In his new novel, author Bill Rowe imagines a former British PM fascinated with his First Nations roots and driven by time to share his story

“You found the place,” Bill Rowe exclaims as I pull up to the driveway.  

He greets me at the door of his writing retreat, an apartment in the shadow of Signal Hill. Rowe’s eyes are what you notice first, eager for the next exciting conversation. 

Despite a career going back to the 1960’s – broadly distributed between politics, radio host, commentator, writer, and when he had the time, law – he’s not in any way “talked out.”

“What motivated me in life was writing,” he confesses.

“While I was on the radio – and after – I succeeded in putting together 13 books. When I look back on it, it’s a rather phenomenal thing for someone who was also practicing law. It was a busy time, so I was glad to get time freed up to concentrate on writing. It doesn’t make me write faster, but more thoughtfully, more profoundly.”

Writing tends to be a one-way conversation: the writer communicating thoughts and ideas to a reader. Yet, knowing who you’re writing for is a valuable consideration and Rowe says his time as an open line host and politician gave him and appreciation for how people in the province talk and speak to each other.

Boyhood Dream

“Especially ‘around the bay,’ as we say in Newfoundland,” he adds.  

“To hear people expressing themselves, the words they choose, the cadence of their voices.  Especially women!

“It really is fascinating and I try to make sure that gets into my prose, brought in through the dialogue, incorporating a lot of Newfoundland and Labrador words and idioms, that kind of thing. That’s what I took from being on the radio.”

Like so many born during or around the time of the Second World War, Winston Churchill has loomed large in the life of Bill Rowe. He says writing about ‘the great man’ had been rumbling around his mind “since I was a boy.”

“He spent the first two years of the War, if not feeling alone, seeming alone against the German rampage over Europe. It took a couple of years – and some serendipity – to get the Americans involved.”

Churchill, the man, was nearly American by birth. His mother, Jennie, was born in Brooklyn and it’s those Yankee Doodle roots that provided Rowe with a rich playground to imagine a Churchill who spends his remaining months on Earth exploring those roots by reaching out to a young student, William Cull.

Rowe relies upon his own experiences as a student in London during the beginning of the Swinging Sixties to open his latest book, The Reincarnation of Winston Churchill. The story centers on William Cull, a student from Newfoundland, who encounters a world that seems like one great salon of British culture. Cull sees early shows from comic actors who would later become members of Monty Python. 

He befriends a pre-incarceration version of the novelist, Jeffrey Archer. Even a pre-fab Beatles get a cameo. So let there be no doubt of the setting.

Through circumstance and connections, Cull eventually comes under the gaze of Churchill. Rowe paints a portrait of a diminished political leader but still a man of fortitude and, as it turns out, gratitude for Newfoundland’s role in the War, both for England and America.

Soon, Cull becomes ever-present to Churchill as the young student can hardly say no to the man who has roped him into chronicling some of his final stories. Churchill has become besotted by his First Nations roots and wants Cull to record it for posterity. 

“Churchill was very proud of his indigenous ancestry,” Rowe says. “One time, [U.S. President] Roosevelt said to Churchill, ‘You know, Winston, my ancestors were amongst the first to settle on Manhattan Island.’ And Churchill replies, ‘And you know, Franklin, my ancestors welcomed them here when they came ashore.’”

The Churchill of history is remembered with a complicated legacy; resolute and tactical at war, racist and imperial with many cultures not British.

Still, Churchill fought for the statehood of Israel and it’s that side of the man which Rowe chooses to produce the former prime minister’s curiousity about his indigenous heritage. 

Yet, rather than have an affinity with their connection to the Earth and its precious eco-system, it should be no surprise a warlike lad like Churchill muses if his indigenous heritage has somehow made him the warrior he has been.  

“Churchill said he knew he was a man of destiny. He recovered from accidents and attempts to assassinate him. At one point, William Cull asks the PM’s secretary, Montague Brown, if he might die before he finishes telling this story.

“And Churchill predicted the day of his death, in January of 1965, 70 years to the day after his own father died.”

His Story Told

Perhaps impending demise creates the manner in which Rowe’s version of Churchill speaks throughout the book.  Less “we shall fight on the beaches…” and more a man manic to finish this business and get his story told.

By novel’s end, Bill Rowe may be asking readers who have descended from European settlers and colonists, if they can see that it’s still possible to reconcile our past and heritage. Despite the passing of decades, even centuries, it is not too late to tell the stories.  And for Rowe, this was a story he had to tell.

