Stories I Found in the Closet

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

September is the other January. (#IWSG September 2026)

Ah, September. Kids are back to school. Life is crazy (in a different way). We finished the Summer with the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Friday night (RIP Tim Curry), my daughter's end-of-season soccer team party on Saturday, and the Ottawa Pride Parade on Sunday. It was a lot of fun but exhausting.

Apparently it's the 15th Anniversary of the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Congratulations to Alex and everyone who made this happen and kept it going over the years. I've been a member for 12 years, so for most of its existence, and it has given me a great base from my online writing community. I've met author friends, discovered some great books, and always appreciated the cheering section. Not to mention I've been featured in three of their anthologies!

So congratulations again, and here's to the next fifteen years!

September Question - Do you have a favorite character archetype you tend to gravitate toward in your writing?

I love hapless, awkward losers and oddballs who don't want to be heroes, and would just as likely run from danger as not. And even if they are "brave," their courage stems from some hopelessly misplaced delusion, rather than some sort of skill or ability. Rincewind from the Discworld books is a perfect archetype of this. The kids from IT. Shaggy and Scooby Doo.

Most of the main characters in Hell Comes to Hogtown and the Gale Harbour books fit into this mold. So does Gussy Saint, from a couple of stories I've published (including Gussy Saint and the "Case of the Missing Co-Ed" from the IWSG anthology, TICK TOCK: A Stitch in Crime). Actually I've been meaning to write another Gussy Saint story for awhile. would way rather read about a clumsy doofus stumbling to victory (or not) than a boring, skilled hero overcoming adversity.

Side Note: Gale Harbour Book 1: Psycho Hose Beast From Outer Space, is available FREE today on Amazon. If you somehow still haven't picked it up in one of the many promotions, check it out now!

Hope your end of summer is going well!

Hugs & Kisses,
-CDGK

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group at http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

August rain: the best of summer gone, and the new fall not yet born, the odd uneven time. (#IWSG August 2026)

Missed last month's IWSG post. Just a quick check in today to make sure I don't fall off the list. 😁

In case you didn't notice from the mess my blog is in, or if you didn't get the frantic email from me a couple of weeks ago, I've been having some email issues. Life has been a bit crazy. It's mostly sorted out now, but I'm having to fix the blog and reload old pictures and such bit by bit. It's a headache, but I'll get it back together eventually.

August Question - As a writer/author what is something you regret? Or something that you wish you'd done differently in your writing process?

Regrets... I have a few...

Oh wait, you mean writing-related?

The most obvious one is that I didn't start earlier. I mean, I've been writing my whole life, but I didn't start taking it seriously until I was in my mid-thirties. I published my first novel at 35. The self-publishing craze and Kindle Direct Publishing started about 5 years before that. If I had jumped on the bandwagon earlier, especially pre-kids when I had more time and energy, who knows where I would have ended up? Or maybe if I had tried harder to get my work traditionally published in my twenties?

In all honesty I try not to have regrets, or at least focus on them. What will be will be. I can't say everything happens for a reason, but I certainly can't change the past. Better to use my choices to affect the future.

Anyway.

Hope everyone is having a great summer! See in you in the funny pages.

Hugs & Kisses,
-CDGK

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Green was the silence, wet was the light / the month of June trembled like a butterfly. (#IWSG June 2026)

So, not exactly writing related, but for those of you at home following my sporting adventures ...

As you may recall, back in December I started playing soccer for the first time in my life. At 45 years old. I had never played any serious sport before, but watching my daughter play 3-4 times a week gave me the itch to try.

In February, I joined a supposedly recreational, co-ed, "casual" league. Spoiler alert: they were not "casual." I tried to keep up and ended up seriously hurting my knee after 2.5 games.

Fast forward to the end of May. After three months of physio and rehab, my physiotherapist said that was all she could do for me, and that I could try easing myself back into playing. This past Sunday, I went to an adult beginner's soccer skills class. After an hour of drills and practice, I was feeling pretty good. My knee was holding up fine, I was running around and kicking with no pain, everything was going smooth. Then we had a scrimmage, just to run around and have fun.

Five minutes into the game, a woman charged me from behind and flattened me. She landed on me hard.

Right on top of my bad knee.

So here I am, back where I started three months ago, my knee swollen up like a grapefruit, alternating ice and heat while the swelling goes down and the muscles spasm in protest. I don't think it's as bad as last time, because the three months of rehab did strengthen my leg somewhat, but I'll have to wait for the swelling to go down to know for sure.

Anyway.

How's writing going?

JUNE QUESTION

Do most of your story ideas come from one place (the news, dreams, etc.) or do they hit from all over the place?

All over the place.

My first book, Ten Thousand Days, came from snippets of song lyrics I'd heard, about love and loss. I was also obsessed with time (at the time) and the relativity of it. It also helped that I was about to turn ten thousand days old myself when I wrote it, so all in all I had lots of material to play with. (For reference, 10,000 days is 27 years and approximately 140 days, depending on when leap years fall in the cycle.)

