I remember, so clearly, the first time I articulated the desire to be a science fiction / fantasy writer. I was in Grade 6, and the question had been put to us by our pretty, young, and sometimes-strict teacher Ms. Naher. I really liked her. I think we all did. I’m quite sure I used to act out for attention in class. I was always trying to impress her, or make her laugh.

When it was my turn to stand and answer, I said, “I want to write sci fi.” Whereupon Ms. Naher asked me, write what?

“Science fiction,” I said gravely. She nodded, equally gravely. And you can do it too, she said.

She did not laugh at me. She did not attempt to squash my lofty and unremunerative ambition. There would be plenty of people to do that later, but not Ms. Naher.

Odd, to be thinking of her now, decades later. Perhaps because my first sf/f novel is finally being published in January. Or because I have held and admired the galleys in my hand. Or maybe because it was Thanksgiving yesterday in Canada, and I am thankful for all that I have been given.

I don’t know why I feel such nostalgia for those days. I don’t even know why I told my teacher I want to write science fiction. My only exposure to this wondrous genre at the age of eleven was comic books, and Star Trek. I guess that was enough.

And then along came life and the whole business of earning a living, paying bills, settling down. But a writer’s heart, perhaps, is always restless, always yearning.

Anyway, today is the last day of the first goodreads giveaway by my publisher. They’re giving away 25 advance copies of my book to US residents. I’ll be doing another one next week – an international one.

I am sending my book out into the world, and in a way, it won’t exactly be mine any more. And that’s okay. There are other books, waiting to be written.