LIFE OF A WRITER: WINTER 2016

ALL THE BEST TO MY FRIENDS AND  COLLEAGUES IN 2016!

The good news is another  book has been accepted for publication. I finally completed a mystery, The White Ribbon Man, which will be published by Inanna Publications, the press that has done my three books thus far. You will have to wait a while  to read it as publication is not scheduled until Spring 2018. There is the possibility that it will get moved to the fall of 2017, so while  I am hopeful that will happen I am not holding my breath. For the publisher, this timeline is an indication of a vital and full program, whereas it is harder for the author who has to wait to experience the satisfaction of holding and sharing the actual book. Nonetheless, it is good to know that Inanna, a feminist press, is now such a well established and respected press.

Also, I now have two thriving grandsons. One in southwestern Ontario is interested in business and Japan and is about to launch out on a university program in the fall. The other, in Montreal, will be 2 in April and is learning to talk in both English and German. French will come later! They both are  joys to have in my life. I value my far flung family and my friends most of all, although the passion for my writing and learning new things  sure takes up a lot of time! All of these ... family, friends and writing as well as dancing and travel and art and culture have given these "retirement" years meaning and purpose beyond expectations and I am grateful.

There is a possibility that my sister and brother-in-law will move from the west to Toronto in 2016 to be closer to their children and grandchildren. And friends in Toronto who are also  selling their house this year might in the course of their search find an apartment  closer to me. On both counts, fingers crossed!


The purpose for starting these newsletters was to update you on book and writing developments. But 😀 I suspect 😉 the tidbits around other aspects of life interest many of you just as much. And yes, I do get asked about my travels. I have decisions to make soon about that, depending on both money and time and, of course, health .You may find out what destination/s rise to the top in my next newsletter.

Happy dancing! Happy travels! Whatever you do, enjoy the journey.  Enjoy life.

With all good wishes for your health and happiness in 2016.

Mary Lou Dickinson

LIFE OF A WRITER: FALL REPORT. 2015

Another season, fall, is over and winter will soon be with us, if it is not already. Over the fall, I went on doing readings from Would I Lie To You? and meeting people. I read in Hamilton at LitLive on October 4th and in Chatham as a guest of the TriCounty Literacy Network on October 30th. I was the guest at a book club in Toronto on November 16th where I spoke about my latest book and told stories about my experiences of writing over the years. Also was invited to another club in November to talk about my previous novel, Ile d'Or. There are many ways to spend time with a book club, including Skype these days. So bear in mind that distance is not a barrier.
What strikes me most at the end of a year of doing readings and telling people about my novel Would I Lie To You? is how different each experience is. There is always something unexpected even if the formats might be similar. Of course, that keeps it interesting and also means one has to remain alert. Sometimes this is disconcerting, at others exhilarating. Take the experience of meeting other authors when I share the 'podium.' That is one of the highlights of the period of promotion for a new book as is meeting people who are curious and buy the book and those who have already read it. It leads to stimulating conversation and challenging questions. As the work up till then has been solitary, this period is an opportunity to reconnect with the world in a very meaningful way.

 

 

So thank you to all who have invited me to events and who have come out to enjoy them. Aside from that pesky summer pneumonia, it has been a stellar.year. And I hope you also had one and are looking forward to another.
 

 

 

Life of a Writer. Memoir. New Prologue. October 2015

PROLOGUE

The adventurous stories about Uncle Billy I heard as a child left me uncertain about what was real and what was imaginary. Even though my two siblings and I were told many tales about Billy’s discovery of the Banff hot springs in Alberta, he seemed so far away. That changed in the mid 1970s, when I was on a trip to western Canada with my then husband and our two children and we stopped for a couple of days in Banff. While walking down the main street, I spotted a wax effigy in a shop window. As we drew closer, I saw that it was of William McCardell.

“”Do you know who that is?” I asked the children.

They both looked baffled.

“Your Uncle Billy.”

“You mean he’s related to us?” Andrea asked, her voice rising in excitement. At the time, she was eleven, her brother seven.

“Yes.” I was excited, too, remembering Uncle Billy’s hot springs discovery. As a worker building the railroad tracks that extended across Canada, his story was one of adventure, curiosity and often recklessness. No wonder, I thought, that until then he had always seemed like a fictitious, larger-than-life, character to me. Although as it turned out, the man who discovered the Banff Springs, along with his brother and another man, was actually relatively small.

“Tell us about him,” Andrea said.

“I don’t know very much. Maybe if we go into this store and ask, they’ll have more information. And when we get home, we can ask Nanny.” (Their maternal great grandmother, who was still alive at that time).

For me what this man had long ago been was one of the imaginary characters in the stories I made up as a child in the northern Quebec bush.

