Books for Fall/Winter Reading..

 'ebooks/print'  Fall/Winter Reads ...

A selection of novels and non fiction for your viewing. 

Each book description 'blog' is available in the side-bar for your review.

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Hot-Walker Life on the Fast Track

Background

 

Selection of 'ebook' outlets 'specials'
Print book outlets

Book Trailer video
Sports/Romance Crime Novel

*****

House of the Caduceus
Background

Selection of 'ebook' outlets 'specials' 

Print 'book' outlets
Book Trailer video
Adventure/Mystery Novel

*****

Fun Schway Interiors
Background


Selection of 'ebook' outlets 'specials'
Print 'book' outlets

Book Trailer video
Reference book, DIY

*****

Ancient Secrets for a Healthy Home
Background

Selection of 'ebook' outlets 'specials'
Print 'book' outlets

Book Trailer video
Sacred Teaching Ancient Studies DIY

READ NOW... sneak peek into Hot-Walker, Life on the Fast Track (Chapter 1)

Read Chapter 1

Preview Chapter: Hot-Walker

Vies the BOOK TRAILER:

Book TRAILER: the story of Hot Walker

ISBN:  9781770843493
                 
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Book Clubs - Writer's Aids & Collaborators

Book Clubs are a remarkable source for input and participation. As a writer, I do a lot of them for my Novel Hot-Walker, Life on the Fast Track. I value everyone's opinion and especially for my book full of fast cars, romance, horse racing, crime, suspense, sports, murder, courtroom drama etc etc ... I truly appreciate the thoughts from others to improve on its readability.

The 'proof' is published into a printed book (draft). This way the club members purchase the book at printers cost, and then after reading it, gather at a pot-luck dinner or lunch meeting to draw-up several deep discussions for the author, me. Book Critiques held in honor of the author have a gathering of 8 - 10 people for wine/desserts, coffee/treats, or chilled smoothies on a hot summers day. But the idea is to have a couple of hours to dig into the nitty-gritty depths of the book to discuss the good and bad of the storyline, writing style, characters and offer their personal opinions without worry, knowing it is valuable information for the creator. The reader becomes the writers storyline editor.

Not everyone is a writer, and there are usually a few pretty harsh comments from those who just are there to criticize and go on and on, but a good host will recognize these individuals and encourage others to speak-up and move on to a different topic ... like the cover design, for instance. I especially like to know what sections of the story they enjoyed, just as much as the parts they didn't. Was it because of the information, did it drag on too long, was there a character they didn't connect with, or perhaps they didn't like the style of writing.... etc.

A few book clubs prefer to have the novel in ebook form because it is easier for them to highlight the areas and make their own notes. 

Once a group learns that the storyline is actually taken from my life experiences, they gain a different view, especially the men in the groups. But I think most writers use personal experiences, a lot of the time. For me and the novel Hot-Walker, Book Clubs perform best when men participate. They have offered me valuable info... enjoy the racetrack scenes and information but not as fussy on the harlequin sections. They have recommended that the last section of the novel describing the murder and courtroom drama would be better with flash-backs concerning these other areas. For them, the travel, relationships and  grieving the death of the main character's fiance would be better written in smaller doses and the story would be more readable for them.The women comment on a different point of view. They prefer the growing and changing relationships, romance, travel and looking at the different professions of the characters throughout the 30 years that the storyline covers. All their information is important to the writer because it is the reader who spreads the word about a good or interesting book.

And so what now? Well, Hot-Walker was originally written 30 years ago. I have been picking it up and putting it down since it was completed in 1984. Writing, editing, and reducing from 150,000 words to 110,000 word manuscript has been a challenge. I originally had the idea it should be for screen, film or TV. It is time to listen to my readers, take their many suggestions and make them a reality, and get on with it. Get it published, ebook it and work on my third novel. Some of the positives about Hot-Walker were ....

 I thought about it for weeks after I read it. 

Found the courtroom procedures very interesting.

