The 2024 Congrès mondial des Acadiens (World Acadian Congress) is taking place this August across southwest Nova Scotia (Acadie).

Though I am not Acadian, I have written about Acadie et les Acadiens / Acadiennes from time to time.

I am delighted to have been invited to take part in two events this August. Both relate to my most recent book, “Into the Wind: A Novel of Acadian Resilience” (published by Acorn Press).

I’ll provide greater details regarding specific times and who else is on the program at a later date. Right now, I can share that on the afternoon of August 11 I will be at the West Pubnico Fire Hall (as part of the Festival du livre) and on the afternoon of August 13 I will be at the Lions Club in Yarmouth.

It is too early to know.

But there have been a number of emails on the potential and one face-to-face discussion in Toronto a week ago.

The project in question involves my 2023 YA novel Into the Wind: A Novel of Acadian Resilience (Acorn Press). I agree that it would make an excellent transition to the screen, but it remains to be seen if the necessary funding and other support will materialize to make it happen.

I’ll keep you posted.

I was in Charlottesville, VA, last week to attend the latest annual meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society. I used to be a regular attendee between the 1980s and the early 2000s, and once served as its president.

This time round I was there as both a presenter (my topic and session are reproduced here) and as a past president that the society wanted to acknowledge as it nears its 50th anniversary. One photo here shows everyone in my session: chair Robin Mitchell and fellow presenters Sue Peabody and Patti Flinn. Another photo presents some of the leadership of the FCHS, past, present, and future.

Here is a list of six books I drew up the other day.

Best Books on the 18th-Century History of Louisbourg, Canada | Booklisti

I had not heard of the book-loving website booklisti.com until a couple of weeks ago.

What a pleasant surprise to find it has a nice presentation of my books!

Books by Author A.J.B. Johnston | Booklisti

This is not news, just a possibility.

But it will be great if it happens, so it’s a possibility I am hoping becomes a reality.

About a month ago, I received an email from a film production company expressing interest in turning one of my books into a film.

Wait, what?

Yeah, that’s right.

Since then, there have been more preliminary emails back and forth, and the production company has brought in another at their end to size up the potential transition of my pages to the screen.

How will it play out? I guess I’ll find out.

The book that is being considered for such an adaptation is Into the Wind: A Novel of Acadian Resilience (Acorn Press).