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BEVAN THOMAS

~ Writer, editor, storyteller

BEVAN THOMAS

Tag Archives: Reetta Linjama

Cloudscape & Me

02 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by Bevan Thomas in Musings

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Cloudscape Comics, graphic novels, Reetta Linjama

Cloudscape Comics
If you know almost anything about me, you probably know that I’m part of Cloudscape Comics, a local group of comic book creators that publishes a yearly anthology of our work, has regular Wednesday meetings, and engages in a lot of different events throughout the city. There’s a lot going on there. Just last month, we had the launch of our seventh graphic novel anthology, Waterlogged, at the Maritime Museum and a great crowd of people showed up. This week we’re also putting the finishing touches on Epic Canadiana, an anthology of Canadian superhero stories edited entirely by me, and we’re already planning our next anthology, Mega Fauna. That’s not counting the Halloween party we’re preparing, the events we’re doing, the classes we’re teaching, the conventions we’re attending.

In the last year or so, Cloudscape has become a juggernaut, expanding far beyond the original confines of the group. When I first became a member, it was often hard to engage enough people to push forward any project that fell outside the yearly anthology while now we have a host of members who aren’t just interested in the organization as a venue for publishing their stories but are actually interested in the organization for itself. Thanks to their investment, Cloudscape has grown on numerous levels.

Few things make me as proud as being part of Cloudscape. My life would be very different and much less rich today if it wasn’t for the organization. Most of my best artist collaborations have come from people I’ve connected to through Cloudscape, many of my own stories that I’m most proud of have been published through Cloudscape’s anthologies, I count many of my closest friends as Cloudscape members, and of course I met my girlfriend, the multitalented Reetta Linjama, through the organization. Cloudscape has given me so much and I like to think that I’m doing my part to give back to it in return. There’s numerous other things happening on the horizon with Cloudscape and I look forward to being a part of them.

Reflections from the Land of the Midnight Sun

22 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by Bevan Thomas in Self-Reflection

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Finland, Reetta Linjama, Scandinavia, vacation

Land of the Midnight SunSo here I am in Europe for the third time (after the trips to Britain and France that I did many years ago with my family). I grew-up on Norse mythology, so always wanted to visit Scandinavia, though the part of Scandinavia I’m in right now is a little to the east of where I dreamed of. It’s the land of Ukko, Vainamoinen, and Hiisi instead of Odin, Thor, and Loki, the land of the Finns instead of the land of the Norse.

My girlfriend Reetta brought me back to Finland to celebrate the Summer Solstice and meet her family. The Solstice is one of the big Finnish holidays (though in Canada has been largely relegated to Neopagans), where Finns visit a cabin near a lake, barbecue lots of sausages, stay-up real late, and take pleasure in being in the “Land of the Midnight Sun.” It took a little getting used to midnight being light enough to read outside and it remained hard to get to sleep, but it was a lot of fun.

It was great to meet Reetta’s family, great to wander around by the lake, great to lie down on the pier in the middle of the night and gaze up at the gray sky, the darkest it was going to get. One day it was quite windy and I sat on a rock by the water and gazed at the waves the wind created. There was a “primalness” to the whole thing. I felt strongly connected to nature, to the spot where I was, and to everything around me. It was beautiful. We as a culture so often rush on ahead, focusing on our responsibilities, our jobs, our deadlines, that we don’t pay much attention to our surroundings. Sometimes it’s great to just sit there and “be,” be at rest with the whirling world, be connected to where you are, not what you’re trying to do.

BC is no stranger to natural spots like this. I must visit them more often.


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