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Today’s guest blog post is from Jim Poling Sr. who is the author of the new release Smoke Signals.
Writing a book can be a mystical experience. Things happen that sometimes cannot be explained, like last month after the final proofread for Smoke Signals: The Native Takeback of North America’s Tobacco Industry, which has just released.
Today’s guest blog post is from Rod McQueen, the co-author of Driven to Succeed. Today’s post is how an idea blossomed into the book that just released in October.
Today’s guest blog post comes from Sheelagh Whittaker, author of The Slaidburn Angel.
This week’s book cover poll features four books that are all past winners of our weekly poll. Something about each of these covers has appealed to the majority of voters in previous contests. Now it’s time to see which one will be this week’s twitter contest prize. You can read a description of each book below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Today’s blog post is from John Bacher, author of Two Billion Trees and Counting.
Today we have an interview with Philippa Dowding, author of The Lost Gargoyle series. The newest title in the series is The Gargoyle at the Gates, which has just released. Philippa tells us which character she’s most attached to, how she came up with the idea for this book and her secret tip for when she hits writers block!
Caitlyn Tell us about your book: The Gargoyle at the Gates, book 3 in the Lost Gargoyle Series.
Between now and the end of Spring Dundurn will be releasing a host children and YA books – all great reads. Heading to bookstores right now is I Forgot to Tell You, book three in a series that centers on the lives of four teen ballet dancers – capturing the drama and teen anxiety of the students struggling to make their mark in the highly-competitive dance academy.
Today’s book cover poll features four books for teens. The winner will be the book that is given away in this week’s Twitter contest. You can find out more about each one below, but first, pick your favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
To kick off our teen fiction week, we have an author interview with Adira Rotstein, author of the Little Jane Silver series: Little Jane Silver and Little Jane and the Nameless Isle. Adira tells us about what she’s reading, her love of books, and her new project.
To finish off our fiction week this week we have an interview with Liam Card, author of Exit Papers From Paradise. Liam tells us about his book, how he went about writing it, and how what inspired him to tell the story of a plumber who dreams of bigger and better things.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
Today’s Defining Canada blog post comes from Ann Ireland, author of A Certain Mr. Takahashi (winner of the Seal First Novel Award), The Instructor (shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award), and Exile (shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize). Her forthcoming release, The Blue Guitar, will be published on Jan. 26, 2012.
Today’s author interview is with George Szanto, who is the author of the Conquests of Mexico series. George tells us about his series, his ideal writing place and his new project that he’s working on.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
Today’s book cover poll features four novels, all recently published. Any of these would make a great read for this holiday season! You can find out more about each one below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Last Thursday Dundurn host its “Farewell to 40” party, heralding the holiday season and capping off 40 memorable years publishing great Canadian stories. Held in the beautiful Arts and Letters Club on Elm St., the party was attended by more than 100 people, including more than 50 Dundurn authors, both old and new. It was an evening of felicity, fellowship, and fantastic food and drink. Highlights included Tarot card readers, caricaturists, and, la piece de resistance, an ornate candy bar chock full chocolate, toffee, and other delights.
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Find out more about these charming books by and about Lucy Maud Montgomery by clicking on the links below:
Today’s author interview is with Vicki Delany, author of The Klondike Gold Rush series. Vicki speaks to us about her series, what inspired her to start writing it, and what the hardest part about writing it is.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book
Today’s author interview is with Janet Kellough, author of Sowing Poison. Janet tells us about her latest book and her forthcoming one, as well as the best advice that she’s received as a writer.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book
Today’s author interview is with Jill Downie, the author of the new release A Grave Waiting. Jill sits down and tells us about how she came up with the idea for her book, how much she enjoyed her research and whath her new project is.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
Today’s blog post comes from Sharon Robart-Johnson, author of Africa’s Children A History of Blacks In Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
February 26, 1921
Michael Januska, author of Grey Cup Century, rounds up his blog posts this week with this last one before the 100th Grey Cup Game. Who are you going to be cheering for?
Michael’s Post:
Today we have an interview with Michael Januska, who is the author of Grey Cup Century. The Grey Cup is of course on Sunday between the Calgary Stampeders and the Toronto Argonauts. Michael tells us how he got started writing this book, what the hardest part of writing it was, and what his new project is.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
Michael Januska, author of Grey Cup Century has been caught up in Grey Cup fever! It’s been a busy week for him media-wise, with twenty-five (you heard it correctly) interviews on CBC radio over the last two days, and today, he’s been pulled away from his blogging duties, for another interview in Rosedale Park this afternoon, the site of the very first Grey Cup game.
This week’s book cover theme is sports. Find out more about each title below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
This week Michael Januska, author of Grey Cup Centry, will be blogging for us in the lead up to the 100th Grey Cup.
