on life & other inconveniences

The lovely Linda L Richards tagged me, so I’m interrupting my in comments debate with Stephen Blackmoore about Man On Fire to reveal 16 random things about me.

1. I was born in a hospital. That might not sound like much of an accomplishment, but my mom says I almost wasn’t because the labor was so short.

2. I was born just before midnight. Which may or may not explain why I was a nighthawk as a child.

3. I used to want to be shorter, but I’ve decided taller is better. You’ve got more leeway with your caloric intake.

4. The smell of coffee in the morning makes me nauseous.

5. I’m willing to consider castration as a suitable punishment for people who sexually abuse children.

6. I’ve never seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

7. I’m a multiple Science Fair Award-Winner.

8. The smell of cigarette smoke gives me migraines, so you can imagine how happy I wasn’t when the people in my apartment building in New Westminster were smoking marijuana.

9. I’m anal about child safety, which in part comes from supervising a summer camp program with 60 kids in it. I don’t believe in corporal punishment with kids but I could understand smacking people who don’t put kids in car seats, in the back seat or drop them in a pool by themselves without a life jacket when they don’t know how to swim, etc. etc. Don’t get me started.

Have I mentioned I’m anal about child safety?

10. I hated group work as a kid. Other kids always wanted to be in my group because they knew I’d do the work before I’d let their laziness and stupidity drag my mark down.

11. I’ve traveled to 25 different countries/principalities/territories. I’ve also been to 7 provinces and 2 territories in Canada, and I’ve been to 18 states and DC.

12. Around the holidays, I get misty-eyed when I see Canadian Tire commercials. I’m really a sentimental schmuck and cry easily at dogs and cats and cute kids and all that stuff.

13. I graduated college with an average of 97%. My highest marks were a three-way tie of 99% for the classes I took in teaching mathematics and working with special needs students. My lowest mark was 94% in behavioral psychology.

14. I also have a diploma in creative writing.

15. Craig Nolan drives a Red Isuzu Rodeo because that’s the vehicle I had.

16. The character Tain is named for Enabrain Tain, a minor Cardassian character in Star Trek Deep Space 9. Enabrain Tain carried a deep guilt for failing his illegitimate son, Garrick, and in his own way has to come to terms with that and either find a measure of redemption… or not.

Is this where I confess to being a huge DS9 fan, and royally choked at the cancellation of Enterprise, which was on track to quite possibly be the best Star Trek series ever?

Maybe while I’m at it I should profess my love for Cold Squad. If the people who did that show wanted to make a series with my characters I’d be thrilled.

Tag 16 people? Well, I’m tagging Linda L Richards. Who else? Stephen Blackmoore, Grant McKenzie, Andrea Koerner, Patrick Shawn Bagley, Chris Holm, Daniel Hatadi, Deslily, James Oswald, Kerrie, Russel D. McLean, Steve Mosby, Steve Allan, The Bearded Wonderboy (aka Stuart MacBride), Vincent, and Tom Piccirilli.

If you don’t have a blog, you can use the comment trail to post your random facts.

And I’d tag Amra, except I imagine she’s far too busy. Congratulations on the safe arrival of baby Sofia!

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the debut issue of Crooked, a new Zine that’s being published at Eastern Standard Crime, you can follow the link. There’s also a poll on the site now, giving you the opportunity to vote on your favourite story from the issue.

My own offering is a particularly nasty little tale. It isn’t really a mystery, but there’s definitely a crime. I’m not sure why my short stories tend to focus on the hard-boiled side of the genre, but they do. Perhaps it helps me clear my head so that I can go back to writing police procedurals.

Anyway, there are a lot of great stories in there, some from very accomplished short story writers, but I still think you should vote for me. After all, I’m providing you with the link and letting you know about all these free goodies, so you should show me some love.

Although I’d guess that this particular short story is inclined to leave a nasty taste in your mouth. Quite possibly the only thing worse would be killing an animal.

Speaking of which, I watched Fresh last night. And Man on Fire the night before. I’m going to have to type up some movie thoughts…

I’m not sure that I’m giving anything away if I say that THE FRAILTY OF FLESH is a hard book for my protagonists, and one character in particular. Working on the next book in the series, one of the key things is how people are seeing this person. They’re trying to figure out if the character is okay, and they’re looking for some sign, some normal behaviour, some actions that reassure them that they’ll have the person they know back again.

