Paul Quarrington, the Governor General’s Award-winning author of Whale Music, has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. In today’s Globe and Mail, Quarrington is quoted as saying that the diagnosis is “surreal.”

From the Globe:

Mr. Quarrington is not resigned to the diagnosis. Although set to begin chemotherapy soon, he hopes to continue working. Among the projects on his plate are his band, the Porkbelly Futures, and his latest book, for which he’s finished a first draft (he jokes that he now has new thematic material to add). His most recent novel, The Ravine, is being turned into a TV show, one of several film or television adaptations of his works.

I hope to see some of these projects through, he said.

Quillblog would like to add its voice to the chorus of well-wishers who have already come forward. For his own part, Quarrington appears determined to stay positive. As he told the Globe: “I still feel pretty good and I’m still fairly hale.”