For more information  on Bill Rowe and The Reincarnation of Winston
Churchill and to purchase a copy, visit boulderbooks.ca or on their social medias.

Toronto-born writer and hand-knitter Karla Courtney, author of Poppy’s House, has been working in publishing for over 18 years. Having studied at the University of Western Ontario, she also completed a one year exchange to the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

Karla met her now husband there, and the couple relocated to Australia where she began her first writing job working on a series of magazines for the shipping and boating industries. In 2007, she accepted a position with Qantas Travel Insider magazine as online editor.

During Karla’s position with Qantas, she was asked to write a piece about a dream holiday she took as a child where she wrote about visiting Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time, and spending time with her grandfather. 

“The open spaces, salt air, kelp-strewn beaches and rocky cliffs were completely new for me. It was my first time getting out of the city (Toronto) and my first time seeing the ocean,” Karla shared in a one-on-one interview with The Herald. 

“There was also this warm sense of community I had never before experienced. Everyone always had their back door open and there always seemed to be a party in the kitchen. I loved hearing the sea shanty style songs with booming voices and a banging ugly stick, and being allowed to have a real cup of tea, served, of course, with Carnation milk.” 

Writing dream

Prior to chasing the writing dream, Karla was a young girl living in the big city of Toronto with her single mother, who at the time was completing her college studies. Her mother met David Courtney, a young man from Newfoundland and Labrador, and he very quickly became a father figure for Karla. After the couple were married, they took her on her first trip to Newfoundland, where she met David Courtney’s father, Eric Courtney, better known as Poppy. 

“The family instantly accepted me as their own, and I felt very at ease and welcome,” Karla explained.

It wasn’t long before Karla began regularly spending her summers with her grandfather. Born and raised on Woody Island, Eric Courtney lived much of his life with no running water or electricity. 

He worked in logging camps, fished for lobster, and built houses before moving to St. John’s where he worked on construction projects, including the Placentia Bay resettlement.

The piece that Karla wrote for Qantas magazine about her holidays to Newfoundland and spending time with her poppy was read by a literary agent while travelling from Sydney to New York. Karla was later contacted by the agent, who proposed the idea of a children’s book based on the article she had written. 

“While I had done a bit of writing previously, mostly magazine features and I had also written two knitting books, I had never imagined I would be given the opportunity to write such a personal story about a place and people I love so much,” Karla shared. 

Living in the moment

“I worked closely with the agent to write the story, she found a publisher, and the rest is history.”

The children’s book tells a very simple tale following a young girl as she travels to an island ‘far beyond the end of the road’ to visit her grandfather. 

Together, they bake bread, chop wood, pick berries, and even knit. The idea of living in the moment seems so simple, yet it is truly complex. Poppy’s House navigates the idea of never feeling the need to look at the clock on the wall, living in the moment, and intergenerational bonding. 

“Poppy is a very humble and quiet man – when I first showed him the book he was honoured and surprised. He quietly took it all in, said ‘my oh my’ a few times, and gave me a big smile. Then he just got on with things – cut some cake and boiled the kettle for a cup of tea,” Karla shared.

Karla currently resides in the UK with her husband and 11-year-old son, who has followed in his mother’s footsteps in terms of enjoying his annual vacations to The Rock. 

“I am grateful that just before COVID I spent a great deal of time in Newfoundland. In spring and summer of 2018 we spent four months living in St John’s, and in May 2019 I was able to return to celebrate Poppy’s 90th birthday! I wasn’t able to visit in 2020 due to travel restrictions, and returned in August 2021 for one week with my parents when travel was allowed again.”

Both Karla and her poppy, Eric Courtney, will be at Chapters on Kenmount Road July 13 from 2-4pm for a Poppy’s House signing & giveaway of Karla’s hand knitted lobsters. For more visit karlacourtney.com and follow her on Instagram: @Karlacourtney. 

Some children’s books are simply for fun while others teach valuable life lessons. Amazing Grace is one of the latter, while still being an adorable tale of a furry tailed little kitten named Grace. As Michelle Fizzard explained, Amazing Grace is the true story of how a once tiny, scared little feral kitty bravely overcomes all apprehension through the love generously shared by children in a grade two classroom.

