I find myself in the curious position of not actually having a pressing writing deadline.

This week I turned in Tombstone Blues to Turnstone. Completed the edits on my short story “A Taste of the Other Side” for Jennifer Brozek’s Gears and Growls anthology and wrote an article on my favourite place in Winnipeg for the Winnipeg Free Press.

The timing for this lack of deadlines couldn’t be better as I find the holiday season extremely exhausting. Exhausting being my measured term for the two month period (I work retail, my holiday season is much longer than yours, and brother, it’s no holiday) when I turn into an utter Grinch.

If, instead of stealing presents, the Grinch tried to make the sun explode and consume the entire solar system (what? I grew up reading comics and I have the heart of a super-villain. Also, go big or go home). There are friends who come in to the store not just to shop, but to see my “Christmas Face”, as they put it (It’s a very Yul Brynner sort of quiet menace, calculated to keep people from asking me questions so that I can actually, you know, get things done–or so I imagine the look to be. It doesn’t work nearly as well as I’d like).

Perhaps if I wore the hat?

Yes.

Hats make the man, and if I wore that hat to work, I think customers would avoid me.

Hmmmm.

I guess I’ll have to add it to my Christmas list.

In the mean time, my writing tasks may be done, but I’m not done writing.

Write on.