Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.Inspector Ian McFergus had not been satisfied; not in the least satisfied. He had inspected Marley's body using all the due processes and checklists upon which the polic...

Poems for when the words stop and you start leaving footprints in the ashes.

For people who have read the novel, Marley Was Dead, and have questions, this is a short, helpful guide.Marley Was Dead is linked to Dickens's A Christmas Carol, but the descriptions of mid-Victorian London are more fascinating than the mystery, This guide answers some questions about the sociology of the book, including the mud larks, markets, and daily mayhem of the city. For example, being a mud lark, sifting through the mud of the Thames with bare feet for lost items, was indeed...

Win Szczedziwoj, a man known for photographing subjects in the rain, is on a vacation. Just him, his camera, his canoe, and a small, dark lake well away from civilization.That solitude comes to an end when his fishing line drags up a body from the lake. It looks like the usual canoeing accident, but the police suspect murder, and Win is suspect number one (I mean, what are the chances of actually snagging a body with a fishing line?)But Win wants to know why the dead guy was ...

In 2005 and 2006 the author made and set up seven different temples dedicated to Bill Gates.These were erected at various places in southern Ontario, and each was devoted to a different aspect of the way computers have changed our lives.

A man with an indigo guitar lived in the church basement, at least for the winter. One day he met a woman at a coffee place. Or maybe she found him, his indigo guitar, and his church-basement sanctuary, that cold November night. She made only one promise: that she would stay until the first crocus of spring. During that time, they made a collection of their musings on topics for poems or songs that would probably never be written. This is their collection of those "Thoughts That are not Po...

For those people who are tired of singing "dip, dip, and swing", and would prefer canoeing songs with a little more originality to them, Lenny Everson offers 13 songs adapted from his famous canoeing poems.What you get are the lyrics with guitar chords. The songs use traditional tunes, so you can hear how they'd sound by checking the source music on YouTube, and usually you can find the sheet music somewhere.

Did you ever want to write a novel, or even a novella, but the generation of a viable plot and the creation of characters and motives seem like an insurmountable task? Well, this little set of instructions can be an invaluable start. It analyzes the basics of Agatha Christie's novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (her first Hercule Poirot novel, which now in public domain), and shows how you and amend, tweak, or change her characters, her overall plot, and the basic plot twist to create ...

These 18 poems express a love for canoeing at a season when canoeing's barely possible. I look out the window and the breaking away of frozen waters stirs my heart. Then, finally, the first excursions into river and lake.

The songs are brand-new, and include titles like "Grandma's Chicken Soup", "The T-Rex Song", and "Play in the Garbage". They are designed to be sung to folk tunes such as "Home on the Range." Basic guitar chords are provided.

The first story starts, "Hubby?" she said. "I'm sliding off the mattress again. And something's biting me on the neck."The second beginsIt was getting on past midnight, the wind had picked up, shaking the tent, and I knew I'd have to kill the guy in the next sleeping bag.If you've ever shared a pup tent with your wife or a friend, you'll recognize the situations in these two camping stories.

These seventeen poems celebrate canoeing lakes and rivers in a season of short, bright days that are tinged with a bit of wistfulness for another season past.They include poems about the peacefulness of September and the joy that is October, as well as the danger that is canoeing in November.This is part of the series, Canoeing Poems: A Year in Four Volumes.