D.G. Valdron: First off, I’m very private, and quite reclusive. I don’t like having my picture up. I’m not thrilled with revealing much of anything about my life. But apparently, as a writer, you have to put yourself out there. So here goes.

I’m a wayward Maritimer (that’s the term for a person from the Atlantic Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island), born on the north shore of New Brunswick. My dad was a mechanic, my grandfather was a carpenter, and between the two of them, it left me an arsenal of skills, a work ethic, and a practical approach to life. Growing up, we did everything and worked on everything from retreading tires, to small manufacturing, to construction, to running cement, doing carpentry, and working on cars. We raised chickens. There was always something to do. We were all involved, the whole extended family. I’ve had the usual assortment of quirky writers jobs, mechanic, carpenter, projectionist, cook, waiter, woodcutter ditch-digger, journalist and school teacher.

These days I’m a lawyer working in the field of aboriginal rights, I’ve been doing that for a while, I’m good at it, and I like to think I make a difference. Let’s face it, anyone who wants a career in the arts needs to have a day job to pay the bills. And I’m trying to write a bit here and there. I think I’ve been a writer my whole life, even when I wasn’t writing.

ON BEING A WRITER

My earliest memory is dragging my brother, in his high chair, over to a blackboard so I could draw Batman adventures for him. I couldn’t even write in those days, but even back then, I knew I wanted to tell stories. No matter where I’ve gone, what I’ve done, that storyteller has always been in me, struggling to get out.

I published my first story when I was thirteen. Just like Ray Bradbury. Actually, I published two of them. So Bradbury can suck it. I've written a lot of Short Stories.

I have (had?) a novel out through Five Rivers Publishing, out of Ontario, called The Mermaid’s Tale. They’ve recently closed, and the rights are reverting back to me. So, I guess I’ll have to figure something out. There’s a prequel to The Mermaid’s Tale called The Luck, which was going to come out through Five Rivers Publishing in August 1, 2020, which should be even more so. My publisher calls the series ‘Tales of the Nameless.’

I also have a short novel or novella called The Bear Cavalry: A (Not) True History of the Icelandic Bears. It’s a kind of free form thing, written as a Morgan Spurlock documentary. And I have another novel about two giant monsters laying waste to Korea, coming through Wild Hunt Press, called Pulgasari versus Yongary. Or vice versa. That should be out this year, 2020, or 2021, hopefully.

I have a three of collections of horror stories – Giant Monsters Sing Sad Songs; and There Are No Doors in Dark Places. What Devours Hungers. Available as Ebooks, check them out, you’ll like them. And two collections of Speculative Fiction - Dawn of Cthulhu and Fall of Atlantis.

Ever hear of LEXX? Canadian sci fi show about a giant bug that goes around blowing up planets, and it’s crew, a cowardly security guard, an undead assassin, a shape changing love slave and a demented robot head. It’s wonderfully surreal and subversive, and the story of its creation is even more demented. The creator of the series, Paul Donovan, once invited me to write the book for the show. That fell through, eventually I wrote the book I wanted to write. Now, I’m releasing it as a four book chronicle – the first volume is out, the second will be out soon. LEXX Unauthorized, Volumes One and Two. Volume Three will probably be later this year, and Volume Four either late this year or early next year. I’m not sure there’s a market, but it’s a labour of love, and I’m proud ot if.

The Greatest Unauthorized Doctor Stories, Volumes One and Two. Did I tell you I loved weird obscure sci fi? Well, obviously that makes me a Doctor Who fan, and a while back I discovered fan films. Basically, these are unauthorized productions – Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Superheroes, you name it – made by fans and amateurs. Literally, these people are creating their own versions, making films they’ll never make money from, just for the sheer love of doing it. I think that’s something to be admired. I started watching Doctor Who fan films in particular, and the best ones were absolutely amazing. But they were also hard to find, and hard to separate out. So I’ve written a couple of books, which are now online. I’m actually continuing to research and revise so I’ll probably release a re-mastered trilogy, chock full of crunchy goodness.