Grace’s presence teaches these children so much, but her passing teaches the class that love truly lives forever, if only in our hearts. 

Fizzard, who was born and raised in Newfoundland, shared that she first met Grace while volunteering at an animal shelter. 

“There were these very feral little kittens and my best friend Jackie was there the day they were brought in. Grace was one of those kittens and over the summer Jackie and myself and my two daughters really became attached to Grace.”

The longer they spent with Grace, the more loving she became. “We were sitting in this cat shelter, and I was covered in kitty litter and I remember looking at Jackie, who is a teacher, and I said, ‘You should take Grace and see if you can bring her into the classroom.’”

The principal agreed and Grace soon gleefully went home – and to school – with Jackie. 

Love notes

But then Grace unexpectedly passed away when she was about a year old. 

“Jackie had to go into the classroom and deal with this grief with her whole classroom. And as you can imagine, these children have to now deal with the fact that their beloved cat has passed.”

One of the ways they dealt with the loss was by writing love notes to Grace.  “Over time, that really was a big part of the healing process for these children, then, as I’m writing this book, my mother passed,” she said quietly.

 Her mother didn’t have the opportunity to go to school while growing up in rural Newfoundland, and she had never learned to read. 

“Not being able to read and write was something she had to carry her entire life and it perhaps made her less brave at times, and I knew that that’s how I was feeling about starting to write this book. I was afraid.”

Thinking of her mom gave her the passion to just keep going and the courage needed to put Amazing Grace out into the world.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to write this book and I’m going to put it out into the world, and I’m going to do it with courage. I can do this for my mother and for myself. And for anyone who has suffered a loss.”

‘Out in the world’

There was more as well. “As a young girl, and as a lover of cats, I was around the same age as these kids were when I lost my first cat, so I knew the pain of losing a pet. It was like all these things kind of come together for me to write this story about little Grace.”

The topic of loss is a hard one for children but she added, “children are very open and accepting of grief.”

“In a way, I think that adults sometimes are a little bit more reluctant to talk about loss, but this book can give someone the words,” she said kindly.

Since being “out in the world,” the book, illustrated by her daughter Charlotte,  has been well received. “I’ve gotten some really beautiful messages from children about how this book has helped them, how they realize that even when something dies, love lives on.” 

For more visit michellebfizzard.lpages.co/book-sales-page.

A graduate of Memorial University in Biology and Geography, Snow spent over 35 years in the fisheries sector with the Canadian government and private industry in resource management and harvesting through the market, consulting those in government and industry and travelling to international markets over the course of three decades.

Snow did his research, and kept notes, and as such had more than a few stories to share.

“All of my fishing career, I had gathered a lot of documentation and oh jeez, I don’t know how many years it took before I got around to writing the book called From Fishing Boat To Ottawa,” shared Snow, a proud Newfoundlander who now calls Ottawa home. “I pretty well told the whole story of the fishery off Newfoundland as it pertained to Canadian fisheries and also foreign fishing as well.”

Trio of tales

Snow’s From Fishing Boat To Ottawa applied his vast experience in government and industry as a manager and consultant to reveal hidden features of Eastern Canada’s fishing industry. It would follow An Atlantic Trilogy, a trio of tales of survival and tragedy centered on a fishing family, pilot whale disaster and a unique take on an Atlantic salmon’s life story.

Most recently, Snow made his debut foray into fiction with Foreign Danger, a novel of drama, suspense and intrigue that applied Snow’s own real world fisheries expertise and examines fisheries surveillance on Canada’s East Coast.

“I used to have a chance to explain to a lot of people here in Ontario about what happens offshore in Newfoundland with foreign fishing. They only know what they see sometimes in the news. So a friend of mine said ‘you should write a novel about that,’” Snow recalled. “I thought about it for a couple of years before I got around to it. And then in 2021 I managed to put it all together and got a publisher over in the U.K. and that came out. And of course, it’s called Foreign Danger.

“When I was in Newfoundland I was director of resource management there. I was involved in all the offshore activities related to foreign countries and whatever. So based on that, I wrote a novel. Now, a lot of it of course is true. It’s very realistic, there’s no doubt about that. But there’s a lot of parts of course that are not. I used my imagination on a lot of it as well.”

‘It was catastrophic’

Reflecting on three decades since the cod moratorium rocked the foundations of the province and Snow, who was in a real world position to see the ins and outs of the devastating deal, pauses.

