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. 

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

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

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

Number one international and USA Today Bestselling Author Candace Osmond captivates her readers once again with her most recent book release, marking her 24th published novel, A Kingdom of Iron & Wine. Osmond is best known for her Dark Tides Series including 2018 novel The Devil’s Heart. 

Born in North York, Osmond has Newfoundland roots and grew up on Fogo Island. Influenced by creativity as far back as she can remember, the established author spent a large portion of her childhood drawing, writing, and painting. “While it’s definitely a beautiful place to live, there’s not a lot to do, especially with no other kids around who were my age,” she shared in a one-on-one interview with The Newfoundland Herald.

A Writer at Heart 

“I often found myself sitting on a rock, staring out at the sea as I dreamed of mermaids or other fantastical creatures. Some days, I’d see how far I could venture into the woods and discover giant burrows or small caves to crawl into.” The young writer had no limits to her imagination, and once a high school graduate she received acceptance letters to three different universities for creative writing. For fear of never making a career out of it she chose to study interior design instead, but continued to play around with the idea of writing a book. 

Osmond kept a handwritten plot in a journal and placed it aside, only to pull it out years later and have it become the reason her love for writing was re-ignited. The journal becoming the inspiration behind leaving the design world and diving head first into the world of freelance writing. 

“Getting paid to write for others while I worked on my own book? Yes, please! I finished the book, naively self-published it, and then got to work on my next book. I never really looked back, never gave the first title much thought or care,” she shared.

From creative writing classes and learning the ropes of the industry, to publishing short stories, trilogies, and novellas, Osmond’s love for writing was well reflected in her work. Today, Osmond has published over 20 books, hitting international bestselling lists including USA Today bestselling author, and even adding award-winning screenwriter to her long list of accomplishments. 

With years of knowledge and experience now under her belt, Osmond dusted off that original journal entry manuscript during the pandemic. Reforming and rewriting her first self-published work, she turned it into the book she had always wanted but lacked the proper skills to produce so many years ago. 

The finished product landed us here, covering the official release of A Kingdom of Iron & Wine in its final form. 

Mythical Existence

The title A Kingdom of Iron & Wine comes from the duology found throughout the novel, and will continue to flow throughout The Ironworld Series. The main character, Avery Quinn, is human. She stumbles upon a hidden mythical existence of fae, vampires, and shape-shifters.

“She straddles the line of both worlds; the tempting magic–like the alluring aroma of wine. And the harsh reality of the mortal realm–full of buildings and weapons of metal,” Osmond explained.

“I’ve never written a book or series with such a huge cast of characters. That was the most challenging part of this project, making sure they all have epic backstories, but also that those backstories connect to one another and mean something to the overall plot and future of the series. Most of all, I hope my readers find a character they can relate to. We’re always looking for ourselves in things; books, TV, movies, etc. And I think I represent many walks of life in this book/series. There’s really something for everyone.” 

This most recent release is similar to Osmond’s previous work in the sense that it’s in her chosen genre, fantasy romance, and is based in a Canadian setting, this one being Halifax. Twice as long as her usual novels, it holds a tremendous amount of thought, detail and adventure to keep readers hooked to the massive cast of characters, and a plot woven together with the past, present, and future. 

“I’ve always been drawn to fantasy and the paranormal, mostly because the possibilities are endless,” Osmond explained. 

“I have a huge imagination, I’m always thinking and dreaming of plots, themes, and magic systems. The smallest thing could ignite a massive idea. For example, I once saw an old ship-in-a-bottle at a thrift store, and it sparked the idea for a time travel fantasy about Newfoundland pirates that became six books.” 

Fantastic Tale of Magic

A Kingdom of Iron & Wine embraces the magical world of fantasy and throws us into the fantastic tale following Avery Quinn and her crew of misfit friends as she uncovers a secret society of werewolves selling fae blood to vampires on the black market. The epic and unexpected plot is balanced with romance as Quinn falls for Cillian, a vampire, as she navigates a hidden mythical world and uncovers all of its dark secrets. 

