I grew up in a smallish Canadian suburb of Vancouver. After having spent some time around a couple different urban areas in the U.S., I started to think that “suburb” generally had different connotations in Canada than it did down here… now I’m not so sure. Duplicate parcel lots and cookie-cutter homes, yes; not much to do but commute to the city for work or real fun, yes. The only difference I can still maintain in my head is that maybe Canadian suburbs, on average, have better trees, or better access to beautiful, beautiful nature. I’m probably still biased.
Anyhow, Tales Of October, and the larger story I hope to tell about the characters I’m introducing here, is essentially my love letter to the suburb I grew up in.
I’ve heard it’s not a good idea to tell a story you’re particularly enamored with, that it’s best to have some distance or remove from the subject matter so you can tell it with more objectivity and less personal attachment. Unfortunately, if I had to reveal my own honest criticisms of the work I’m doing with Salvager Kain, high up on the list would be that I have less attachment to the story than I’d like. (This might come from the rare equation of “survivalist / fantasy – comedy about amnesiacs”; I’m not sure.)
Does it mean I won’t finish that story? Nope. “No Story Left Behind” is my new motto.
Still, as I start to post these pages that I created a few years ago — inspired by experiences from much longer ago — it’s interesting to remember just how much passion I have for that quiet Canadian suburb I grew up in. I hope some of that shines through.
Once again, my apologies if this runs too slow for your tastes. I can only hope you’ll check back again from time to time to see how things have progressed. FYI, the short stories of this first issue conclude every six pages, so you *should* see a generally-faster telling than the SK stuff.
As for today’s installment, this is my favorite story start I’ve ever created. I miss black & white!
See you in five days!
P
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