My cyberpunk-flavoured short story, “Fragments of an Alternating Current”, is up at Hub Magazine, featured in Issue 113.

Thanks to Lee Harris and the fine folks at Hub Magazine for picking up the story.

This all happened rather quickly, so I didn’t really have time to post about the sale since the publication date was so soon after acceptance.

And as a side note, this story was workshopped at the fantastic Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror–or more commonly referred to as the OWW. This is an invaluable resource for fledgling and seasoned writers alike, and although my own personal involvement has dwindled, I still can’t vouch for this community enough.

So this weekend was marked as Twitter Tattoo Weekend–the first of many I’m sure–by Sara McClung over at her blog. And it’s been a total blast. All you had to do to participate (and you still can!), was change your Twitter profile pic to that of a tattoo you have, or of something you’d love to get. Easy-peasy. Then, just let everyone know by using the #twittertattoo hashtag…and that’s it.

It’s been a lot of fun checking all of the #twittertattoo mentions and seeing what people are putting up, how people are comparing each other’s tats, and how certain dares and promises to get more are suddenly popping up.

I had a hard time taking pics by myself to get my whole Scorpius Constellation tattoo in a picture, but was able to get almost half of it. The below pic is what I used for my Twitter profile, and shows 7 of the 16 nautical stars that I have from neck to lower back. Hopefully I can try and get the whole thing in a shot soon–but then again I’ve been saying that for a year.

Scorpius Constellation - half back

Oh, and before I forget…do go over and check out Sara’s blog and watch the Tattoo Nation video. Near the end there is a segment with yours truly–and she gets me good. Well, she at least thinks she does. Little does she know I already have a team of mischievous little demons working in the shadows on a fun little vlog reply. Mwahah-ha-ha-ahh.

I once again had the good fortune of being invited to participate in another SF Signal Mind Meld–and this topic was much harder than the last one I participated in. To pick a book you love that everyone else hates, or vice versa, pick a book you hate that everyone else loves.

To be honest, I had a very hard time picking a book I love that everyone else hates–so I skipped it. I had a few books picked for the reverse topic to be honest, and as you’ll read in the Mind Meld, I didn’t really classify it as “hating” but rather “disappointment”.

Obviously the picture gives it away, but the book I picked was THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. And yes, before I get deluged by OMGs! and WTFs!, it was a solid book and I enjoyed parts of it–BUT…

And there is always a but, isn’t there? There was something about it that I thought could have been done differently, and which would have generated much more suspense for me as a reader–not to mention nail biting!

But…to find out what it was, you’ll have to click through. Now go check out the Mind Meld over at SF Signal and jump into the commenting fray.

On Sunday I went to the Canadian International Autoshow as I do every year with my father-in-law. We hit the show as the doors opened, which is great as we can pretty much run through the North Building rather quickly and have easy access to all of the vehicles without crowding. The show was also scaled down this year with no mods and the Rogers Centre completely removed from the program–which I liked. With keeping the show to only the North and South convention centre, it made for a more compact and focused show. I hope they keep this scaled down approach for subsequent years.

There was a lot to see, as always. I was very much looking forward to the new Ford Fiesta, having followed it’s development lifecycle for a few years now. However, once I got into the car–which would indeed make an ideal commuter–I was a little disappointed. I realize it is an entry-level car, but I guess I was hoping for more from it in regards to polish. I guess I’ll have to take it for a spin before I can make any real conclusions.

But what really stole the show for me was the new Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback.

Wow. Talk about bang for your buck. Solid manufacturing, gorgeous lines, fully-equipped for a very attractive price–with lots of interior room. Right now, I am totally sold on this as my next car–something I will be in the market for shortly. Can’t wait to take one of these out for a spin.

Check out more photos from the show here.

I thought I’d done a quick blog entry to let you know that the awesome folks at SF Signal had asked me to participate in a Mind Meld for Anime Film Favorites–but evidently I had not.

So without further ado, do check out the Anime Film Favorites Mind Meld where I get to discuss my top 5 films along with some rather cool people.