“Newfoundland has such a fantastical history of pirates, Vikings, and ghosts. The province is a breeding ground for Fantasy ideas, and I hope to bring as many as I can to life.”  

Purchase your kindle edition of A Kingdom of Iron & Wine and all of Osmond’s books on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited! 

There’s so much about writer Darrell Duke to admire. He’s passionate about nature, for one thing, and his friendship with a beluga this past fall made headlines here in The Herald and beyond. 

Duke not only adores the sea, but also its history, and can be found puttering around bays and harbours near his Placentia hometown or his Clarenville home in one of many dories he’s restored, with love, on his own time and dime. Duke is a musician too and can be heard performing at White Hills near his home. He’s a writer as well, and his literary works can be historically captivating – like An Irish Tale of Leaving or The Garden Gate – or they can be fun family reads, like The Adventures of Crunch and Munch, a book Duke penned alongside his two daughters. Duke’s latest, Swept Away, follows along the (in parts) true-to-life-yarn spun in his book The Garden Gate, but there’s so much to this tale from the cover to the concept and inspiration that deserve to be shared. 

Keeping it Local 

The cover of Swept Away features MacKenzie Reading-Wakeham, 22, a young woman from Jerseyside, Placentia. “Keep it local,” Duke opened with a laugh. Duke also keeps things, quite touchingly so, in the family. The hand holding the photo image on the cover of Swept Away is Duke’s Uncle and friend, Jack Duke, 81.

“When Dad was dying, I was at the end of his bed, sketching. Jack came over and asked what I was drawing. I showed him a pencil sketch I was working on from memory – a coping mechanism, no doubt, to distract me from the current reality,” Duke shared. The image was of Duke’s fishing stage. 

“He asked what kind of boat I had and I said ‘neither one yet.’ He asked, ‘what kind of a boat do you plan to get?’ I said ‘just something I can row, no motor, something old-fashioned.’” 

10 months after his father’s death, Uncle Jack came calling. “He showed up in Clarenville – he’s from Southeast, Placentia Bay – with the most beautiful ‘flat’ I’ve ever seen. It was October, windy and bitterly cold, but it was the best day of my life. It began my total love of old rowboats and the sea. And, of course, he would not take a cent for it. So, to say he lent me a hand is quite the understatement,” Duke said of having his Uncle’s hand on the cover of his latest novel. 

To have Loved and Lost

On the theme of Swept Away, is it really better to have loved and lost? Duke didn’t hesitate. 

“I would say absolutely. This woman that’s lost, she was the best thing that’s ever happened to this young man. For anyone who’s read The Garden Gate, there’s historic facts (like burnt out homes) there, but this woman is swept overboard from (her beau’s) dory this day and he spends every moment out looking for her.”

Because Duke has spent so much time on the sea, just rowing, meant that he could become one with the main character of his latest novel. “The sound of a splash or the sound of movement as you adjust or my feet on the bottom of the boat. Sometimes you get up and you fall. How does that feel as you land?” 

All those things he experienced, he shared. “I used to go out at night if the conditions were right. The Moon. You cannot get it out of your head once you see the moon literally painted there in strong contrast to the water. No matter where you go in that boat, you’re always in the moonlight and then stopping you hear something and it’s dark and you have no idea what that was.”

It’s just you and the sea, he added.  “You have the feeling like there is just a lot of mystery in the ocean. You only know what you see on top and you don’t see very much in comparison to what’s on the bottom.” That experience, and the mystery, he brought to Swept Away. It’s long been said to write what you know, he added.

Duke went to sea “at all hours of the day as a form of research for this book,” he shared.

“I kept challenging myself and I went out in different weather conditions –safely and not far – just to see what it was like. I had to find out how hard it was to get out of certain situations or what it felt like to be at sea alone so I could write about it.”

