A Novel About Autism in Nineteenth Century Nova Scotia
This blog has been running for almost 5 years! It served me well in my early days of writing the novel as motivation when inspiration ran dry. Later, when the book came out, this blog became a digital scrapbook of highlights like the book launch. I don’t want to retire this blog yet but I would like to direct any readers to my new Substack: Nova Sociable
The goal of Nova Sociable is to be a central place for interviews with creative people in Ireland, Canada and beyond. I hope you like it!
I am looking forward to the opportunity to speak at the MacDonald Museum in Middleton on Wednesday, July 19th. It will be part of the museum’s “What To Read Wednesdays” series.
Read more
UPDATE: Click here for my interview with Portia Clark on CBC radio’s Information Morning.
Learningo is a non-profit society dedicated to helping people with Autism become active members of their company. I am honoured to have been recently made vice-chair of the board. As part of Autism Awareness month, we are excited to show you an amazing documentary called Beyond. The movie covers the challenges faced by a single mother, Tamara Mark, to two non-verbal adults, Ian and Harry. The movie will be shown on April 30th, 1pm at the Woodlawn Library Auditorium.
I was delighted to be asked to discuss a forthcoming Moose House Press book, Less Than Innocent, with fellow Nova Scotia author Carol Anne Cole. Moose House is the publisher of Poor Farm. In this new novel, nineteen Nova Scotia authors (myself included) collaborated on each writing a chapter set during the lockdown of 2020. The only rules were you only had a week to read the previous chapter and could not reverse the ongoing story. The whole project was a lot of fun and a very interesting spur to creativity. The book will be available from Moose House soon.
Read more
I was thrilled when Brenda Thompson asked me to contribute a foreword to her second edition of A Wholesome Horror: Poor Houses in Nova Scotia published by SSP Publications. I have known Brenda for a number of years now and her research and support were critical to Poor Farm. Check out the latest edition for a much expanded take on this neglected area of Nova Scotia history, and see below for my full foreword.
Read more
I was fortunate to contribute to the latest edition of White Enso [Spring 2022] with a review of Jean Pasley’s wonderful novel, Black Dragonfly. The novel is about the life of Lafcadio Hearn, a nineteenth century Irish writer who emigrated to Japan. I won’t trouble you with all the details here, but encourage you to check out my review.
Read more
In the course of researching Poor Farm, I came across the fascinating story of Ned Beals. He was from nineteenth century Preston, still today one of the largest African-Nova Scotian communities in the province. Although my novel is primarily concerned with the plight of an autistic young man in a poor farm, it does touch on the history of others like Ned Beals, many of whom were unfairly incarcerated in these institutions. Stewart, the main character, and Ned connect through popular songs. Ned is one of the few inmates who genuinely empathizes with Stewart, to the point where Stewart copies him by covering his mouth, an unconscious gesture the historical Ned used to make to cover a deformity there.
Read moreHere’s a video review of Poor Farm from Michelle Butler Hallett. I enjoy reading Michelle’s books, so it’s a big thrill for me she picked Poor Farm for Atlantic Books Today. The video clip is embedded below or go here if the video doesn’t load.
Atlantic Books are dedicated to helping readers in Atlantic Canada discover books written and published in their region. They release high quality magazines and guides, including their Holiday Gifts Guide. I was delighted to see Poor Farm featured in the Historical Stories Section. They say the best gift you can give someone is a novel experience. What better gift is there than the transformation of your surroundings offered by a book?
The Halifax Rejigged Festival is back (live and online) this year with a great lineup! I was thrilled to be interviewed for the Between The Jigs Podcast discussing my other novel Chief O’Neill. Enjoy!