I was thinking of adding a Frequently Asked Questions section to the website. The problem is, besides the regular “favourite colour” type questions (which should be obvious – ha!), I’m not 100% sure what else I should put in there.

So that is where you come in…

Now is your chance to ask me anything. Yes anything! I will gather all of the questions and either put them into a 20 Questions kind of post, or a FAQ–depending on content etc., and appropriateness of course.

So ask away, and we’ll see what happens.

If you don’t want to leave a comment, feel free to drop an email at: derek at derek molata dot com

I’ve finally added Google Friend Connect to the website, over there at the top of the right sidebar —->

In an effort to post more and get the website firing on all cylinders, I thought I’d take the plunge. Seems like all the cool kids are doing it, and since I’m such a follower, well, I couldn’t resist.

Join in the chant!

Things have been pretty busy lately (when aren’t they?), but Erika and I were able to get away this past weekend to Niagara Falls–sans kids!

And it was a wonderful break from reality. Saturday we went shopping in the States and bought all sorts of stuff (kids clothes) and even more stuff (kids clothes) and purchased deals galore (stuff for Erika) and even more stuff (more kids clothes and cool edible items we don’t have in Canada) until our trunk was jammed. We then came back to the homeland and checked into our hotel, where we had an amazing view of the Falls (below), two king-sized beds (because one obviously isn’t enough), a jacuzzi tub the size of Lake Ontario, and a safety-comes-first electric fireplace (still wish it was gas).

We hit the town, had an awesome dinner at The Keg Steakhouse overlooking the Falls, and then went back to our hotel and got really silly-drunk on sangria.

On Sunday we got up, was treated to a fantastic breakfast buffet on the hotel, and then went off to Niagara-on-the-Lake to poke around our favourite shops. The odd thing was, it started to rain while we were there–in January. So no, I hadn’t packed an umbrella or anything water repellent. Our trip there didn’t last too long, as ducking into and out of the shops to avoid the rain grew rather tiresome. But we did manage to get some tasty treats from the local bakeries.

After leaving Niagara-on-the-Lake, we headed home but stopped off to watch The Blind Side, which turned out to be rather enjoyable. I’ve always liked Sandra Bullock, and she sure didn’t disappoint in this film.

Anyways, it was a great weekend escape. Something we could actually do close to home, and still feel refreshed going into another busy week.

The other night, Thursday to be exact, was the launch party for Lesley Livingston’s second book, DARKLIGHT. It was held at the same fantastic location as last year’s WONDROUS STRANGE launch, Dominion on Queen in downtown Toronto.

And of course all the usual suspects were there, including Karin Lowachee, who I picked up on my way into the city, Leah Bobet, SKS Perry, and Adrienne Kress. The night was filled with chatter, drinks, a fantastic reading by Lesley, the debut of the DARKLIGHT book trailer–which I’ve posted below–and quite clearly not enough time to talk with everyone quite enough, which was a real pity since we don’t get to see each other in the flesh all that often.

The night disappeared rather quickly, and after getting my book signed by Lesley (we waited until the line had dissipated) Karin and I ended up heading out around 11:30PM as I had to work in the morning. Unfortunately we’d left before we had a chance to chat with Lesley, but I’m sure we’ll see each other at Ad Astra in April.

One of the highlights of the night was definitely the unveiling of the book trailer, which is below, so check it out:

More photos of the night here.

In an effort to make add more “writing-related” posts to this blog, I need your help.

There are a lot of things I will be able to discuss once I sell a book or two, but until that happens, I can’t really go into the detailed mechanics behind process in regards to WIPs or books on submission or any other facet for that matter. And although I have a great post coming on query writing, it won’t be posted until something else happens first.

I can, however, talk about things at a high-level–but I’m kind of stuck on what to actually discuss.

And that’s where you come in.

Is there anything you’re interested in me talking about? From process to idea-harvesting to storming through a first draft?

If there is, then let me know. Drop me a comment or email and I’ll work it into an upcoming blog post.

And if I don’t get any comments, well then, I guess I’ll just be quiet. (Ha!)