That is, I have heard that the boxes containing Grand Pré, Landscape for the World are now in the warehouse of Nimbus Publishing in Halifax, NS. Starting next week the book should be shipped to bookstores, gift shops and individuals who have ordered it. It’s always a happy moment for an author to hold a book in his or her hands for the first time. I look forward to that moment, when it comes.

Le livre que Ronnie-Gilles et moi avons écrit en anglais est maintenant au magasin de Nimbus Publishing à Halifax. A partir de la semaine prochaine j’imagine que le livre sera envoyé aux librairies, boutiques et individus qui l’avaient déjà commandé. On attend toujours la décision par Nimbus de produire le même livre dans la langue française. Ronnie-Gilles et moi espèrons voir cette décision bientôt prise.

My thoughts on a recent book of memoirs (The Great Red Dawn is Shining) published by Breakwater Books in Newfoundland are now published in Atlantic Books Today.

http://atlanticbookstoday.ca/great-red-dawn-is-shining/

Discouraging story this morning by Fernande Deveaux on CBC Information Morning about the persistent troubles within the Landscape of Grand Pré Stewardship Board. Here’s hoping the difficulties and personality conflicts will soon be behind the Board, and the site gets the governance structure it deserves. Those troubles had no impact at all on the book Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc and I have written, soon to be released by Nimbus, but I wonder if maybe those problems are what has stalled the project to have a French-language version of the book come out at the same time?

The last seven days has seen a lot more variety than is usually the case in my writing life. And It’s been good. Maybe variety really is the spice of life.

In the course of those last seven days I finished the first draft of my third novel and sent it off to the publisher to begin the review and editing stage; completed virtually all texts for the major new exhibit installation that is to go into what will be the Camus Productions-designed Colchester Historeum in about six months time; completed the final review of the pages for the book on the Landscape of Grand Pré UNESCO WHS that will be released in a few weeks; wrote a book review; and began to write a paper for an academic conference that will be held at the Université Laval in Québec in June. In the normal course of things, I have one or two projects to work on, but this was an exceptional week. The writing of the conference paper is not over yet, but I have to say it felt good to put that old academic hat back on yesterday as I started to figure out what I wanted to say about religion at Louisbourg and the Récollets. It was kind of like seeing an old friend, though in this case, that friend is a part of me.

Yet another flashback. In 1979 there was a conference in Sydney that had a focus on the 18th century. The event included an excursion — how could it not? — out to the Fortress of Louisbourg. Attending the conference were a gaggle of former and current Fortress historians. Someone had the bright idea to take a photo of us all. Ken Donovan and I are in the back row, with historian / archivist Eric Krause, the late Terry MacLean and renowned writer and historian Christopher Moore in the middle row. In front, left to right, are Gilles Proulx, Maria Razzolini, Brenda Dunn and the late Bob Morgan.

I think at its peak, the Fortress might have had seven historians working on the project. In my time there were usually three. More recently the number dropped to one. Currently there are none. It would be a shame, a grave mistake, if the investment that was made to give Louisbourg historical depth, were to be cast aside. The place needs at least one historian there working with the historical documentation and sharing what she or he finds with the interpretive staff.

Here is the entire cover, front and back, that the publisher has come up with for the book that will be released in a couple of months.