Last week marked the official change from winter to spring. Really?
Lee Ann’s back yard, March 20
Well, here’s my poetic response to that:
RELUCTANT SPRING
Red flash within tangled branches a cardinal’s quest for mate or meal. Bright hope though buds still clench the brambly twigs tightly in this reluctant spring.
And in case your neighbourhood looks the same as mine, I thought I’d dedicate this post to all things gardening, to support you getting in the mood for Spring, whenever she decides to show up.
I have three things for you. First, to help you with planning for this year’s gardening season, an article I wrote for the Master Gardeners of Ottawa-Carleton (MGOC): “Five Things I Wish I Had Been Told as a Beginning Gardener.” May this save you many years of trial and error in your garden!
And since we may still be restricted from actually digging in the dirt for a while longer, why not read a great book? One of my top picks this winter is all about trees – those magnificent beings we share the planet with and about which scientists have recently learned some fascinating things. Like: trees communicate with each other, underground via networks of fungi and above ground via chemicals released through leaves. Sound intriguing? Here’s my book review of Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees: What they Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World. (Note you can sign up for free to receive the MGOC Trowel Talk newsletter and get monthly gems of gardening advice and knowledge from Master Gardeners!)
And finally, here’s a poetic** gift for you to savour as the wind blows and the spring snow falls:
Lee Ann
**This poem is a “haiku”: an ancient Japanese form of poetry, three lines long, where the first and last lines contain seven syllables and the middle line three syllables. Now you know!
More and more historians have started probing history to uncover fascinating women and their contributions over millennia. Historical novelists, too, are telling the stories of women, either known historical people or characters based on what we know women experienced and accomplished in the past.
In my role as a features writer for the Historical Novel Society, I get to read new releases of historical novels. I interview authors to discover the people and events that have inspired them to write their books.
Several authors I’ve interviewed recently have told the stories of women I’m betting you’ve never heard of. So as summer softens into cooler days and earlier darkness, why not explore history through the lives and contributions of some fascinating women?
Below are links to my author interviews. You can find the books at your favourite independent bookseller, or your local library. Happy reading!
Lee Ann
The Stolen Lady, by Laura Morelli. OK, you probably have heard of the enigmatic Lisa Gherardini… or as she’s more often called, Mona Lisa. But did you know that the staff of The Louvre spirited most of the museum’s collection (including Lisa’s portrait) out of Paris just before the Nazis arrived to plunder the treasures? Women drove the escape vehicles!
A Most Clever Girl, by Stephanie Marie Thornton. Who was the person who ran the largest Soviet spy ring in the United States during the Cold War? A woman by the name of Elizabeth Bentley. Her confession to the FBI not only identified 41 Soviet sources operating throughout the U.S., it essentially took down the golden age of Soviet espionage, which had been ongoing for over 20 years.
Mrs. Lincoln’s Sisters, by Jennifer Chiaverini. You likely know at least a little bit about Abraham Lincoln’s wife. What about her sisters? Mary Todd Lincoln’s relationships with them were some of the most important in her life. Elizabeth Todd Edwards and Emilie Todd Helm both lived extraordinary lives in their own right, and were present during a particularly transformative time in America’s history.
Dark Earth, by Rebecca Stott. Did you know: under the remains of medieval London lies buried the once great Roman city of Londinium. It was abandoned around 420AD for reasons unknown. So much remains unknown about this period of history that it’s known as the Dark Ages. Author Stott delves into the lives of women during this time through two female characters who flee to the haunted city. Isla is a master sword maker, a skill forbidden to women. Her sister Blue is a master of myth and magic.
Like many people, I am fascinated by a how a piece of art is created. But it’s not often we get a chance to learn much about the creative process behind the development of a book, or painting, or photograph we enjoy.
How about you? Ever wonder what drew a painter or photographer to a specific scene? Or how a poet managed to say so much in so few words? Or where a novelist found out how daily life was lived a century ago?
Lucky me: I get to “go behind the scenes” when I write a feature article for the Historical Novel Society. These features are not book reviews, but rather, a chance to interview the author. So I learn about their writing processes as well as the inspiration and challenges they faced while writing their books.
For example, last year, I got to interview author Eugenia Lovett West, who at age 96 was releasing two new novels! Terry Gamble – whose ancestors founded the Proctor and Gamble Company – shared with me some of the overlaps between her own family history and that of the fictional family in her book. And I got to ask novelist Jennifer Chiaverini about the challenges of researching little-known or forgotten historical figures, so they can be brought to the forefront of her story.
The insights these authors provided to me about the process of creating their books greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the books themselves. And so…
Announcing a New Feature!
After thinking some more about this, and also about the great feedback I received when I shared my own process in writing a poem, I’ve decided to launch a new feature here:
The Creative Process Unmasked
(Well, most of us are masked these days, so why not play with that in the series title?)
This will be a regular feature. I hope to demystify the creative process a bit. I’ll push back the curtain and share with you insights about how I created a new poem. And I’ll invite some guest artists to do the same.
I’m launching the series today with the three novelists who unmasked their creative processes for me in my recent Historical Novel Society articles.
Please let me know what you think! In particular, was there anything that surprised you about how these writers went about creating their books? I’d love to know!
Are you looking for a reprieve from mid-winter? How about some excellent books that come with a strong dose of Canada?
Peace Tower Ottawa, Ontario
ANNOUNCING the release of my cover story for the Historical Novels Review: “Oh Canada! Understanding a Nation Through its Historical Novels.”
