Timber Masterson (me) is a writer, who identifies as a participatory journalist, raconteur, reporter and author; also, as a straight white male, lover of the written and spoken word, noble gentleman and spiritual citizen of the world. I was co-producer and host of a monthly interactive gathering called Word Substance Spatula at Toronto’s Drake Hotel, featuring unique, established writers from Canada and the U.S, including the McSweeney’s crew, in a kind of theatre-in-the-round for writers; featuring classy blues guitar provided by Big Rude Jake and the work of various photographers showcased from the Dionysian downtown urban sprawl. I’ve reported on elections, fashion, farm animals, film festivals and celebrity and have contributed my imaginative and heartfelt essays to periodicals and online literary journals Fresh Yarn Salon, Akashik Books, Purple Prose, 3AM Magazine, Yankee Pot Roast and other sites that no longer exist, so you’ll just have to trust those essays were posted and enjoyed by prominent intelligentsia and global literati as well as the common man. I’ve interviewed authors, actors, musicians (and farm animals) from across the globe and my writing has appeared in The National Post, The Montreal Gazette, Now Magazine, Pie Magazine, OC Metro, and have also had monthly columns in Flare Magazine and Tribe Magazine. I’ve also been a regular contributor to CIUT's 89.5 FM talk radio show, HOWL, with Nik Beat and seem to recall having appeared at the 215 Festival in Philadelphia and The Moth in New York City to share my stories with other humans. I published an epic memoir, (who hasn’t?) entitled, TIMFOOLERY: TALES OF A THIRD RATE JUNKIE, which received rave reviews, mostly from me. These days I report from my headquarters, my literary lair, just north of Toronto, Canada, though have lived in Los Angeles and New York City and was lucky to have survived both. Have been awarded Toronto and Ontario Arts Council Grants towards completing creative non-fiction memoir-style novels, “A Long Way from Kind and Pretty,” “Paying Rent in the Tower of Courage” and “Timfoolery: Tales of a Third Rate Junkie” which I was tremendously grateful for. The next clump of pages for mass consumption is a mix of published essays and new stories I’m compiling, entitled, ‘A Bizarre but Entertaining Life I Seem to Have Survived: True Tales from The Dementia Cul De Sac.’ I may be coming soon to a town near you to share my words, but more than likely just to scribble notes into dog-eared Mead notebooks, ingest copious amounts of overpriced, frothy caffeine beverages, and maybe play some tennis. Tim usually publishes and promotes himself under the playful moniker of “Timber” Masterson. That moniker was well chosen, since his various musings, observations and confessions have always merited the cry that something major is hurtling forward. In a forest full of writers searching for their original voice, Tim has confidently found his.
School of Life. Still ongoing.
