Bio
 

My writing experience covers journalism, theater, a completed novel, a second novel in progress, and a published book of short stories Smash Palace.
 

As a teenager, writing the School News column for the Windsor Star, I interviewed jazz icon Louis Armstrong.

Later, while working as a musician in British Columbia, I wrote entertainment columns for Vancouver’s Georgia Strait and Victoria’s Monday Magazine. Among my concert reviews were those of Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, John Mayall, Journey, Heart, and The BeeGees.

Back in Toronto, as member of The Comedy Connection, I wrote and performed original comedy routines at The Edge, The Pink Flamingo, and The Rivoli.

For theater I have written and performed numerous performance pieces: poetry, monodramas, and plays. 
 

In 2016 my son Dylan and I produced a short movie Fun With Math, a comedy in which the Esperanto subtitlers’ union sabotages an educational math show by jumbling and falsifying subtitles in their effort to pressure TV-TV into paying them higher wages. To enjoy Fun With Math (Amuzi Kun Mat in Esperanto), please click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4CXaDy7Y9E.
 

I am pleased to announce my first published work, a book of short story fiction Smash Palace, which contains 32 stories that explore various genres: crime, science fiction, coming of age, family conflict, sex, cats, dystopia, and surrealisms. To own a copy please contact my website www.jimmcdonald.ca, and click the “Buy Now” button to pay by PayPal.

In 2018 I launched my publishing company Amalit Books. Using InDesign, Printmaster, and Photoshop, I designed Smash Palace’s cover and literary text. To inquire about publishing your book, please contact amalitbooks@outlook.com.

The novel Altered Boy involves a gang of tough teens who hustle lonely men until their clash with a rogue priest results in death. This story is based on actual events.

Besides promoting Smash Palace, I am completing a historical fiction novel Counterculture Revolution, based on anti-war activists of the late 1960s, culminating with the 1970 Kent State Massacre.

Personal information: After completing my B.A. and B.Ed. (U. of Toronto), I taught high school mathematics. In 1987 I founded A-Plus Tutoring Service, and still work as a self-employed private tutor, teaching mathematics and English.

In 2016 I became a Humanist Marriage Officiant appointed by Humanist Canada and licensed to perform marriages under the Marriage Act of the Province of Ontario. Visit my website http://www.happy-together.ca/

For crime fiction, please read Jim Thompson, Patricia Highsmith, Ross Macdonald, and the Swedish husband-wife team Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes has fascinated me since childhood. By 2021 Altered Boy and Counterculture Revolution will be available.

Married since 1987, I have four children. To keep in shape I work out at my gym, play baseball, and run; my time for 5K is about 35 minutes. I am a cinephile, especially film noir.