My next book, Hell Comes to Hogtown, was inspired by professional wrestling and comic books stores, both things that have been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. It started with me thinking of several funny scenes revolving around comic stores and wrestling, and the story grew from there.

I've mentioned before that the Gale Harbour series was very much inspired by Stranger Things, but set in my hometown in the 90s. When I first watched the show it triggered a lot of nostalgia for me (which was the point, I suppose), but I wanted it to be even more specific to my experience. Selfish, I know.

And what I'm currently working on? I have two mostly-finished manuscripts I've been tinkering with, one based on a game I played with my kids, another based on a movie I watched years ago and hated so bad I wanted to rewrite the story.

Then there's a Vonnegut-esque satire I tried to write last year about modern politics. I wrote about 30K words and had to give up because following and studying the news that closely every day was sending me into intense fits of anxiety and depression. I wish I was joking.

So yeah. Ideas come from everywhere. Keep you mind open and your eyes peeled.

Hope everyone is having a good spring, and the world isn't on fire (yet) where you live!

Hugs & Kisses,

-CDGK

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

May is the month of expectation, the month of wishes, the month of hope (#IWSG May 2026)

Yeah, I know this is two days late.

Happy Birthday to me.

That means it's been one year since the release of Gale Harbour 3: Dirtbag Satan Worshippers From Down by the Bay, and eleven years since my first book, Ten Thousand Days. And there is no new books on the horizon.

That's not to say I haven't been writing. I've been writing quite a bit, actually. I have two mostly-complete first-draft manuscripts and two or three more that are half-finished. I just haven't been able to commit to finish anything. This year has been quite a roller coaster, with my father-in-law's passing and just general craziness keeping us busy all the time. I just haven't had the motivation to write the way I used to.

So now should be a perfect time to go back and read some old reviews for inspiration, right?

May Question: What was the most inspiring feedback you received from readers?

Oh, this will be fun. I've shared a few of these before, but they're too good to not mention again.

"Not rating this as I noped out of this one very early."
- SPFBO reviewer

"A review will follow."
- a different SPFBO reviewer on a different book (spoiler: a review did NOT follow)

"This book had some errors, relied completely on allusions to the pop culture of my childhood and bordered on cheesy from beginning to end."
- Goodreads review

"too much about 13 year olds thinking about sex."
- Amazon reviewer who has never met a 13-year-old boy.

"Our favorite bunch of Nova Scotian teenage nerds"
- Goodreads review (and yes, the very first word in the synopsis is "Newfoundland")

"The first book in the series really pulled out all the stops resulting in a book that was as suspenseful as it was hilarious."
- Goodreads review talking about the second book in the series.

"It's not bad, you know, if you've got nothing better to read."
- my father-in-law

"This is pretty good, where did you plagiarize this from?"
- my father

"You should read Patricia Lynne's book. She's a much better writer than you."
- my wife

I'm being silly of course. There were plenty of good reviews in there, too. In fact, the first Gale Harbour book recently crossed 50 reviews on Goodreads, and it has a 4.3 rating overall (4.7 on Amazon), so I can't complain. But it's always easier to focus on the less-than-stellar feedback. I'm certainly never going to get a big ego, that's for sure.

Anyway.

We're going to an Ottawa Rapid FC game tonight and then to a pirate-themed restaurant for Karaoke on the weekend, so I can't complain about my birthday celebrations, either. Here's my daughter at the Rapid home opener last weekend:

She got to meet three of her favourite players: Min-A Lee, Choo Hyo-Joo and Minyoung Jung, who in addition to being in the starting line-up for the Ottawa Rapid, are all also members of the South Korean National Women's Team. She was very excited, it was so cute.

May all of you have received great positive feedback that inspires you to write more and better. And for all the crappy reviews? Fuck'em.

Hugs & Kisses,
-CDGK

Thursday, April 2, 2026

April is the cruellest month, breeding / Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing / Memory and desire, stirring / dull roots with spring rain. (#IWSG April 2026)

April Fools! I didn't forget IWSG.

Well, I did forget it. Kinda. I knew it was happening but I've just been so crazy with work I didn't have time to do anything.

Knee - slowly healing

Writing - stalled

April Question

If you have a playlist (or could put one together) that either gets you in the groove to write or fits with one of your books, what is it? What type of music or what songs?

Well that's easy, since I have playlists for all my books. In case you haven't read Gale Harbour, music is very important for setting the mood and the time period the stories take place. I listened to period-appropriate music constantly while I wrote the books, and you can follow along in the books with these handy-dandy playlists:

And for bonus points, here's the playlists for my other two books. These are not as extensive as Gale Harbour, but they'll still give you insight into my headspace when I was writing them.

