In the cosmopolitan galaxy most denizens have no idea what the Intergalactic Gazette is or what ‘reading’ is, except the rumour that it’s something done with eyes (if one happens to have that sort of accessory) causing distractions that make one collide into things — therefore that is another reason ‘reading’ should remain obsolete: it’s pointless AND hazardous.
In fact if it wasn’t already obsolete it should be banned.
Journalist Dube Merrick wasn’t having a particularly great day anyway. However he would have preferred to have a different kind of bad day than the day that this day turned out to be.
The Intergalactic Gazette’s only subscribers stopped paying leaving the galaxy's only print journalist out of work. The paperboy is missing. Dube’s rare All-Zone Class space-Duster has crashed on one of the most hostile planets in the Spurious galaxy, and his narcissistic door won’t let him back inside. To top it off, since Dube has travelled across the Zones, his bad day is equal to just over two weeks.
Meanwhile the very last edition of the Intergalactic Gazette has fallen into the hands of a very eager to evolve Pickle.
Will the Intergalactic Gazette go out of business? Will Dube’s door let him back in? Will paperboy Leon save the day before he loses another sneaker? Is Pickle in line to be the next sapient species, and can she be a species if she's the last of her kind?
And just what does the Universe think about all this?
In between her eclectic mix of employment, including an assortment of film and television jobs, most of Madeleine's weekends and evenings were spent writing. Along with completing Intergalactic Gazette, she has a large collection of feature screenplays and short stories, a dislike of being in direct sunlight and a muttering habit.
Madeleine has had short stories published and won first prize from the Canadian Screen Alliance for her comedy feature screenplay, Fringe Radio.
When she isn't writing, Madeleine is active cycling, hiking, canoeing (wearing spf clothing and wearing 60+ sunscreen), and yoga-ing, all the while feeling guilty about not writing.
Most recently Madeleine has been putting her writing to use in the video game industry.