The Whirlwind ZeroWave West Coast Tour
Hey, everyone! I've decided to set up shop on Goodreads and start a blog. I mean, it only makes sense. I write books and people who enjoy my books can stop by here and see what I'm up to. I'll post updates every few weeks and regale you with stories about writing as well as my general life.
So, what have I been up to? Well, last month I was back home on the West Coast for the first time in four years. I learned a lot about myself while I was out there (no, really, I did), but my biggest takeaway from the trip was YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. I'm using all-caps because I don't want to understate this. Let me explain.
Travelling across Canada is expensive. It's literally cheaper to fly from Toronto to England than it is to fly to British Columbia. With that in mind, I booked with Newleaf. Newleaf is a new Canadian air carrier. They charge less for their flights because they don't operate out of the major airports. For instance, they don't fly from Toronto to Vancouver; they fly from Hamilton to Abbotsford. Abbotsford isn't particularly close to Vancouver (it's an hour and a half drive), but a variety of websites extol Newleaf's shuttle service from Abbotsford to Surrey (which is, if not super convenient, at least in the Vancouver transit system), tickets for which can be purchased for a mere $10 (available on the plane or when you land).
Okay, so, I got my girlfriend to drive me to Hamilton (about an hour from Toronto in decent traffic). I got on the plane. We're in the air for a couple of hours. I flag down a stewardess and ask her about shuttle tickets. “Oh, the shuttle to Surrey?” “Yes.” “We don't do that anymore.” OH, OKAY. (Bear in mind that the shuttle service was only announced six months previous.)
So, we land and I'm stranded in Abbotsford on a Sunday afternoon. There's no transit. There's nothing but cabs. I ask one of them how much it would be to drive me to Surrey. “About $85.” AWESOME. So the amount I save on my flight I can make up in cab fare. I end up having to take a cab to the Abbotsford Greyhound station and busing into Vancouver. A trip that should have taken me a little over an hour and cost me about $15 actually took over four hours and cost me $50.
The journey home was even more gruelling and took me about 24 hours end-to-end, but it's kind of the same except backwards, so I'll save you the details.
MORAL: if something seems too good to be true, IT PROBABLY IS. And if you think you're saving a few bucks upfront by sourcing cheaper transportation, ask yourself what you're paying in the long run.
That aside, my two stops on The Whirlwind ZeroWave West Coast Tour were both lovely. Vancouver's was at the Storm Crow Alehouse where I saw a bunch of old friends, drank a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, and had to yell my reading because my mic cut out (much to the relief of Storm Crow manager and long-time friend Sean Cranbury, who no longer had to contend with my smutty book excerpts being broadcast over the restaurant's PA system). In Victoria, I did a signing at Legends Comics and Books and spent a chill afternoon hanging around the comic shop. This was very pleasant, as comic shops and used book stores are my happy place, but I was slightly distressed to find out that there are now only two used book stores in downtown Victoria and though they're both quite good, they're both owned by the same store (Russell Books). (As a curious aside, I got mistaken for an employee by random people at both locations. Probably just picking up on my lifetime book clerk pheromones.)
Other non-book high points of the trip:
- I got five tattoos. Four of them were small and from my very talented friend Emily Shoichet, and one of them (from the very talented Em Partridge) was my first handpoke tattoo. Fun fact: getting it hurt less than most of the rest of my tattoos (it also healed cleaner), but it took longer and there's the slightly disconcerting sensation of actually hearing the needle enter your skin every time.
- All of my belongings that I didn't get rid of or take with me when I moved to Toronto went into my family's long term storage (a.k.a. the crawl space under my aunt's house). I was determined to go down there and spend a day getting rid of 90% of it. Well... I got rid of about 50% of it, which I consider sort of a victory. I mean, that's still a lot of stuff to get rid of in one day.
- I saw an orca while I was on the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver. It doesn't happen that often, so that was pretty cool.
