*use this story to find the answers for February's Canada 150 contest, go to 'Contests' tab for the quiz With names like Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen and Robert Munsch, there is no doubt of Canada's contributions to the literary world.
*use this story to find the answers for February's Canada 150 contest, go to 'Contests' tab for the quiz
With names like Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen and Robert Munsch, there is no doubt of Canada's contributions to the literary world. Here in the Lakeland, local authors are adding their names to that list.
One of the newest authors coming out of the woodwork, and one to be watching for, is Cate Emond. The Cold Lake woman is just days away from releasing her first, self-published book, Through the Breaking.
At 64 pages, Through the Breaking is a collection of 32 poems written by Emond over the past eight years. After prompting from other writers and poets, last summer she made the decision to publish her poems with a similar theme.
"It's a personal story of love and loss; loss of love, loss of self, when you're in your young 20s and experimenting and trying to find yourself again."
For Emond, who also works at the Cold Lake Public Library Harbour View branch, creating the book took her through two different journeys of learning - both the emotional and technical aspects of becoming an author.
"I learned how to work through my emotions. Writing poetry has been one of the biggest things in my life, whenever I'm going through something I turn to it. As for putting the collection together, I learned every aspect of publishing you can think of," explained Emond, adding that she made sure to keep the book as Canadian and eco-friendly as possible by finding a printer in Montreal that uses eco-friendly paper.
With a baby on the way, Emond decided to do a soft launch for Through the Breaking, opting to use social media to build up the March 10 release, when the book will become available in Beantrees Cafe and online at cateemond.bigcartel.com. Come this summer, her goal is to do a larger launch event, including book signings.
In the meantime, she already has a novel on the go that's based on the experiences she had growing up and living in Cold Lake.
"It's centred around three female characters and they're all connected in some way... they're all connected by a tragedy. A young man makes a decision to drive drunk one night and he crashed into the front of a house and kills a two-year-old boy."
For her second work, Emond is hoping to go the traditional route in connecting with a literary agent and finding a publishing company to take on the book.
Whether its a book of poems or a full-length novel, self-published or through a publishing house, Cold Lake's newest author is thankful for the encouragement she's already received and is hoping the community will continue to support her.
"I grew up here in Cold Lake and there wasn't a big art scene. Since I moved back a couple of years ago, I'm so impressed with the level of talent and motivation of people from photographers to fashion designers to writers... I've met writers in other cities, bigger cities, but knowing local people you're able to meet in person, feed off each other, and it just inspires more creativity," said Emond. "I think it's important to support local in every aspect. It's your friends, your family, the people you care about and see everyday. The more local people that get known, the more attention the community will get from the outside."
Bonnyville author Holly Ducarte echoed that sentiment, "It doesn't matter if it's a painter, poet, photographer, or writer, we should support our local creatives or they don't get as much exposure... You put your blood, sweat and tears into your work, you want people out there to support you. To me, it's very important because we know then we at least have people who have our back in our town."
Ducarte has a few years under her belt as an author, having already published three books: Hiding Skeletons, Literary Bones, and her most recent, Confetti Confessions in 2016. Each is a self-published collection of poems, which Ducarte expressed came together with ease as poetry was her "first love of literature."
It wasn't until after she tested the waters of publishing that she decided to try her hand at writing a novel.
"After writing a rough draft, I decided to pitch my idea to literary agents in New York in 2012. I garnered an interest from a few publishing houses and a literary agent, so now I had the contacts," explained Ducarte. "I just recently finished revising the novel and completely editing it, so I'm ready to start pitching it."
Noting that the traditional publishing process is a lengthy one, when the book will be released all depends on how quickly a literary agent and publishing company want to print her work.
However, when the time comes that it hits the stands, Ducarte is hoping she receives the same encouragement as she has with her first three books of poetry.
"The feedback from people who have purchased my work and who I've gifted it to has been really positive... In my line of work at the health clinic, the clients I see there have been incredibly wonderful and supportive; they've bought my book and gotten the word out."
With a few literary successes already on her resumé, Ducarte added that she, and other writers, are always willing to share their knowledge and experience to help budding authors in the Lakeland grow.
"If you have a dream and want to see it through, we'd love to talk to you. A lot of people would love to extend themselves and help others get to where they have."
Emond and Ducarte are far from alone in the local author scene, with the Lakeland home to writers of every genre from poetry to young adult fiction writer Judith Graves, who penned the series Skinned, to children's French literature such as Danielle Lavoie's Saperlipopette. Even former residents are still drawing on their time in the Lakeland as inspiration for their writing, including Joe Remesz's book 'Bonnyville.'
"Most local authors don't make a lot of money off of their writing, they do it because they love to write. Having support and encouragement from people in their community helps encourage them to keep going and keep writing because some days its hard work," expressed Glendon-based author Ruth Snyder.
Having successfully released a number of books herself, Snyder is taking a break from writing longer novels to focus more on assisting aspiring writers.
"I'm starting to help people who want to self-publish their work; helping them format and getting it ready to go onto Amazon and a printer."
She added, "I would encourage anybody who is interested in writing to follow their passion and develop their skills."
To view the books published by these writers, or for more information, for Cate Emond go to www.cateemond.bigcartel.com, for Holly Ducarte visit www.hollyducarte.com, or for Ruth Snyder go to ruthlsnyder.com.