Today our author interview is with Christopher MacKinnnon, the author of the new release Canadian Sports Sites for Kids.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
Today we have an interview with Gregg Drinnan and Leesa Culp, two of the authors of Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book
Today’s cover poll features four very different books on one topic: hockey! You can find out more about each one below. But first, pick your favourite cover:
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Maple Leafs fans are a strange breed indeed. It’s been more than a decade since the Leafs made the playoff cut, and the moon landing is still more recent than their last Stanley Cup victory. What then compels Leafs fans year in and year out to set themselves up for yet another Sisyphean season? Personally, the reason I’ve tuned in (at least for the start of the seasons) these past years has, admittedly, less to do with any lingering trace of hope than it does with my fascination with epic tragedy on an historical scale.
Today’s guest post is from Gerald A. Archambeau, author of A Struggle to Walk with Dignity.
Today we have an author interview with John Wilson, author of the new release Failed Hope. John talks about his new book, his most memorable response from a reader, and what his next project is.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
It takes a special kind of crazy to become a great war journalist.
Ask Marie Colvin, the award-winning reporter for the Sunday Times, killed earlier this year covering the siege of Homs, Libya. Colvin, just after losing her left eye to a Sri Lankan rocket-propelled grenade in 2001, spoke out about the importance of shedding light on “humanity in extremis, pushed to the unendurable.” Hardly uplifting work. You have to wonder what kept her going.
Today’s four featured covers are all on the theme of military history. You find out more about each of these book below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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Today’s guest post is from John Bacher, author of Two Billion Trees and Counting.
It is a tragedy that during the next three years a great effort will be expended upon celebrations of the War of 1812. While significant, the War of 1812’s outcome is no cause for rejoicing.
To understand the War of 1812 it helps if you see it in the perspective of director James Cameron’s block buster film, Avatar. The tragic twist however, is that the War of 1812 was an Avatar that failed.
Today’s author interview is with Charis Marsh, author of The Ballet Confidential Series. The stories follow four teenage dancers as they enter the Vancouver International Ballet Academy. Love You, Hate You is the first in the series followed by You’re So Sweet.
Here’s why I love the Ballet School Confidential books: they bring to mind that crazy, semi-neurotic-semi-serious, somewhat self-involved, and completely over-the-top phase that is 12 to 16 years.
My almost 13-year-old ballet-loving niece and her friends, who spin wildly from one topic to another (no doubt leaving a trail of uncompleted tasks as they do so), reminds me of the wonderful cast of characters that make up Charis Marsh’s Gossip Girl-meets-Glee ballet series.
Of all the performing and language arts, professional dance might be the most daunting for a casual viewer. Whereas a book can lead you by the hand into a new world, and a movie can grab you by the lapels and pull you in, dance can only indirectly guide you into its story. How you could express anything as subtle as Swan Lake with nothing but rhythmic movements and an orchestral score is almost impossible to explain.
For today’s cover poll we bring your four books on the topic of dance. You can find out more about these title below, but first, pick your favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
The very first time that I saw a ballet production, I was a kid of no more than 10, and my family and I went to see The Nutcracker in downtown Toronto. I had seen The Nutcracker ballet on TV before, and of course the Carebears had a TV episode about it every year which I always watched, but this was my first time seeing it live. I was really excited.
However, the only thing I remember about watching The Nutcracker that night was that in the middle of a spin, the Sugar Plum Fairy fell and nailed the ground. *SMACK!*
Today’s guest blog post is by Mark Leslie, author of Haunted Hamilton.
While I can’t say I have ever actually seen a ghost, I have always believed in them. When asked why, I often quote a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “There are more things in heaven and earth than our dreamt of in your philosophies.”
Today’s guest blog post is from Gavin Hamilton, author of The Nurses Are Innocent.
In 1827, botanist Robert Brown described microscopic random movement of pollen particles suspended in fluids. This random movement occurred in inert, inanimate microscopic particles suspended in fluds.
Today’s guest blog post is from Jill Downie, author of A Grave Waiting.
Today’s theme for our book cover poll is unexplained phenomena. You can find out more about these spooky books below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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Today’s guest blog post is from Betty Jane Wylie author of The Write Track.
Today’s post is from John Bacher, author of Two Billion Trees and Counting.
Dundurn has published Canadian history for forty years on everything from the history of Canada’s food to its towns and cities. Brockville: The River City by Russ Disotell is a small book but gives a comprehensive and concise history of this important city.
After coming to Toronto as a young child and growing up all around the downtown area, I’ve noticed that many of the places I used to find iconic, exciting, and above all different have become a part of the shared fabric of the city. The things that seemed like vivid, self-contained worlds when I first arrived have gradually zoomed out to show me a bigger picture, and it’s getting harder and harder to imagine the city as anything but that organic whole. Places like the CN Tower, St.
Today’s book cover contest features four books on the topic of “cities”. You can find out more about each title below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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Once upon a time, when they were just married, and before they had kids, my parents lived in Calgary. My Dad worked for a company that installed tvs in hospitals and he was on the road a lot, and my Mom started working at CIBC. They first lived in a little apartment and then in a house.
