Éric has had an eclectic career which ranges from casino dealer to canal boat captain to radio station DJ. Since 2009, he’s worked as a desktop publisher for the federal government. During his off time, he works as a freelance typesetter for various Canadian-based authors and publishers, roasts gourmet flavoured coffee, runs several pen-and-paper role-playing games, writes, and helps run JenEric-Designs.ca (Home of the TravellingTARDIS.com).
He lives in Ottawa, Ontario with his author wife, daughter, and son.
We wrote a holiday short story set the first December after Kennedy and Jason get married. They go to Kennedy’s holiday party at work, and, well… Let’s just say that the weather isn’t the only thing that’s freezing.
This short story and several others will be read on Renaissance Press’s YouTube Channel this Sunday December 8th at 2pm EST. Come celebrate the holidays with us!
A parody of Netflix, Bookflix is where you can find our books and more like them.
Edition is discontinued. Will be available at in person events until a new edition is released.
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 1966 special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
The Grinch is sick of crass commercialism and is overstimulated by the “noise, noise, noise, noise”; therefore he hates Christmas. Despite the eight-year-old’s protests that they need the tragic backstory, this was done fantasticly for a twenty-three minute special. There’s an economy of story that is quite impressive.
Score: 1
There’s really only the Grinch, Cindy-Lou, and Max but they are all fairly well fleshed out. The animators did a fanatastic job giving Max a personality without any lines.
Boris Karloff kills it as the Grinch and the narrator.
Score: 1
The dialogue is pulled straight from the book and is both absurd and rife with meaning.
Score: 1
The animation is spectacular for its time. bringing the exaggerated style of Dr. Seuss and giving the motions to match is great. The movement and framing are what all future Dr. Seuss adaptations would use as a base.
Score: 1
Huge nostalgia points from me. Despite its age, it stood up well. I’d love a cleaned up version from the original film. The kids were both glued and complained it was too short.
Score: 1
A holiday classic with lots of heart. This is a combination of amazing animation and wonderful voicework.
Final Score: 5* Stars out of 5
*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.
Sharing is awesome!
Starting today, and running until the 7th, we are taking part in the December Dash!
What is that, you ask?
Great question!
This is the inaugural event, where indie fantasy authors make book bundles of their signed physical books (and bonus content!) available to you just in time for the holidays! Link to the website with all the authors here.
Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers is the book we’re advertizing with the event. Check out the bundle options below. Please note that if you buy from our store, we will pay the tax, whereas if you buy from another store (Indigo, local bookstore, etc), you may not need to pay shipping. In both options, you will be able to get your hands on the bundle, but if you buy from another store, we will only be gifting the PDF versions.
Of course, you can buy other books from our store as well! We have some pretty great options (and we’ll throw in some bonus stuff for every book bought), including this one:
Note the free 2oz bag of coffee with that one!
We are really excited to participate in this event!
Want to see the full Assassins! bundle? Check it out on our website!
Bought the book elsewhere? Send your proof of purchase (image of the receipt with the book) to jenericdesigns@gmail.com
Thank you for supporting independent authors! We sincerely appreciate it!
Hello Coffee and book lovers,
Come see us for you coffee fix and some great reads.
Geeking Out For The Holidays: Ottawa’s Geekiest Gift & Craft Show. This Sunday from 10-4 at the Ottawa Sportsplex.
Hope to see you there!
A parody of Netflix, Bookflix is where you can find our books and more like them.
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 1990 film Home Alone.
Completely improbable in so many ways but extremely entertaining. There is a lot of care taken to not waste time or story threads.
Score: 0.5
Little eight-year-old Kevin is innocent, resourceful, and mostly kind. I was worried at how brutal I remembered him being but other than the traps, he was a sweet kid. The same can’t be said about his family. They were pretty terrible.
As a kid I had a hard time relating to the mother and father and even watching this with my eight-year-old I had trouble.
Score: 0.5
Other than the family that talks like an 80’s after school special on bullying, the rest of the dialogue is well thought out, funny, and clever.
Score: 0.5
Most of the movie relies on practical effects, pratfalls, and a beautiful neighbourhood. It works and for a 34-year-old movie, it holds up extremely well.
The score is great and the Christmas music is fun.
Score: 1
I was worried watching this with my kids because of how violent I remembered it being. But other than the traps and pratfalls, it’s a pretty heartwarming movie and we all enjoyed it.
Score: 1
A nostalgic, silly, and cartoony film with lots of heart and some great dialogue. Definitely worth rewatching.
Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5
Characters | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue
I have spent my life in the service of Sol. They are my God, my compass, and my reason for existing. The family I built around myself is my heart, soul, and reason for living.
As I stood there with an alien abomination’s hand through my chest, I didn’t think about Sol. I thought about Suzie, Adric, Janet, Hoff, and all the others who I’ve called friends. That’s what made me decide to live. I might have survived despite me but who knows.
