Location: Canada
Member Since: Feb. 02, 2012

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Grant J Venables

Biography

I am a Canadian who lives and writes in Southeast Asia. Presently I work in Kuala Lumpur, teaching English Literature. I was born and raised in and around Shuswap Lake in south-central British Columbia, but I have also lived in northern Alberta. I went to school at Grande Prairie Regional College, then I moved to Edmonton Alberta, and attended the University of Alberta. From there I moved to Bangkok, Thailand and furthered my studies with Michigan State University. I am married to a wonderful woman, Kaeo (who is on the cover of Bangkok—Just Under the Skin). I have three sons, Kritsana, Heathcliff-Manx, and Keats J. We keep a small farm in Thailand where we raise organic fruit and produce, and ducks…a great number of ducks.

When not reading, writing, or teaching, I spend time with my family, my friends, my ducks, and my trees. Trees provide a certain sanity and calm in a world so often too concerned with the insane rush to destroy itself.

Smashwords Interview

Describe your desk
Honestly, it's a fucking mess, but a mess I enjoy and can usually navigate my way around. Think about Les Nessman's workspace, with his invisible walls; mine's like that too, but I have these shitzy rolling bulletin boards for two walls.
When did you first start writing?
I used to write poems about girls in math class. I wrote in my room during grades 11 and 12, when I wasn't out hooliganing about. I used to listen to the radio (CBC) a lot (still do, much more than watch the festering television). You can listen and write, but you can't watch and write. I wrote some really bad poems that I thought were amazing.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Grant J Venables online

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=tab_pro
Blog: http://grantjvenables.blogspot.com/

Series

Venables' Poetical Meanderings by
Bold
Price: Free!
A Few Lines on...
Price: Free!
A Sense of Place
Price: Free!

Books

Sleep, Sparrow, Sleep by
Price: Free! Words: 15,160. Language: English. Published: March 27, 2014 . Categories: Nonfiction » Health, wellbeing, & medicine » Diseases / Alzheimer’s & dementia, Nonfiction » Relationships & Family » Ethics & morals
Existentialism, Absurdity, Euthanasia--words Ma would never have used while fully functioning, were words she brought to life through her lingering death. This small book is my attempt to honor what was her death and to make some sense of her disease.
The Meaning by
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 102,480. Language: English. Published: December 9, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Coming of age, Fiction » Literature » Plays & Screenplays
(5.00 from 1 review)
A boy grows to be a man: a majestic lake is his childhood home, a small town his surrogate mother, a lonely girl his only true love. An odyssey, an education, a departure, the East, confusion, meaning...fathers and sons, friendship, fidelity, and the face of a woman he cannot shake, all these force him to try to find the meaning.
A Sense of Place by
Series: Venables' Poetical Meanderings. Price: Free! Words: 9,710. Language: English. Published: September 23, 2012 . Categories: Poetry » Themes & motifs » Places
"A Sense of Place" is a collection of short poems inspired by places around the world. The table of contents is arranged alphabetically by countries and cities that inspired the works, but often there is a certain intertextuality at play as a poem about Thailand might hold Canadian content, or a poem about the Dubai sand, recalls a woman’s skin from Bangkok.
A Few Lines on... by
Series: Venables' Poetical Meanderings. Price: Free! Words: 5,600. Language: Canadian English. Published: June 11, 2012 . Categories: Poetry » Contemporary Poetry
A few lines on good love, bad love, music, modernity, loneliness, grey, existence, nature, transportation, words.
Bangkok--Just Under the Skin by
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 69,160. Language: English. Published: May 9, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Literature » Literary, Fiction » Urban
Bangkok—Just Under the Skin: the single, expat man and his often-misguided search for love in Bangkok, The City of Angels. These 19 shorts are told from varying perspectives, in multiple genres, and all provide a true insider’s view. There are stories of heartache, heartbreak, true love found, laughter, and friendship. Bangkok is The City of Angels, but it also can be a devilishly lonely place.
Bold by
Series: Venables' Poetical Meanderings. Price: Free! Words: 7,090. Language: English. Published: February 15, 2012 . Categories: Poetry » Themes & motifs » General
Bold is a collection of modern poetry that explores the human condition in its more shadowy forms, but it also offers hope and humor, all in good measure. The language is accessible, the forms are digestible, and the messages are comprehensible. It often takes a look from the outside, in.

Grant J Venables' tag cloud

absurdity    bad love    bangkok noir    beauty    bildungsroman    dangerous women    death    dementia experience    erroticism    existentialism    existentialist poetry    exotic locations    exotic realms    family and love    friendhship    friendship and loyalty    good love    hamlet    hubris    infidelity    laughter    life    literature    loneliness    love    modernity    mothers sons    noir poetry    poetry    poetry about cities    poetry about life    poetry about places    realism    romance    sex    sexy women    short stories for adults    sons and fathers    thailand stories