Martin James is a true Canadian. Born overseas, he is beset by trials and tribulations while growing up. Against the odds, he escapes from his violence-wracked homeland only to find everything he holds dear in North America jeopardized as he tries to keep his personal and professional life intact. A modern-day Ulysses, Martin faces the quintessential question of the displaced, "Where do I belong?" Set in Sri Lanka and Canada, this novel brings the dilemmas faced by many immigrants into sharp focus

The Ulysses Man

Joseph, Shane

Literature & Fiction

Blue Denim Press Inc

Sometimes funny, tearful, serious or all three, these stories give the reader little chance to recover, as they change from contemporary to the historic, love to war, personal to public, offering a pot-pourri of the author's work. Culled from the treasury of Brian Mullally's collection of short stories, the series includes several award winning stories.

A Patch of Blue

Mullally, Brian

Short Stories & Anthologies

An anthology by writers of Northumberland County, a burgeoning arts community in Canada:

Hill Spirits

Murder, attempted murder, sexual abuse, kidnapping, missing persons, vengeance, revenge, suicide, gambling, explosions, vehicular mishaps, indignity to a dead body, even love occur in these thirteen stories. Like all life's happenings, they affect the characters-women, men and children-in their journey through life, sometimes damaging them, sometimes stalling them in limbo, but often forcing them to reach beyond the tripping point. And to get there, these quirky characters frequently do the absurd and the unthinkable, often with unexpected results. The detectives are frenetic, the villains are diabolic, the situations bounce from hilarious to macabre, and the pace is always unrelenting in this collection by a master crafter of the genre.

Beyond the Tripping Point

Crawford, Sharon A.

We All Become Stories speaks to us because it reveals "aging" as not something that happens just to older people, but as a lifelong evolution - a journey of self-discovery open to everyone.  Through their stories, conversations with them, and her own poetry, Ann Elizabeth Carson illuminates the life stories of 12 elders who adapt with courage, wit and creativity, to forge satisfying lives in a modern Western society that seldom welcomes or respects the old.  These elders reframe aging and old age as fascinating, often difficult, yet rewarding challenges that bring benefits and insights not readily accessible to the young.  Carson is serving as storycatcher here - deeply listening so that elders can formulate their own aging life story and deeply reflecting and telling her own aging life stories.  - Ellen B. Ryan, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, McMaster University, Writing, Aging and Spirit: www.writingdownouryears.ca

We All Become Stories

Carson, Ann Elizabeth

Parenting & Relationships

The Alphabet Stones is about three families, one of them supernatural, and how they intertwine-with each other and with the land, a moody eastern Ontario of communes, music festivals and cedar swamps; stony farms and muddy rivers. This is a story about enchantment-how the land enchants us, how we enchant one another-why it's necessary that we do, and dangerous when we don't. Like 14 year old Jody, we learn not just the names of trees and stars and birds, but also of "the gate between worlds," a place she stumbles across in a forgotten back pasture, both ordinary and powerfully mysterious. "Quietly beautiful, *The Alphabet Stones* is magical and ethereal yet also deeply evocative of, and grounded, in place." -Jan Thornhill "Ursula Pflug's writing is the kind you want to carry around with you for those days when it feels like you're living in a strange and incomprehensible world." -Mathew Cheney

The Alphabet Stones

Children's Books

Pflug, Ursula

History

Shane Joseph revisits his favourite haunt: the in-between world of the immigrant, where the past is unresolved and the present is incomplete. His characters are damaged, trying to make sense out of their lives, often having to journey back in time and place to find answers. Bandu bilks tourists for a living; Jamie loses love and home to exile; Mark meets the woman claiming to be his daughter and is forced to face the ghosts of those he betrayed; Ralph hunts down his crippled uncle to learn the art of survival; Paul becomes a best-selling author after a life-altering event as a boy in a hill country tea estate; Rohit is propelled to international fame by his arms-dealing father who manipulates him from the grave; and Ben plunges towards the supreme sacrifice by leaving New York and returning to make a contribution of conscience in his war-torn home country. The men are spurred on by powerful women in their lives-mothers, daughters, sisters, teachers, lovers and wives-women who act at motivators, detractors and inspirers. Moving between Sri Lanka and North America, these seven stories deal with the various stages of the immigrant journey. There are no happy endings, just soul-enriching ones, as each protagonist seeks his destiny while gaining valuable insights along the way.

Paradise Revisited

Past, Present and Future: through short stories, poetry and illustration Hill Spirits II reminds us of our mortality, immortality and every moment in between. Hill Spirits II is the second anthology to showcase the diverse range of writers and writing styles found in the Spirit of the Hills Writers Group. Contributors John Charlton Sharon Overend Ellen Curry Deborah Panko Kim Sherman Grove Marie Prins Richard M. Grove Felicity Sidnell Reid Edward Hagedorn Jim Ronson Katie Hoogendam Erika Rummel Jennifer Gibson Gwynn Scheltema Shane Joseph Susan Statham Peggy Dymond Leavey Diane Taylor Linda Hutsell Manning Alice Wisse Brian Mullally Donna Wootton Maureen Mullally Eric E. Wright

Hill Spirits II

History & Criticism

Life becomes a search to find our way home after unexpected storms knock us off course. This collection of 16 stories reflects that deep urge to return to where we feel at peace. The journey back becomes a rite of passage.The title story, "Hunting Muskie," sets the tone - the hunt to find and subdue an unseen foe. Each of the other stories elaborate on that theme.Hunter is haunted by the mistake that defined his life. A chance encounter sets Edward on a search for answers. An act of bullying committed decades ago brings a day of reckoning for Quentin. Will must pay the ransom of conscience. A shocking event causes Laurel to fall victim to a temptation she cannot rationalize. Huck shuts out the loss he cannot face until he can deny it no longer. Malcolm seeks atonement for a desperate act committed in the name of love.The longer piece, "Slipstream," ties together the connecting threads: the powerful forces that derail us, how we are driven to search for answers, and the harsh truth that redemption often comes at a price.

Hunting Muskie: Rites of Passage

Dyet, Michael Robert

Hill Spirits III is the third anthology to showcase the Spirit of the Hills Writers' Group. Celebrating Canada's 150th, it's rooted in Northumberland County. Stories, poetry, memoir and non-fiction provide great reading for everyone. Contributors Kim Aubrey Hope Bergeron Christopher Black Alan Bland Jennifer Bogart Patricia Calder Sharon Ramsay Curtis Bill Daniels Pegi Eyers Lori Felix Kim Grove Richard M Grove Marie-Lynn Hammond Maggie Harper Katie Hoogendam Shane Joseph Norma Keith Wally Keeler Alan Langford Peggy Dymond Leavey Gerry Malloy Linda Hutsell Manning Maureen Mullally Reva Nelson Derek Paul Tom Pickering Marie Prins Felicity Sidnell Reid Cynthia Reyes James Ronson Erika Rummel Gwynn Scheltema Rene Schmidt Susan Statham Diane Taylor Donna Wootton Eric E Wright

Hill Spirits III: An Anthology by Writers of Northumberland County

Spirit of the Hills Writers

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