Friday, November 16, 2018

Looking for Titles: The Happy Retire?; subtitle?


Yes, the heading of this post does indicate I am writing a book about retirement. If you are thinking of retiring or have just recently taken this step, I would be interested in interviewing you. If you are interested, please message me on Facebook! Or send an email to marylou.dickinson@gmail.com.
Below is a short Foreward to the book. It could be changed, of course, since I am at an early stage in the writing of this book. But reading it will give you a brief introduction as my work begins around this interesting subject.

Foreward

I often thought I could have written a book for people thinking of retirement because I have found that in this later stage of life much has come to fruition. But as an author of four books of fiction, all published since I retired, why would I want to write a non fiction book? Then I discovered why. It seemed many people wanted and were asking for such a book.
            What holds the contents of this book together are the stories of many lives that have my own story threaded in and out of them. I am grateful for the willingness of these people to share significant parts of their journeys with me. So this is something that I have written from their interest in contributing to a project they felt worthwhile and from my own experience.
            I used a questionnaire to interview the people whose stories are shared in this book (see Addendum). Some interviewees asked for anonymity and I have respected that either by using a name they suggested or by creating a pseudonym. I have not included any surnames, whether the name is a pseudonym or not. This part of the project of writing this book that involved conversations with many people as well as having questionnaires filled in was both interesting and fun.  I have talked with people in person, on the telephone, on Skype and have received written answers and letters from others. Many thanks to those who offered and/or agreed to participate!

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Life of a Writer: Reading this Sunday in Hamilton

Looking forward to reading at LitLive in Hamllton this coming Sunday.(See below).
A request to the universe: Could winter be held off a few more days at least! xo

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Taken with permission. I was fascinated by the way the comb of hair fell forward when he leaned over to read whatever had captured his attention on his cell phone.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Elevator Chatter.

I get on an elevator on the 12th floor. A couple of floors lower four people with small suitcases on rollers get on, three women, one man. They are talking and laughing. 
“I’ve had that argument with my husband already,” one woman says. “I don’t want to approach it that way again.” 

They all continue to laugh and chatter. The elevator stops again and another woman with a small suitcase gets on. They pick up the same conversation, laughing some more. They seem to know the new woman. I wonder what they do. They do not wear anything that would identify that, such as an airline insignia. And they are well dressed in different colours.

I don’t know why I say what I am thinking out loud. It is usually not greeted that well to jump into a group conversation, but they all chuckle.
“I will have to make up some story about what you are talking about,” I say.

“Presto card,”. One of them says.

Ohmygoodness, How boring is that. And all that laughter, too. I ought not to have asked. My fabricated story would have been a lot more interesting.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

The Writer's Life: Writing A New Book.


I am about to venture into my first non fiction title. I am not about to divulge the main title at this point, but the subtitle is:

          "What You Need To Know Now About Retirement."

Any suggestions about what you would like to see included are welcome. Or questions you might have that you think would be beneficial for others. This will be a book that will relate the stories of people who are approaching retirement. Rather than overloading the book with information that is likely out there in the many books published on the subject, my hope is to engage readers with questions that are pivotal for them to have a fulfilling retirement. Good heavens, this might mean that in the years that most would retire if they could, you might choose to go on working, perhaps part time, if you have the option. Or you might decide to travel around the world. The key point is that it will make your own retirement all the more rewarding if you think about it beforehand and deal with a lot of questions you may not have thus far even considered!.

Please let me know what you would like me to consider!
Also if you would like to be interviewed!

My first four books are fiction titles:
   One Day It Happens (short stories) 2007
   Ile d'Or (Novel) 2010
   Would I Lie To You? (Novel) 2014
   The White Ribbon Man (Mystery) 2018





