I did something Tuesday that I’m not very comfortable doing. No, not that! Disgusting! No, I asked people for money. I’m normally much more comfortable passively hinting for money or sighing heavily about money until eventually people give me money to make me go away.

But Tuesday, I launched a Kickstarter campaign to ask people to help me affray the up-front printing costs for the publication of my debut novel, A Hole in the Ground. This is serious business. I know because I’m using business-y words like “affray” and “up-front.”

The novel, however, is not serious business. It’s about the fictional town of Beaverly, home of Canada’s deepest but least exploited sinkhole, and Mayor Conrad Lemon’s constantly thwarted efforts to get the town on the map. So when an emergency occurs, he’s determined to make the most of it. At his side (against her will) is Jemima MacNaught, assistant editor…