Dear readers, I wanted to post a quick update on where several items stand. As mentioned previously, my current focus is on writing my new novel while we once again go through the process of selling our home. (While our limited exposure to Hamilton has shown us that it is a great city, we may finally get back to Toronto where our hearts reside.)
As for future reading material:
Next Short Story
I am still considering which story I should post next. I am partial to a flash fiction piece which some of the literary magazines following me might consider a poke in the eye, but when you look at how my career has gone, it’s just a little humorous commentary. Or, I could go with an earlier “meat and potatoes” short story to appeal to folks who just want to read a good relatable bit of working-class fiction. In the meantime, if you haven’t read all of the stories posted thus far, click here. If you have a preference of what you’d like to see next, let me know in comments below.
Screenplays
I had promised to begin posting our screenplays for your reading pleasure this year. All of our screenplays (as well as teleplays based on Jim Kearns) are multiple award winners (see list here) and they are highly entertaining. Posting them for readers to find and enjoy is an option but a better one would be for any of my many movie industry followers to actually take one of them from script to screen. It’s not impossible. Again, feel free to reach out.
New Novel
As mentioned, this has been my main writing focus during these turbulent times. Nouveau Flâneur is a neo-Gothic, neo-noir, locked-room mystery which tells the story of Ben and Ginny, a couple in their sixties who have moved from Toronto to an inherited cliffside Victorian house on the shores of Lake Huron at the onset of COVID 19.
Following the death of their daughter Evie shortly after their move, and while immersed in isolation and grief, they begin to find comfort in exploring their past lives together through Google Street View and the nostalgia it offers, lessening the emotional impact of their devastating loss.
One afternoon, Ben discovers that Ginny has disappeared from in front of her computer while Street Viewing, leaving only her cane by her chair and a half-cup of cold tea on her desk.
Numerous seemingly unanswerable questions arise:
How has Ginny vanished from a house still locked from the inside and with all keys still in place? Is the disgruntled handyman living in the house on the hill across from them involved in her disappearance in any way? Is Ginny’s brother, who was removed from Ginny’s aunt’s will, a possible suspect? And even as the police investigate the missing person’s case, is Ben losing his grip on reality when Ginny’s image begins to appear on Street View and seems to lead him towards a resolution?
Just as Walter Benjamin describes the flâneur as, “an amateur detective and investigator of the city” this novel follows Ben as he investigates the mystery of the apparition that haunts both him and his Street View landscape.
While I wish I were further along in its writing, I am happy to say that the novel continues to grow each day. Once I am far enough, I may begin posting chapters here.
In summary, stay tuned. More reading material is on the way.