“It was catastrophic, and it should never have happened,” he admits, explaining that warning signs were there long before ‘92.

“Back in the ‘84 and the Kirby report came out saying that we were going to have 465,000 tons of cod available and all this kind of thing, my information didn’t agree with that. And I sat down with some people and sort of explained to them and the final answer they used to give me was ‘well, this is what the scientists say.’ But you see, there were other things happening as well. I was talking with fishing vessel captains from all across the south coast who were out on the Grand Banks fishing for years. I talked with many fishermen, and the information they were giving me certainly didn’t justify that there was going to be this big influx of cod, for instance, and other ground-fish as well.

“Of course that could never last,” he adds somberly. “When I got out of university in 1970, I knew one thing for sure: unless we change management in fisheries, it couldn’t last. It just could not last. And of course, it took till ‘92 before it was completely fished out. It’s a sad story. Of course, what kills me is I was part of it. It was a sad, sad state. I mean, a lot of fishermen and a lot of people were out of work. Thousands, 30-40,000. So that’s catastrophic. It was a sad day, there’s no doubt about that, when John Crosbie had to announce that.”

For more on the written works of Gordon Snow and much more visit gordonsnow.com

A decade of influencing the local arts community serves as the backdrop for the 10th annual Ochre Fest, which will emulate from the Ochre House Retreat in Ochre Pit Cove, Conception Bay South from July 8-10th of this year.

The event, which returns to its in person format for the first time since the pandemic era, spotlights Newfoundland and Labrador’s vibrants arts and culture landscape, celebrating everything from books to art, wine and of course, music.

“We’re delighted to be running our 10th edition of Ochre Fest this year – especially since we’re getting to do it in person after two years of digital presentations,” shared Rebecca Rose, Co-Chair of the festival. 

“That’s a key priority for us this year, as so many authors and musicians released new work through COVID, but were prevented from adequately showcasing their work and finding their audiences.”

Number of artists

The 10th annual Ochre Fest kicks off on Friday July 8th with Wine & Words, which will see Sommelier Lynne Henley of TastingsNL ‘delight palates with a wine tasting event’, while acclaimed poets Douglas Walbourne-Gough and George Murray will serve up readings of their latest works. 

From there, a crop of local authors, including Gerard Collins, Aimee Wall, and Olivia Robinson, as well as the energetic stylings of Zay Nova, are on deck.

“We’ve almost doubled the number of artists in our show for this year in an effort to help those who lost performance opportunities through 2020-2021 and to highlight new work by the province’s writers and musician,” shared Rose. 

“There are so many talented Newfoundland and Labrador artists living here and away, and we’re really pleased to be offering a festival line-up including a great selection of them.”

Saturday July 9th begins with an afternoon panel led by Ainsley Hawthorn and featuring Sonja Boon, Dr. Dolores V. Mullings and Heather Nolan will explore Belonging Here, and finding a voice in this place. Evening entertainment includes authors Claire Wilkshire, Elisabeth de Mariaffi and Eva Crocker and country music powerhouse of the much-lauded Carolina East.

10 amazing years

The festival wraps on Sunday July 10th with the distinct voices of Megan Gail Coles, Dr. Hassan Khalili and Terry Doyle, who will read from their diverse works and have a lively discussion with Leslie Vryenhoek on why Home is Hard Work, before a free-for-all Closing Party to celebrate 10 amazing years, and set the organization on the path to another decade of fruitful content.

Originally debuted as The Festival at Ochre Pit Cove in 2013 by Rose of Breakwater Books and Ochre House Retreat’s Lisa Porter, Ochre Fest is a homage to the organizer’s love of storytelling, music, visual arts and culinary delights.

Ochre Fest 2022 proudly features ASL Interpreters supporting three of the festival’s events (Belonging here, Closer to the Heart and Home Is Hard Work). Ochre Fest tickets are on sale now and available online at ochrefest.ca/2022schedule

Without missing a step, Jeremy Bennett returns to inspiring others with his positivity and high-energy words.

By Jason Sheppard

For the first time in two years, on June 8th, NL author and motivational speaker Jeremy Bennett stood in front of an audience of 100 listeners and delivered a solid 90-minute presentation. Watching him, you’d have thought he’d been doing this every week since the winter of 2020.