Today’s author interview is with Stuart Hamilton, who is the author of the new release Opening Windows. Stuart Hamilton, a well-known Canadian musician, has been in the forefront of music in Canada for more than 60 years. Along the way, he has encountered, as a vocal coach and accompanist, most of the great Canadian singers of the last half of the 20th century and some international ones, as well.
Today’s blog post is a guest blog post by Christopher Ward, author of the forthcoming title Mac in the City of Light.
Some musicians wear their reading habits on their sleeves.
Today’s blog post is a guest blog post by author Ann Ireland.
Snap open the case and lift out the guitar from its velvet coffin. Smell of varnished spruce and rosewood. Succulent. Full of promise. I used to play classical guitar, as a kid. I am not a kid now.
Hauling out a sheaf of dusty music, I give it a go, but my fingers are spongy and they don’t obey. Squint at the opening lines of Bach’s first cello suite arranged for guitar. Did I ever play this piece?
The theme of this week’s book cover poll is music. You can find out more about each of these books below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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In Fighting Words: Canada’s Best War Reporting, historian, award-winning journalist, and Fog of War author Mark Bourrie chronicles 1000 years of Canadian war journalism, starting with the Vikings and working his way to the present day. It’s a fascinating collection that adds an important voice to the national conversation surrounding Canada’s military identity.
As a child I recall reading the story of the Kabuliwallah, Written by Nobel Laureate Rabinranath Tagore a hundred-odd years ago, it painted a vivid picture of a vast and somewhat mysterious place, drawing travellers and traders who would venture far beyond their distant homes to sell exotic nuts and raisins in the bordering states.
For today’s cover poll we have chosen 4 books that deal with the topic of Canada’s presence in Afghanistan. Dundurn publishes a wide range of military history books, and you can find out more about them on our website. Read the descriptions for these four below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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In 2011, Canada removed the majority of its armed forced in Afghanistan, effectively ending Canada’s decade-long military role in the region. The campaign’s legacy and overall impact remain contentious points of debate today, but in 2007, with causalities mounting, Canadians demanded to know why the country was involved in Afghanistan at all, mired in a conflict in which, as became increasingly evident, it had no direct interests.
September 28, 2012 is the second annual Home Child Day in Ontario, an important date for my family and thousands of other families in Canada.
In April 1928, my mother, Catherine McCallum, arrived in Canada as part of the child migration scheme that sent thousands of children to Canada from Great Britain between 1880 and 1930. Her brother Duncan followed her a year later. There were many sponsoring agencies and orphanages that sent children to a new life in Canada.
Tomorrow, Friday, September 28 is British Home Child Day in Ontario.
Spearheaded by our Vice President, Beth Bruder, Dundurn has published a number of home child history titles.
Among many memorable moments from my golden-hued tenure as a graduate English student at Queen’s University was an excursion to Wolfe Island, part of my orientation week. As many Kingston locals and Queen’s alumni are aware, Wolfe Island is home to a giant corn maze, which, as the English department saw it, was the perfect tool by which to forge lasting bonds with one’s peers all while testing one’s mental turpitude. Indeed, though designed to be all in good fun, the maze in fact requires no small amount of spiritual endurance if one is to make it out before nightfall.
Today’s book cover contest features four books that relate to the topic of Home Children. You can find out more about these titles below. But first, choose your favourite cover!
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This Friday our author interview is with Terry Reardon, who is the author of the new release Winston Churchill and Mackenzie King. Terry tells us how he came up with the idea for his book and why he thinks it is so important that the younger generation learns about these two great men and the period of time that they lived through.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
There is the general feeling that Canadians don’t know their Prime Ministers like Americans know their Presidents. I am not sure if this is true, but to help our cause along I will give you a few facts about two of our Prime Ministers.
Did you know that the average age of our Prime Ministers is 56 years, 8 months, and 9 days?
Our youngest Prime Minister was Charles Joseph “Joe” Clark at 39 years, 11 months and 30 days.
“This is the most crucial moment in all the world’s history,” William Lyon Mackenzie King wrote in his diary during the escalating days of World War II.
Today’s book cover poll features four books on Canadian Prime Ministers. You can find out more about each one below, but first, pick your favourite cover!
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This past summer, while visiting family in Ottawa, my mother and I decided to pay a visit to one of Canada’s more unique historical attractions. Located about 30 km west of Ottawa, the Diefenbunker was constructed at the height of the Cold War between 1959 and 1961. The four-story subterranean bunker was designed chiefly with the intention of housing the entire Canadian government for one month in the event of nuclear fallout. Such an event, of course, never occurred and the facility was used as a military base until being turned into a museum in 1994.
