My latest book, The Hat, is now available exclusively through Amazon. I wrote it with YA readers in mind, but apparently adults are enjoying it as well. It comes in two formats, e-book and printed book. For the e-book version, readers with Kindle Unlimited can download it for free. For reasons best known only to Amazon, I could not give the same cover to the two different versions of the book. The image without the title and author on the cover—that information is on the spine and back cover—is the print version.

The Hat is about a well-known event in Canadian history, but I have written it without revealing to readers the “where and when” or even the who. I did this on purpose, to make the story fresh and to underline the universality of the human experience that the story reveals. At the end of the book, as an afterword, I give readers the historical background of event that inspired me to tell the story in the way I did.

“Because of them, Truro was our New York.”

That’s what a Halifax doctor, who grew up in Pictou, said to me a few years ago. He was referring to the 1960s Friday night Lincoln dances at the Colchester Legion.

No one who was ever at those dances would disagree. They were something special. None of us would have wanted to be anywhere else, than grooving to Frank MacKay and the band playing Soul and R&B.

Well, a half century later, the Lincolns are coming back—back to play in Truro at the Legion Branch 26. I have tickets for the Friday night event, but there will be a Saturday night show as well.

Fifty dollars may be fifty times more expensive than the Lincoln dances at the Legion dances used to be. But then, maybe that’s a small price for time travel?

And for a trip to our very own Nova Scotian New York.

Photos: tickets for 2018 lincoln show; banner on The Lincolns at the Colchester Historeum; AJBJ and Rod Norrie (original Lincoln drummer); and AJBJ and Mary T around the time when the Lincolns were still playing in Truro.

Mary and I went to Montreal specifically to see the Cohen exhibit at the Musée de l’art contemporain (MAC). We were far from disappointed. The exhibition is great, and kept us there for three hours. If Leonard’s body of work means something to you, I urge you to go see the show before it ends in April 2018.

The exhibit opens on Jan. 18, with a few remarks beginning at 2 pm, including some words from me about how the exhibit came to be and what it says about Nova Scotia today.

https://rossfarm.novascotia.ca/event/vanguard-150-years-remarkable-nova-scotians

I met today with artist Lio Lo, who is going to create the cover for my new novel, entitled The Hat and to be published on Amazon. Lio is originally from Taiwan, but now lives and makes art in Jordan Falls, Shelburne County. It was a most productive meeting. I am excited to see what she creates. I will share here when the time comes.

I’ve decided to try something different… well, different for me.

In January 2018, I’m going to publish a new novel through Amazon Kindle. A screenshot of the title is below. I have contacted an artist, who is thinking about the cover she will produce. Meanwhile, I’m finalizing the words.

I’ll post something here when everything is ready and the book is available.

The Hat will NOT be the fourth Thomas Pichon Novel. That is still a work-in-progress. Instead, this novel is a story with a quite different voice and tone. I think it will appeal to a wide range of readers, YA to adult. I’ll say more closer to publication time.