“It was great to be up here speaking tonight,” Bennett told The Herald minutes after his event held at the Comfort Inn had ended. While the audience was milling about, discussing what they had taken in, Bennett summed up the experience as “fantastic.”

Indeed, Bennett’s first live event since the first COVID-19 lockdown two years ago was filled with excitement, and it was a night the speaker had been looking forward to for a long time.

“This was a wonderful crowd,” he said. “They were all willing to learn, and I could see they were here for the right reasons.”

Bennett, the author of three best-selling books (Calm Your Mind, The Power of The Mind: How I Beat OCD, and The Solution) dedicated the bulk of his presentation to the TLM (“Top Line Mind”) Method of Thinking which he says, “can help create the correct mindset to help you achieve your goals.”

The positive thinker/speaker spoke about topics such as how positive vs. negative thinking affects our decisions, learning to calm anxiety, creating effective ways to attain goals, and how the subconscious mind affects us. And reminding ourselves of what it is we want in life.

And during those 90-minutes, Bennett had every member in that audience hanging onto his every word, who lauded his message after it was over.

“I thought it was a fantastic and enlightening event,” said Nathan Peters of AON Insurance, one of the local businesses on hand to hear Bennett speak. “He (Bennett) spoke about things you don’t think of every day. The things he spoke about we can implement in life going forward.”

One crucial topic audience members felt Bennett talked was about paying attention to our mindset.

“Jeremy gave a resounding message on how important our mindsets are to succeed or failing and meeting our goals,” says Velma Budgell of Royal LePage Vision Realty.

“Positivity and seeing the right things are so important, but our mind has to be in sync with everything that we’re seeing. If our mindset is negative or in the wrong place, then that’s what we’re going to see. If we’re in a good mindset, and we see an opportunity.

“It’s life! Life is tough and how we handle life depends upon our mindset lots of times.”

Kathryn Taylor knows the setup. She’s had her share of stints on the other side of the questioning. This time, though, Taylor is the author opposite of an interviewers line of questioning. 

Taylor, the longtime host and producer of Let’s Get Writing and Exploits Central with an extensive background in communications, sits down with The Herald in the wake of the release of her debut novel Misty’s Misadventures, a romantic comedy described as Bridget Jones meeting The Gilmore Girls.

The scale of a book

“I felt a bit like a fish out of water myself, which sometimes my character Misty feels like,” Taylor begins honestly.

“When I first started this journey, I started asking people, how do you write a book? How do you do this? I know I’ve written for newspaper, I’ve written a gazillion press releases and profiles, but I haven’t thought about the scale of a book. And the biggest piece of advice I got was write about what you know.”

Taylor would do just that, channeling her background in television production, hosting and writing, as well as the ingrained knowledge and wisdom of raising children and the movement through time that brought the Grand Falls native back to Newfoundland and Labrador after 25 years to conjure Misty Muldoon, the protagonist of her debut novel Misty’s Misadventures.

“All those feelings were raw and fresh in my mind. So I tapped into them,” she shared. “Those were things I drew into the book, but not autobiographically, because Misty definitely had different things going on (laughs).”

Set in Charlie’s Cove, NL, Taylor’s debut novel finds Misty, a divorcee who reluctantly returns to her roots, beginning again with a new sense of belonging, and a new love interest to boot. 

Laugh at life

There are of course challenges and tribulations along the way, with Taylor introducing readers to a whole slate of colourful characters ready-made for a  guilt-free popcorn flick rom-com or fireside binge read.

“I think the idea came so long ago when I was coming home and was so resistant to the idea. I felt like, oh, goodness, moving back to an island? I’m moving back to a lot of things that I felt I left behind,” Taylor shared honestly. 

“Moving back to my hometown. I was used to being in a city and not a town. So I think the ideas started bubbling then, but it took a while for it to perk. I think there was always an idea to set it here and I’ve always felt the Newfoundland had such an amazing culture,” she adds warmly. 

“When I grew up here I was very involved in theater and writing and performing. It was just so much fun. And then when I came back and landed in the middle of the dental practice and started to interact with people from all the small communities that would come in, right from the person who lays their dentures on the counter-top and says ‘what can you do for me?’ To one that comes in and the woman gets the new teeth and looks at her brother and he goes, ‘well, now you fixed your teeth. What can you do for her face?’ (laughs). So that really cemented it. I think the two years when I first came home, I just really saw with fresh eyes the humour. And I love humor. I love writing funny things, and I like to laugh at life and I like to see the humour in things. So that switched me.”