Duke hopes Swept Away becomes a fast fan fav, and by the look of sales so far, that seems to be happening. It’s well deserved it seems. 

“I put a lot into this one. I really lived what the character lived to the extent that I could, and I hope that shows.”

For a copy of Swept Away, visit amazon.ca

Ray Andrews has led what most would consider an enviable life. From growing up in the picturesque fishing community of Port de Grave to a career spent as a senior advisor on the fishery with provincial, federal, and territorial governments, Andrews has had many memorable experiences. When we sat down to chat about his first book, thrillingly titled Something Fishy, Andrews and I first bonded over our mutual love and respect of the fishery and those who rely on it to earn a living. We also jumped right into another topic we both felt passionate about: politics. Andrews offered he was blessed to have both those passions shape his life and his career. 

“I had a lifetime of fish, I guess you could say, and a half lifetime of politics. Both of those shaped my life,” he began. 

When he sat down and thought about writing a book, he realized he had things worth sharing.  

Back-room Conversations

“There’s things fishy that the public don’t know about when it comes to politics, and as a bureaucrat, you get those back-room conversations and first-hand knowledge of what goes on, or what almost goes on. And so I considered all of the things that I wanted to write about and said, everybody, but everybody has written about the history of the moratorium, for instance, but I want to add my little spins on the fishery-side of politics on some of that history.”

Using copious notes and files from years spent advising governments, along with his own diary entries, Andrews paints a picture in Something Fishy that’d make even the most secure head spin. 

“I took the issues of the day and made them a little fishy by adding what happened behind the scenes. There’s a few bits of humor and quite a bit of background stuff in there that didn’t become public before now,” he teased. 

Front Row Seat

John Crosbie. Brian Peckford. Clyde Wells. Danny Williams. Tom Rideout. Trevor Taylor. Jim Morgan. Walter Carter. They’re all in there, and there’s delightful yarns to spin on all. From accusations of shredded files to Tobin’s turbot war, Andrews had a front row seat. 

We ask if Andrews had a favourite period – or person he worked with and advised – in his career. 

“I’m one of those who got up and with minor, minor exceptions, loved every day that I went to work. I worked well and enjoyed working with a lot of people, including the fish people and the political people, so it’s hard to put a single person out front.” 

But, he admitted, there are two stand outs and they were Tom Rideout and John Crosbie. 

“Of course, Tom was in the provincial scene and Crosbie – Skipper John – was on the national scene. They both were very different people, but the part that I really, really enjoyed is that they were workaholics and I think I might have been one myself,” he said with a grin.

The second thing he noted about those two gentlemen was that they always looked for other opinions. “I could say to both men easily, ‘I’m going to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.’ And I said ‘the reason I do that is that my role as a deputy minister, or political advisor, is to make you look good. 

If you listen to me, you might look good. If you don’t listen to me, you’re not going to look good.’” One message Andrews hopes comes across in Something Fishy is the role of the bureaucrat. 

“I think there’s a lot of people who don’t really fully appreciate that. Sometimes you get this old adage that a bureaucrat, or ‘those government people’ don’t do much work anyway.  I gotta say, that’s so far from reality in many or most of the situations I was in. I worked probably a lot harder than many did in my lifetime, so don’t give me that line.”

‘A little bit blue’

In many cases, he continued, a minister can walk in and say, ‘here’s what I’d like to do within six months,’ and that’s all you have to go on. 

“You get a few lines and you run with it. Then there’s the advising piece. I’d say, ‘Minister, that is not going to be a good result publicly. I think it’s a wonderful idea and you might think it’s wonderful but you have not been in the trenches or in the job around the south coast and you have not been confronted by the people that you’re going to impose this additional policy on. You’re looking for votes or not?’” There’s so much ‘fishy’ in Something Fishy, including the fact that Andrews was fired by Clyde Wells for being “a little bit ‘blue.’”

