From trepidation to publication
Anne Hill reflects on writing her first book at 92-years-old
In a testament to the fact that it is never too late to try something new, 92-year-old North Hatley resident Anne Hill has just published her first book. Entitled Colouring Outside the Lines: Recollections of a Lifetime, the book is a collection of more than 70 short essays on moments from her life written through a local writing group over the course of the last ten years.
“If anyone had asked me if I was writing a book, I would have said no,” Hill told the Record. “Somehow, it seems to me, I hardly did anything.”
The author attributes the creation of the book to a team effort on the part of good friends, Heather Davis and Angela Lueck, as well as the support of her two daughters, Mary and Jean. She did, however, acknowledge having written all of the contents, created the watercolour image on the front cover, and also approved all of the choices of stories to be selected for the collection.
“She has always been very, very humble,” said Davis, reflecting on the journey that led to the creation of the book.
Although the writing and the memories are Hill’s, it was a writing group led by Davis that got the ball rolling.
“When I came to North Hatley, Heather Davis was starting a creative writing group, which I joined with some trepidation,” the author recalled, explaining that she had no past experinc at the time other than a few puppet shows for her church in Saint-lambert. “I hadn’t really written much before and I don’t like reading out in front of other people, but Heather was very reassuring.”
Despite those initial concerns, Hill said that she came to love the group and the challenges it provided.
“Every week (Davis) provided a prompt, and it was really fun to think over. It brought things to mind that you might not otherwise think of,” she said. “Very often as soon as Heather gave the prompt something from childhood would popup in my mind; it’s funny, memory.”
Davis, who was also a new arrival in the Townships at the time, said that the group members were blown away by the writing that Hill produced.
“Every time I would give a prompt to write for the next week, Anne would show up with a perfect essay that was based on that prompt and typed on her typewriter,” she recalled, adding that she took to saving the work with the thought that more people deserved to hear what Hill had to say.
It is in large part because of this process of collection, one short text at a time, that the author said she feels very little work went into the book.
“It took quite a while to work up to the possibility of publication, but she warmed up to it eventually,” Davis said, sharing that Hill’s humility meant that she was avoidant of the spotlight that comes with publication.
When it came down to actually putting the project together a team made up of Hill, Davis, Lueck, and Hill’s two daughters took on the task of deciding how and in what order the reflections should be put together.
“It was quite interesting to be among the readers looking them over,” Mary Hill said, sharing that in many cases the writing prompts triggered memories that her mother had never thought to share with her family. “I would often go off to mum and say, ‘This story. Tell me more.’”
“We don’t think about these minutia,” she added, referring to the stories from her mother’s book as ‘little drops out of an entire bucket.’
The younger Hill said that she was always aware of her mother’s creative tendencies but shared that she was delighted to see her take on a new medium over the last ten years.
“It is such a neat thing, I am so excited,” she said, recalling her mother’s past work making puppets and working with fabric as she described the writing work as something that came with ‘the freedom of age.’ “I love that aspect of it,” she added. “There are jewels to be mined in old age.”
“I have enjoyed it very much,” Anne Hill said, looking back on the writing and her work with the group over the years. Although they have not been able to meet this year because of the pandemic, the writer said that the group has stuck together and remained close.
“I’m sort of overwhelmed,” she said, of the book’s completion. “I’m very happy that they all did this.”
Hill’s work will be the second publication
“Every time I would give a prompt to write for the next week, Anne would show up with a perfect essay that was based on that prompt and typed on her typewriter,” she recalled, adding that she took to saving the work with the thought that more people deserved to hear what Hill had to say.
of Shoreline Press, since the publishing house was relocated to the Eastern Townships by new owner Angela Lueck.
Shoreline will be holding a virtual launch for the book on the videoconferencing platform Zoom
on Sunday, November 8th, from 2 to 3:30 pm. During the event, Hill will read a few of her pieces and answer questions from the audience. Attendance is open to all, and one lucky attendee will be the recipient of a special drawing of a bundle of recent and past Shoreline books.
“Anne is an inspiration for everyone who has always wanted to write but thinks it’s too late to start,” Leuck said.
The publisher’s goal is to sell 92 copies of the book by the day of the launch, one book for every year of Hill’s life. To help reach her target, she is offering free home delivery for residents within the North Hatley/lennoxville area if they order the book, which sells for $20.00, on or before November 8th.
For more information on how to order a copy of Colouring Outside the Lines or to register for the November 8th Zoom Book Launch, email Shoreline at acleuck@gmail.com or call 819-416-0712.
“It was quite interesting to be among the readers looking them over,” Mary Hill said, sharing that in many cases the writing prompts triggered memories that her mother had never thought to share with her family. “I would often go off to mum and say, ‘This story. Tell me more.’”