I burst into flames, using the power to cleanse myself and heal. It didn’t usually work on anything beyond sickness but I knew it would work this time.
Coming out the other side, I was naked but whole. I much prefer being whole over having holes.
I didn’t have much time to rest however. The beast who had perforated me didn’t wait long to try and do it again. The creatures weren’t just immune to the cleansing fire, they used its energy to make themselves stronger. I threw myself to the ground and Suzie took its head off with her sword.
Avoiding the fighting, I went to the locker on the far end of the cargo hold and quickly got dressed. There was no way I was fighting these things naked. Also under the seat was a bolt gun and Flare, my sword. I had recovered the sword on Venus during the civil war. Suzie had been doing her best to teach me how to use it.
The legend says that the sword was forged in the heart of Sol themselves and had been passed down to each Sun Speaker since. I hadn’t received it on account of being thrown out of the church as a teen.
The room was swarming with beasts but Suzie held them back, her blade whirling like death.
Zuri and Diamond were holding their own with bolt guns and fists. We’d all agreed on bolt guns since plasma guns just fed the beasts, not to mention what they do to a ship’s hull.
“Let’s get out of here and seal the doors,” I said and everyone started falling back to the exit. I pulled out the bolt gun and fought off those that were between us and the exit. They’d somehow managed to get in the cargo hold on the deck above and were moving down to flank us.
The void beasts are hideous creatures with melting flesh for faces that looked vaguely like if the black of space and molasses had a child. They smelled like rotting flesh; vaguely sweet, sour, and pungent. They were the things of my nightmares but they weren’t that tough or particularly good at combat. They relied on their numbers and the virus that they spread. We’d already been vaccinated from the virus but not the numbers. We were killing them easily enough but we’d tire eventually and then they would win.
Deep in the centre of my ship are my quarters. They also double as a panic room in case something like this were to happen. The room isn’t massive but it is reinforced and defensible.
Over the coms I ordered, “Everyone retreat to my quarters.”
We were in the corridor and fighting for each centimetre of movement when Sol sent me a vision. It wasn’t pleasant and it also could have waited.
“Did you see that?” asked Zuri.
“I think so,” replied Diamond and he looked a little green.
I holstered my gun and drew my sword as I said, “Anyone else getting tired of seeing visions of my death?”
Zuri snorted and she shot a beast in the head.
Diamond punched one and said, “I barely know you and I’m sick of seeing you die. Is all this normal for you?”
“Not really,” I replied.
“This is an escalation of normal but it’s not unprecedented,” Suzie said while chuckling.
I sighed and quipped, “I guess I just have one of those faces you either want to punch or kiss.”
Suzie didn’t hesitate to reply, “It’s both. Always both.”
The other two laughed and fought harder. A large part of leadership is convincing people to keep going. If all it took was some self-deprecating humour, I was happy to lead.
We made it to my room and found the rest of the crew there except for Janet. “Doc, where are you?” I asked, scared I would only get static.
After a second delay that felt like an eternity, she replied, “I’m in the medbay, but they have me trapped.”
We closed the big reinforced doors and I concentrated. When I was lucky, I could see if the teleporter would work. It only worked on biological matter ten percent of the time. “Shit,” I said when I realized it wouldn’t work.
“What?” Suzie asked as she cleaned her blade.
“The teleporter can’t save the doctor. It won’t work.”
It was Zuri that said, “Why couldn’t we force it?”
“What?” I asked.
She breathed out and started talking to me like I was a child, “Our visions see the future but they can also let us see the math of the future. All we need is to calculate the right program to teleport the doctor here.”
I felt sort of dumb trying to understand what she meant, but Diamond summed it up better, “If we work together we can pick the best outcome from our visions.”
I grabbed their hands and we found the solution. Zuri put the math into the computer, and with a quick humming noise, Janet was standing in front of us.
I cheered and Sol showed me the outside of the ship. It barely looked like the Hey Sunny. It looked like a piece of candy covered in ants. It was just a matter of time before they cracked the gooey centre of our panic room.
I reached for the connection I had with Gwin and hoped she was close enough. I pushed my thoughts out to the universe, “Help us! Please.”
I prayed she could hear us.
While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:
Hello Coffee Lovers!
The current Canada Post strike will affect us, but we have found alternative ways of shipping. Canada, USA, and International may be slower to fullfil, but we’ll find a way.
Coffee.JenEric-Designs.ca is still open for business!
For those inside Ottawa, we are now offering a discounted shipping cost of $10. We’re working with Trexity to get the packages into Ottawa and parts of Gatineau.
For the holiday season we are offering a bonus 2 ounces of mystery coffee with every purchase of Coffee Shop Between the ‘Verses.
Good luck with your holiday shopping.
Éric
A parody of Netflix, Bookflix is where you can find our books and more like them.
Edition is discontinued. Will be available at in person events until a new edition is released.