Seedlings planted

Joking that she’s “very good at getting the spotlight on other people,” albeit “much less so” for herself, Taylor navigates the at times taxing role of an author, and all the pitfalls of the literary game.

“I feel a little more reserved because you always have that thing, well what if people don’t like it? What if they don’t like what I’ve done? And you take it so personally because what if they don’t like it turns into what if they don’t like me? And it’s crazy to feel like that, but I think that bit of insecurity comes to the surface despite all the things in my life that I’ve done successfully, when it’s your own stuff that you put out there.”

Though with a successful launch in her back-pocket, seedlings planted to make Misty into a series and even a planned screen adaptation, there’s plenty to be optimistic about for this first time author with imagination to spare.

“I’m still learning this game and learning how to write. When I think of someone or some of the authors I interview, they figured out kind of this formula of what makes a book and how to create the characters. When I wrote this, I wrote it by the seat of my pants,” she laughs. 

A blank canvas

“I think when you figure out who your readers are, you write your stories, but you write for them, too. And that’s what helps you write those other books, because you kind of know and you’re not just looking at a blank canvas, you kind of know that here’s who’s reading and here’s what I’d like to write for them.

“I wanted a book that I knew that women might pick up and read and have a laugh. Nothing too heavy. They’ve dealt with the kids, they’ve dealt with whatever, and they just want to escape for a while. And I wanted to do that and I wanted to put it in the Newfoundland setting.”

For more on the works of Kathryn Taylor including Misty’s Misadventures and Let’s Get Writing visit kathryntaylor.ca

 Newfoundland’s own inspirational guru, Jeremy Bennett, has been spreading his message of hope for over a decade. With over 100, 000 online subscribers, Bennett boasts over 10 million online video views.

A published author (Calm Your Mind, The Power of The Mind and The Solution)the always upbeat positive thinker was appointed a World Youth Ambassador by The World Organization of Natural Medicine and was awarded “The Personality of the Year” by The World Organization of Natural Medicine. Now, as Bennett prepares to again take to the stage at home (June 8th at the Comfort Inn in St. John’s) he sits down for a chat with The Herald.

Q: What is The TLM Method and how can it help us in life?

The TLM Method stands for “The Top Line Mind Method.” In the upcoming two-hour presentation on June 8, I will show anyone who wants to achieve their goals how to program their minds to help this process become more attainable. Whether the goal is getting in shape, creating or scaling a business, it all starts with an idea. However, even though we may feel passionate about following through, sometimes life gets in the way and we lose all motivation. And this feels devastating. We’ve all been there. 

Q: What can those who attend take away from this presentation and how can it affect their lives? 

The TLM Method shows attendees how to program the mind to follow through with goals. It also shows attendees how to program the mind to see the opportunities that were missed before. It also shows attendees how to react to life’s difficult moments so that we can stay on track and finish what we set out to do.

Q: What is the importance of having the correct mindset as we go through our everyday lives? 

Having the correct mindset while trying to achieve our goals is so incredibly important. Passion and drive are important, but the correct mindset will determine if we are able to follow through with what it takes to acquire those goals. In addition, there are so many negative and positive opportunities that surround us at any given time. Our predominant thoughts usually influence us to pay attention to the opportunities that resonate with the kind of thoughts we think about on a regular basis. Let me give you an example. What happens when you buy a new car? When you buy a new car, you start to notice that car everywhere. Why? It’s because you are constantly thinking about that car. My point is this: If we are constantly thinking negative thoughts, we are going to be more aware of the negative opportunities that surround us. If we are thinking more positive thoughts than negative thoughts, we’ll start to see the positive opportunities that surround us. And then, of course, the key is acting upon the positive opportunities and not just allowing them to pass by. This is key, though: We can only act upon the opportunities that we are aware of. That’s why many people feel as though they are in a pattern of attracting negativity — many times (there are always exceptions to the rule), it starts with the predominant thoughts we think over and over again.

Q: Who is this event for or who is it aimed at?

Business owners, entrepreneurs, those wanting to achieve personal goals (fitness, sports, etc.). Or anyone who wants to start to attract positivity into their lives. It’s also perfect for bosses to send their employees to. 

Q: Give us an example of how language can influence people in business or otherwise?

