Rod Raglin's Blog, page 11

My misanthropic bio featured on Escape With a Writer blog

Many thanks to author and book coach, Diane Bator for featuring me on her blog, Escape With A Writer. You can read my misanthropic bio, as well as info on my novel FOREST – Love, Loss and Legend and my five book Mattie Saunders Series at https://dbator.blogspot.com/

Diane Bator, author and book coach

As well as being remarkably magnanimous to other authors, Diane is an author herself with and impressive seventeen cozy mysteries to her credit including Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries, Sugarwood Mysteries and Glitter Bay Mysteries. In 2022, she was one of the bestselling authors for BWL Publishing.

To view her titles and buylinks go to https://www.dianebator.ca/book-gallery

She also provides book coaching and editing services at https://www.dianebator.ca/book-coaching-and-editing-services

If you’d like to be featured on her blog (and who wouldn’t) go to https://dbator.blogspot.com/ for more information.

#escapewithawriter #dianebatorauthor #FORESTlovelossllegend #mattiesaundersseries #authors #writingcommunity #readingcommunity Diane Bator, Author

Norman Nawrocki reviews East Van Saturday Night – 5 STARS

So, out of the blue, or at least out of my inbox, I received an email from a guy named Norman Nawrocki. He tells me “We’ve never met as far as I can remember” and that goes for me as well, though years ago I’m sure there were people I met that I can’t remember –but we won’t go there. He tells me he’s “an East End born and raised kid, now living in Montreal, but always coming back to Vancouver to visit.”

That makes no difference to me. Other than geography and the likelihood of having blue-collar or immigrant parents–or both, I don’t subscribe to the view you’re part of some special alumni or even share anything in common because you come from East Van.

He wants to buy a copy of my collection of short stories, East Van Saturday Night and is enquiring “if it’s better – and possible – to purchase a paperback directly from you, so that you get the cash, or would you rather I buy it online instead?” The “better” he’s talking about is if he can buy my book directly from me I’ll make a bit more than if he orders it from Amazon.

Now that’s beyond considerate. I mean, it’s one thing to be nice to a stranger to their face but rare on the internet where being anonymous has allowed nasty to become an art form. Furthermore, Norman Nawroki says he “could arrange that (a direct sale) through my sister in Vancouver who still lives in the ‘hood.”

And why is he so interested in my collection of short stories? It’s because he’s “currently working on a collection of my own ‘coming of age’ stories, but hope to have a novella set in the East End out early in the new year.”

I must confess, I was a bit overwhelmed, but before I got carried away I decided to do an internet search which would likely reveal his real motives.

Turns out Norman Nawrocki “is a Montreal-based comedian, sex educator, cabaret artist, musician, author, actor, producer and composer. Nawrocki together with Sylvain Côté were the founding members of “rock ‘n roll cabaret” band Rhythm Activism.” Now that’s a mouthful, but there’s more.

He’s the part-time Faculty, School of Community and Public Affairs (SCPA) at Concordia University in Montreal and has “lectured and facilitated workshops about social issues and the arts at universities and colleges across Canada and in the USA since 1993. A multi-disciplinary performer since 1985, he has given thousands of shows of his own socially engaged theatre, music and poetry across North America, Europe and Hong Kong. He’s also written 14 books of poetry, short stories and a novel, several theatre musicals and solo cabarets, and released over 60 albums of music. He is co-artistic director of the Montreal International Anarchist Theatre Festival. A community organizer in Vancouver and Montreal since the 1970s, his research focus is how grassroots movements for social justice can incorporate the arts in their work.”

And he wants to read my book written by a guy who dropped out of high school only to go back to night school to get the necessary credits to go to college only to drop out after one semester because he thought he knew more than the instructors only to find out otherwise?

Well, okay, whatever.

Since I don’t sell my books directly to the public and even if I did, I sell so few, it wouldn’t make a difference I suggest he go for the less expensive more convenient option and purchase it from Amazon. I also offer my services as a “sensitivity reader” to check for “cultural inaccuracies, representation issues, bias, stereotypes, or problematic language” before he publishes his coming of age in East Van novella since it wouldn’t do to misrepresent East Van.