Monday, July 9, 2018

Edward Brown's Review of THE WHITE RIBBON MAN


Murder in the Church
A Kill, a Cop
and a Sleep Walking Priest

Shoehorned in behind Toronto Eaton Centre—a modern glass and steel edifice where shoppers worship en masse at the altar of consumerism—sits The Church of the Holy Trinity, AD 1847. For more than a century and a half the Anglican Church, the fictional setting for Mary Lou Dickinson’s (One Day It Happens, Ile D’or, Would I Lie to You?) murder mystery, The White Ribbon Man, has experienced more than its share of indignities.   
The old grey church in the square has never had an easy go of it. The Gothic Revival structure was originally constructed on swampy land at the forested outskirts of a fledgling city with funds bequeathed to the Toronto diocese by an English heiress who wouldn’t survive past her twenty-fifth birthday. Eventually situated in a slum neighborhood known as The Ward, Holy Trinity fast became a life raft for an impoverished community drowning in urban squalor.
Throughout its long history and up to the present, Holy Trinity has faced threats from fire, the wrecking ball, expropriation, and bankruptcy. A couple of years ago an arsonist tried, but mercifully failed, to torch the place of worship. If that weren’t bad enough, ongoing construction in the vicinity appears to have caused significant structural damage to sections of the church’s limestone walls.
For 171 years Holy Trinity has taken these abuses in stride. Then along comes Dickinson’s page turner. The novel opens pleasantly enough on a sunny, autumn Sunday morning as regular congregants and strangers alike greet one another in the welcoming, inclusive spirit that defines Holy Trinity. Pleasantries are quickly dashed when, minutes before the service is to commence, a congregant discovers the fashionably dressed corpse of Marni Atchison, an outcast from a religious organization known for sermonizing on porches and crowded sidewalks, her stylish, red heels jutting from under a bathroom stall in the basement.   
Will the indignities ever end?
To solve the crime Dickinson adeptly plugs into the veins of activism that course through the congregation. Parishioners may be alarmed by the heinous crime that has occurred in their house of worship but they refuse to cower. While some make efforts to clear their name, with the assistance of kindly homicide detective Jack Cosser and partner Steve Reid whose sexual orientation is currently in flux, sleuthing members set out to solve the murder.
The White Ribbon Man disposes of predictable mystery novel devices and unlike some authors working in the genre today who revel in scripting pages of gory violence, Dickinson’s approach falls closer to an old school Dashiell Hammett potboiler, minus the hardboiled detective and foreboding mood. Instead of plucking characters straight out of central casting like a gruff, jaded homicide detective or the benevolent and wise clergyman, Dickinson turns these types on their head.
There is no getting around the fact that Detective Cosser is, well, a swell guy. Heck, he’d rather have a soothing spot of chamomile tea over black coffee any day. Cosser’s marriage may have flat-lined, a casualty of the emotional toll his grisly occupation can have, but not once does he trash talk his ex to fellow officers or the couple’s preteen daughter who Cosser loves to bits.  
The author gives Father David, the collarless, blue jean wearing priest a similar refreshing treatment. The man leading the flock is self-absorbed, insecure and suffers from chronic somnambulism. Throughout, the sleepwalking priest struggles to fill sizable gaps in his memory, wide enough to navigate Noah’s Ark through. Is he the culprit? Not even Father David can say for certain.
Rosemary the sleuthing librarian may be the best hope for solving the homicide but admittedly, her crime fighting knowhow is limited to skills gleaned from episodes of Homicide, Life on the Street. Did Rosemary encounter the killer after responding to a personal ad in the classifieds agreeing to a luncheon date with a redheaded stranger, a white ribbon pinned to his lapel? Was she the intended victim? Is the key to tracking a killer lie with Ardith, nonverbal and confined to a wheelchair vis-à-via Jimmy Stewart’s character in Hitchcock’s Rear Window?                 
The plot of Dickinson’s thriller is not complex. She writes with intentionality leaving nothing to chance. The author’s strength lies in fleshing out diverse characters who display the best, as well as the most deplorable aspects of human nature. Although events unfold primarily in the church, in respect to the institution, The White Ribbon Man is not reverential. However, there are moments when the reader is subjected to what feels like mini sermons on Dickinson’s behalf. For example, upon arriving at the crime scene Detective Cosser observes the crowd of homeless milling about and laments, “Soon winter will come and one of these men could die of the cold out there.”
In the end, The White Ribbon Man provides a sobering parable reinforcing lessons on the destructive nature shame can wield over individuals obsessed with hiding past deeds and the blinding influence of hypocrisy.

Edward Brown is an author and freelance writer. His work appears in the Globe & Mail, Torstar, Spacing Magazine and other publications.  



Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Response To Yet Another Webinar With Another Amazing Offer.

Dear Sir,

You sound authentic/genuine and offer good information. This sounds like a helpful offer that would have results. I also gained knowledge from the webinar itself and the many webinars I have watched from you and various other people. If I were to choose which followup course to take that would be relevant (except for one factor...my books are fiction), I would likely choose this one. I am not doing so because...

  1. Fiction
  2. My age and energy. I have four books published by a small literary publisher in Canada, the first published when I was 70.On my birthday tomorrow, I will be 81.
  3. I do not have the money for this. Even though the value is probably worth a lot more (as you say as a selling point), it is still high.


