Solving the mystery of Shellbird Island
Book launch for Frank Spracklin sequel to be held at Rotary Arts Centre
The mystery one way or another is about to reach a resolution.
Corner Brook author Floyd Spracklin has released the sequel to his 2019 young adult novel Shellbird.
Beyond Shellbird, which came out this summer, continues the story from the previous book about two Corner Brook teens’ search for legendary pirate gold on Shellbird Island, a small island on the Humber River just outside Corner Brook.
While the first book ended inconclusively, this book will be the final volume in the series.
“Whatever happens here, this is the end of Shellbird series,” Spracklin told West Coast Wire.
Originally, the first book was supposed to be a standalone, but Spracklin found readers frequently seeking him out, asking whether there would be a sequel.
He decided to write the book while working on other material. At first, he wanted to do a trilogy but later decided, along with his publisher, that this would be the final volume.
While Shellbird took 30 years to write and get published, Beyond Shellbird took just two years.
“I had more time to devote to it because of the time period which it was written, with a young family (when he wrote the first book) and working and just things didn’t work,” he explained.
The original manuscript for Beyond Shellbird was much longer. He and the publisher decided to pare it down.
“What’s left over on the cutting room floor could probably make another book,” he claimed.
The front cover features a Newfoundland postage stamp of Shellbird Island issued in 1923, while the back cover features a painting by Spracklin.
He contacted Canada Post for permission to use the stamp.
“Purely by coincidence the stamp was issued in 1923 and my book is published 100 years later,” he stated.
THE SYNOPSIS
In Beyond Shellbird, the protagonists are four years older from the first book and are in their last year of high school.
When a team of archaeologists arrive in Corner Brook to uncover further evidence of the pirate treasure, the teens are drawn back in.
They undertake what Spracklin calls a “mesmerizing search” back to the area of Shellbird and beyond, hence the title.
Spracklin feels it poses questions like “what is truth and how people bend the truth,” “do they accept everything at face value, or can they set out to prove something that only adults do maybe in a court of law?” and “do they have the resources to do that?”
Like the previous book, it is for young adults, but Spracklin feels adults can enjoy it as well.
THE LAUNCH
A book launch will be held on Dec. 6, 8 p.m., at the Rotary Arts Centre in Corner Brook.
There will a meet and greet with the author as well as signed copies available. Spracklin will do a reading and there will be a Q&A session.
Throughout the evening musical accompaniment will be provided by Lloyd Bartlett.
Bartlett has written a song based on the two books called “Shellbird Island” which he will perform during the evening.
“I think it’s really quite cool and the more I listened to the sound, the more I can picture, like in storyboard fashion, scenes of the book in a film,” commented Spracklin.
In fact, Spracklin’s dream is for someday the work to be adapted to film, although he acknowledges, for now, that is a dream.
In the intervening years between both books, Spracklin has written two works of non-fiction.
This is his fourth book. With the Shellbird series concluded, Spracklin continues working diligently on several other writing projects.
“I’ve got a big one in the workings right now that will take me quite some time to get through,” he teased. “I expect it to be a few years at least.”
He would only say it is a work of historical fiction.
Spracklin keeps writing simply because he enjoys it.
“I’m doing what I love doing, which is writing and talking about writing to people and students,” he stated.
Beyond Shellbird is released through DRC Publishing and is available at local stores and through various online retailers.