However, being twenty years older than Norman, the East Van I grew up in was considerably different than his. Take, for example, I went to Vancouver College when the campus was on West 12th in a cluster of buildings and portables between Cambie and Oak. He attended there as well but at the new Langara campus on 49th near Cambie.

I wish him good luck and that’s that.

Two weeks later I got this – his review of East Van Saturday Night.

FIVE STARS!

“From the first page to the last, I thoroughly enjoyed Rod Raglin’s book East Van Saturday Night! What an engaging read that brings to life a chunk of history and lived experience worth discovering. I especially liked ‘The Paper Shack’ story, having had an East Van paper route myself long ago, and the brilliant and so entertaining title story, ‘East Van Saturday Night’. Wow! I could easily see it on the big screen one day. Rod nailed the reality for teens from that era (and the rest of us) in that community and others like it. The novella tugs at one’s heart strings as it portrays the quintessential great Canadian adventure youth of the times embarked on – including kids from East Van – when they stuck their thumbs out on the Transcanada trusting everyone and Mother Luck to take care of everything. Poignant but witty, and loaded with enough social conscience to make a thought provoking read. Rod tells tales the way they’re supposed to be told: with knockout punches, humour and compassion. Highly recommended!”

Blush.

East Van Saturday Night – four short stories and a novella is avaible at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=East%20Van%20saturday%20night…

#EastVan#eastvancouver#normannawrocki @NormanNawrocki

Cancelling controversy doesn’t help us “do better”

Can the controversy about the review in The Fiddlehead Literary Magazine of a debut book of poetry by an Indigenous writer be turned into a learning experience? Not if readers aren’t allowed to read the disputed review and form their own opinion.

In case you aren’t aware of what I’m talking about, and why would you be since it only concerns the Canadian literati, The Fiddlehead is a Canadian literary magazine, published four times annually at the University of New Brunswick. It is the oldest Canadian literary magazine which is still in circulation.

In the last edition, a review of a debut book of poetry was published. The poet was Indigenous, the reviewer white. Their identities are not the issue, it’s the action that was taken when someone took offense to the review.

After stating that the review was ‘insensitive and ignorant”, that it “contributed to exactly the kind of colonial destructiveness that we should be working against” and that we “should be supporting healing and resistance, not perpetuating racism and pain”, here’s what the editor did:

– rounded up all the copies of the publication with the original review and chucked them in the dumpster,

– deleted any online evidence of it as well,

– paid to have “a competent review” written by an Indigenous reviewer

– reprinted another edition with the new review in it,

– fired the reviews editor and hired some Indigenous editors,

– blacklisted the the reviewer of original review,

– restructured the staff and had them all take sensitivity training with regard to Indigenous culture.

All that, plus an apology to the author, an apology to their readers, an apology to other Indigenous, Métis and Inuk writers and readers and to their wider communities and the declaration “We will do better.”

Is this disturbing to you? That someone writes something that another person deems offensive, we don’t know who other than the editor, and it’s deleted, erased, and censored?

I get it that the publisher of the magazine can do this, after all, they own the publication. Who’s to stop them. I guess the same could be said about mainstream media. If the corporate owners don’t like stories appearing on a certain issue, they probably don’t appear. Most journalists don’t want to lose their job going to the wall for an issue (especially in this age of gutted newsrooms) for something as annoying as a “principle” (remember them?) or, naive as professional integrity. Who cares? Beside, who’ll ever know?

What if we were allowed/permitted/granted the privilege of reading the disputed review along with the new “competent” one written by an Indigenous reviewer? By comparing the two reviews, perhaps we could learn how to approach the work of Indigenous writers with a new perspective. Learn from our mistakes. Maybe even correct them. We could also make our own decisions as to whether all the hand wringing and teeth gnashing was appropriate or even necessary.