This is where life imitates art. We’ve been having our share of frustrations with one of the kids, who just hasn’t been themselves for a while now. On the one hand, it’s easy to throw these things at the door of divorce, and dealing with two radically different household environments. On the other hand, people change over time, and kids go through phases. We worry, while we’re aware we can over-analyze the situation, and sometimes jump to the wrong conclusions.

Today, I could put my arm around said child and tell them I was proud of them. And it felt good to see the child I know again.

As I turn my attention back to the book, I wonder about whether or not that moment is coming for the character in question. It’s actually a horrid thing, to put your characters through hell, to throw the worst things imaginable at them and force them to face that pain. I can think about things, like the review I posted yesterday, and know that the book has an impact because of the raw emotions it taps into, but it’s hard to write.

Picking up the pieces of the aftermath isn’t a picnic either. I think I’m hoping for that moment, when I know they’ll be okay, as much as the other characters are.

One really can’t complain when they wrap up the year with a review like this:

THE FRAILTY OF FLESH by Sandra Ruttan: Another great outing from Sandra Ruttan who is building her cast of Canadian constables into a winner of a series. A child is found beaten to death, his brother names their sister as the killer. The entire family is obviously dysfunctional and an impediment to solving the crime. A cold case continues to haunt the department and jeopardize current activities. Nolan, Hart and Tain are strong personalities, yet Ruttan successfully blends them together so each is a major player. One of the few authors who can manipulate multiple plot strings and keep it all together. Definitely recommended.
- Jack Quick

Guess that means I should definitely finish writing the next book in the series…

What’s the most original Christmas gift you received?

A strawberry rhubarb pie from Dangerously Delicious.  It was amazing, and Brian gets an A for effort there, because I spent the summer keeping an eye out for strawberry rhubarb, and never saw it once.

What book did you get for Christmas?

A Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli

(Again, Brian remembers a book I mentioned wanting to read a few months ago and tracks it down for me.)

The best thing about the holidays…

The looks on the kids’ faces.

The worst thing about the holidays…

Food.  Don’t get me wrong - it’s been good, but I’m so sick of food.

Something you did this year for the first time, or first time in a long time

On Monday, we went roller skating.  For the kids, it was their first time, and they had their share of spills and tumbles, but Sunshine* in particular did pretty well.  

Do you have a New Year’s Resolution?

Don’t we all have the same one, to lose 20 pounds?  (Especially after all that holiday food.)

I’m not going to tag anyone.  I discovered when I did my reading challenge that either nobody reads this blog anymore (which the stats tell me isn’t true) or people are too busy to play, and I totally understand that.  So, if you decide to jump in, drop a comment below and I’ll come check out your answers.

Otherwise, happy new year.  May 2009 be better than the economic forecasters predict.

 
PS: I have a new short story out, in the debut issue of Crooked.

* I’m going with Sunshine for the boy and Dottie for the girl for the sake of brevity in posts.

WHAT BURNS WITHIN has made the top 10 best reads list compiled by the lovely librarian blogger, Lesa Holstine, and I consider that a real honour.  

I was also recently interviewed for Shots Magazine, and you can find out the answers to whether or not I agree that I’m Ian Rankin with ovaries, whether I’ll ever set a new book in the US, and what’s next for Nolan, Hart and Tain.

I’ve also been working on pulling something together about FRAILTY that may be of interest to some readers.  There were a number of true stories that influenced the book in one way or another.  I was also asked at a recent event about the status of policing on Native reserves in Canada, and whether or not there’s discrimination against Natives.

One of the incidents it’s easiest to refer to is the shocking story of Neil Stonechild.  Stonechild was - allegedly - driven out of the city by two city police officers and abandoned.  He froze to death.  Although this story was not a direct influence for any of the titles I’ve written or been contracted for so far, but it does speak to underlying issues that need to be addressed in Canada.

For something more specific about aboriginal policing, a recent news article talked about joint efforts amongst police forces to fight organized crime in native communities.  I’m posting the article below, because I’ve noticed that after a few weeks a lot of the links I post to news articles are dead because the stories are often removed.

