Coincidentally

As faithful readers will know, your humble scribe has been spending some time of late flogging his debut novel The Ideal Candidate. As part of this process of self-aggrandisement, I've submitted my book for consideration for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.

I don't know what kind of chance I've got, especially when I'm up against 44 other writers, including heavy-hitters like Stuart McLean, Linwood Barclay, and Douglas Coupland. But it would be quite an accomplishment to even make the shortlist.

But here's the strange coincidence: if you look at the list of submissions you'll notice that number 25 on the list is a book called The Perfect Candidate by one Randall Denley. You'll notice that Mr. Denley is a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, and that his book is about a municipal election campaign in Ottawa. Contrast that to my own opus about a municipal election campaign in the fictional city of Newhazel, a satirical stand-in for the great city of Mississauga. Evidently both stories are tales of political machination and conspiracy, and while the recent municipal elections in Ontario made the timing for both books natural, I still thinks it ranks up there as spooky.

By the way, if Christmas has left you too poor to buy my book, it is now available at the Mississauga Library.