Call it a Puppy Love Romance – Heidi Tattrie’s Good for Goodness’ Sake brings Christmas cheer

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Good for Goodness’ Sake by Heidi Tattrie. $2.78. If Christmas Tree Farm by Taylor Swift was a novel, it would be Good for Goodness’ SakeΒ by Heidi Tattrie. I absolutely ripped through this wonderful romance set in the fictitious Maritime Bay and could not believe it was … Read more

Imagine if the Shag Harbour aliens returned but abducted all of Nova Scotia. Welcome to Patchworld Nova by Jude Mire

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Patchworld Nova, by Jude Mire Last month I told you how much I enjoyed Bretton Loney’s historical speculative fiction novel Unsettling Time, wherein a time traveller discovers 1749 Halifax. This month, we’re going the other way: into space, and into the future.Β  Nova Scotia’s most famous … Read more

THIRD new book for Charles R. Saunders in 2025 as Black and Bluenose hits the bookshelves

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π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π‘Ύπ’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’† π’Šπ’” π’…π’π’π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ $πŸ“πŸŽ 𝒂 π’Žπ’π’π’•π’‰ 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝑭𝑡𝑺’𝒔 π‘ͺ𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑹. 𝑺𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 π‘·π’“π’Šπ’›π’†.Β  This week I got a copy of Pottersfield Press’s beautiful new edition of Charles Saunders’s landmark nonfiction book, Black and Bluenose: The History of a Nova Scotian Community. I wrote the introduction to this second edition, explaining how … Read more

Halifax time-traveller races to get back to the future in Bretton Loney’s Unsettling Time

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Unsettling Time, by Bretton Loney.Β  Unsettling Time rapidly became one of my favourite historical fiction novels as I raced through its pages. Perhaps that should be historical speculative fiction, as author Bretton Loney uses Halifax’s Noon Gun and a bad fall to throw a SMU lecturer … Read more

In Damballa, Charles R. Saunders created the first Black pulp hero of the 1930s, just 80 years later

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π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π‘Ύπ’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’† π’Šπ’” π’…π’π’π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ $πŸ“πŸŽ 𝒂 π’Žπ’π’π’•π’‰ 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝑭𝑡𝑺’𝒔 π‘ͺ𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑹. 𝑺𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 π‘·π’“π’Šπ’›π’†. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 πŸπŸŽπŸπŸ“, π’˜π’†β€™π’π’ 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 π’šπ’π’– 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝟏𝟐 π’„π’“π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’„π’‚π’ π’ƒπ’π’π’Œπ’” π‘ͺ𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 π’‘π’–π’ƒπ’π’Šπ’”π’‰π’†π’… π’Šπ’ π’‰π’Šπ’” π’π’Šπ’‡π’†π’•π’Šπ’Žπ’†. Charles R. Saunders has entered the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. The story of how I came to have his plaque reminded … Read more

Charles R. Saunders joins CSFFA Hall of Fame as a new Imaro enters the world

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π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π‘Ύπ’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’† π’Šπ’” π’…π’π’π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ $πŸ“πŸŽ 𝒂 π’Žπ’π’π’•π’‰ 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝑭𝑡𝑺’𝒔 π‘ͺ𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑹. 𝑺𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 π‘·π’“π’Šπ’›π’†. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 πŸπŸŽπŸπŸ“, π’˜π’†β€™π’π’ 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 π’šπ’π’– 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 the π’„π’“π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’„π’‚π’ π’ƒπ’π’π’Œπ’” π‘ͺ𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 π’‘π’–π’ƒπ’π’Šπ’”π’‰π’†π’… π’Šπ’ π’‰π’Šπ’” π’π’Šπ’‡π’†π’•π’Šπ’Žπ’†.Β  IMARO Charles R. Saunders has been inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame! They announced it on Canada Day, saying … Read more

Black and Bluenose: Charles R. Saunder’s Contemporary African Nova Scotian History

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π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π‘Ύπ’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’† π’Šπ’” π’…π’π’π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ $πŸ“πŸŽ 𝒂 π’Žπ’π’π’•π’‰ 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝑭𝑡𝑺’𝒔 π‘ͺ𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑹. 𝑺𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 π‘·π’“π’Šπ’›π’†. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 πŸπŸŽπŸπŸ“, π’˜π’†β€™π’π’ 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 π’šπ’π’– 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝟏𝟐 π’„π’“π’Šπ’•π’Šπ’„π’‚π’ π’ƒπ’π’π’Œπ’” π‘ͺ𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 π’‘π’–π’ƒπ’π’Šπ’”π’‰π’†π’… π’Šπ’ π’‰π’Šπ’” π’π’Šπ’‡π’†π’•π’Šπ’Žπ’†.Β Β  Black and Bluenose: The Contemporary History of a Community. I recently wrote an introduction for a new edition of Black and Bluenose, which Pottersfield … Read more

Let Deep Freeze by Anne O’Connell warm you up this summer!

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π‘©π’π’π’Œ π’“π’†π’—π’Šπ’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’†. Deep Freeze, a novel by Anne Louise O’Connell I read the last chapter of Deep Freeze in the hospital emergency room, which was a perfect location to finish this fun and feisty cosy mystery. Cosy in the sense that (per Wikipedia) it’s a β€œa sub-genre of … Read more

A Recipe for Rhyme and Rescue, by Wanda Taylor

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With Nova Scotia serving up β€œspring” days like this, you will want to displace yourself into the warm and delicious world Wanda Taylor has created in her second novel for young readers. Wanda is an author I really admire, ranging as she does from hard-hitting history books like π΅π‘–π‘Ÿπ‘β„Žπ‘‘π‘œπ‘€π‘› π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π΅π‘™π‘Žπ‘π‘˜ πΏπ‘œπ‘¦π‘Žπ‘™π‘–π‘ π‘‘π‘  to this … Read more