HAMILTON WRITES!

Settle into spring with these new reads by local authors

Five local authors launch new books this spring. A look between the covers

Hearts of Stone By Brad Smith

Happily ensconced at River Road Farm and planning to start their own maple syrup business, life is good for Carl Burns and his partner Frances, who also stars in her own TV show. But, unwittingly, Frances’s TV exposure has attracted unwelcome attention.

Targeted by a gang of small-time criminals who need to get their hands on a large amount of cash — fast, Carl and Frances’s perfect lives are shattered in an instant. With clues as to the gang’s identity thin on the ground, the cops’ hands are tied. It’s up to Carl to track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Smith is a Haldimand County native, born and raised in Canfield. “Hearts of Stone” is his 10th novel. He is also a screenwriter, director and self-described “occasional piston-head.”

Smith will be signing copies of “Hearts of Stone” at Flyer’s Café in Dunnville on Saturday, April 29 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

$14.63 ebook, $27.72 Hardcover. Available at independent bookstores and on Amazon.ca.

Stephen’s Long Weekend By Mirjana Vincic-Katic

This novel tells the tale of a wealthy 45year-old man who suddenly finds himself at a crossroads. Stephen, a husband and father of two, is the director of a large company and enjoys all the trappings of wealth. However, one spring day, the arrival of a small yellow bird on his windowsill makes him aware of his growing sense of emptiness.

Stephen decides to spend the Victoria Day long weekend at his paternal grandparents’ farm to better understand the changes he needs to make in his life. The novel, which takes place in Hamilton and the greater Niagara Peninsula, tackles the challenges and pitfalls of modern life and the importance of family.

$14.99. Available online at amazon.ca.

Not To Be By J. Aldric Gaudet

This prose version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet promises to make the Bard’s most famous and complex play more accessible to modern-day readers. The text follows the same plot line as Hamlet: Gertrude and Claudius’ hasty marriage, Hamlet’s mental turmoil, and Ophelia’s sad fate. Gaudet has combined two slightly differing editions of the original text — the second quarto and the first folio — and has updated some language to account for changes in meaning over the past 400 years.

Otherwise, Gauget said, “minimalistic prose descriptions of actions and movements were added only where necessary, the primary focus being the rich texture of the original words.”

Available in paperback ($5.79) or ebook ($6.41) from amazon.ca, Barnes and Noble,

My Canada By Joanna Lawson

In this collection of poetry, keen traveller and award-winning writer Joanna Lawson celebrates Canada’s sesquicentennial with poems that feature a variety of people, places and events from across the country.

Celebrating the past and looking forward to the future, the collection is divided into four sections: specific Canadian locations; ordinary people; places and events that could have happened across the country; and nature poems.

A celebration of the publication of “My Canada” will be held on Sunday, April 30, 2017 in the Fellowship Hall of The First Unitarian Church of Hamilton (170 Dundurn Street South; parking available) from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. There will be a short reading, and refreshments will be served. Everyone is welcome to attend.

$20. Available online at The Book Band is http://www.thebookband.com/bookshop/poetry/joanna-lawson/my-canada (www.thebookband.com/bookshop/poetry/joannalawson/my-canada) END

Ephesus Pure in Heart By Michael Pawlowski

This novel tells the story of the Christian community in the first century, focusing on the lives of John the Apostle, Luke the Evangelist, Mary Magdalene, and other early Christians from 46-65 AD. It follows their travels from Palestine to Antioch of Syria to Ephesus, where they faced persecution and discrimination from a variety of fronts (including Emperors Claudius and Nero, the dogmatic Jewish community, Greek idolatry, and Roman immorality).

Pawlowski says his novel incorporates as many historically accurate events as possible.

$15.17 (Paperback); $6.99 (ebook). Available online from amazon.ca Trafford Publishing.