Topher Lydon

Cam is a delight, and Henry's just... a puppy Full of bounce Henry's just happy SOMEONE likes him.

A short "Winter"-lude showing that life goes on, even in the face of difficulties Good morning all Steve's ancestor and Cam, Go Henry!

Chapter 5.5: The Courting of Bobby Grady and Henry Hickey **Merrickville, Ontario. Late February, 1885.** The afternoon sun, thin and pale as watered milk, had barely warmed the frozen streets when Timmy McCormick made his decision. He stood outside Grady's Gunworks & Smithy, his breath clouding in the cold air, watching Bobby through the frost-rimed window. Bobby was at his workbench, sleeves rolled up despite the chill, forearms streaked with grease as he filed the burrs o

You have no idea how true that statement is. Alistair Merrick is an eldritch horror Abject evil. I won't call him a monster, no, he births them.

Your wish was my command.

Wow, thank you for reading... honestly thank you. I am so happy with how well received The Lost and the Damned has been. It was such a different book to write, dealing with that level of trauma and psychological horror And writing a monster like Tarquin Merrick was... very different than anything else I have ever written. Again, thank you for reading.

that was the vibe I was going for. I was actually experimenting with a four one chapter structure, and a one more chapter cliff hanger style. It worked rather well, and I ended up writing a second in Coyote vs the Water Wolf.

You are missing out with Buckshot, it's a treat of a little book. Summary Elias is assigned to Silver Creek a dying town, by the Pinkerton agency. Meets Theo, a self taught academic and trail guide/stable hand with one hell of a horse. Jack - otherwise known as THE SOVEREIGN STATE OF: HORSE They save the town, fight corruption, pistol duel at night in the town square. Good guys win, bad guys loose The town abandons Denver and moves, enmasse, to Canada for better opportunities. This is three years later.

The next book will introduce you to Kellerman who is Andrew's Law Principal (A senior lawyer that mentors a new lawyer) and teaches Andrew that the law has a place in Andrew's world. Between Kellerman and Tanaka we start to see the Andrew we know take shape. He marries the worlds together well. I don't focus much on Will's journey, we know that already. Robert Avery and Avery-Woods.

Wear a big ol' trapper coat and ride Brunhilde.

Theo really needed that scene. It was one of the earlier ones for this chapter written. I wanted to show that Theo could heal from the violation of his home, like he could from what Cobb did to him in the Brothel. The endurance of his father's book being a metaphor for Theo himself. Marked, but can be made whole again because no matter what, he endures.

CARTER'S ASSET Andrew Highmore has one job: infiltrate Toronto's most powerful law firm and bring down the man who owns it. His only value? His ex—Will Carter, a rising HR director whose new relationship makes him the perfect pawn. But when a troubled teenager's desperate search for healing leads him into the arms of a conversion therapy predator, Andrew's mission collides with the people he loves most. Now he must choose: protect Will from a conspiracy that could destroy him, or save a boy who's already been broken once. Some instruments are made to be used. Others become weapons. A gripping thriller about love, loyalty, and the price of becoming what you need to be.

For Uncle Jamie. Now we know why he was so accepting of Steve. It was hard earned, and fought for.

Chapter 17: The Jurisprudence of Action Gary 'Brick' MacReady hadn't been right since Denton vanished. Everyone noticed. The way he'd show up at the Tim Hortons at odd hours, staring at nothing. The way his hand shook when he lifted his coffee. The way he'd flinch at the sound of a truck backfiring, then get *angry* about flinching, his face going that particular shade of purple that meant someone was going to pay. The Cross was crumbling. Donny was gone—disappeared, eve

