About Nico


I'm a senior business analyst, writer, blogger and tarot consultant based in Toronto, Canada.


If you'd like to contact me please leave a comment, send an e-mail or catch me on Twitter.

Re-writing, a common theme this month

By Nico on Sunday the 7th of March, 2010 at 6:02 pm

I’m at work on a short story I first started about six months ago. After a few initial re-writes around that time it’s been sitting abandoned in a folder, though not forgotten.

Today was the first time I’d re-read it in full since that time. It’s better than I remember it, though not as good as I know it sounded in my head when I first began drafting the idea. They never comes out as well as I want it to on the page. I understand this is common, but it’s still frustrating.

More tinkering today, but the last five pages need a complete re-write. I probably ought to scrap them all together, but it would mean re-writing or completely re-designing some 500-800 words. It’s for the best, but it still hurts.

I’m hoping to have it finished by the end of the week, but we’ll see how it goes.

I’m really enjoying working on these stories again, and just being in this world. So many ideas to play with.

Back to work!

Another submisison

By Nico on Friday the 5th of March, 2010 at 6:50 pm

WritingI mailed out another submission this afternoon; a short story to a Canadian magazine I recently discovered and enjoy.

I wrote the first draft of the story a few months ago and have been tinkering with it incessantly for the past few weeks. It’s been driving me mad, but I think it’s ok. I hope so, anyway.

It’s very short, less than 2000 words. It’s set in an alterante Toronto and features a thoroughly dispicable narrator (though I rather like him). Many of the characters and situations relate to two other (longer) short stories I’d written earlier set in the same world.(1)

Time to get to work on the next one. So far it’s already 3600+ words.

Wish me luck.

Footnotes:


  1. There’s also a novel, but it’s not very good (yet, hopefully). I really like the idea, but it needs a lot of work. [↩]

Submission (or Tales of an Aspiring Writer)

By Nico on Monday the 22nd of February, 2010 at 7:45 pm

WritingI submitted a few poems today to one of my favourite literary journals. I had a few poems rejected last year for inclusion in an anthology, one of which was reworked and mailed today, hopefully better than it was before.

It’s been a long time since I’ve submitted something. Though I’ve been writing more than ever, I’ve been so caught up in other projects that nothing’s been done about it.

I rationalize to myself that, after enough editing/fixing/tinkering, it’s necessary to finally print and send, but it’s so utterly terrifying. Yet, I’m even looking forward to getting a rejection letter, should that be the case. At least that means it’s been considered.

With that, it’s now time to get back to work and massage a new short story into something that might one day become publishable.

Wish me luck.

Save the Words: Vampirarchy

By Nico on Saturday the 5th of September, 2009 at 2:20 pm

My adopted word

My adopted word

Mes amis, I have adopted a lovely word in attempts to save it from extinction.

The word I adopted is vampirarchy, which refers to a set of ruling persons comparable to vampires.(1)

It is now my solemn duty to “use this word as frequently as possible from this day forth in conversation and correspondence”.

Given the state of the world, this should not be a terrible challenge, though I staunchly refuse to employ it in reference to ancient sparkling stalkers of young women. That would be quite inappropriate. (Italy’s right out.)

Adopt your own ailing word at savethewords.org. As you hover over various artfully depicted words, they cry out to be rescued from obscurity. It’s lovely.

Plus, you get a nifty certificate!

Footnotes:


  1. Is this a favourable association or not? I can’t tell. [↩]

What I’m reading (and reviewing)

By Nico on Saturday the 4th of April, 2009 at 2:38 pm

BookishI read a fair bit. Perhaps not as much as Sarah Weinman, but she’s a professional reviewer with the luxury to spend all her time reading, and by day I serve as a senior business analyst. Still, I do ok.

Inspired by Weinmen, and a few friends who track what they read, for the first time in my life I’ve started keeping a list. It only includes books I’ve finished reading, and while I’m listing the graphic novels, I’m not counting them. Not because they’re not “real literature” (though that may be debatable), but because they’re so short. As of today I’m at 25 for 2009.(1)

I tend to read several books at once. Some books make great subway reading. Others prefer a quiet afternoon and a nice cup of chai. Others still keep me up all night wondering what’s going to happen next, when they’re supposed to lulling me to sleep.

While I’m not a career reviewer, I do write reviews for websites and magazines,(2) and also to better organize my thoughts, interpret and integrate what I’ve read. (Read more…)

Footnotes:


  1. Plus 7 graphic novels, for those interested. [↩]
  2. A dozen or so publishers regularly send their latest books and catalogues to my postbox. [↩]