“I grew up in a small town, Port de Grave. The town was so ‘red’ that my mother, when she worked in the polling booth, as you read there in the book, she sometimes came home at the end of a day and said ‘there was only two voted blue this time,’ and everybody kind of mocked the Andrews clan as solid Tories. You couldn’t escape that. That was part of your genes.”

Fishery in the Blood

Even though, he added, as a bureaucrat, he couldn’t recall ever favouring a political party in making a bureaucratic decision “partly because that was for the ministers to do.”   

The story of the firing unfolded. “When Mr. Wells came on board, he was certainly well informed on this guy Andrews. He had a very famous minister at the time, John Efford who was also from Port de Grave and I don’t think John ever made the mistake of thinking I was red,” Andrews laughed. He can chuckle now, though it wasn’t a good day back then. 

Andrews grew up around the fishery, in fact he says, “the fishery was in my blood.” So was hard work and community commitment. “As I look back now, I can honestly say that growing up in Port de Grave kind of triggered me to be doing a little more than required because of the competitiveness that existed back then. As I look back after 80 years, you will find that the fishermen and the people of Port de Grave took the lead on a lot of the research, development and promotion of the various aspects of the fishery. That’s the part that stuck with me, which maybe helped make me a workaholic. You have to do your best.”

What means a lot 

Andrews has a few goals, things he hopes folks who read Something Fishy come away with.

“My hope is that I would spur people to think that the bureaucracy is a very important part of our life. But I would add one part to it, and that is that in all of your life, your community based activity, and maybe you would use the word volunteer, but your community based activity means a lot. And while in the urban centers like St. John’s, it might not be as visible, if you’re in the rural parts of this province, the role of a volunteer or a community activist is probably needed even more so now than it was back then.”

For more on Andrews and Something Fishy visit drcpublishingnl.com

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In Arnold’s cove, the town where Ray Guy was born and raised,  friends, family and fans of the late writer and satirist gather in his memory to celebrate Ray Guy: Portrait of a Rebel, a new book written by Ron Crocker. 

Crocker, who worked with Guy at The Telegram in the late 60s and early 70s, has long lectured on Guy and used, in part, much of those personalized and sought-after speaking notes to pen Portrait of a Rebel.

With chapter titles like Colouring Outside the Lines, Lions’ Den and Friends of my Enemy, anyone either bit acquainted with who Ray Guy was – a thorn in the side of one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most colourful former premiers, Joey Smallwood for one thing – would be chomping at the proverbial bit to get their hands on a copy.   

Guy’s sister, Iris Brett, is at the gathering and she generously shared a comical yarn that involved her brother releasing (and darn near sending to the great bird paradise in the sky) a chatty – and very much treasured by their boarding  house mistress – budgie bird. 

‘Difficult Things’

Crocker, when asked why  now is the right time to release a book on his late friend, shared that, if anything, it’s quite late coming. 

“The better time would have been a couple of years after (Guy) passed away in 2013, but I didn’t get started on it until about 2015 or so, and it took me a long time to get it in order,” he admitted. 

It was time well spent, it seems. Crocker spent much of the past few years talking to those who knew Guy best, as well as pouring over past writings of one of this province’s most treasured characters to ever hold a pen or pound away at a keyboard. In hindsight, now might be just the perfect time, Crocker continued as he signed copies of his book. 

“Maybe it’s a pretty good time because the memory of (Guy) has not faded, but it could use some strengthening, and I think the book will help. I hope it does anyway, because part of the objective is to make (Guy) better known to younger people,” he shared 

With Guy’s sister there for support, it’s clear the family were on board. 

“Iris (Brett) in particular, was absolutely critical. I know it’s a cliché to say it could not have been done without her, but in this case, it’s absolutely true, and she’s very important.”

Kathie Housser, Guy’s wife, was also key, he continued. “In fact, one of the difficult things about writing this book is that it was about half done when (Housser) passed away in 2017, and it took me a long while to get going again because she was so integral to the project.” 