RCMP, Que., and aboriginal police tackle crime

Updated Mon. Dec. 15 2008 7:18 AM ET

The Canadian Press

MONTREAL – A joint squad of RCMP, Quebec provincial police and aboriginal police officers is fighting organized crime in native communities and helping boost the skills of aboriginal cops.

“We have contacts in all the communities,” says Robert St-Jules, the RCMP staff-sergeant in charge of operations for the Montreal-based Aboriginal Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.

St-Jules said aboriginal communities are of interest to traditional organized crime groups because in some cases they allow easy crossing between Canada and the United States and touch other provinces.

“The intelligence clearly demonstrates that the different organizational (crime) elements within the province use the geographic location of the communities,” he said.

Cpl. Francis McDougall, assistant chief of the 10-man Kitigan-Zibi police force in western Quebec, agreed.

“It seems like organized criminal activities are always trying to infiltrate the First Nations reserves,” he said. “You not only see it here but other First Nations communities. I’d say it’s a big problem all over the place.”

The unit has recorded some big busts since its inception in 2005.

Forty-five people were arrested on drug charges in its first operation - code named Crystal - in 2005, which took down a Hells Angels-linked scheme to send drugs to the far north from Montreal by mail.

Operation Concert, which hit Kitigan-Zibi and the surrounding area a year later, saw the roundup of 26 people on 113 charges including drug production and trafficking to the United States.

Cleopatra in 2006 saw about 35 people arrested in Kanesatake, Montreal and Sherbrooke while Operation Cancun, earlier this year, had 29 people from three native communities and Montreal in handcuffs on 90 charges.

St-Jules pointed out that $2.6 million was seized in that case along with a variety of drugs as well as 24 firearms, including a grenade launcher.

A case can be sparked either by the unit or from information received from an aboriginal police force, many of whom have had officers serving with the unit on a rotational basis.

“We gather all the intelligence and then we decide as a unit which (criminal) organization we’re going to investigate strategically,” St-Jules said. “The biggest thing that we look at is the impact that that investigation will have. That’s very important for us.”

Drugs are a major problem in First Nations communities and have been a focus for the unit, which McDougall appreciates.

“The benefit is keeping the drugs out of the community, keeping our community safe, keeping the drugs away from our children,” he said in a telephone interview.

“There’s so much out there now, new drugs coming up. It’s unbelievable what these drugs can do to kids.”

The unit operates only in Quebec and is commanded by a Quebec provincial police officer.

It was created after a standoff on the Kanesatake Mohawk reserve in 2004 which was sparked when aboriginal police were brought in from outside to clean up local crime.

The officers had to barricade themselves in the police station while they were surrounded and the band chief’s house was burned down.

There are seven aboriginal nations in 53 communities in Quebec, ranging from central reserves like Kahnawake near Montreal to tiny villages in the north.

Besides fighting crime and giving assistance to local First Nations investigations, the unit is a trading post of skills.

“They come and teach us their culture and we teach them different things on how to investigate organized crime,” St-Jules said of the collaboration between non-aboriginal and aboriginal investigators.

“It’s crucial. These investigations couldn’t have been done without the integration of everybody. Everybody brings something to the table.”

McDougall said the training is a boon for officers in small police forces.

“These guys we send for training bring back their expertise and inform the other officers,” he said.

“They come back and they have a different perspective on how things operate, on certain ways of dealing with stuff.”

McDougall noted that aboriginal police departments are usually small and lack the resources and manpower of a specialized task force.

The kids are sitting at the table, making apology cards right now.  Yesterday, each had to part with some of their allowance to replace Christmas ornament they broke at their aunt’s house.

First, they had to confess what they’d done to their aunt.  Then they had to clean up the mess they’d made after topping her Christmas tree, and help carry the garbage out.

As I sat them down with markers and paper, I realized some people might say this is overkill.  In fact, some years ago when I was shadowing a client in a daycare environment, I was stunned to learn the daycare didn’t believe in having the children apologize.  Their philosophy was that since you couldn’t make someone be sorry, you couldn’t force them to apologize.