Anyway, that was my mid/late-June. Now I'm home in Toronto and plotting my next book. There's no resting on my laurels; I want to have a new release for you this time next year. All right, back to work!
So, what have I been up to? Well, last month I was back home on the West Coast for the first time in four years. I learned a lot about myself while I was out there (no, really, I did), but my biggest takeaway from the trip was YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. I'm using all-caps because I don't want to understate this. Let me explain.
Travelling across Canada is expensive. It's literally cheaper to fly from Toronto to England than it is to fly to British Columbia. With that in mind, I booked with Newleaf. Newleaf is a new Canadian air carrier. They charge less for their flights because they don't operate out of the major airports. For instance, they don't fly from Toronto to Vancouver; they fly from Hamilton to Abbotsford. Abbotsford isn't particularly close to Vancouver (it's an hour and a half drive), but a variety of websites extol Newleaf's shuttle service from Abbotsford to Surrey (which is, if not super convenient, at least in the Vancouver transit system), tickets for which can be purchased for a mere $10 (available on the plane or when you land).
Okay, so, I got my girlfriend to drive me to Hamilton (about an hour from Toronto in decent traffic). I got on the plane. We're in the air for a couple of hours. I flag down a stewardess and ask her about shuttle tickets. “Oh, the shuttle to Surrey?” “Yes.” “We don't do that anymore.” OH, OKAY. (Bear in mind that the shuttle service was only announced six months previous.)
So, we land and I'm stranded in Abbotsford on a Sunday afternoon. There's no transit. There's nothing but cabs. I ask one of them how much it would be to drive me to Surrey. “About $85.” AWESOME. So the amount I save on my flight I can make up in cab fare. I end up having to take a cab to the Abbotsford Greyhound station and busing into Vancouver. A trip that should have taken me a little over an hour and cost me about $15 actually took over four hours and cost me $50.
The journey home was even more gruelling and took me about 24 hours end-to-end, but it's kind of the same except backwards, so I'll save you the details.
MORAL: if something seems too good to be true, IT PROBABLY IS. And if you think you're saving a few bucks upfront by sourcing cheaper transportation, ask yourself what you're paying in the long run.
That aside, my two stops on The Whirlwind ZeroWave West Coast Tour were both lovely. Vancouver's was at the Storm Crow Alehouse where I saw a bunch of old friends, drank a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, and had to yell my reading because my mic cut out (much to the relief of Storm Crow manager and long-time friend Sean Cranbury, who no longer had to contend with my smutty book excerpts being broadcast over the restaurant's PA system). In Victoria, I did a signing at Legends Comics and Books and spent a chill afternoon hanging around the comic shop. This was very pleasant, as comic shops and used book stores are my happy place, but I was slightly distressed to find out that there are now only two used book stores in downtown Victoria and though they're both quite good, they're both owned by the same store (Russell Books). (As a curious aside, I got mistaken for an employee by random people at both locations. Probably just picking up on my lifetime book clerk pheromones.)
Other non-book high points of the trip:
- I got five tattoos. Four of them were small and from my very talented friend Emily Shoichet, and one of them (from the very talented Em Partridge) was my first handpoke tattoo. Fun fact: getting it hurt less than most of the rest of my tattoos (it also healed cleaner), but it took longer and there's the slightly disconcerting sensation of actually hearing the needle enter your skin every time.
- All of my belongings that I didn't get rid of or take with me when I moved to Toronto went into my family's long term storage (a.k.a. the crawl space under my aunt's house). I was determined to go down there and spend a day getting rid of 90% of it. Well... I got rid of about 50% of it, which I consider sort of a victory. I mean, that's still a lot of stuff to get rid of in one day.
- I saw an orca while I was on the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver. It doesn't happen that often, so that was pretty cool.
Anyway, that was my mid/late-June. Now I'm home in Toronto and plotting my next book. There's no resting on my laurels; I want to have a new release for you this time next year. All right, back to work!
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