This week we’re talking about where we come from. The great thing about Canada is that at some point in time everyone came from some where else. Lucille Campey is a professional researcher and historian in genealogy and emigration. Her newest book is called Seeking a Better Future and it is what we were able to talk to her about today.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
Genealogy is the fastest growing hobby and interest for millions of people around the world. It has been said that the pursuit of family history is shaped by the desire to find one’s family place in the larger historical picture, and a desire to preserve the past for future generations. Once you are hooked it is like a complex personal mystery waiting for you to find the missing pieces.
Today’s book cover contest features four recently released books on the topic of or relating to genealogy. You can find out more about these books below, but first, pick your favourite cover!
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Horse racing is sometimes referred to as the Sport of Kings, presumably because every thoroughbred can be traced back to one of three horses who were brought back to Europe from the Middle East more than 300 years ago; any good royal is thoroughly obsessed with tracing their royal lineage through genealogy, so the practice of breeding and racing horses emulated the practice of stickhandling heirs and heiresses through the royal bloodlines of Europe.
Today on the blog we have an interview with Don Easton, author of the Jack Taggart mystery series. Don Easton is a former RCMP undercover operative and as he tells us a lot of what he writes comes from personal experience.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
Today’s blog post is a guest blog post from our author John Moss.
This week we are featuring the covers of four newly released mysteries. You can find out more about each of these books below, but first, pick your favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Starting off our mystery week is an interview with Rick Blechta and his hot of the presses book The Fallen One. Rick tells us how he came up with the idea of this book, his new project and his most memorable response from a reader.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the idea for this work?
Today our author interview is with Brenda Chapman, author of one of our new releases, Second Chances. Brenda tells us about her new book, which character she is most attached to, and what inspired her to write this novel.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
For the long weekend, we have a couple of different author interviews lined up. Today we’re talking with Jennifer Maruno author of the new release Cherry Blossom Winter, which is the sequel to the novel When the Cherry Blossoms Fell.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book
Hello to our Teachers!
I recognize that you still have one long weekend left before you head back to work, but I thought that I would share this work related news with you before the long weekend starts so you can relax just a little bit more.
This week we’re talking about YA books. School starts next week for a lot of students and while we know that’s not the best news for a lot of people, we’ve got some books that will help get you through! Today we interviewed Nicholas Maes, author of the new release Transmigration.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
This week we are featuring 4 covers from our recently released and forthcoming books for teens. You can find out more about these exciting new titles below, but first, pick your favourite cover!
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Ken Harvey is an award-wining, Newfoundland-based writer, and now filmmaker. Last year, he decided to give up writing to take on the art of short films. And he’s good. Great actually. Last year his short film, I’m Fourteen and I Hate the World won the Kodak Best Atlantic Short Award in Halifax. Starring his daughter Emma, the film has since been selectioned for ten film festivals around the world including Italy, Russia, India, South American, US and Canada.
This Friday we’re talking to M. Sheelagh Whittaker who is the author of the new release The Slaidburn Angel. Sheelagh talks about the writing process, and the inspiring people and connections that she made while researching and writing this book.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the title?
This is supposed to be my last book review as an intern at Dundurn and reading 135 pages in a row of Unsolved True Canadian Cold Cases by Robert J. Hoshowsky isn’t the way I thought things would go down. Not the way I would have wanted to say goodbye.
This week we’ve selected covers from four recently published books dealing with True Crime. You can find out more about these books below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
For those of you out there in the world who enjoy reading, or find interesting, books about true crime, you’re going to love us this week.
Why you might ask? Well because this week we’ve dedicated to our true crime books.
Today’s guest blog post comes from Rick Antonson, author of the new release Route 66 Still Kicks.
Have you ever walked into a room and felt the hair on the back of your neck stand up? Have you ever felt presences or seen something that you really can’t explain? Have you ever seen a ghost? Dorah Williams is the author of Haunted and the new release Haunted Too – books that talk about just these things. Read what Dorah has to say about her new book and the experiences that she had in order to write it.
Dundurn, the castle in Hamilton, is haunted. Dundurn, the publisher in Toronto, is not.
There isn’t a relationship between the Dundurns other than Google search clicks, and more importantly, that Dundurn Press published Mark Leslie’s book, Haunted Hamilton, with a chapter, my favourite chapter, dedicated to the spooky Dundurn Castle.
David Annandale joins us today for an interview. David is the author of one of our new releases Gethsemane Hall.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the idea for this work?
Today we are featuring four covers from our great collection of Paranormal releases. You can find out more about each of these spooky books below, but first, which of these covers do you think is the most haunting?
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I met a girl last weekend who was born prematurely, at only 4 months! When she was born the doctors said she would not survive an hour, then it was 24 hours, then it was one week. She is now fourteen years old and in perfect physical and mental health, with above average intellectual skills. She is very serious and quiet, with bright eyes that seem to capture everything.
Mark Leslie joins us this Friday in an interview about his new release Haunted Hamilton!
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
Mark: Haunted Hamilton is not just a book that explores the ghosts and mysteries of Hamilton and the surrounding area, but it is a celebration of the unique history and culture that makes Hamilton special.