Instead of taking the cowardly way, as we so often tend to do these days, why not go with courage – for a change.

The penny drops.

In a heated discussion on the Canada Writes Facebook site, something was brought to my attention that I never considered.

The big mystery surrounding this issue is why is wasn’t deemed offensive prior to publishing it and who got so offended once it was out that the editor felt she had go to such extreme measures to make amends?

The Fiddlehead is primarily funded by “the generous assistance of the University of New Brunswick, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of New Brunswick.” Could this be the reason (or part of it) for the editor using the nuclear option regarding this review?

Any publication (or individual for that matter) who receives grants from governments has an inherent conflict of interest IMO. Once an institution, publication or individual begins to depend on these grants they are far less likely to do, say or publish anything that might jeopardize their livelihood. Even if pressure isn’t applied, it can become a form of self-censorship.

It’s an insidious and effective way to control organizations and individuals. I’ve seen it applied in journalism/media, non-profits and, of course, the arts including publishing.

The thing about conflict of interest is the appearance of it is as bad as the actual application. Once you or your organization is tainted with it, every decision you make is viewed with suspicion. In the eyes of some you’re forever compromised.

#courage #integrity #censorship #indigenouswriters #badreviews #fiddleheadreview #understanding #conflictofinterest

Power, Love, Religion & Climate Fiction: Life Imitating Art

In this article published by ClimateCultures, I discuss my novel The Triumvirate and how a story about power, love and religion finds echoes in our unfolding climate crisis and how we try to come to grips with a hostile and uncertain future.

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I wonder if other writers of climate fiction get the feeling of life imitating art as they watch events unfold this summer.

All my novels have a subplot that addresses one or more environmental issues, however, The Triumvirate – Love for Power, Love of Power, the Power of Love is the only one that could be labeled climate dystopia, “the global collapse of human civilization as either a direct or indirect result of anthropogenic climate change.”

One of the reasons for writing The Triumvirate was to try to imagine the future impact of climate change on where I live, British Columbia, Canada. I looked at how we were responding to the stresses that were developing in our everyday life, the society we lived in and influences beyond our borders. Then I tried to imagine, not dramatically, but realistically how they would manifest in the years to come. I took into account local, national and global attempts to mitigate effects.

he Triumvirate was completed in 2019 and one of the issues addressed included the likelihood of pandemics. A year later COVID hit and the world was in lockdown. Others were drought, human migration and the breakdown of social order including insurrection and secession.

These last two weeks, the news is validating many of my premises. For example:

— In B.C., Drought Level 5 is the highest level. It means adverse impacts on both communities and ecosystems are almost certain. As of August 3rd, most of B.C.’s water basins are at Drought Level 4 or 5. Officials blamed the conditions on unusually low amounts of rainfall recorded over the last year.

— 366 wildfires currently ravaging B.C. have 30,000 people on evacuation order and 36,000 more under evacuation alert.

— As of August 21st, 5,849 fires had burned 15 million hectares (over 37 million acres), about four percent of the entire forest area of Canada and more than six times the long-term average of 2.46 million hectares (6.1 million acres) for that time of the year.

— “Sell them for nothing or watch them starve”. As B.C.’s drought worsens, farmers are scrambling to protect their livestock and crops. The impacts could be felt for years to come. 

— July 3rd-6th, 2023, were the warmest days on record, crossing 17°C for the daily global mean surface are temperature. The global mean temperature statistic masks the extreme events taking place worldwide.

Those stories are climate specific, but other more disturbing stories are emerging, and though not directly attributed to climate change are the result of it. Consider:

— A new survey finds more Canadians would vote for a political leader who promised to cut immigration levels than would be repelled by this. This is partly a response to the pressure on healthcare and housing.

— In an op-ed piece, Jason Opal, Professor of History at McGill University, suggests that “America is on the brink of another civil war, this one is fueled by Donald Trump”.

Power, love and religion

In The Triumvirate, the three main characters begin as childhood friends, each with strong principles and character.

