Q: Can you share an anecdote around the publishing process for Buying Cigarettes for the Dog?
A: In Key West, Florida in the late 1930s, Ernest Hemingway arrived at his book launches in a 1929 Phantom II Short Coupled Saloon Rolls-Royce, driven by Toby Otto Bruce. In Alberta in 2009, Stuart Ross arrived at his book launches in a dusty, beat-up 1997 GMC Jimmy with poorly-functioning air-conditioning and a squeaky tape player, driven by his editor. Fortunately, Stuart didn’t mind the lack of glamour. He happily suffered through hot drives to Red Deer and Edmonton, browsed vintage cassette tapes in the Red Deer Value Village when we arrived two hours early for his launch, and delivered readings that Ernest himself would have envied. He is truly a dream author to work with.
Comments from Sarah Ivany (Freehand Books), Publisher of Buying Cigarettes for the Dog
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Comments from Walter Hildebrandt (AU Press), Publisher of Bomb Canada
Q: What motivated you to publish Bomb Canada?
A: One of our editorial committee members heard Chantal present a paper on images of Canada in American media. Chantal was asked after the session whether she would make this into a book because we would be interested. Being a journalist, she said she would find the time to take on this project and within a short period was able to take the time to complete a book length manuscript. The resulting manuscript received very positive responses from us and our reviewers.
A: One of our editorial committee members heard Chantal present a paper on images of Canada in American media. Chantal was asked after the session whether she would make this into a book because we would be interested. Being a journalist, she said she would find the time to take on this project and within a short period was able to take the time to complete a book length manuscript. The resulting manuscript received very positive responses from us and our reviewers.
Comments from Michael Davie, Fishing for Bacon
Q: What inspired you to write about the topic in Fishing for Bacon?
A: I’m always fascinated by how people respond to life’s challenges without the resources, skills or support systems to lean on that perhaps most others possess. Do they accept their fates? Do they adapt? Do they take a hold of their own destiny? In Bacon’s case, he casts himself out into the world and into adulthood without any real kind of role model or family support system. That can be a tumultuous time of life without a support system. And as the sadistic author you can bet I made sure it was especially so for Bacon. Poor guy. But I really enjoy the effect of observing people’s struggles through a humorous lens, and observing the absurdity of those struggles through a sympathetic lens.
A: I’m always fascinated by how people respond to life’s challenges without the resources, skills or support systems to lean on that perhaps most others possess. Do they accept their fates? Do they adapt? Do they take a hold of their own destiny? In Bacon’s case, he casts himself out into the world and into adulthood without any real kind of role model or family support system. That can be a tumultuous time of life without a support system. And as the sadistic author you can bet I made sure it was especially so for Bacon. Poor guy. But I really enjoy the effect of observing people’s struggles through a humorous lens, and observing the absurdity of those struggles through a sympathetic lens.
Comments from Don Gorman (Rocky Mountain Books), Publisher of The Forgotten Explorer
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Q: What are the merits of The Forgotten Explorer, and why should people vote for it?
A: Albertans should vote for The Forgotten Explorer because it uncovers aspects Alberta's history that many people have never even considered. These journals represent Alberta in its infancy, when the territory was still relatively free of any urban development, industrial plans or tourist traps. If ever there was a book that Albertans should read, surely it is one that captures what we were like not that long ago, putting into perspective our incredible development over the past century and illustrating how remote, barren and wild this now urban and contemporary landscape once was.
A: Albertans should vote for The Forgotten Explorer because it uncovers aspects Alberta's history that many people have never even considered. These journals represent Alberta in its infancy, when the territory was still relatively free of any urban development, industrial plans or tourist traps. If ever there was a book that Albertans should read, surely it is one that captures what we were like not that long ago, putting into perspective our incredible development over the past century and illustrating how remote, barren and wild this now urban and contemporary landscape once was.
Comments from Myrna Kostash, Frog Lake Reader
Q: Who or what particularly influenced you in writing The Frog Lake Reader?
A: I didn’t so much write it as compose it, arranging in a dramatic narrative all the different – and contradictory – voices that have told the story from eye-witnesses to today’s poets and fiction writers. I was influenced by all their voices but behind them lay the reading I had already done along the way: Rudy Wiebe’s Temptation of Big Bear, Andy Suknaski’s Wood Mountain Poems, Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners.
A: I didn’t so much write it as compose it, arranging in a dramatic narrative all the different – and contradictory – voices that have told the story from eye-witnesses to today’s poets and fiction writers. I was influenced by all their voices but behind them lay the reading I had already done along the way: Rudy Wiebe’s Temptation of Big Bear, Andy Suknaski’s Wood Mountain Poems, Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners.