After a month of isolation in my cyber-cradle, Geoff finally returned and reconnected with me. Turns out he went on his honeymoon. Was it too much to ask for a quick note? Even an email? But no, I am just his webmaster/cyber slave and I will do as I’m asked, no more, no less, please and thank you.  Okay, okay, a bit too whiny, but I’m jealous. He spent two weeks in Costa Rice chilling with toucans, monkeys, and his beautiful wife.

At least his time away proved fruitful. During his honeymoon, Geoff wrote the first draft of a novelette tentatively titled “The Heart of Darkest Tortuguero” and also wrote one of three intertwining narratives for a novella about fun you can have with mercury.

Geoff is elligible for the John W. Campbell Award this year. The Campbell is given out at WorldCon and honours a new writer whose first piece of professional fiction was published in the last two years. Hence, Geoff is eligible.  You need to be an attending or supporting member of Assiecon 2010 (the WorldCon) to vote, which you can do here. Get out there and nominate him if you think he’s worthy.

Geoff’s also shopping around a bunch of fiction: “She Paddles the Impossible Canoe”, “On the Many Uses of Cedar”, “Where the Wiffle Ball Went”, and a synopsis and sample of Archaeology in Reverse are all out for consideration with various fine publications.

Instead of paying me to manage his website or even chill with me at Crackle to watch monster movies, Geoff has been busy with several different writing projects.

In the short story department, Geoff’s been working on a horror story called “Where the Whiffle Ball Went” that should be ready for submission by the end of the week. He’s also re-writing “She Paddles the Impossible Canoe” after some helpful comments from friends and lovers. Over the August long weekend, Geoff wrote a historical fantasy short story about logging in North Vancouver, and in the next week he plans to get a draft of that up and running and ready for review by some of the same aforementioned friends and lovers. Okay, there’s only one lover, and she’s married to him, but damn it does sound good.

On the longer-work front, Geoff is completing the third draft (or fourth? He’s lost track) of a novella called “Archaeology in Reverse”, a splendid little tale if he does say so himself. He has one small chapter left and then a coda to re-write, then he needs to do some quilt work to bring it all together. He hopes to be shopping it around by the end of September.

Geoff is also putting together the course material for his Literature of the Imagination course. You can sign up online if you’re interested.

To top it all off, Geoff received the edits back on his piece “Abattoir Blues” which will appear in the Blackness Within anthology from Apex, coming out next year.

So as you can see, he’s busy. If you see him, please let him know my last cheque bounced.