It was a long time coming - and much hard work - but four members of the Halfmoon Bay Writers' Workshop were proud to present their collection of stories, Halfmoon Rising, at a book launch March 27 in Wilson Creek.
The writing group has been together since the fall of 2001, as the group's leader and author Anthea Penne recounts in her elegant foreword. Though the membership has changed over the years, a core team of Pat Wenger, Florence Walker, Linda Szabados and Frank MacKenzie put together a small volume of their poetry, fiction and memoir that they edited and assembled themselves. The design and printing was created by another local writer, Paul Blakey, through his Twin Eagles Publishing Company.
Penne prefaces the book with an explanation about the nature of writing critique groups, the cycle of editing and rewriting and the challenge involved for the reader who must go deeper within one's own consciousness in order to give feedback to the writer. Penne has been involved in all parts of the process, as editor, facilitator and author of Old Stones (TouchWood Publishing) and Reckoning (Turnstone), a collection of short stories.
Wenger's poetry is prominent in this collection, but her prose is most compelling since some of the stories are provoked by the disappearance of her mother from her early life. The 14 pieces in her section of the anthology are artfully assembled to disclose, little by little, how the lack of relationship with her parent has played out over time.
Walker, whose art is used on the book's cover, takes the reader to a forgotten time in rural Cape Breton in her excerpt from a forthcoming book, Katie Ann. Tricked by an ornery husband, a struggling widow is forced to leave her family home and bundle her children into a horse-drawn sleigh to be taken into the homes of sympathetic relatives. This story could easily turn sentimental, but instead it has a ring of authenticity and a strong female character who feels sadness and righteous anger at the loss of her birthright.
Szabados describes a different type of loss - one that can be fulfilled by the adoption of a son. But will the son always be there for her as she grows older? Time and Tide is a poignant tale that follows the life journey of Theresa, her bright spots (fishing from a harbour not unlike Garden Bay) and her woes (death in her family).
Frank MacKenzie brings a West Coast flair to the book with his tale of a reluctant tug hand whose eccentric skipper challenges his beer-befogged brain. MacKenzie also relates one of the funnier pieces in the book, Naked in the Mall, a story that takes place in a Sechelt shopping centre.
Halfmoon Rising, The Halfmoon Bay Writers' Work-shop Anthology is available from amazon.ca and through local bookstores for $10.