Philosophies like that drive me nuts.  I know I can’t make anyone be sorry, but that isn’t the point.  The point isn’t about the feelings of the offender.  The point is making them take responsibility.  Sometimes, yes, the emotions follow the actions, but what exactly is the alternative if we wait for emotion to precede action?  It seems to me that there are an increasing number of people in our society that don’t take responsibility for anything they do.  It may not start with politicians, but they’re easy targets for this kind of accusation.  Governments run up deficits, start wars, meddle in international affairs - or fail to take warranted action, in the case of Rwanda, and consequently allow hundreds of thousands of people to be senselessly slaughtered - and just walk away, leaving taxpayers to pay the bill.  

We can all look at Wall Street and talk about the lack of accountability for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.  These are easy targets for us, especially under the present circumstances.

But I think the problems run deeper.  Individuals who don’t want to own up to their share of the responsibility for how things have turned out in their lives.  You’ve got people justifying cheating on their spouses because they didn’t feel their spouse paid enough attention to them… like that makes it okay.  You’ve got others who deliberately try to get themselves pregnant so that they can manipulate a man into staying with them, and then they don’t understand when the relationship fails and complain about being stuck raising a kid they don’t want by themselves.  

With kids, I feel like the years I spent in education subjected me to more than enough bad behaviour to be convinced there’s a real problem with a lack of parenting for most kids.  When I did one on one work with special needs kids I followed them at home, in daycares, in preschools and schools, and I’ve encountered four-year-olds that swear like truckers, kids that take sticks to dogs, kids that physically assault other kids and adults…

And what are the consequences for the behaviour?  Well, remember that daycare I mentioned, where they don’t have to say sorry?  I saw a four-year-old tell a staff to f off.  The consequence?  

There wasn’t one.  

I think about the lack of parenting I’ve seen and I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised.  You’ve got part-time parents who think they’ll let the kids stay up as late as they want and eat candy all the time because they want the kids to think being with them is fun.  Of course it is, but don’t kid yourself that you’re parenting.  You aren’t a role model, you’re a bad example.  From things like letting the five-year-old sit in the front seat without their car seat because they throw a tantrum to placating them with a TV in their bedroom so that you can get them out of your face and don’t have to interact with them, we’ve got more and more parents doing less and less parenting. 

I mean, if you don’t want to spend quality time with your kids, why have them?  If I were to take the time I could cite 100 pages worth of examples, easily.  

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, because what disturbs me most about the whole incident isn’t that the kids got a little wild and knocked over a Christmas tree.  It isn’t even that they broke something.  Kids will be kids, after all, and there’s a lot of excitement around the holidays.  Even adults have accidents.

No, what disturbs me is that one child was genuinely apologetic and sorry, but the other laughed when they were supposed to tell their aunt what they’d done, and then shrugged.

Like it was no big deal.

When both kids are involved, it makes it more difficult to make sure your consequences are reasoned and measured.  One child compounded the original issue by blowing it off, like it was no big deal that they had damaged someone else’s property, and that really bugs me.  That’s the problem with too many kids today, and that’s why we have mouthy kids who don’t listen to their parents, or their teachers.  They don’t have to own up to the small things, so they grow up thinking they can get away with anything.

Both of us make a point of owning up when we make mistakes, which includes apologizing to the kids sometimes.  And you have to learn to do that without justification.  “Well, you may not have left your dirty towel on the floor this time, but you did it two weeks ago so you should still remember to pick it up.”   No - it’s, “I was wrong and I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”

At the end of the day, whether or not a person takes responsibility usually has a lot to do with the modeling they get at home.  I still remember the day I had to part with $8 of my saved allowance to replace the needle on a record player that I’d broken.  It taught me to respect other people’s property.

Maybe we can’t make one child feel sorry, but at the very least we won’t be guilty of not trying to instill a sense of responsibility.  And if we really want to clean things up, for the world to be a better place, I believe this is where it starts.

I think I lost count around 78 presents, and the stocking stuff wouldn’t all fit in the stockings.

The thing that keeps going through my mind is, that’s a hell of a lot of wrapping paper.

Priceless.

A varied collection of the best reads of 2008, contributed by a number of reviewers and authors across the genres.  

Can you guess what part I like best?