“Let’s go inside,” I said.

Phil did not seem too interested. “I like the stories Grandad tells.”

My father told stories about South Africa where he lived until his family left for Canada, via England, when he was five years old.

“I remember one about a dog,” Phil said. “It was a small dog.”

“That was the one that saved Granddad’s life. It killed a snake that crept up on him.”

“What happened to the dog?”

“Poor dog died, too.”

But in this act of loyalty, he had saved my father from being poisoned by a puff adder.

“And there was another dog,” Andrea said.

“Yes, there was.” The other one was in a book Dad had read both to his children and grandchildren. Dad loved that dog, too. He loved the way Jock ran free on the Bushveld.

“Let’s go in,” Gord, my then husband, said. “We’ll see what we can find out.”

So we did, and were fascinated by a variety of historical figures on display. We soon fastened on the one of our ancestor. And it was in encountering Uncle Billy’s effigy that the stories of my childhood suddenly became real. As time went on and I discovered more about the various forebears in my family, what struck me was how my ancestors had a role in the creation of a country. From Uncle Billy’s work hammering in the ties and rails of the tracks to the west coast, his discoveries of the hot springs and, apparently, also of oil (along with someone called LaFayette) to other stories about another even earlier pioneer on the other side of the country, Louis Hebert, the first settler in Canada. Another ancestor of our mother’s, he had farmed on the St. Lawrence long before the railway was even contemplated.

So after both children were asleep in our hotel room in Banff, I felt compelled to jot down thoughts about the connections all of this led me to ponder. Until finally Gord said, “You’ll be exhausted tomorrow if you don’t get some sleep.”

Of course, he was right.

I did not know then that a year later our marriage would be over. Maybe he did not yet either. Or that one day I would have published books. I simply kept on writing for another half hour and finally, after that, fell asleep.

Those early thoughts became the starting point for this memoir. Yet I knew even then that if there were any value to writing it beyond my need to create some perspective on my own life, it would only be apparent much later. What began with scribblings about Uncle Billy went on to become tales about the frontier town where my own story started. And even that was in another era with a way of life that has, in many ways, disappeared.

So, what follows is based on my life. I have moved from the frontier country to an urban setting and from one century to another. And over a very long apprenticeship, I have moved from my early scribblings to publish books. This has been my life. It is my life.



 

 

Coast to Coast in the Summer of 2015

September  4th, 2015

Hello Friends and Colleagues: 

A summer bookmarked by the St. Lawrence River as it becomes wider near Riviere de Loup and English Bay in Vancouver was indeed a good one. It began with the Jazz Festival in Montreal before visiting a friend on the St. Lawrence, a quick trip into Quebec City en route home to Toronto and ended with a West coast family visit. (In the spring, this was preceded by readings in Montreal, Winnipeg and Saskatoon).

 

On a lovely summer evening in the middle days of July, my friend, Ruby, held a party in Toronto to celebrate my latest book. It was such a treat in itself as well as coinciding with the visit of American friends. So Clare and Jack were also able to be there. People mingled, I read from Would I Lie To You? and a recent children's story (Big And Little) and answered questions. It was relaxed and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as according to all reports, did the guests.

 

It was after that I came down with pneumonia and spent most of the next four weeks sleeping. I did not expect to make it to Vancouver at all and in fairness to a library where I was going to read, I cancelled the occasion. At the last minute, I found I could fly, but it would have been too soon for a public appearance. Indeed the fatigue lessened very slowly and I paced myself carefully for quite a while. Still, it was a good summer!

 

Upcoming in Fall 2015:

Oct. 4th. 7:30 pm. Lit Live. Reading. Hamilton, ON (Please come out if you are in the Hamilton area!) 

Oct/Nov. possible. Chatham, ON. Talk and read! 

Nov. 16. Toronto, ON. Book Club Speech and Discussion.

 

And on it goes! Although at this stage I am able to begin to give more attention to the writing itself again! Happy Days!

I hope your summer was both healthy and enjoyable!

Mary Lou
 

This Might Explain Why It Has Been So Long Since I last Posted Anything!