A lot of my audience members for The TLM Method are entrepreneurs. So for that reason, I always incorporate several topics related to business in the presentation. I’ll give you an example of how words can have a profound impact on business. 

I walked into a gym a while back and asked the person behind the front desk how his day was going. He looked at his watch and said, “I’ll be better at 5:00 pm.” In other words, he was saying that he didn’t want to be there. Immediately, this sends a message to the gym-goer that if he doesn’t want to be there and he’s getting paid to be there, why would I want to pay to come here? 

A more appropriate response to the question, “How are you doing?” would have been, “Great! How’s your day going?”

Q:  How have things been over the last two years? COVID must have had challenges even for the most positive among us. We hear you are a new father, so that must be exciting. 

Over the last two years, I’ve been working on several projects, including new and exciting presentations like the one coming up on June 8th. It’s my goal to help others program their minds to achieve their goals. Life can easily get in the way of our motivation to follow through, but it’s the correct mindset that will allow us to keep pushing. That’s what The TLM Method is all about. But most importantly, my wife and I are so proud to introduce to the world our little baby boy. He’s now eight months old. Life is so different now in the most blissful, incredible way.  

 Event information:

The TLM Method with Jeremy Bennett

Date: June 8, 2022

Time: 7pm – 9pm

Location: Comfort Inn, St. John’s, 106 Airport Road

For info and tickets visit www.thetlmmethod.com 

What is place? And how do we find belonging in that place? 

Multi-talented artist Heather Nolan searches for meaning in Land of The Rock: Talamh and Carraig, a poetic exploration of place and belonging that took the dexterous author, musician and photographer (among other skills) across Newfoundland and Labrador and Ireland. 

This is Agatha Falling

“It was an intense project,” Nolan shared of her collection. “Especially taking this on before I really had any kind of validation. I wrote this around the same time as I was writing Agatha (This is Agatha Falling, her now celebrated and award-winning novel). Agatha hadn’t been accepted or published yet. So it was kind of like I had no idea if I’m writing publishable work, or if I’m just going to invest like five years of my life and all of my spare income into traveling through these places and writing this book with no external validation happening.”

With the critical adoration of This is Agatha Falling, which was long-listed for the BMO Winterset Award and ReLit Award, Nolan now had the clout to tackle her ambitious, globe-trotting collection of poetry, though the method and scope did not begin to form until her maiden voyage to the Emerald Isle. 

“The first time I went to Ireland was when I started writing this. I didn’t intend to. Fun fact; at the time I was like I’m probably never going to write anything of any value to anyone. So maybe I’ll just write a kid’s book or something. At least then I can say I’ve written something. So I was going to go to Ireland and write a kid’s book about Irish myths, just because I wanted to write something. Then I at least would get the impulse out of my system and I could move on with my life. 

‘Tick of Validation’

“When I was there I wrote two or three poems, kind of with no real purpose or intention. It just kind of happened as I was walking around looking at stuff. I got home and a lot of the ideas I’ve been thinking about and wrote in those poems about just kept circulating. And it was largely like the broad ideas of what does it mean to be connected to a place that you’re not really from? A place you don’t actually have any connection to? And what do you expect when you go to somewhere like this versus what you actually find? Those kinds of ideas. Probably like three poems in I sat down and mapped out the whole project and exactly what I wanted it to be. 

“When Agatha was accepted, it was just kind of like that was all I needed. That one little tick of validation, I’m just never going to shut up now (laughs). Like, I have so many things to say. Just let me roam free.”

A celebrated photographer and musician, the pandemic allowed Nolan time, real time for perhaps the first time, to dive head on into her literary ambitions.

“I kind of made this decision where I was like if this year is the year that I go bankrupt or something, so be it. There’s nothing I can do about that right now. But what I do have right now is time and I’m going to pretend to be a full time writer. I’m just going to pretend. I’m going to put myself in there as hard as I can and work hard, see what I can make happen,” she shared, explaining that she wrote her first novel when she was 15, one she joked was “ridiculous” and “terrible,” but not without merit. 

“It made no sense. It was a bad book, but that’s something I set out to do when I was 15-years-old. And that need to do that has never not been with me,” she shared. 

‘Dabble in all the arts’

“I was 15. I had no taste. I had no idea what the f**k I was at. It took a really long time to kind of develop those skills. And I’m also not the world’s most patient person. So sometime around the age of like 20 I was like, ‘well, I’m 20- years-old and I still haven’t published a book so it’s not for me, I guess,’ which is ridiculous. In the back of my mind that was always the actual dream, but I just didn’t think I was capable of it for a long time. And so I continued to dabble in all the arts because that’s just fun for me.”

