Pause in Pointe Claire while Passing Through Oblivion

The busy life of a Canadian journalist rarely confines a person to a single province, let alone a single continent, so it’s no wonder that former Chronicle reporter Scott Taylor has set up camp in Ottawa as a journalist for the Ottawa Sun newspaper.

What is a small wonder is how this former Chronicle writer mustered up the time and effort to pen his first novel, Passing Through Oblivion (Amethyst House, 2008), while still pushing the 9 to 5 everyday.

Yet Taylor, who’s gearing up for his return to the Montreal suburbs (at least for a book signing at Chapter’s Pointe Claire Saturday at 2 p.m.) is well aware that hard work is essential to writing a novel that is anything but formulaic, “I wanted to try something different, as an author that’s my goal,” Taylor said.

In his novel the unlikely protagonist, John O’Rourke, is a modern day everyman, as Taylor pointed out, a fictitious reporter whose flaws are only amplified by an excess of guilt over the loss of his family; forcing him to exist in a sort of self made hell that includes a downwards spiral of desperation and drugs. “I simply dreamed up what would happen if someone wanted that lifestyle,” Taylor added.

As the novel grapples towards its conclusion, O’Rourke, unlike the majority of lost souls that walk this earth, is granted a unique glimpse into the afterlife, where he must make an ultimate decision about his fate.

Aiming to steer clear of clichés, Taylor decided against basing his first novel on the notorious lifestyles of celebrity athletes or actors. “Writers tend to write about writers,” said Taylor, when asked why he made the choice to have his novel focus on the existence of a wayward journalist.

Taylor remains optimistic about the human race, even though his novel Passing Through Oblivion suggestively hints at the uncertain times we’re living in, “we’re not that bad of a race after all, and if we learn a little bit, we’ll be ok” he remarked.

Taylor acknowledges that writing a book is a welcomed change to “the more confined atmosphere of reporting.”

Taylor’s future plans include a second novel in the works, in which the majority of the human race is extinguished, except for one immortal man who wishes for nothing but death.

But for the time being, Taylor will be catching up with old friends and colleagues, marking the month of November in the West Island.