Reader Buzz
on SWITCH

‘Wow! Loved it … desperately wanted more after racing through the first 130 pages. Fast, thrilling, gripping, scary…When can I read the rest?
— Gavin Hilzbrich

This book is so cinematic . . . due to the punchy dialogue and the succession of crisp, sharp images which drive the narrative forward. I want to read more!
— Sam Eades

This is absolutely brilliant! A very compelling read but I was upset when I got to the last page because I wanted more!
— Jeanette Slinger

I can't stand crime novels that have a long preamble before getting to the action and this one certainly doesn't disappoint in that way. From page one it's straight in there, bish bash bosh and continues on in that vein, so you are frantically turning the pages to find out what happens next.
— Sandra Hawe

The material I read was mad, frantic, super quick and entertaining.
— Martin Higgins

Gripping… Explosive… Page Turning…
And that’s only 140 pages in!!
— Darren Elliot

This was great - I really wanted to read on. Very much made me think of Simon Kernick and Relentless actually - same kind of ordinary guy suddenly finding his life turned upside down when he just comes home from work... Decidedly scary and asks some very dark questions: just how far would you go to save your family?
— Sue Cook

Cell Phone Soaps offer a 60-second escape

Story & Illustration
By Grant McKenzie

You've been there. The boss calls a meeting to discuss the meeting that bored you to tears the first time.

Fortunately, you've all been issued binders full of material.

Using all the skills learned in high school from your "bad influence" friends, you prop up the binder and pretend to study the notes. With one hand you surreptitiously slip your cellphone out of your pocket and prop it inside the binder.

As you tap the wireless Bluetooth earpiece hidden in your auricle and gaze into the phone's tiny LCD screen, you hit the retrieve button and it begins . . .

"Vincent, don't leave me." Her voice is pleading; her eyes filled with crystalline tears just on the edge of overflowing.

"But I must," Vincent responds, his words bitingly cruel yet there's a softness in his ruggedly handsome face that shows his reluctance.

"But why, Vincent, why?"

"It's my wife, Ginger. She's come back."

Ginger gasps, her head rocking back as violently as if she had been slapped.

"But, but . . ." she struggles for the words, until finally, "She's dead."

The camera zooms in on her deep azure eyes; they crystallize like ice, all tears gone, replaced with something else, something sinister.

"We were mistaken," says Vincent, shrinking under her malevolent gaze.

"But you buried her? I watched the funeral."

"You were there?" Vincent gasps, his mind reeling with what she might have witnessed. "I told you to stay away."

"I know," Ginger says icily, "but I needed to make sure she was truly gone."

Vincent softens. "I thought she was," he says. "But the groundskeeper heard scratching from the grave last night and decided to take a look. She was still alive, trying to claw her way out."

"But the doctors, the coroner," Ginger pleads.

"They were mistaken."

Suddenly the screeching sound of car brakes freezes the lovers in place as headlights flood through the ground floor window.

"Oh, no!" Vincent screams, his manly facade crumbling into girlish fear. "She's here."

The screen goes dark and a message tells you to tune in tomorrow for the next 60-second installment of My Cubicle or Yours.

Even the hardest workers need to skive off work every now and again to refresh their batteries and relieve a little stress. Some people take the newspaper into the washroom, others check their personal messages, but at least one company now wants them to watch soap operas from the convenience of their cellphones.

At the recent international MiPTV and MILIA trade shows held in Cannes, France, media giant News Corporation launched the first soap-drama specifically made for cellphones, called Hotel Franklin. The episodes last just one minute because, said News Corp.'s Lucy Hood, this "seems to us to be the natural length" for phone viewers.

News Corp. believes that time frame allows for enough character development and plot before leaving a hook at the end to get viewers to look at the next episode.

Although this particular soap will only be available in Europe for the time being, surely it won't be long until we get our own Canadian version up and running. As the country that launched NakedNews.com, surely we can make one-minute soaps that will have us so on the edge of our seats it will only feel like 45 seconds.

I must admit, however, that a 60-second soap opera dialed in on my cell wouldn't really make me feel guilty enough to buckle down and get on with the job. When I skive off work, I really like to go whole hog. One man in Germany recently had the right idea until it backfired. (Attention soap producers: Notice the cliffhanger sentence? The kid's a natural.) Pushy bosses at a painting and decorating firm in Koblenz, Germany, where the man works, called police when the poor chap failed to show up or answer his telephone.

According to his boss, he is usually a very reliable member of staff. After forcing their way into his house, police discovered the man, who has not been named, sitting in his wardrobe.

A spokesman for the police in the west German city said: "He told us he just couldn't face going into work and wanted some peace and quiet. But we are still not sure why he hid in his cupboard."

But you see, the man had a great idea. To fully recharge your batteries it's fun to do something that was comforting as a child. Next time you feel worn down, call in sick (so the police don't come barging in), stay in your pyjamas, then bundle a comfy sleeping bag and overstuffed pillow into the closet, put new batteries in your flashlight, fill one bag with your favourite chocolate and starchy treats and another with your choice of trashy novels, magazines or comic books, and close the door on the world.

By indulging the child inside, you'll be better able to slip back into an adult's skin and face the working world with a secret smile.

Short Stories

An author Q&A,
plus my short Out of Order
appeared in Spinetingler's Summer 08 issue.

My short White Volcano appeared in
Out Of The Gutter 2

My short Ragamuffin Girl appeared in Spinetingler's Summer 07 issue.

My short She Remembers The Future appeared in The Late Late Show's Summer 03 issue.