited for future opportunities to read from my work (reading aloud is also a great way to revise your writing--not just reading it to yourself, but anticipating an audience hearing it being read).

I've also been invited to the Writers' Union of Canada AGM, which includes Margaret Atwood giving the Margaret Laurence talk on the Writers' Life.  I'm honoured to be a representative, in a way, for Kwantlen. These conferences are always wonderful inspiration to shift into the writing gear.

JANUARY 29, 2007

This is something I wanted to have on the site when I first uploaded it to the web.  Alas, it was too time-consuming a project.  Fortunately, over the last few weeks, I've found time to finish my path to writing.  Click here to see what brought me to where I am now.

I've also completed writing "The Displaced".  It ended up being a whopping 10,000 words.  After revisions, I'm looking forward to sending the manuscript out. I've noticed a number of recurring themes in my stories, including having a sense of wonder for nature, appreciating the simple things, and the need for tolerance. These themes have popped up over and over again, albeit in very different forms.

DECEMBER 23, 2006

Working on a couple short stories, "The Displaced" and "Networked".  The former is a story I wrote five years ago (titled "Displacement" then) and I've gone back and completely rewritten it.  Much stronger now, I think, and features a pregnant protagonist.  Both of these two stories are half-finished, and I hate to write that way but full-time work just doesn't allow for much creativity.  I hope to complete them over the holidays.  I also hope to get back to my novel, The Tainted River, which I started last summer in India.  Speaking of which, I meant to get my travelogue from my three months in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya onto this site...we'll see if I can find the time for that.  [UPDATE:  find the travelogue here!]

On another note, it seems like December is the only time I ever have to update my other three websites.  With those updates out of the way, I really want to make some further contributions to this site.

Happy holidays to all!

NOVEMBER 20, 2006

I had two book signings this past weekend.  People seem genuinely friendly, and more than I expected stopped to chat, some even buying a copy of the book! I hate the idea of being a shill, so it was a relief that I didn't have to use any devious sale tactics to get people interested.  It can be awkward when I first get started, but once I get into the swing of things I enjoy myself quite a bit, happy to chat with people interested in reading or writing science-fiction even if they don't buy a copy of WOTF. 

I've got at least six more book signings between now and Christmas.  Looking forward to them, but I'll definitely need a break in the new year.

Oh, and I love showing off the lovely illustration created for Evolution's End by the very talented Melanie Tregonning!

OCTOBER 8, 2006

What do they have in common?  I interacted with all three in some form or another this weekend.  I had the pleasure of meeting Sawyer while in San Diego for the Writers of the Future ceremony, and will be introducing him two weeks from now at the Surrey International Writers Conference.   I'll also be doing a book signing there Saturday, October 21, at the bookfair.

Earlier today I did my first panel ever at VCON 31, "Pains (and Promises) of Rejection Slips".  It was unusual to be on the other side of the table, but it feels good to have the first one under my belt, and I look forward to coming back next year.  VCON is always fun, the people extremely friendly, and espouses such a strong sense of community.

Finally, Publishers Weekly reviewed the Writers of the Future XXII, and my story got a special mention!  It reads:  "The best speculative fiction reaches beyond the bells and whistles of the genre to explore the deeper complexities of the human condition. The original stories selected in this year's "Writers of the Future" contest include strong attempts to do just that [such as] Lee Beavington's "Evolution's End", an old-school science fiction romp about a group of explorers who discover a simple cellular organism whose evolution has made it the greatest—and deadliest—of survivors."  Woo!

You can see the entire review at Amazon.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2006

Galaxy Press has set up nine book signings for me.  Here's the lowdown:

October 28, Sat, 2-4 pm, Coles Books (Seven Oaks Mall), Abbotsford
November 11, Sat, 2-4 pm, Chapters (Richport), Richmond
November 18, Sat, 1-3 pm, Chapters (Strawberry Hill), Surrey
November 25, Sat, 1-?? pm, Chapters (Coquitlam Center ), Coquitlam
November 26, Sun, 2-3 pm, Chapters (Robson & Granville), Vancouver
December 9 , Sat, 11?? am, Timeless Books, New Westminster
December 9, Sat, 3-5 pm, Chapters (Metrotown), Burnaby
December 10, Sun, 2-4 pm, Indigo Books & Music, North Vancouver
December 16, Sat, 11-3 pm, Coles Books (Willowbrook Mall), Langley

As if my autumn wasn't already busy enough!  Nevertheless, this should be fun.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2006

The goodness keeps coming from the Writers of the Future people!  Today an "event kit" arrived in the mail, with a press release as well as posters, fliers and bookmarks for my upcoming book signings.  But most exciting for me were two discs:  one with photos from the week in San Diego (including the workshop and awards ceremony, of which I have no photos since my camera was being repaired), and the other is a dvd with 14 minutes of footage featuring yours truly.  It's odd to see video of myself, yet at the same time strangely exciting to relive that fantastic week in San Diego on the television screen.

Here's a photo of the press kit contents:

SEPTEMBER 6, 2006

SEPTEMBER 5, 2006

I was just emailed by someone about an article on me in the Peace Arch News relating to the Writers of the Future.  They interviewed me last week for about an hour, and I'm particularly excited at how the write-up reads.  Tracy (reporter) and Brian (photographer) were so friendly and enthusiastic when they were here.  A huge thanks to them both for this honour.

I haven't seen the print version yet, but you can click here to read the online version.

AUGUST 27, 2006

Wow, my first update in almost four months.  Life has been a whirlwind.  India, Sri Lanka and Kenya for three months, then up to the Komasket Music Festival near Vernon, down to San Diego for the Writers of the Future workshop and awards ceremony, LA for Disneyland with my nephews, and next week Vancouver Island to meet Corrina's parents, attend a wedding and some excursions in nature.  Phew!  I hope to put up a travelogue with photos, so look for that in September.

APRIL 28, 2006

APRIL 27, 2006