Kids aren’t dumb just because they’re not adults.
I know Chris A. Rutowski agrees with me because he wrote, I Saw It Too! Real UFO Sightings. Unfortunately, young people are less likely to have their UFO sightings believed and have their account recorded just because they’re young people.
I say, “no fair!”
In honour of the Mars “Curiosity” Landing this week at Dundurn we took a poll asking the staff this question:
What is the number 1 thing you would bring with you into space – other than a book.
These are some of our answers:
This week, in honour of NASA’s Mars Curiosity Landing we’re featuring covers for four space-themed books. You can find out more about the books by reading their descriptions below, but first, pick you favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Are you curious about space? Wondering if there are other life forms in the universe? Are you gazing up at the starry night sky?
See our space-related books on our new website — same URL, but it’s totally far out.
Mary Pickford known as “America’s Sweetheart” is originally a Canadian Sweetheart.
Born in Toronto, Mary Pickford received 2 Oscars for her roles in movies (she was in over 160 of them). On top of her acting credits she also co-founded United Artists in 1919 with Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. She became the highest paid actress of her time, and was known for negotiating her own contracts so that she could have complete creative control over her films.
This week at Dundurn our theme is Important Canadians, so we walked around the office and asked who everyone thought was an important Canadian. There was definitely some controversy over who would or should make the list, but we finally got our top 10.
Dundurn Staff’s Top 10 Important Canadians
This week on our Ask an Author series, Mary Thomas, author of Canadians with Custer, was able to sit down with us and answer some questions about her new book.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the idea for this work?
This week we’re featuring four books on important Canadians. You can find out more about each book below, but first, pick your favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
It seems like a lifetime away – certainly the conditions in which this story took place are far removed from present-day Canada, where access to life-saving health services is available to all. When I first met Paulina, more than twenty years ago in Bombay, she was a spirited twenty-something, engaged and, no doubt, looking forward to more than the dozen odd years she eventually had – due to renal failure and the lack of access to timely, affordable, medical care.
In the days before mandatory backseat seatbelts, I saw the Mississauga Trail Derailment.
We were driving home from a visit with family friends. It was very late and for whatever reason, I was looking East out the back window of my parents car. As we went over a bridge in Toronto’s West End, the sky lit up. It was as though the sun rose and set in within 5 seconds. I didn’t think anything much of it, other than, wow, neat.
My father, who was driving and I guess checking his rear view mirror and saw part of what I saw, went crazy.
The Olympic flame is one of the most noteable traditions of the Olympics. Serveral months before the start of any Olympics the flame is lit in Greece and then carried from Greece to whichever nation is hosting the games. The Olympic torch serves as a link between Greece and the rest of the world – between past and present. This year the Olympics are in London, England. The last Olympics was in 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. We Canadians know full well the excitment of hosting an Olympic games, and the responsibility that it entails.
Fire Along the Frontier has just released! Author Alastair Sweeny was kind enough to stop by and answer some questions that we had about his new book. Make sure you also follow Alastair on twitter @AlastairSweeny.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
Alastair: It’s an attempt to dig deeper into the economic and political reasons why the US declared war, and what they really hoped to achieve (behind the spin), and whether they were successful.
This week we are pitting 4 covers by the same author against each other. Ron Brown is a freelance travel writer and photographer who has published twenty books on the visual heritage of Ontario. The covers we are featuring explore train travel in Canada. You can find out more about them below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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One of the key promises that Sir John A. Macdonald made to the provinces when he proposed the idea of Confederation was a railway that would connect Canada from one coast to the other. It was this promise, the Canadian Pacific Railway company, and numerous hardworking immigrants, who united this country six years ahead of schedule.
If you’re heading out this weekend on a road trip and need some ideas for tunes, check out Dundurn’s Road Trip Mix!
Road Trip Summmer Mix 2012:
“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – WILL ROGERS
Quite literally.
And that’s the kind of endearing one-liner that made Will Rogers famous enough to get an Oklahoman strip on Route 66 named after him.
But just because the highway has been dismantled and replaced by a series of interstate highways doesn’t mean you can’t still get to Los Angeles from Chicago.
You’re on the right track hitching a ride with Rick Antonson, the author of Route 66 Still Kicks, he’ll take you there in first-person.
Can you do Italy and back in a few hours?
I don’t think so but if you live in downtown Toronto, especially in the St. Lawrence Market area there is always something happening that makes you think you are on a road trip!
Last Friday I strolled along Front Street and came upon two wonderful old cars, (I think the white one is a Fiat and the blue one is a Citroen), and an Italian cafe street scene! Okay, it was for a commercial but there was a brief excitement in knowing that you can leave the city for somewhere exotic by walking down the street.
This week we’re talking about road trips. It’s the perfect time and the perfect weather to just get in the car and go somewhere. Today on our Ask an Author series Rick Antonson was able to stop by and answer some questions about his new book Route 66 Still Kicks – the ultimate road trip.