However, I am not just ignoring all the advice. I will continue to promote my latest book, my first mystery, such as is possible without the expertise I would gain from your service. I have also  started a nonfiction book (frustrating as that might be) and already have an outline and a structure. It will address a topic that I think is gaining traction (boomers and retirement), but also provide a vehicle to promote my fiction. I will give it six months (along with a collection of short stories I am working on) in my very busy life and see how it goes. I already have a handful of interviewees lined up.

I have a cast on my left wrist (fracture) and I wonder why I am writing this at all when I mess up whenever I type letters from the left side of the keyboard. At first it was just to say that even at your "low" price, not everyone can afford it. And as I went further, I thought oh well I can probably use some of this verbiage elsewhere.

So it goes (as Kurt Vonnegut) used to say/write.

ML 

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Upcoming Events





Upcoming Events:

1. Meet Authors: Mary Lou Dickinson, Lisa de Nikolits,  and Sky Curtis

Thursday, June 21, 2018. 5:30 to 7 pm.

Sleuth of Baker Street Bookstore, 907 Millwood Road, Toronto 

Three authors writing in 3 different mystery areas! 

Readings, discussion and Q and A.  

Should be loads of fun!

(www.sleuthofbakerstreet.ca)

 

2. WritinWithout A Parachute!


  • Tuesday. Jul 10, 2018. 7- 8 pm. 

An Evening with Author Mary Lou Dickinson:  

On Writing in A New Genre.


Location: Queen/Saulter Toronto Public Library. 


At 765 Queen Street East (east of Broadview).


Join author Mary Lou Dickinson as she reads from her 

new mystery novel The White Ribbon Man and 

discusses the process and difficulties of writing in a 

new genre. With Q and A.


Saturday, March 31, 2018

Blurbs for "The White Ribbon Man."


These are some of the blurbs I have received for my mystery novel that will be published imminently.  There are likely a couple more blurbs upcoming, but I wanted to get these up and visible to rouse your interest. I am delighted with the comments because they are insightful and honest and come from people whose work I admire.  
.
After a woman is found dead in a downtown church basement, nearly everyone becomes a suspect. Dickinson deftly takes us into the world of a social-justice community and their struggles to cope in the aftermath of violence. When a writer and cop unintentionally team up, imagination and evidence blur. This is a page-turner with an unexpected plot-twist that will leave the reader guessing until the very end.

Farzana Doctor. Author of All Inclusive, Six Metres of Pavement, Stealing Nasreen

An insightful and contemplative literary mystery that is steeped in religion, lost loves, loneliness, and the desire for companionship and meaning in life. A beautifully written poignant and touching exploration of human hopes and frailties.

Lisa de Nikolits. Author of No Fury Like That, The Nearly Girl, Between the Cracks She Fell & four other novels.

A well imagined story of how a horrible crime not only upends lives, but the trust of a community. In The White Ribbon Man, Mary Lou Dickinson also explores the mental and emotional injuries that children suffer under the unrelenting demands of fundamentalist religion. It’s a book that will leave you thinking.
\
Ken Murray. Author of Eulogy (a novel).

NOTE: You are welcome to come to the Inanna Spring Book launch on Thursday, May 3rd from 6 - 8:30 p.m. at the Women's Art Association, 23 Prince Arthur Avenue, Toronto

Sunday, March 11, 2018

LONELINESS





I used to think I knew all there was to know about loneliness. That was a long time ago. What i did know was that then it was like a disease. You could not mention it because the other thought they might catch it or that they were expected to solve it for you. Finally it became clear that if someone would hear the statement, the loneliness would evaporate. In other words, listen! Later I learned that to deal with feeling crappy and alone, if I had three things in a day I would be fine. Some meaningful social contact, even with a stranger on some days. Physical exercise. And for me, learning something new every day, however small. Since then I do not feel lonely most of the time even though what I do in my life is very isolating. I write. Of course, I can also converse with my characters! But real people are more important!!!




Tuesday, January 16, 2018

"The White Ribbon Man." Launch Date.

Launch Date for "The White Ribbon Man"
                    May 3, 2018.

The launch of my latest book, a mystery, will be in Toronto at the Women's Art Association on Prince Arthur Avenue. Complete details will follow when available. This will be one of the publisher's (Inanna Publications) Spring Launches for their authors. 

I await this day with excitement and anticipation.