Donna Morrissey’s
What They Wanted 

Donna Morrissey has hit the road this fall for a reading tour across Canada to promote her new novel What They Wanted (Viking/Penguin). This is her fourth novel and it is receiving accolades that writers dream about. It also is her most autobiographical. 

In this new book, Donna relives through her characters the traumatic loss of her beloved younger brother on the oil rigs of Grand Prairie, Alberta.

Like her heroine Sylvie Now, Donna worked in the kitchen at the rig, one of thousands of Newfoundlanders who travelled west to find work.

Ken McGoogan's Arctic Adventure

Ken McGoogan was in the midst of a 9-day Arctic adventure cruise when he took time out to go ashore to Clyde River for a series of CBC interviews for his new book Race to the Polar Sea about Arctic explorer Elisha Kent Kane.

That trip proved to be more of an adventure than Ken anticipated. He set out on a Zodiac piloted by John "Flipper" Suta. "Within minutes, in the fog and waves, we had lost sight of the ship," he says. As they pounded along at 25 kilometers and hour, they passed icebergs. Soon the ocean swells reached a height of 8 to 10 feet. "When we crested a magnificent swell and started down the other side, I heard someone laughing a wild-sounding, crazy-man laugh and wondered who it was. I glanced over at Flipper and, in that instant, with a rush of exhilaration, recognized the insane laughter as my own."

Pat Capponi’s
The Corpse Will Keep 

Pat Capponi knows how to make a crowd laugh.  Reading from her recently published The Corpse Will Keep, Capponi joked about her recent heart surgery, referring to her scar as her zipper.  She spoke warmly about her friends and about her post-operation surprise.  Capponi returned home to discover that some of her friends had redecorated her apartment. 

The book launch took place at the PARC Community Centre. PARC, which caters to the nearby community, psychiatric survivors, and the near-homeless, is featured in this novel and her earlier mystery Last Stop Sunnyside. 

Even though it is a large venue, it was bursting at the seams with Capponi’s fans, friends, and fellow community activists. 

Morley Torgov’s
Murder in A-Major

Praise and prizes are still being heaped on Morley Torgov who turned 80 in December.  The two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour has charted a new direction with his 6^th novel Murder in A-Major released in June 2008. The historical mystery set in the world of classical music is hitting the right notes with foreign publishers who so far have snapped up French and Greek rights.

His 26-year old classic novel The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick has just won Italy’s Adei-Wizo Prize. The award ceremony takes pace in Turin October 27, 2008, but Torgov doubts he can attend, as he will be busy moving his law office that month. And he’s finishing his 7^th novel based on the life Richard Wagner.