This assignment sent me to a joyful review of some outstanding Canadian historical fiction. I used the opportunity to introduce readers to some of our best Canadian novelists and fascinating stories from our past. I’ve set these novels within a description of key developments in the history of our nation – a kind of Coles Notes version of how Canada came to be, and how our geography defines us.
If you’re a member of the Historical Novel Society, you’ll already have the magazine in your mailbox. For those of you who are not members, click here for the article. I hope you find in it some appealing new books to curl up with this month!
Happy New Year! Yes, I know, somewhat belated. I hope 2019 has started well for you, and that it brings you great happiness, however you define that.
I can’t wait to share with you news of some new creative challenges I’ve taken on this year!
I am displaying some of my photos and poems in poster form in the Art Gallery at the Goulbourn Recreation Complex. Every two months, there’s a new exhibition mounted by the Ottawa West Arts Association, a group of very talented local painters, photographers, and coloured pencil artists that I have recently joined. I am excited to be the first artist to bring the combination of photography with poetry to the gallery! On now and until March 8 is “Cold Winter Days,” and I have two pieces in this exhibition. Admission to the gallery is free! Plus, all the pieces are for sale at very reasonable prices. To all my Ottawa friends: do treat yourself to this wonderful display of local artistic talent. To others who are farther away, do check the OWAA website: you can meet the artists and see their work there.
I’ll continue this year to post new photos and poems on the site. What’s new is that, after a focus on my local neighbourhoods for inspiration, I’m expanding my horizons and starting a travel series. We are planning quite a few trips this year, both near and far, so you can expect posts from new locations. First up: two new pieces sparked by Arizona that will be posted later this month. I hope you’ll continue to take a few moments of time to enjoy some beautiful scenes, and that the thoughts they inspire in me also inspire you!
Along the Lost Dog Wash Trail, Scottsdale AZ
Finally: are you looking for insight into newly-released historical fiction books? I’m writing feature articles for the Historical Novel Society! Their online magazine is a great source for new titles, and as a features writer, I get to interview authors and provide behind-the-scenes details about things like the source of their inspiration for writing, how they conducted research for their book… even how they came up with the title. My first article is up now.
And – how about you? What new directions are beckoning you in 2019? I’d love to hear about them!
The War of 1812 took up a lot of time in my history classes during middle school. After all, I grew up in Niagara Falls, and much of that war was fought in our neighbourhoods. So every year, my classmates and I were herded into yellow buses and taken down the Niagara Parkway to Fort George and Queenston Heights, the sites of two major battles.
Brock’s Monument image from friendsoffortgeorge.ca
For me, these field trips were beyond boring. I was unimpressed by Fort George’s summer students, the cute, costumed “soldiers” with their pretend rifle drills. From my tween-aged perspective, the statue of General Isaac Brock at Queenston Heights was interesting only because it had once lost its arm and part of its torso in a lightning strike. I stubbornly refused to participate in the annual climb of the narrow, winding staircase inside Brock’s monument. Two hundred and thirty-five steep steps! Plus all the boys said there were bones up there.
Drummond Hill Cemetery image from niagarafalls.ca
Lundy’s Lane in Niagara Falls is the site of what historians agree was the bloodiest battle of the war. This was never a school field trip, since Lundy’s Lane had developed into a strip of fast food outlets and tourist shops, which it still is today. At the Lane’s highest point, Drummond Hill Cemetery holds the remains of soldiers from that battle. My husband remembers finding musket balls there when he was a kid – now, that’s interesting! Too bad I didn’t know about it when I was twelve.
It was only recently I discovered that two of my four-times-great grandfathers fought in the battle of Queenston Heights and also the battle of Lundy’s Lane. And on the opposite side of the spectrum, my Mennonite ancestors refused to fight on religious grounds.
Muster Roll showing Benjamin Willcox and his son Daniel. Image from ourontario.ca
The War of 1812 now feels far more personal than it ever did in history class or on field trips. What I learned opened a window into the life of Benjamin Willcox Jr., who fought alongside his 16-year old son Daniel in the 4th Lincoln Militia. And Martin Boughner, who left a pregnant wife and two-year-old daughter when he walked off the farm and into battle.
The War of 1812 also marked the first test of conscientious objection in Canada. For my Mennonite ancestors – the Honsberger and Fretz families – this test was real, and it was difficult. While exempt from active fighting, Mennonites were conscripted into “non-combatant” roles. This included driving supply wagons to the battlefront, which certainly did not provide exemption from mortal danger. Not to mention the King could “impress” their horses, carriages, and oxen as needed. And Mennonites, like the rest of the Niagara settlers, were not exempt from having army battalions move into their homes and barns and/or steal food from them when the military stores ran low.
One of the things I love most about researching my ancestry is that it transforms history. No longer is the War of 1812 a boring series of field trips, place names and dates. Now it’s a collection of stories alive with real people who belong to me. It’s an event that allows me to reflect on connections and influences that ripple through generations. I’m proud of all my ancestors who played a role in the war of 1812: the men who were called away from farming and families and who possibly had no interest in soldiering; the women and children who had to step up to keep farms operating… and also the men and women who may have stood up against the military, the government and their neighbours, in order to be true to their faith.
**This is an excerpt from my essay, “The War of 1812: It’s Personal,” which was published in Canadian Stories Magazine, Volume 19, Number 111 (October-November 2016.) You can order a copy of it here.