Shyloh watched the dynamic develop. Judith and Aiya were opposites. Judith was strength; Aiya feelings. Judith was about action; Aiya considered consequences. Judith looked to the end; Aiya the means. This natural adversity seemed to challenge them, bring out their best.

When the dissension, disagreement, and at times hostility threatened to destroy this triumvirate, a word Shyloh borrowed from history class which meant a group of three powerful people, it was up to him to take the heat and energy generated from the polarity and craft a consensus, identify a goal and, most importantly, create a process for getting there. 

They emerge as adults with their personalities leading them to pursue their principles. Shyloh becomes a politician, Aiya an inter-faith leader and Judith a commander in the military.

When economic and social pressures spawned by climate change make the Canadian federation untenable, Shyloh leads a political movement for secession and wins when Aiya encourages her followers, primarily new immigrants, to support it. But when the government reneges on a promise of citizenship for illegals now in the country — a promise that was key in getting the ethnic vote — violence flares. 

As the government equivocates, Judith, now head of the security forces, doesn’t, and declares martial law.

Making a better world — but which one?

Now cast in key leadership roles, could they come to a consensus as they so often had in the past, one that would restore order and democracy, or would circumstances harden their positions, leaving no room for compromise — as so often is the case today?

They sat at the table, Aiya across from Shyloh and Judith.

“Your gesture in the Legislature was appreciated,” Aiya said.

Shyloh nodded.

“It was reckless,” Judith said. “It was an implicit approval to break the law.”

“If laws are broken it won’t be because of Shyloh’s act of solidarity with the new immigrant population,” Aiya said. “It will be because of the betrayal of the government.”

“Will laws be broken, Aiya?” Shyloh said.

“Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state has become lawless or corrupt,” Aiya quoted.

“In a democracy, there is only one rule of law, Aiya,”, Judith said. She leaned forward and fixed the other woman with a hard stare. “And it applies to everyone.”

Aiya didn’t flinch. She folded her hands on the table and stared back. Black coals met grey steel.

“A citizen who barters with such a state, shares in its corruption and lawlessness,” Aiya said.

Judith stood. “The army is sworn to support the democratically elected government of Cascadia. We will uphold the rule of law.”

“Shyloh?” Aiya said.

Both women looked at him. In the past, he’d been able to broker a compromise, or better still a third way, which was ultimately stronger. He’d never taken sides before. He wasn’t about to now. Sometimes the best response was no response.

The question posed to the three characters in the novel is already being debated at a societal level, among families, even between partners. If there can only be one better world, whose will be best?

The Triumvirate is a story about love and loyalty, politics and power, race and religion, and sacrifice and survival. More than that, it’s a story I’m seeing unfold before my eyes as I watch us try to come to grips with a hostile and uncertain future.

Find out more

Rod Raglin’s novel The Triumvirate – Love for Power, Love of Power, the Power of Love is available from Amazon in Kindle and in paperback. And you can read his previous for ClimateCultures, A Drop in the Pond.

To explore more cultural responses to environmental change, visit the ClimateCultures at https://climatecultures.net/

The Mattie Saunders Series – Romance, action and birds! (5 book series)

Buy Book 1 for just 99¢

Visit

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU

Quick-tempered, intolerant, and defensive, Mattie Saunders loves birds, but has little time for people. A childhood spent in one foster home after another has made her wary of commitment as evidenced by an absence of close friends and difficulty with intimate relationships. Instead, she’s filled her life rescuing and rehabilitating exotic birds people buy as pets and then abandoned.

Mattie’s uncompromising attitude and high integrity frequently put her in conflict with friends, work associates, people in authority – just about anyone who doesn’t have her impossibly high standards. It also puts her at the forefront of environmental and social justice issues. Her passion for birds has her fighting to save endangered species, protect habitat and mitigate the effects of climate change. Her sense of morality demands she speak out against racial discrimination, advocate for gender parity and equal rights for the LGBTQ community.

Romance and action, tragedy and triumph, heartache and happiness – experience all this through Mattie’s eyes in this entertaining and thoughtful five book series that explores contemporary culture and issues.