Anyway, I really do have to run. That was the easiest post in awhile. ;-)

Happy Easter!
Hugs & Kisses,

-CDGK

Thursday, March 5, 2026

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. (#IWSG March 2026)

I'm still here! I didn't miss IWSG this month! I don't want to lose my place on the list, I worked hard for that. :-)

Soccer update: I totally messed up my knee. The other one, not the one I had thought had flesh-eating disease last month. I twisted it, damaged the meniscus, not enough to need surgery or anything, but it swelled up like a grapefruit. The swelling is finally going down two weeks later, but it still hurts and it's going to be awhile before I play soccer or anything else again. Started physiotherapy, which actually made it hurt more. The wife said "Don't you think you should go easy on the physio?" I said I need to build up strength in the muscles in my leg around my knee, that's why it gave out in the first place. She replied, "Yeah, but you're old, it's probably not going to heal properly, anyway."

Sigh.

Writing update: My small project is actually coming together and I may even finish it on schedule. The first draft is nearly done. I don't like to share details until I am done with something, but I hope this one will be fun. It's pretty on-brand for me.

March Question - What elements do you include in your book launch? Or what do you have in mind for your future book launch? Or what advice do you have to offer to others planning to launch a book?

Ugh. I hate book launches. My last one sucked. The previous one was slightly better, but it was a lot of work. I spent months, growing my email list, contacting around a hundred blogs and reviewers, sending out review copies, both digital and physical. It resulted in a noticeable boost in sales and reviews, but was it worth the effort? Hard to say. Since this is not my full time career, I don't need to sell ten thousand copies. Getting a few nice reviews is great, but I certainly didn't break even, so is it really worth it in the end?

I still haven't figured that part out.

Anyway, that's it for this month. Enjoy March break!

Hugs & Kisses,
-CDGK

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

February, month of despair, / with a skewered heart in the centre. (#IWSG February 2026)

I will try to keep this month's post a bit lighter than last month's mid-life/existential crisis. No promises, but I'll try.

I'm still writing - I came up with a project for myself and gave myself a deadline, that always seems to help me get motivated. Even if I rarely make the initial goal, at least it's something to work towards. I also joined a soccer team! I still suck, but it's an excuse to get out of the house once a week, meet people and get exercise. We played one game so far (which we lost 4-2, but at most only 2 of those goals were my fault) and I fell and scraped the hell out of my knee on the AstroTurf. Now my leg looks like ground meat and I think it's infected. Can you imagine what's growing on that stuff? Indoors, with thousands of feet running on it all the time, and I can't imagine it's ever cleaned in any way. My daughter's team plays/practices on turf like 3 times a week, I can't believe more of those kids don't have flesh-eating disease.

Anyway, assuming my leg doesn't fall off, I'll be back at it next week.

I think there was a question this month, what was it?

February Question

Many writers have written about the experience of rereading their work years later. Have you reread any of your early works? What was that experience like for you?

I have re-read my old work from time to time, and generally speaking, it's terrible.

I think that's a good thing. That means I'm getting better, and I feel my writing has improved and matured over time.

When I was 15, a lot of what I wrote was copied or rehashed from other books and stories that I liked. I don't think that's a bad thing, I think when anyone starts out, they need to emulate someone they admire before they learn their own voice. Friends and teachers raved about how great a writer I was, but reading it now I just see it as juvenile and derivative. I suppose it still must have been better than what my classmates were doing.

When I was 25, my writing was wild and all over the place. This was definitely the period when I had the most energy and wrote the most (it was right around here I completed a manuscript for the 3-Day Novel Challenge, and I wrote another book in about 19 days). I tried different styles and genres, wrote weird stream-of-consciousness stuff, fake autobiographies, all kinds of dumb shit. Looking back, my writing was probably cleaner and better at 15 than 25, but I had to go through this phase to figure myself out.

At 35, I started my self-publishing career. My first book, Ten Thousand Days, was actually based on the manuscript from the 3-day novel contest, and it was crap. The next book, Hell Comes to Hogtown, was significantly better. Still cringy, when I go back and read it now, but I think I was starting to finally find my voice. I went back and almost completely re-wrote Ten Thousand Days a year later, which I think improved it immensely, and is the version that's still available now. I wish that the was version I had originally published, but I had to go through this phase to find my style and voice and figure out what I was doing.

Now, at 45, I have five published books under my belt, including a completed trilogy, and I think I'm finally starting to figure out what I'm doing. The Gale Harbour series has its ups and downs, but overall its been well received and I think I mostly accomplished what I set out to do. I think it has a nuance and maturity that my earlier works certainly did not. When I set out to write now I have much clearer goals in mind: I'm more mindful of the plot and characters, so I am much less wasteful of words. I think that's a good way to put it actually, I'm more efficient in my writing. I only have so much time and energy for writing, I have to make it count.

Where will I be at 55? I'll probably look back at what I'm doing now and think it was crap, too, which hopefully means I will have improved even more by then. Of course my writing will change and evolve as I get older, because I change and evolve. I'm not the same person I was when I was 15, 25 or even 35, so why would my writing be the same?

Anyway.

It seems 2026 is turning out to be my year of introspection. Getting old will do that to you, I suppose. Hopefully I'll finally figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

Hugs and Kisses,
-CDGK