Though I have not seen the film, nor read the short story by Alan Sillitoe upon which the movie was based, I have always admired the title, “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner.” It spoke to me the first time I heard it way back when. It is so easy to imagine oneself out on the pavement or dirt track, running on and on, all by oneself, wondering when the course, or even the road itself, will come to an end.

That title comes to mind this morning, as I continue to figure out the last 50 or 60 pages of my third novel. Anyone who has ever written a book, and particularly a novel, will know the feeling. The course is nearly run, or maybe it’s not. It’s so hard to tell. But on and on I write: taking away and adding on, staying the course, one more long-distance writer on the road.

In New Brunswick: Fredericton and Sackville.

In Nova Scotia: Truro, Dartmouth, Pictou, River John, Arichat, Voglers Cove, Halifax, Sydney and Port Hawkesbury.

Those are the various places I’ve made presentations about my project of Thomas Pichon Novels (#pichonnovels) over the past nine months. And I’ll be in Wolfville at Acadia University on February 25. A winter storm forced the cancellation of my talk in Annapolis Royal, but I’m hoping that will be re-scheduled for a spring date.

It’s been fun, meeting people in all the different communities. Should anyone read this want to have me come and do something similar, send me a note via the Contact tab.

A great many people had a hand in organizing these various talks. Thanks to all of them. I also want to thank the Canada Council for the Arts for covering some of my travel costs.

In a couple of months the new book, Grand Pré, Landscape for the World will be released and I’ll likely be talking about that book in a few places. In the fall, the third Thomas Pichon Novel, tentatively called “Crossings” is slated for release.

Ken Donovan, a good friend and longtime Fortress of Louisbourg colleague, sent me a photo today that brought back a lot of memories. A link to that photo is below.

Back around 1980, the late great historical artist Lewis Parker came from Ontario to live in Cape Breton and to work on two large murals depicting Louisbourg in 1744. Those paintings hang in the commissaire ordonnateur’s residence (aka Bigot House). I was fortunate to be selected as Lew’s main contact person / historical adviser. That meant I spent a lot of time with him over what must have been an 18-month period. When the need arose, I channeled what I and other researchers at the Fortress knew about the place for the painter to put into his two compositions. Lew’s talent for including details, while creating a painter’s striking composition, was remarkable. But more than that was the man himself. I don’t think I’ve ever met a kinder, more gentle soul. Everyone who ever spent any time with Lew felt exactly the same. He became very much a grandfather figure for our three kids.

As for the photo, I have no idea what Lew and I were laughing at. I wish I knew.Judging by the painting, the “View from the Clock Tower” was nearly finished. The other painting to be done at that time was “View from a Warship.”

Thanks to Ken for taking the original photo and for sharing it with me, thirty some years after the event it depicts.

I wonder if anyone else is getting a little tired reading reviews of books where critics talk about a few selected sentences way more than anything else? For me, it’s gone past the tipping point. Yes, I admire brevity, cleverness and figures of speech. But I also want there to be a story that moves along. Sometimes it seems that that’s the last thing some critics care about. It’s the sentences, only the sentences they admire. I guess I’m old fashioned, because I think good writing, writing that carries the reader away, involves a lot more than a few greatly admired sentences. I want characters, settings, plots and an overall story arc.

I’m pleased to see that the publisher of my period fiction, the Cape Breton University Press, is letting potential readers know that Thomas, A Secret Life and The Maze are books one and two of what is an unfolding series. I intend to write two more, the third of which I hope to see released in the fall of 2015.

Here’s a link to how CBU Press is summarizing the story so far:

http://cbup.ca/books/ajb-johnston-thomas-pichon/

Trevor Sawler has reviewed The Maze in the latest issue of the Nashwaak Review, vol. 32-33. Among other things the reviewer writes: “Pichon is as real and developed a character as you will find anywhere … both believable and impressive.”

That’s something an author likes to read.

If you’re interested in reading all that Trevor Sawler has to say, below is a link. Go to the bottom of the page on the website and you’ll find the section entitled “Reviews.” The Table of Contents identifies the reviewer as Trevor Sawyer, but his last name is Sawler.

http://w3.stu.ca/stu/about/publications/nashwaak/vol_32.aspx

I doubt Trevor Sawler will really purchase extra copies of the book to leave for people in airport lounges, as he states, but I’d like it if he would. I think that novel and its predecessor, Thomas, A Secret Life, would intrigue and please lots of readers if they would come to learn of their existence.