She was ill, he explained, and as the interviews progressed, she grew tired. 

‘A Major Component’

“She was a major component of my ability to get it all together, and I’m sorry she didn’t get to see it finished,” he said.

When asked if he had a favourite Guy yarn to share, he paused in thought, looking out across Arnold’s Cove for –  perhaps – inspiration. 

“I wish I’d had a better answer to that question, but the answer is; I’ve got literally hundreds. But I’ll give you one that’s not in the book,” he said.

It was around 1970, he continued, and the provincial Conservative Party were electing Frank Morris as their leader. “There was a convention held in a church hall on Craig Miller Avenue. I think the church was called St. Mary’s and the speeches were all in the early evening.”

He and Guy were living together at the time, he continued, and they arrived late. “For some reason, when we arrived, there was absolutely no parking anywhere except in front of a no parking sign, which was very large. (Guy) pulled in and parked in front of the no parking sign, and there was a constabulary guy on the other side of the street shouting, ‘You can’t park there, you can’t park there. That’s no parking.’ (Guy) shouted back, ‘Would you mind putting the ticket on it for me?’” We laugh.

What does Crocker think the key was to Guy’s success?  “I’m pretty confident in saying that Newfoundland has not produced a better writer than Ray Guy in all genres. It’s produced, perhaps, people in more narrow genres like novelists and so on. Or poets. But in terms of being able to write in many, many different categories, many different genres, many different voices, many different ways, I don’t think (Guy) has an equal. And I also think that no other writer has had such an impact on Newfoundland politics and society as (Guy) did in the 60s and 70s. And even beyond,” he said. 

Bob Wakeham, a coworker and friend of Guy’s, was in Arnold’s Cove to honour his late friend and to support the book’s release. A fine writer in his own right, Wakeham generously shared his thoughts on what made Guy the writer – and the person –  he was. 

‘Only one Ray Guy’

“There was only one Ray Guy and there never will be another Ray Guy,” Wakeham began. “He was a good friend and he was my journalistic hero. One thing I remember about him when I first met him in ‘72 was that I was just a raw rookie and he was already a legend. He was a journalistic superstar. What I remember most is that he treated me as an equal. He was taking down government and I was covering roaming dogs in Torbay. And it didn’t make any difference to him. We were two journalists.”

Later, when Wakeham became Executive Producer of CBC’s Here and Now, he asked Guy to do some television commentaries for the station. “They turned out to be one of the most popular segments that we ever had on the show, at least during my tenure there.”

Wakeham proudly shared that he “never touched a word of what Guy had written,” though that doesn’t mean the two never interacted before the cameras came on. “I think the only piece of advice I ever gave him was, just before he went on air one day I went over and I said, ‘Ray, you’re going to have to wipe that mustard off that sweater.’ He was not in tune with the television world, I’ll just say that,” Wakeham laughed.

We ask Ray’s Sister her thoughts on her late brother. Brett paused. 

“He was very kind and compassionate. He was inclusive. He treated everybody the same,” she shared.  While she offered the family were always proud of Guy, to them, he was simply ‘Ray’ – always comical. Always teasing. 

“He used to tease my parents so much they didn’t know whether to believe him or not. In fact, when he was getting married, he called me in a panic and he said that he was getting married in three weeks but our parents didn’t believe him so could I please try and convince them to do so,” she said, laughing at the memory.

No Support for Joey

We ask if the family, while living in Arnold’s Cove during the Joey Smallwood days, felt any pressure or fall out from her brother’s satirical anti-Joey writings. “Yeah, but they were able to handle it, so they were good. We were raised in a very political family. Did we support Joey? No my dear, we did not. Back then, my parents weren’t fond of being part of Canada, so (Guy) came by that honestly, I guess you could say.”   

As Crocker prepared to read an excerpt from his book to those gathered, it had to be asked; do you miss Guy?

