This week issue 177 of The Malahat Review should be available at various bookstores, including Chapters/Indigo, Book City, and some university or academic booksellers. A story I wrote called ‘To Have to Wait’ shows up on page 29. The Malahat Review has long been regarded as one of the best literary journals in Canada, and has published writers like Yann Martel, Michael Ondaatje and Margaret Atwood. Not to say that I have all that much in common with any of those writers, especially my arch-nemesis Atwood, but it gives you an idea of the kind of Canlit heavyweights that Malahat has published over the years.

Thanks go out to Julie Paul and John Barton, who edited my story and did one hell of a job. They were real professionals throughout the whole process, and made it about as good of an editorial experience as could be. Also thanks to all the people who work on the production of the journal. If you get your hands on it you will see the quality of the final product.

Finally, I want to mention that the folks at The Malahat Review also put ‘To Have to Wait’ forward as a fiction submission to the National Magazine Awards, and the Journey Prize. I won’t know if I’m selected as an actual nomination for the NMA’s until May, and the Journey Prize doesn’t announce the winning stories for their anthology until November. But getting a nod for either one would probably help me get a novel sold, so cross your fingers and all kinds of other stuff while I wait to hear back. Big thanks to Rhonda Batchelor and John Barton at Malahat for giving me a shot at those prizes.

So yeah, see if you can’t get a copy and check out the story. I appreciate the support.