HERE’S SOME OF THE ISSUES AND CHALLENGES MATTIE FACES IN INDIVIDUAL BOOKS…

Book 1 – The ROCKER and the BIRD GIRL – Fame and finances, rockers and parrots, success and salvation, hope and happiness.

Book 2 – COLD-BLOODED – Drugs and betrayal, lizards and snakes, friendship and family, condemnation and forgiveness.

Book 3 – The BIRD WHISPERER – Love and death, eagles and hummingbirds, #MeToo and gender equality, truth and reconciliation, oil spills and pipelines.

Book 4 – The BIRD WITCH – Relationships and culture clash, dead birds and climate change, migrants and cartels, politics and power.

Book 5 – The FLOCK – Indigenous rights and racial prejudice, alt-right and hate crimes, kids and care giving, LGBTQ and justice, purpose and commitment.

The Summer 2023 Backlist Blowout now in Phase 3 continues to rock Amazon’s Free in Kindle Store Best Sellers Rankings!

FOREST – Love, Loss, Legend ranked #10 in War & Military Action, #11 in Crime Action and #30 in Action & Adventure Romance out of #5892

The FLOCK – Book 5 in the Mattie Saunders Series ranked #93 out of #19,684 in Action & Adventure Romance Fiction

Download these #summerreads #free thru July 23 at

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU

Honest reviews and ratings are always appreciated.

My poem, Summer Solstice, is now available in the literary journal, WayWords Issue 11 Seasons.

This quarterly publication features a central theme with a small tribute section and showcases writers from around the world. In this issue, writers explore the theme of “seasons” through the passing of time.

You can purchase a copy as an e-book or paperback at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CBZJ6MYB?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_10&storeType=ebooks

No pay, no publicity, no point. I’m thinking in the future I’ll be more discriminating about where I submit my work.

FREE E-BOOKS! Summer 2023 Backlist Blowout continues!

Phase 3 continues with free e-books thru July 23, 2023

Download yours now at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU

Three friends unite to fight climate chaos and the collapse of civilization only to realize each has a different vision for the future.

Lost gold, lost love and lost hope compels Matt to return home to a dying town on the edge of the rainforest on the west coast of Canada.

The forest is waiting.

Family–can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Mattie’s lived without them, she’s willing to take a chance.

Watch the video at https://animoto.com/play/noj5gui1xDMDf3emRw56ZQ

Still time to get Free Ebbooks for your summer reading.

The second phase of the Summer 2023 Backlist Blowout ends today at midnight.

SAVING SPIRIT BEAR – The Eco-Warriors Series Book 1

Corporate Climber challenges Eco-Warrior to decide the fate of the rare and endangered Spirit Bear.

THE ROCKER AND THE BIRD GIRL – The Mattie Saunders Series Book 1 – A desperate young woman recruits a burned-out rockstar to help raise money to keep her exotic bird sanctuary from closing.

LOCAL RAG – Media, politics, murder. News to die for.

Get yours now at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU

Honest #reviews are always appreciated.

Watch for phase three of this annual promotion beginning with 3 new titles free beginning July 19, 2023

#amreading #readingcommunity #freebooks #freesummerreads #literary #romance #environmental #clifi #action #suspense #politics #family #media #spiritbear #mystery #exoticbirds #animalrescue

FREE E-BOOKS! Summer 2023 Backlist Blowout continues!

Select titles free ‘thru July 9, 2023

Saving Spirit Bear

– The ECO-WARRIORS SERIES BOOK 1

Corporate Climber challenges Eco-Warrior to decide the fate of the rare and endangered Spirit Bear.

LOCAL RAG

Media, politics, murder.

News to die for.

The Rocker and the Bird Girl

– The Mattie Saunders Series

– Book 1

A desperate young woman recruits a burned-out rock star to help raise money to keep her exotic bird sanctuary from closing.

WATCH THE VIDEO AT https://animoto.com/play/noj5gui1xDMDf3emRw56ZQ