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I don’t have a lot of skills, but I’ve become pretty damn good at accepting rejection letters from publishers, magazines and agents. Back in 2000, when I finished a draft of my first book, Tears of Mokpo (thank all mountain gods it never saw the light of day), I read everything I could get my hands on about the querying process. This included the Holy Grail of the business, Writer’s Market. I hit up people in Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, London and a hundred other places in between. The result? Complete and utter failure.

The first rejection letter sucked. (Yes, that’s how long ago it was. I actually received a piece of paper in the mail.) The second one wasn’t much better. By about Rejection No. 30 I stopped counting. I also stopped collecting the letters/emails. Instead, I began outfitting myself with rejection-proof armour. It’s an invisible suit and costs nothing. Unfortunately, a lot of people are too intimidated to try one on for size.

As many have learned over the centuries – often painfully – art is not an exact science. Nor is life. No matter how great we think we are, there will always be someone to tell us how so not great we are. If you imagine a world where people quit at the first (or hundredth) sign of failure/rejection, it would indeed be a sad, vapid place we live in.

Stories abound of inspirational men and women overcoming adversity, taking rejection by the horns, and saying, “I STILL BELIEVE IN MYSELF!” Click here to see some examples of real rejection letters to/from famous writers, musicians and filmmakers, and just try to imagine their industry without them.

What would we do without the Internet? I almost forget about this experience until I was surfing through YouTube on my virtual surfboard and remembered that I posted my death-defying jump while in Cairns, Australia in 2008. After spending a day in Port Douglas, petting a koala and feeding kangaroos by hand (checking out crocs from behind steel barriers, admiring black cockatoos, and listening to the most hilarious bird in the world, the Kookaburra, do its thing), I was driving back to my hotel when I thought, Hey! Today’s as good a day as ever to jump 164 feet into a shallow body of water.

After signing over my life to AJ Hackett, donating all my useable organs for research (i.e. none) and climbing the tower one frightening step at a time, which in itself is a full workout, I reached the top of the wooden structure, the Great Barrier Reef stretched out before me, lush jungle flanking me on both sides, the temperature a balmy 31 degrees C and HUMID. They tied a “harness” to me. They told me not to “worry.” They said it was “fun.”

I said, “How many people back out at the last minute?”

“Ahhhhh, right about, oh, I don’t know, maybe…one in ten?”

“Is that a question?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Guys or girls mostly?”

“Always the guys. Unless they’re Asian. Then it’s the girls and the guys.”

Anyway, I made the jump (to AC/DC, no less!) and survived the experience. If you haven’t tried it, I’d highly recommend doing it. Unlike other popular vacation sports like parasailing, rock climbing, and scuba diving, you’ll probably never feel your heart come through your chest like you do when edging towards the  jump point – and that’s worth something at the end of the day!

Watch the video here, though be forewarned those of you who are faint of heart….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEfbN481XTA

I don’t usually write about books or post book reviews on my site, but I have just finished what is arguably one of the best novels I’ve ever read and had to let people know. The plot is intriguing and based loosely on the Lima Crisis. A world-famous opera singer is invited to perform at a private party being hosted by the vice president of a South American country (which one is never stated) and paid for by one of the soprano’s biggest fans, an extremely wealthy Japanese businessman who is in town to consider opening up a factory there. However, things go awry when terrorists break into the vice president’s mansion. They were originally looking to kidnap the president, who was supposed to be in attendance but never showed up, so instead the terrorists take the roughly 100 guests hostage.

Yet this is not a shoot-’em-up, fast-paced thriller. This is the most unlikely love story I’ve come across, a unique mix of Lord of the Flies and The Map of Love.  Beautifully wrought, intricately described and unbelievably realistic, Ann Patchett puts on a clinic for writers. The storytelling is so tight you keep forgetting you’re reading fiction. The prose is lyrical, and while cleverly subdued, it remains poignant throughout the book. The two love stories she creates out of this most unlikely scenario are also nothing short of heartbreakingly mesmerizing.