Caitlyn: How did you come up with the title?
In honour of summer and all the wonderful memories that the season brings, this week we’re celebrating road trips. Today’s book cover poll highlights some our road trip-themed books. Find out more about them below, but first, pick your favourite cover!
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I don’t mean to brag or anything, but I am the Queen of Road Trips.
While other kids went to camp over the summer, or visited grandparents, or went skiing in the Alps, my parents piled my brother and I into our van and took off on 3-6 week family vacations. By the time I was twelve I had been to every province and territory in Canada – excluding the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
I couldn’t tell you what I thought about Team Canada’s Summit Series in 1972.
In 1972 my X chromosomes were still in high school and my Y one was DJing on the weekends. I wasn’t born until well after the Canadian history making game because my parents hadn’t met yet.
If not for Dundurn’s new title, Titans of ’72: Team Canada’s Summit Series Heroes, I’m sure who Paul Henderson even is, and all three of his winning goals would be lost on me, so it’s good I’m interning here now.
This week on our Ask an Author series, Senior Editor Allister Thompson was able to snag an interview with Michael Januska, author of the soon to be released title Grey Cup Century. Michael is also the author of the forthcoming title Riverside Drive.
With the summer Olympics gearing up across the pond, we’ve picked four covers that reflect on the theme of Canadian sportsmanship and adventure. Find out more about each book below, but first, pick your favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Yes, the Olympics are upon us, and, almost before news writers finish their opening ‘can we overcome…?’ pieces, they will be done.
But in the 16 intense days – from the ceremonial opening ceremony, to the handover on August 12 by London Mayor Boris Johnson to his counterpart Eduardo Paes of Rio de Janeiro, host of the 2016 Summer Olympics, new heroes will be crowned, tears will be shed, and, undoubtedly new memories forged.
Last night I walked to my good buddy’s cocktail party right after work.
I walked up Church, through St. James Park, across King and jaywalked on Ontario Street because Old Town’s Victorian heritage buildings and landscaped parks make me feel good.
That’s science.
A social science of human geography that happens to be my new favourite subtopic — emotional geography.
Trust me, you already know what emotional geography is. It is a convenient term for the systematization of your gut reaction to a place, isn’t it.
I remember some of the books I read when I was at that awesome age, between 8 and 12, where I could read like a champ and I was still of indiscriminate tastes. Archie comics and Baby Sitters Club got thrown into the mix with Narnia and The Hobbit. My first job, when I was eleven, was dusting old mildewed books at a used bookstore on Saturdays. It was easy work and the owner paid me in books.
In Canadian publishing, our issues are unique. We generally don’t like to explain how publishing works to outsiders, as they’ll start to ask too many questions, which we’ll answer by saying, “that’s just the way it’s done.” As mentioned in my last post, marketing experts from outside the industry will often come in and talk about how marketing works in other industries. It’s always very interesting to see how green the grass is on the other side, but many times, we’re still left asking the question, “how does this relate to Canadian publishing?”
On today’s Ask an Author we were able to sit down with B.J. Bayle who is the author of the soon to be released title Red River Rising. This will be B.J. Bayle’s fouth book, and she tells us how she went about researching and writing this new story.
Caitlyn: Tell us about your book.
This week we’re featuring four covers from our latest teen fiction releases— because there’s a teenager in everyone! You can find a synopsis of the books below. But first, pick your favourite cover:
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Our publicity manager Karen is reading Oak Island Family by Lee Lamb, and can’t put it down. But I mean, how could you? Oak Island is thought to be a location of mysterious legendary treasure – such as the treasure of the Knights Templar or Captain Kidd.
Karen explains further:
Our latest true crime novel that was released just this week is The Slaidburn Angel. The book is set in 1885 Yorkshire, where sisters are on trial for their lives after being accused of murdering an illegitimate toddler. Today, sisters Sheelagh and Penny have discovered their then nine-year-old grandmother was a witness.
As I was walking down the street at lunch today, I noticed the woman in front of me was wearing a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. They were black with a three inch heel. Those of you who know your shoes will understand how I knew they were Louboutins. This French designer has branded his shoes by colouring the undersides bright red. It reminded me of the presentation I attended last Thursday at Book Summit, given by marketing guru Terry O’Reilly.
This week on our Ask An Author series Morley Torgov popped by and was able to sit down with us for a few mintues and answer some questions about his new book The Mastersinger From Minsk.
CS: How did you come up with the idea for this work?
The Whiteoaks family tree spans 7 generations and 100 years, narrated in 16 books written by Mazo de la Roche over 33 years as part of the acclaimed Jalna series. Many of these books were international bestsellers, and remain popular to this day.
This week we’re featuring four covers from our latest fiction releases— these all make great summer reads! You can find a synopsis of the books below. But first, pick your favourite cover!
