Blog No. 396
Back when I was in high school, I got into the habit of spending hot summer days in the basement sitting on an old couch and watching movies on my parent’s first VCR. It was a huge grey beast that cost them something like a thousand dollars when they bought it. Years later it was relegated to the basement with the same old TV from the blog I wrote about watching Aliens with my dad. My parents also had a huge library of tapes (several hundred at one point) and I had many of my own. I would sit on the couch, running to the chest freezer to grab popsicles or freezies and watch movie after movie. One day I watched Blade Runner. I don’t think it was the first time, but for some reason, that watch had more impact than the others. I was in the habit of watching the credits back then, and at the end of the list of names and titles was a line of text that said the movie was based on the book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick. Continue reading “Stories that Stay with Me – Two”
As September approaches and my focus shifts to the next book in The Synthetic Albatross Novella Series, I’ve been thinking more and more about my previous novellas. Then, I realized that I hadn’t done a behind the writing for Neon Heart (or I did and I forgot). So, I figured, now would be a good time for one. A long time ago, I didn’t really like reading that much. I would enjoy certain books and when I found one that tickled my fancy, I would devour it, but getting me to read wasn’t easy. Then one day, when I was watching Blade Runner for probably the fifth or sixth time, I noticed at the end of the credits that it was based off of a book. (I’m getting somewhere, just stick with me). I had read some Star Wars books, but other than my love for sci-fi movies and television, I didn’t really know much about the genre. (The literary genre at least). The book at the end of the movie was called, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and trying to get a copy of that thing when the only bookstore I knew of was the Coles at the mall was not easy. I had to endure countless bad jokes and confused faces. 
I’m back in Windsor for a while. (Not that I’m complaining). February was a chaotic whirlwind that I think I’m going to miss (but not until I catch up on my sleep and get back in my right frame of mind). In the two short months this year has throw at me, I’ve been successful in two opposite ends of the spectrum. January was all about writing (to the detriment of anything else). February was about events, travel, and alternate mediums. The sad part is, that while February was fun and exciting, and I was in Toronto twice in as many weeks, my writing took a hit. True, I’ve been doing more editing than writing (because once you do one, you’ve got to do the other) but the whole process suffered. I did do a live podcast on YouTube with my buddy though, so there’s that! 
Last week I rushed to get out what I thought my big Toronto reading was going to be like. As you may have suspected, I was a bit off. In hindsight, breaking into the Roger’s Centre is a lot harder than I thought. Trying to sneak in hundreds of people would be quite the challenge. Instead, I focused on the reading itself and things turned out well. Not key to the city well, but here we are. The folks at ChiZine were not only welcoming, but enthusiastic and fun! They even took us into the fold (but more on that later). For now I want to wildly speculate on my next trip to Toronto starting tomorrow! 
Ben Van Dongen 