Along the way, you’ll learn a ton about opera, but not in some pedantic, academic way that will have you yawning and looking to throw the book down. An immensely talented writer, Patchett allows her heroine, Roxane Coss, to deliver the story on opera through a spellbinding series of events that will have people actually wanting to go and download an opera and listen to it while reading.

Many of us are often wondering what to read next. Well, here’s your answer. Go and pick this up and do yourself a favour, especially if you’re a writer/aspiring writer and want to see genius at work.

2013. The year that was. My sincere thanks to everyone who helped make A Father’s Son a success. Truly and for trues. Thank you. There are no words in my sparse lexicon to express the gratitude I feel to everybody who has helped put this novel on the map.

That being said, I’m pleased to announce that I have finished a final draft of The Immortal Flower, the five-century epic I hope will be my real coming-out party.

All the best in 2014. Happy reading, as always, and happy New Year!

Saturday night, the ice storm landed in Toronto and cut the power at my home in the east end, one of the hardest-hit areas of the city. Freezing, I awoke to pitch darkness. Then I went outside and witnessed pure, unbridled destruction all over the place: icy streets filled with fallen trees, damaged property and smashed vehicles.

On my way to the “office” early Sunday morning, the streets ghostly empty, I witnessed two trees fall in my vicinity. Power lines were down everywhere you looked. Street lights weren’t working. Fire engines and ambulances were the only sounds you heard. Oh, and the parking idiot was handing out tickets along the Danforth during my walk. Seriously, the city is in chaos and emergency vehicles are speeding around trying to save people and we’re still handing out parking tickets. It was no different with the floods this past summer. My friend Joel will appreciate that one more than most.

If you want to see some images from the ice storm, you can click here.

Anyway, I’m finally going home tomorrow! Two days in a hotel with others who all share stories about their upturned lives at this special time of year.

I went to bed early Saturday night and got the shock of a lifetime when I awoke. But I’m returning home shortly and grateful that I have at least this much. Sometimes you need a massive dose of utter madness to remind you of all the wonderful things you do have in your life. And what better time: December 24, the night before Christmas.

Happy holidays to all and merry Christmas.

Apropos of nothing, Drew Hoolhorst over at Why you should penned an amazing piece on love and the joy/wonder/frustration/pain of having your heart broken into a million little pieces. It’s a fantastic read and will make you laugh and smile at the same time. Click here to read the post.

Who doesn’t have ninety-nine cents? Even I can rub together 99 pennies! Beginning December 3, and lasting until December 6, get an e-version of A Father’s Son on your Kindle or Kindle app not for the regular price of $9.99, but starting from a mere $0.99 as of today! If you have a Kindle/Kindle app, or know someone who does, spread the word. It’s a limited time offer to celebrate the festive holiday season. As always, happy reading!

On November 30 and December 1, Book City on the Danforth (348 Danfroth) will be giving away free copies of A Father’s Son to people who make purchases of $100 or more. Get your book shopping done early this year and score a free novel in the process.

I’m also giving away 5 copies of A Father’s Son on goodreads.com from November 30 to December 6. Click here to enter for free.

Finally, I’m taking advantage of a new program on Kindle and offering e-readers a copy of my novel from as little as $0.99 as of midnight on December 3 and lasting until December 6.

Happy reading and happy holidays to everyone!

In today’s hyper-driven, ME! ME! ME! everyone-must-be-happy-all-the-time culture, many of us don’t set aside the time to think about some of life’s weightier issues. Fervour of Spirit is a meditative piece on life and loss, death and sadness, art and beauty — all of which was very much inspired by the works of Wassily Kandinsky. In God on Trial, I do precisely that, in as short a story as possible: Was God responsible for the atrocities of 9/11?

If the reading’s too heavy, come back to it. Please. I urge you to consider these things which are of paramount importance in our lives, even if we don’t want to discuss them with others. And therein lies the beauty of literature. It’s a singular experience where you get to do it on your own, without anyone telling you what to think or say or do…

Just read.