Historically, the Change of Name thing was the closest thing we could get to Gay Marriage for a very long time. That is until a Baptist Trained Minister: Reverend Brent Hawkes of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto is recognized for officiating Canada's (and the world's) first legal same-sex marriages. Key details regarding this milestone: Date: January 14, 2001. Couples: Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell, and Anne and Elaine Vautour. Method: Hawkes utilized a legal loophole by publishing the "banns of marriage" at his church, rather than using a government-issued license. Legal Standing: Although the Ontario registrar initially refused to accept the records, the Ontario Court of Appeal later recognized these unions as legally valid in June 2003, making them the first same-sex marriages in Canada. While other, earlier ceremonies (such as in 1974 in Winnipeg) occurred, Hawkes' 2001 ceremonies were the first to be legally recognized in Canada. It's the reason I write Pastor Jensen the way that I do in the Merrickville books. He is heavily inspired by Hawkes.

ahh Bobby Grady, Adore that character. Just alight when he jumps on the page in that battered Bowler hat of his. Our little Deputy determined and loyal.

Considering all things about to come down, they would have gotten a bargain.

The Remington Lee 1885 Naval Pattern Rifle was a technological leap, even over the Hotchkiss. Even though the bolt-action, detachable-box-magazine rifles designed by James Paris Lee saw only a modicum of use by the United States military, Lee’s design found much favor in Great Britain. A modified and refined version of Lee’s basic bolt-action, detachable-box-magazine rifle became perhaps the most venerable rifle in Great Britain’s history, the Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield. The SMLE can be directly traced back to the Remington-Lee rifles that saw action on the American Western frontier and in the racks of late 19th-century U.S. Navy warships. James P. Lee’s design was, indeed, “ahead of its time.” The Lee-Enfield saw action through WW1 and WW2, and this was it's spiritual prototype. You thought Theo was lethal before... With his scope and his steady hands. Yep. I joke, but of the two, Theo is far more lethal than Elias is.

By the way, the amount that Theo demanded: $75,000 in 1885 Canadian currency is equivalent in purchasing power to approximately $2.5 million CAD today,

The Dominion Headquarters was just to the left of this complex, right where that bus is. Good morning!

Chapter 5: The Brass and the Badge The Train to Ottawa. Mid-February, 1885. The train rattled north, a steel snake cutting through a landscape of frozen wetlands and stark, black timber. The rhythm of the wheels on the iron rails—clack-clack, clack-clack—was a hypnotic, relentless percussion that usually lulled passengers into a stupor. For Elias Sawyer, it was the ticking of a clock. He sat by the window, staring out at the grey blur of the Ontario countryside, but seeing

Imagine taking over Gable, Strathmore & Pierce, neutralizing megalomaniacs, and being a top-tier intelligence asset... only to get completely owned at a Sunday brunch by a guy who used to do kickflips behind a 7-Eleven. It forces Andrew to realize that his specific set of skills (blackmail, espionage, corporate law) are completely useless in the real world of human relationships. Marc beats him because Marc operates on human terms, while Andrew is still trying to operate like a machine. And Will, beautiful, oblivious Will, is probably just sitting between them, beaming, thinking, "I just love that my fiancé and my best friend have such playful banter." Meanwhile, Andrew is internally calculating how to frame Marc for treason, and Marc is just smirking at him over a cup of coffee. I am having my usual late night chuckle as I plot out the next book.

I just finished Carter's Asset 29 chapters, 127,000 words Andrew is terrifying at what he does. Will is nice and oblivious, as he should be at this point. Echo is 2001 Asset is 2002 That's half the lost four years. Carter's Mark is the next one Considering it's focused on Andrew Highmore vs Marc Lawrence, it should be an interesting one to write. I'm going to set it in 2003 concurrently with Carter's War. Where we never saw what Andrew was up to. GS&P's going to be interesting 2004 was Carter's Fortress and 2005 was Carter's Recourse. That should close the gap, and then I can look at the 2005-2015 era if I want to cover it. Which would cover the wedding I never wrote out. the birth of Jacob. And OF COURSE Jacob meeting Tommy... which I might do as a short. Sorry just mapping out my thoughts on this story going forward.

Well that's one way to demonstrate Denton and his gang's foundational belief: ≠ just not the way that he hoped.