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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Our intern Sharon imagining a conversation with Jules, a central character to one of our new releases The Family Album by Kerry Kelly.
Jules: Listen up, Intern. The world is not kind to publishing students who wave the individualist flag. Not if you want people to like you, so, you don’t get to just walk around and read whatever you want to read this summer.
Yesterday was National Aboriginal Day, and it kick-started the 11 day celebration of Canada, that ends with Canada Day (July 1st). This year Canada will be 144 yeas old. The land that we now call Canada has of course existed for much longer than 144 years, and had quite a different population before the first Vikings and later Europeans arrived.
On Ask an Author this week, we were able to catch up with Richard D. Merritt, and talk about his newly released book On Common Ground. Richard lets us in on who his favourite characters are his desire to have the Commons designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
CS: Tell us about your book.
In celebration of Nation Aboriginal Month in Canada, this week’s “pick your favorite cover” poll features new and forthcoming books on First Nations topics.
You can read below for descriptions of these titles, but pick your favorite cover based only on your initial reaction to it!
One of the most formative summers of my life was the one that I spent as an assistant to adults with intellectual disabilities in the L’Arche Community on Cape Breton Island. The experience was challenging and liberating and I learned a great deal about myself and about the world around me. I also learned the value and rewards of living within a community.
Dreamed of a classy night out on the town, taking in the culture of the great city of Toronto? Enter our Dundurn at the National Ballet Giveaway and you can treat yourself to a night of elegance… for free!
The following is a complete transcript of the speech given by Dundurn president and publisher, Kirk Howard, at the event:
I’d like to welcome you all here tonight to our 40th anniversary party. Lord, 40 years! 40 years; 2500 books; it hardly seems possible. It seems hardly possible that 40 years have passed since as a callow and somewhat confused and decidedly slimmer 29 year old I got the papers from the lawyer to set up Dundurn Press.
Tomorrow is the official launch of the Bicentennial Commemoration of the War of 1812, marking 200 years of peace between Canada and the United States. In 1812 Toronto the city was instead called York, and it was York that the Americans tried to take. The Americans will say that they won the War of 1812, whereas Canadians will say that we did. What can be agreed upon however is that there were numerous casulaties on both sides who should be remembered. It is because of their sacrifice that we are able to celebrate this historic occassion.
I spent most of this weekend on or around lake Ontario. Saturday was spent walking, biking, sitting on patios and generally relaxing on Toronto’s Harbourfront, and Sunday I sailed around the southern side of Toronto Island with my sister.
We’re giving kudos to our various LGBT titles this week, and I thought in honour of this I’d reshare a post I did for Defining Canada back in April. Jeffrey Round, author of Lake on the Mountain, did a great spot with Bookends TV. Filmed at Toronto’s Sleuth of Baker Street bookstore, Jeffrey talked with host Justine Lewkowicz about crime fiction and LGBT characters. If you didn’t check it out then, check it out now!
In honour of Farzana Doctor’s nomination for the LAMBDA Literary Award for Lesbian General Fiction (Farzana is at the awards ceremony tonight. Good luck!!), we thought it appropriate to share some of her thoughts about writing and publishing.
10 Things I wish I’d known 10 years ago: a letter to my 30-year-old writer self
by Farzana Doctor
I’ve been reminded recently, with all the hullabaloo around the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, of the time, the only time, I’ve seen the Queen.
In honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee, our blog posts this week will be all about The Queen and Canada. Queen Elizabeth is giving out 60,000 Diamond Jubliee Medals to Canadians in honour of the occassion. The Royal family has always had a close connection with Canada, and Canadians as Christopher McCreery points out in his book Commemorative Medals of The Queen’s Reign in Canada, 1952-2012.
The whole nation was abuzz last week with royal fever. Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, spent three days touring Canada, with specific stops in New Brunswick, Toronto, and Regina. Their schedules were jam packed with appearances, but HRH Prince Charles managed to squeeze in time to meet one of Dundurn’s very own authors.
Last night was Dundurn’s 40th anniversary party at the Arts & Letter’s Club in downtown Toronto. Over 150 guests attended the party, which included industry people as well as many of Dundurn’s authors, and of course the Dundurn staff.
We gave away three Kobos (congrats to our winners!), and we hear our photobooth was a big hit. (Stay tuned because those photos will make their way onto our website, blog, twitter, and facebook).
Thank you everyone for coming out and celebrating with us! We had a fantastic time and we hope that you did as well!
Remember:
Happy Tuesday!
We’re back from a (much needed) extended weekend, and getting back down to business for another busy week in the Dundurn neighbourhood. We have a lot of great activities coming up this week, including our 40th anniversary celebration. Tune in for our live-tweets!
We’re also getting ready for a big rush of new releases, including The Devil’s Dust by C.B. Forrest. This is the third book in his lauded Charlie McKelvey mystery series, and seeing as this is one of our most anticipated releases this spring, why not dedicate more time to it on our blog?