Enjoyed reading about Toronto, Yorkville Village, and racetrack life in the 1960s.

The storyline was good, just needs some editing.

Great research, and could work as a movie.

The characters are realistic and the story is authentic, loved the woman jockey.

Back to the drawing board, so to speak, as many local readers provide more book clubs and author critiques for the upcoming year. I am grateful to the dozens of groups who have previously participated and offer their opinions which are sincerely valued. 

BOOK TRAILER:   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izWWQh8Odqk

~ Mallory ~

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YORKVILLE, sets the scene in HOT-WALKER known as Toronto's counter-cultural mecca.

In the novel ... HOT-WALKER recalls the life and times of a young innocent woman, Frannie Harrison, who sets out to find her own life in the turbulent 1960s where anything goes. Ultimately, she ends up in an area of young people living in one of Toronto's oldest adjoining villages, YORKVILLE, founded in 1830 by entrepreneur Joseph Bloore. It began as a residential suburb. The village grew enough to be connected by an omnibus service in 1849 to Toronto.

 By 1853, the population of the village had reached 1,000. Development increased and by the 1870s more land was needed and Potter's Field, a cemetery stretching east of Yonge Street along the north side of Concession Road (today's Bloor Street) was closed, and the remains moved to the Necropolis and Mount Pleasant cemetery.

By the 1880s, the cost of delivering services to the large population of Yorkville was beyond the Village's ability. It petitioned the City of Toronto to be annexed. Annexation came on February 1, 1883, and Yorkville's name changed officially from "Village of Yorkville" to "St. Paul's Ward". The character of the suburb did not change and its Victorian-style homes, quiet residential streets, and picturesque gardens survived into the 20th century.

In 1923, the Toronto Hebrew Maternity and Convalescent Hospital was opened at 100 Yorkville Avenue and a year later the name was changed to Mount Sinai Hospital. The facade of this building still stands today.

Cheap rent in the Village.

And then ... some forty years later, Yorkville became known as  "a festering sore in the middle of the city" with a new generation of alternative lifestyles who changed the scene and the area became dominated with hippies and young people from all walks of life. 

HOT-WALKER takes place in the 1960s when Yorkville flourished as Toronto's counter-cultural mecca. The hip Village's development from its early coffee house days, when folksingers such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell flocked to the scene, to its tumultuous, drug-fueled final months. Yorkville was also a battleground over identity, territory, and power. This neighbourhood soon came to be regarded as an alternative space both as a geographic area and as a symbol of hip Toronto in the cultural imagination, as then underground literary figures, such as Margaret Atwood, Gwendolyn MacEwen and Dennis Lee appeared regularly in the area. 

Yorkville was also known as the Canadian capital of the hippie movement and by the late 1960s folk music had given way to folk-rock and then psychedelic rock and Yorkville was bustling with electric as well as acoustic performances. In total, there were as many as 40 clubs and coffeehouses offering live entertainment every night of the week, and music lovers could hop from venue to venue to catch a seemingly endless number of acts. In 1968, nearby Rochdale College at the University of Toronto was opened on Bloor Street as an experiment in counter-culture education. Those influenced by their time in 1960s-70s Yorkville, include cyberpunk writer William Gibson. The Victorian homes became seedy, contaminated, uncared for and turned into a dangerous location.

Transition into high-end shopping district

It was after the construction of the Bloor-Danforth subway when the value of land nearby increased as higher densities were allowed by the City's official plan. Along Bloor Street, office towers, the Bay department store and the Holt Renfrew department store displaced the local retail. As real estate values increased, the residential homes north of Bloor along Yorkville were converted into high-end retail, including many art galleries, fashion boutiques and antique stores, and popular bars, cafes and eateries along Cumberland Street and Yorkville Avenue. Many smaller buildings were demolished and office and hotels built in the 1970s, with high priced condominium developments being built. Today, the remains of the Victorian homes that line the side streets are owned by the wealthy and most have been renovated beyond recognition as it is now classified as one of the 'most expensive' retail districts in North America.