“I think, during the research and writing of the book, I felt (Guy) was around and it was like I could have a chat with him. But of course, he wasn’t and I couldn’t,” Crocker said. Still, writing Portrait of a Rebel meant that Guy was around all the time. “He was constantly in my world and in my life for the last five years or so. In that sense, I guess our friendship carried on through that. But obviously he wasn’t there to let go with one of his patented silly giggles.” 

The final words go to Guy, as taken from Crocker’s book in Guy’s own words as written in The Northeast Avalon Times in March 2013. 

“Hail and Farewell. My thanks to you, and to one heck of a patient publisher. This is my last crack out of the box anywhere, at any time. No apologies and no silly excuses. I was born April 22, 1939. I began this journalizing racket in 1962. So, I have settled Mr. Hitler’s hash, defrosted the Cold War and pensioned Joey Smallwood. Come Robin. Our work here is done.” 

 For more visit www.boulderbooks.ca

In 2016, Butler released This Marlowe. The gripping account of English playwright Christopher Marlowe’s last months of life before being brutally murdered under mysterious circumstances was listed for the ReLit Award and the Dublin International Literary Award. Now, five years later, she takes us on a riveting journey of love and tyranny set in 1937, during Stalin’s Great Purge and the Spanish Civil War.

Butler Hallett, described by novelist Christy-Ann Conlin as an “elemental” writer, was immersed in reading, writing, and all forms of art at an incredibly young age. Alongside an enormous collection of storybooks and records, she found herself diving head first into non-fiction book subscriptions pertaining to biography, science, and history. 

“I had a privileged childhood. My parents sacrificed a lot for all the read-along storybooks and records,” she shared in a one-on-one interview. 

“I read about a very wide variety of topics, people, and places. I still do, and this helps me develop empathy for other people. I am parched with curiosity, so thirsty to learn — though of course the more I learn, the less I know.”

Constant Nobody

A totally absorbing storyline accompanied by humorous dialogue, Constant Nobody brings together two flawed characters within a time of violence and immense suffering. A young British agent operating undercover as a nurse meets a NKVD (Soviet Secret Police) agent under unfortunate circumstances. Add in the tricky language of love and you have what the Barenaked Ladies would refer to as — Lovers in a Dangerous Time. 

“Violence, evil, love, and grace seem to be constants of the human condition: how we live, and how we’re shaped. I am fascinated by both the depths and heights of humanity and the tensions between them,” she explained.

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On the outside, it seems a story of violence and repression. However, between the layers of psychological suspense, you find a powerful tale articulating the dynamics and depth that come with human nature. 

“One theme of this novel is duty and how it’s perceived. I wanted to show how and why someone might do what Kotsya and Temerity do. If a reader takes something away from Constant Nobody, I hope it’s a sense of the complexities of empathy and responsibility.” 

Ochre Fest

Founded in 2013, Ochre Fest is an annual celebration of Newfoundland and Labrador books, music, art, food and culture. While the festival usually takes place in beautiful Ochre Pit Cove, Conception Bay, this year required a COVID-19 adjustment. Author readings, along with all other components including musical performances, were recorded in advance and premiered via Facebook and their website.

“I love reading to an audience, whether it’s in person or online. I also have some readings posted on my YouTube channel. I feel very strongly about being prepared for a reading. If someone’s bothered to come to a venue or check out a stream, then I had jolly well be ready to give it my best. It’s about respect for one’s audience,” Butler Hallett shared. 

“I’ve given many readings on the mainland, and a few here since I first published in 2006. This year’s Ochre Fest is my third time being invited to a festival here in Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Although I’m quite certain this won’t be the last incredible piece we see from Michelle Butler Hallett, this is the one you should run to purchase if you want to experience the addictive roller coaster of violence, evil, love, and grace.

You can grab your hard copy or eBook at www.gooselane.com. Hard copies are also available at Chapters and Coles, as well as The Bee’s Knees, one of Ochre Fest’s sponsors. To check out Ochre Fest updates visit www.ochrefest.ca