Childhood & Writing
by way of presenting the description of my upcoming novel
Wanted to be a writer, maybe since I was a very young teen. And I wrote, lots, when I was younger. Not sure why –a few important childhood books might have helped. But I think now it might have had more to do with having an untethered imagination – I was never a practical child, nor a very grounded or sociable teen, too much make-believe to bother paying attention to much else. I had never tried to excavate why that was until I saw the movie about Tolkien. It is a powerful film, his story profound and moving – but it was the scene of his mother, telling stories, creating magic - and then as vivid as anything, I was back in my childhood, tucked in for the night, my mom spinning outlandish tales of spaceships and moonbeams. It was all adventure and beauty in the Land of Nod when you travelled with Mary Griffin.
I was a lucky kid. Lucky too that my mom’s mind was such a colourful, daisy chain of originality. She may have been a painter, but goddamn, she could really spin a story. I think she would have liked my new one, here’s the official book description:
The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien (out this Fall, 2025 on Latitude 46 Publishing) Pre-order it from your local independent bookstore.
A gothic tale from deep within the boreal forest…
Violence and greed have intruded into a wild and remote land. It’s 1907, and silver fever has drawn thousands of men into a fledgling mining camp in the heart of the wilderness. Modesto O’Brien, fortune-teller and detective, is there too - but he isn’t looking for riches. He’s seeking revenge.
O’Brien soon finds himself entangled with the mysterious Nail sisters, Lucy and Lily. On the run from their past and headed for trouble, Lily turns to O’Brien when Lucy goes missing. But what should have been a straightforward case of kidnapping pulls O’Brien into a world of ancient myths, magic, and male violence.
As he searches for Lucy, O’Brien fears that dark forces are emerging from the ravaged landscape. Mesmerized by a nightmarish creature stalking the wilderness, and haunted by his past, O’Brien struggles to maintain his grip on reality as he faces hard choices about loyalty, sacrifice, and revenge
From as early as I remember my mother too told me stories, stories spun from the beauty of her imagination. I know now she was a believer in magic.
Painting IS storytelling, the inner workings spilling to the surface!