With This is Agatha Falling a celebrated hit, and her ambitious collection of poetry published, Nolan sets to work on multiple projects that yet again stretch her abilities and creativity. 

There’s the upcoming How to Be Alone on Boulevard Saint-Laurent, a fictional  combination of two novellas tentatively due next year, and yet another book already on deck. Her creative drive, needless to say, is kicked into high gear.

“From that one tick of validation of ‘this has been accepted for publication,’ (This is Agatha Falling), that was like a gateway for me of what I needed in order to feel confident in going forward with this work and I’m going to keep creating these things,” Nolan shared proudly. 

“I think the most satisfaction I can get out of a piece of work is when I feel like I’ve done the best thing that I could do, or I feel like I made some kind of breakthrough in my own methods of communication or creating … I’m currently at the point where I just get to dig in and see what happens. And that’s the most exciting thing in the world. It’s very daunting, but so exciting.”

For more on the works of Heather Nolan visit heathernolan.ca 

To belong to a place is a gift. I have been blessed with a profound and abiding sense of belonging to Newfoundland,” quoted self-taught photographer and photo book author Dennis Minty in his 2015 publication; Newfoundland, An Island Apart. 

Minty was strutting around, Kodak Brownie camera in hand, by the age of 12, connecting his love for photography with his love for nature. He went on to become a wildlife biologist and environmental educator. His love for growing and nurturing his link with the natural world landed him amongst the team of creators behind Salmonier Nature Park, and he managed the place for over 20 years. His first photo book, Wildland Visions, was released in 1993 after having shot photography as an amateur for more than 25 years. 

“It was the film days, so the images were just piling up in boxes in a cupboard. Occasionally, I’d have a projected slideshow with family and friends, but that was it,” Minty shared in an interview with The Newfoundland Herald. 

“A photo is a useless thing unless it is seen, so for what was I doing all of this?” 

Out of frustration, he gathered together a collection of photographs set around the theme of ‘wild Newfoundland and Labrador.’ Minty called up local publishing company Breakwater Books, which led to the publishing of Wildland Visions. 

This was followed by another release through Breakwater titled Wildflowers of the Rock in 1995. Minty began gaining recognition, going on to publish multiple photo books over the years including Enchanted Light, The Galapagos Islands and Ecuador, and Labrador, The Big Land. 

Sharing Connection

“When I make and share photos, I’m celebrating and sharing that connection. I want to do more than record what I see,” Minty shared. “Rather, I hope I can inspire an emotional response in the viewer that might echo what I feel when I am making the image. I hope that the eye sees and the heart listens and that I can spread some awareness and respect for the natural world around us.”

An emotional response is exactly what Minty was aiming for with his latest photo book, Slow Photography, Images with Intent. With 240 pages of images chosen carefully by the photographer himself, each photo represents the idea of slowing down, being thoughtful and reflective, and showing intention through art. 

“‘Connection’ is the word, and lord knows our society is in deep trouble because of the broken connection between people and nature,” Minty explained. 

“Slow photography is one way to improve the person to nature connection, both to our own benefit and to the benefit of the environment. There’s a lot to love about the digital world and I embrace it, but I fear that some aspects of photography, ones that are especially important to me, are eroding away.” 

Between the pages of beautiful landscapes and wild sightings, Minty showcases simple exercises that help reinforce the idea behind slow photography, and dive further into the shooting experience. 

As a society, we’ve become so accustomed to the digital world and having everything readily available with the click of a button that sometimes we forget the intention behind what we’re doing. Experiencing photography as an art takes patience and composition, slowing down and being present in the moment.

The ‘artful’ side 

“I simply felt like doing a book not just showing pictures, but about my thinking on photography. I felt I had something to say about it. I had been teaching some of the concepts in the book through presentations and workshops for years. It didn’t start out as Slow Photography, but more of a collection of my thoughts about the craft. The technological aspect of photography is well covered in scores of books and articles, but I thought the ‘artful’ side of photography was more obscure.” 

Purchase your eBook copy of Dennis Minty’s Slow Photography, Images with Intent via Payhip at payhip.com and check out his other work at mintynaturephotography.ca