​Our friend and favourite political commentator, Keith Baldrey, has again displayed "Ticking: The Great Experiment" on his famous bookshelf.
Did you spot it? Maybe tonight...

​Book #6 has been fun to write. Part of that is drawing maps. "The Grandfather Paradox" (about the Klondike Gold Rush) will have 2 maps. One is shown below in the early stage of completion and the final product.
I'm hoping to publish #6 soon; my Beta Readers have spoken, their brilliant comments included, and the cover (gorgeous, as designed by my son, Clark) will soon be the icing on the literary cake!
Cartographers and anyone else... what do you think?

These two trails were not the only ways to get to the gold fields near Dawson City, but they were the fastest and, thus, the most popular.
You may have seen an iconic photograph of the "Golden Steps" on the Chilkoot Trail, an endless line of fully-laden men trudging up a snowy, steep slope (the photo is in the description of Book #6). For many, that photo encapsulates the Gold Rush and the extreme effort of the men. What the image does not show is that most made that climb up to forty times! This repetition continued all along the trail. The magnitude of the stampeders’ efforts cannot be overstated. These men endured colossal hardships under the harshest conditions imaginable.
The White Pass Trail may have been worse. Thousands of pack animals died on its frigid pathways, causing it to be called the "Dead Horse Trail". With those unfortunate animals died many stampeders dreams.
I'm currently working on a second map; a regional map showing an area from Seattle, WA in the south to Dawson City, Yukon in the north. I will include that map in the book.

​The launch of Book #5, "Ticking: The Great Experiment", was a huge success. Lots of fun talking about the adventures of the time travellers. Thank you to those 47 who attended!
Next one? Probably February or March 2026 for #6 "Ticking: The Grandfather Paradox". The Canadian chrononauts travel through time and space to the Klondike Gold Rush; you know, Soapy Smith, Colonel Sam Steele of the North-West Mounted Police and Frederick Trump. That's right, the President's grandfather really did spend time in Bennett, BC and Whitehorse, Yukon, running a hotel, restaurant and brothel.
What do Beatrice, Sky and Zac have in store for him (don't be too hard on your keyboard answering that one)?

 ​You're invited to my book signing on Saturday, November 29th at Chapters Coquitlam, between 1 and 4 pm. To draw you there, we'll have a prize draw. Pick up a signed copy of any of my books. They make great Christmas presents. 
'The Great Experiment' (the fifth in the series) is about the Prohibition era in the USA. You know, gangsters, flappers and rum-runners. The story races to The Bahamas, where illegal booze was obtained by rum-runners like the legendary Bill 'The Real' McCoy (pictured).
Writing exciting historical fiction is easy when the real-life characters are as engaging as Bill McCoy. During Prohibition, he became a household name, with a Robin Hood mystique for the American public. To further endear him into our hearts, he came complete with a lovable dog! And it is true; he never broke the law.

Hope to see you at Chapters!

You'll meet him in 'The Grandfather Paradox', but, for now, there he stands in the photo, in his 'parlor' surrounded by minions. The most infamous figure of the Klondike era, Smith was a ‘confidence man’, one who used elaborate tricks and ruses to talk their victims out of their money. Smith was a crook with a gift for organization, constructing an empire any Mafia don might envy. A southern charmer, he dressed like a judge, sat on a horse like a prince, and spoke like a bishop. Smith arrived in Skagway with members of his gang sometime in August 1897 and was shot and killed on July 8, 1898, during a showdown on a wharf.

Below is a podcast. It sounds very much like two people discussing 'Ticking: The Great Experiment' and it is. However, I generated these two using Artificial Intelligence, as provided by Notebook LM. AI 'read' the book and generated the 12 minute discussion. Click the tiny arrowhead on the left below and have a listen. Let me know what you think in the 'comments' section.

Audrey and I recently visited Nassau in The Bahamas, the site of Zachary Burling's time travel adventure in "The Great Experiment". There, in the heart of old Nassau, beside Government House, the colonial Graycliff Hotel offers an enticing old-world experience. 

The Graycliff was built in 1740 and, consequently, has a rich history. During Prohibition, the hotel was owned by Mrs. Polly Leach, a close companion of Al Capone. The Graycliff was the most sophisticated gathering spot for the rich and famous and, likely, a competitor to the Lucerne Hotel, which is unfortunately no longer in Nassau.

Touring the elegant building and its tranquil gardens took me back to the Roaring Twenties and the Lucerne. "The Great Experiment" describes the Lucerne and its lush tropical gardens, where Bill McCoy and Zachary Burling meet Cleo Lythgoe and Spanish Marie. At one point, I could have sworn that I saw the tall frame of Bill "The Real" McCoy striding through the garden, his wide-brimmed fedora disappearing around the bamboo shoots before I could catch-up and shout, "Hey Bill! Let's sit a spell and have a chin-wag!"