The first four Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan were repatriated at Canada’s largest military base in 2002. The fallen soldiers were driven down the 172-kilometre stretch of highway between Trenton and Toronto, and pedestrians lined the overpasses, hoping to make a connection with the grieving families. The support these people show isn’t political; it’s not a movement for or against Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. It’s always been a grassroots movement about showing respect for our fallen champions.
This Wendesday for our Ask an Author series, we caught up with Anne Dublin, whose book The Baby Experiment just realeased this week.
CS: Tell us about your book.
My new commute to Dundurn takes me past the Stanley Barracks in the Canadian National Exhibition grounds. According to Mike Filey’s column last Sunday the tug boat parked next to the barracks is being moved to a new location.
It makes me nostaglic for my childhood when my father and I would go to the Marine Musuem every year, likely contributing to my love of boat books.
When I see a teenager with their face stuck in a book I’m so envious!
These days I read as much as I can manage. But as a teen, circumstances conspired to make me a huge bookworm: I lived in a small town where nothing happened; my parents both worked and didn’t force me into after school programs or summer camps, and I was pretty much a loner. Not to mention that there wasn’t anything else on earth that I would rather be doing.
The Grade 6 students of Kettle Lakes P.S. created a book trailer for Marina Cohen’s new book Chasing the White Witch.
Click on the link below to see it!
As part of our Ask and Author Wednesdays we have a guest post today by Helen Forsey author of Eugene Forsey, Canada’s Maverick Sage.
It’s over a month since my book came off the press, but my “to do” list shows no sign of getting any shorter. My desk is piled with letters, lists and stick-it notes with phone numbers to call and websites to check. Each call or email leads to three more, and I’m still discovering new leads.
This year’s World Expo will be held in South Korea beginning on May 12. Its theme is “The Living Ocean and Coast” and it is expected to draw more than 11 million visitors over the course of 3 months. The event will be attended by 105 nations, but Canada and Greece are the only two countries to decline an invitation. The reason for Canada’s absence is being chalked up to the unjustifiable expense. Hey, that’s Greece’s excuse!
As a certified English and History high school teacher I know that the bane of every English teacher’s job is trying to get kids to read — especially boys.
It’s author Wednesday and today we have Bill Sherk who is the author of one of new releases Keep Up If You Can!
CS: Tell us about your book.
Bill: My new book “KEEP UP IF YOU CAN: Confessions of a high school teacher” (April 2012) looks back on my 31 years of teaching history to high school students in Toronto.
CS: How did you come up with the idea for this work?
Prior to working at Dundurn I was employed by a tiny educational publisher that re-printed the intellectual property of Caleb Gattegno, founder of the Association for the Science of Education. Gattegno’s theories on educating using the “subordination of teaching to learning” had, in their heyday, influenced thousands of teachers across the world.
This week at Dundurn is what we’ve been calling our Jalna week. Now for those of you who do not know Jalna is a famous Canadian series of novels by Mazo de la Roche.
As part of our Ask an Author series, this week we were able to sit down with James Ross, who is the author of one of our new releases Cottage Daze, and ask him some questions about his new book, and his writing process.
CS: Tell us about your book.
The Golden Eagle Book Award is a literary award that is given annually to an Alberta writer whose book is selected by children in grades four through eight from schools in the southern Alberta communities of Claresholm, Nanton, Stavely, Granum, the Daly Creek Colony, Pincher Creek, Blairmore and Lundbreck,” (http://www.goldeneaglebookaward.com/)
Before coming to work at Dundurn (some two and half years ago, almost), I had never heard of the Jalna series of books by Mazo de la Roche. When I mentioned to friends with English degrees that Dundurn was re-releasing every title in this famed series, my friends were shocked at my ignorance. It was required reading for many Canadian Lit classes, I was told. Made sense that I missed it, I responded. I stuck to Shakespeare and the Brits, and running around an acting studio.
Earth Day is this Sunday!
Earth Day became an international event in 1990 and is celebrated in over 170 different countries by over 1 billion people. Earth Day was created to raise awareness about the environmental issues that our respective societies face and to get people to do what they can to cut down on pollution.
I find that Earth Day is greeted in usually two different ways. There’s the school child enthusiasm way and the apocalyptic way.
As part of our Ask an Author series, this week we were able to catch up with David R. Elliott who is the author of one of our new releases Researching Your Irish Ancestors At Home And Abroad and ask him some questions about his book and writing in general.
CS: Tell us about your book.
While everyone is going ga-ga for Titanic’s anniversary, I can confidently say I’m over the media firestorm about the centennial of this tragic event. It was, indeed, a tragedy, but my channel-surfing this weekend was consumed by historical documentaries about the building of the ship, minute-by-minute reenactments of its demise, and at least three separate networks playing James Cameron’s opus.
Thankfully there was tons of play-off hockey to watch instead. (Did anyone see Philly v. Pittsburgh yesterday?)