It was a beautiful day on Saturday when the family of my children's father bid him farewell. RIP Gordon. The three adult children, the first two mine, the third Joanne's, were all amazing. Their father would have been so proud. Perhaps surprising for a writer, I have very few words. Just a succession of images -miso soup, seeing a childhood friend in the church, a photo of Gord as a child, blue skies when rain and thunder were forecast, vignettes of people. As a series of disparate paintings I sometimes have pass inadvertently before my eyes that I have never tried to put into words, these images are beautiful. It was a very moving day when all the children and many relatives gathered around their father, uncle (Leslie, Michael, Susan)...(it was a shock to have a woman greet me warmly as Aunt Mary Lou and to have no idea who she was. Soon became clear!) with much insight, sharing and love. Phil arrived in Montreal from Germany the evening before, put his family in a taxi (his 15 month old son very upset and baffled) to their home in Montreal and flew onto downtown Toronto.(He will be happy to be home again). He appeared in his most casual attire (another image), was a pall bearer and spoke very movingly. My older grandson was also a pall bearer. My son in law spoke and then my son did, both with much insight into a complex man and father they brought once more to life in their words, and with contrasting style and content, the two men were the central and focal and unusual part of a very traditional Anglican service that, at Gord's request, his younger (half Jewish) daughter, Thea, had arranged. Andrea, my daughter, was there, often long distance, helping her out at every step and she wrote the lovely obit that appeared in the Globe and the Star. A procession right to graveside after the service. A gathering afterwards at a home in North Toronto. Joanne and I were so very proud of all three children.

The fatigue in the aftermath of the pneumonia lessens so very gradually, but each day is slightly better than the one before. I have not yet made the decision about going to Vancouver, but I did ask the publicist to cancel the one reading the publisher had arranged, a nice one, too , at a library I have been to in North Vancouver. It did not seem fair to keep them on hold or to have to cancel at the last minute. It would have been just a bit too much pressure for me right now, too. I will see the doctor tomorrow to ask some questions, as I am still really tired and sometimes a bit shaky. Even so it feels as if the trajectory is in a positive direction. And I do have a suitcase out!

Life of a Writer: The Book Goes On Tour.

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Hello Friends and Colleagues, I thought you would be interested in hearing about recent venues where I read from and talked about my novel, Would I Lie To You? As well as meeting new people, it was a real bonus to see so many family and friends there. Paragraph Books in Montreal on April 15, 2015 Yellow Door Reading Series, also in Montreal, on April 16, 2015. McNally Robinson Books in: Winnipeg on June 2, 2015 and in Saskatoon on June 4th, 2015. The photo was taken in Winnipeg. These are all wonderful bookstores and series that support and promote Canadian authors. I was very pleased to have an opportunity to read at all of them. And to meet and share the podium with interesting authors. Loren Edizel in Montreal, Pam Galloway in Winnipeg and Joan Spencer Olson in Saskatoon. Each author came from somewhere else, including Toronto, Regina and Vancouver. Great fun to learn what writers across the country are doing. Something I also did at the Writers' Union of Canada AGM that took place in Winnipeg just prior to the western readings.  What's coming next? I like surprises so if you have ideas for an event, e.g. your book club or discussion group, please get in touch. In the meantime, I will read at Lit Live in Hamilton on October 4th and in Chatham on a date yet to be determined. Oh yes, there is a private celebration of friends in July in Toronto. I have also just been asked to speak at a book club in Toronto in November. And then there are the dreams ... the Provence garden and a cruise are still possibilities on the horizon. At the moment, it will soon be summer holiday time! I am going to the Jazz Festival in Montreal with friends for a few days and then on to visit another friend on the St. Lawrence in rural Quebec. Have a wonderful summer! Mary Lou   p.s. If you have a moment, check out the video. Created by John Lofaso and posted on the Inanna Publications website. http://youtu.be/4MZsMAPxfQQ

Life of a Writer. Reading Tour. Heading Home.

Heading home from Saskatoon. Sitting in the airport pondering the last few days when I attended the Writers Union AGM in Winnipeg and read at McNally Robinson Books in bothWinnipeg (with Pam Galloway) and Saskatoon (with Joan Spencer Olsen). A very full and satisfying time when I also saw family and friends. There were many highlights including hearing my friend, Dianne, deliver an inspiring homily on non violence and peace. She used the example of Jesus being labelled as having 'lost his mind' when he preached unusual views  difficult for many to accept. And in this context revealed that any violent, militaristic approach left her deeply troubled as well as angry and that she would not conduct any future services that honoured these symbols. Another highlight...a cruise on the river that divides Saskatoon (the bridges join it) on what turned out to be the first event for Gay Pride in Saskatoon. Such a joyful event when we were welcomed when we turned up to find the cruise we were hoping to take had been reserved by Gay Pride for the opening event of Pride week there. Not part of the group, we enjoyed the welcome invite that eventually was extended to us to join the trip and once aboard, were also invited to share food. As well as some conversation with the party-goers, we enjoyed the views and highlights of Saskatoon.

In Winnipeg I was able to visit my brother's grave. This was a journey I wanted to take. As well as to visit all his family who live in the area. Lovely that most were also able to come out to my reading there, as did my friend in Saskatoon.