TSJ at Fifty-Six |

TSJ at Fifty-Six

Picture of TSJ from July 2026

My thoughts after one more trip through the cosmos …

What a year it’s been! Here is one year’s journey in text, links, and photos. I hope you enjoy.

Above: TSJ at The Ship, in Ripley, Surrey, United Kingdom. It was such an incredible experience, I made a GIF of it.

Previous Birthday Posts

What a Year!

October 2025 to October 2026

This year I shifted to writing full time, focusing on my novels and on my blog, taking care of my university-aged “children,” and branding my name and what I do. Some of my professional achievements this year include:

Reaching the Semi-Finalist category in the Kindle Book Awards for A Blanket of Steel
Working with a committee to complete construction and the dedication of the Byron Springbank Veterans Monument in London, Ontario
Publishing more than 700 posts on this blog (This is post #753.)
Reaching 200,000 hits at Life After Gateway. Click pic for story:

Twelve personal appearances and signings since last October
Leading writing workshops at the University of Guelph, Banting Secondary School, and Central Secondary School
Handing out the ninth annual TSJ Future Writer Award to a very worthy candidate

Above: Raymond Mach won the award; he just started at Brock University in the Game Design program

Appearance on the Re-Creative Podcast to talk The Fly (1986)
Interviewed two of the team behind the Jean-Claude Van Damme film, Raid Pacific

Journeyed back to England after forty-eight years and published a three-part journal of this very transformative experience

I knocked two items off my bucket list:
- I saw and walked Normandy beach (Omaha Beach)
- I watched Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap in London’s West End
I also started hosting guest posts on my blog, Life After Gateway, to bring slightly different perspectives to LAG, which has been quite a rewarding experience

Some Other Assorted Events and Photographs:

The Monument

I’m especially proud of my work on the Byron Springbank Veterans Monument. Here’s a photo of the completed installation:

You can read a full description of the Monument and the dedication HERE.

And here is the Monument Wall. I wrote the Monument description on the left and, with the committee, designed the sign:

Above: The Monument Wall, with wife Flora

Above: With Brigadier General Joe Robinson, a long-time friend

In the United Kingdom

Above: This was one of the greatest parts of my July trip back to Ripley, the small village in which I used to live in 1978/79. This is at The Ship, an historic and incredible pub in Ripley, Surrey. Thanks to Becci and Tim for making my visit so special.

Above: This is at St. Martin’s Theatre in London, England. It was built in 1916 and I was at the 30,605th showing of The Mousetrap.

Above: I went on a “Jack the Ripper walking tour.” The history was fascinating.

Above: More Guinness! At a pub just outside the Tower of London.

In Normandy

It was such a powerful experience …

The Fly

I’m very, very proud of my appearance on the Re-Creative Podcast talking about David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986). It was my second appearance on the show (my first was for The Thing), and I was fully prepared for the discussion. Check it out, here, and let me know what you think. The Fly (1986) is a true work of art, and I believe I effectively described why. Click the pic to listen to the discussion:

The Palace Theatre Arts Commons in London, Ontario

I published a comprehensive article about the history of The Palace Theatre in London, Ontario. It’s an historic building, a huge part of my creative journey, and I also filmed a four-part video about it. I am doing my best to promote the theatre and live shows there. This Christmas, the Community Players are putting on It’s A Wonderful Life.

Above: The Palace Theatre, which later became the Park Theatre, and then back to the Palace Theatre Arts Commons. I saw many great films here during my early creative formative years, like The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Many Appearances

Above: Talking “The Holy Trinity of Horror” with aspiring creative writers at London Central SS in the TVDSB

Above: From a book signing for The Rise of Oceania in July 2026

Above: Another book signing this year, with a few amazing fans

Above: I spoke to a fantastic group of aspiring creative writers at Banting SS in the Thames Valley District School Board

Feline, Friends, and Family

We also added a new family member this year: Nebula, a rescue from the local animal shelter. She’s seven years old:

Nebula, Age 7

Above: With some of my closest friends in September 2026. I met them in the following years: 1986, 1984, 1981, 1979. We are all still the best of friends, speak nearly every day, and see each other frequently. They are now considered family, and I’m blessed.

Above: March 2026, in Montreal to watch a Canadiens’ game, we went to La Banquise for poutine. On far right, another one of my best friends — since 1976!

Above: With my brother, who lives overseas. I rarely get to see him, but he was back in Canada in May.

Above: In Spain with my youngest daughter

It’s been quite a busy year. At times I’ve been exhausted more than I can describe, but it has been professionally, creatively, and emotionally rewarding. I also helped my oldest daughter move out of the house and to Toronto for her new career. This was a bittersweet experience, as we have been so closely connected ever since her birth, but her university schooling is now over, and it’s time for her to start her life. Twenty-some-odd years passes in the blink of an eye, so if you have young children, cherish this time, because it seems to flash by.

I love my girls so much. It’s been a great year; I’m looking forward to many more!

Thank you to my family, friends, fans, readers, former coworkers, the team at Fitzhenry & Whiteside/Sutherland House Books, and to everyone who has made this year so special. Now on to the next one!

— Timothy S. Johnston, 8 October 2026

Here is my family just over one year ago, on board Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas:

———

Follow TSJ on Facebook.
Follow TSJ on X.
Follow TSJ on Instagram.
Follow TSJ’s Blog Life After Gateway, featuring one carefully curated news item from the world of Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, and Suspense each day. Enter your email in the “Subscribe to Blog via Email” widget on the right.

———

A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 8 October 2026

———

Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

———

A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

———

A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007