for Valentine's Day: a story of love 1542 style

It was a sunny spring day in 1542. Marguerite de la Roche, a dark-haired girl in her teens, stood on the deck of her Uncle Roberval's ship. Her heart pounded with excitement as she watched the coast of France fade into the distance. Seagulls squealed and soared overhead. The air was filled with the smell of salt water and tarred rope. What an adventure! She was going to the New World.

As she gazed across the waves, her dark hair streaming behind her, she became aware that someone was watching her. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the admiring look of a handsome young sailor who was standing near by, coiling an anchor rope. Marguerite blushed and lowered her eyes. Then she turned and darted away.

She spent the rest of the day exploring the ship with her faithful old nurse, who was accompanying her on the voyage. "Aren't you glad you came along?" Marguerite asked, looking down at the tiny stoop-shouldered woman beside her. "I'd rather be safe at home in France," the little woman replied. "I only agreed to come on account of your poor dead parents. I know they wouldn't have wanted you sailing into the wilderness without me to look after you."

Roberval's fleet hadn't been at sea for long before it ran into a driving rainstorm. No sooner had it weathered the first gale than another one struck. The constant heaving and tossing of the ship made Marguerite's nurse seasick. The little woman retired to her cabin. She spent the rest of the voyage there, too miserable to take much notice of what Marguerite was doing.

She didn't remain alone for long. The young sailor she had noticed on the first day began to find excuses to speak with her. As the days passed, their conversations became more frequent. Soon they were spending every spare moment together. It was an exciting day for both when the coast of the New World appeared on the horizon. They stood together on the deck, hand in hand, watching the rocky shore draw nearer. "Marguerite," the young man said, "I have something important to say to you." "Yes?" The girl turned her brown eyes on him. The sailor cleared his throat. Then he plucked up his courage and went on. "I love you," he said. "I know you come from a wealthy family while I am only a poor peasant. But perhaps in the new land such things won't matter so much. Will you please marry me? I'll do my best to make you happy." Marguerite's eyes shone as she confessed she was just as much in love with the young man as he was with her. "Tomorrow," she said, "we'll go and ask my uncle to allow us to marry."


What happened to the young couple? You can read more of their story in my book YesterCanada: Historical Tales of Mystery and Adventure. It's available online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo, or the publisher, Borealis Press of Ottawa. For more information, please visit
https://elmams.wixsite.com/elma .

opportunity: science fiction & fact

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Analog Science Fiction and Fact publishes short stories up to 20,000 words; serials of 40,000-80,000 words; and fact articles of around 4,000 words. It's hard to find a length limit for poems, but up to 40 lines/poem is probably a safe guideline. More info at https://tinyurl.com/tnj7c8c .

novel PRAIRIE GRASS by Joan Soggie reviewed by Elma Schemenauer

Gabriella Mackenzie comes from eastern Canada knowing little about southern Saskatchewan's ecology, history, and sociology. She's about to learn a lot. Gabriella becomes involved in a government-sponsored Centenarian Project. Her assignment: interview two or three residents who are a hundred years old or older, and record their memories. These individuals have been previously chosen based on the condition that they and their families are willing and able to participate.

Eric Tollerud is the first centenarian Gabriella interviews. He's Norwegian, like the author's own ancestors. As she introduces him, Soggie hints at two major themes in the novel. First: People change the land, and the land changes people. Second: People should interact responsibly with the land, treating it with respect. She writes of Tollerud, "The land had certainly left its mark on him, on those still-calloused hands and arthritic joints and etched wrinkles. Just as he, and others like him, had marked the land with their fields and fences and roads."

Tollerud's parents homesteaded in Saskatchewan in the early 1900s, and he grew up as a farm boy. I myself spent my early years on a Saskatchewan farm and wrote a novel based on those experiences (CONSIDER THE SUNFLOWERS), so I particularly enjoyed reading Tollerud's memories. They're presented at intervals throughout the novel, beginning in 1917. Told from his viewpoint, they give readers insights into the historical periods he lived through, and the lives and concerns of Saskatchewan farm families of those times.

Soggie interweaves the homesteaders' experiences with those of Indigenous peoples (mainly Cree) and the Metis, or "middle people" (people with both an Indigenous and non-Indigenous heritage). As with Tollerud, she presents Metis experiences and viewpoints through specific fictional individuals and their families. One is Jean-Jacques LaPrairie, who lived in the 1800s and into the 1900s. The other is Madeline Hirondelle, a contemporary of Gabriella's in the 2000s.

A major representative of Indigenous peoples in the book is Maskepetoon (1807-1869). He was a real-life Cree leader who became well known and respected for making peace between Cree and other Indigenous groups. Maskepetoon's interesting life and accomplishments are featured in the book in several different connections.

PRAIRIE GRASS sports an attractive cover portraying the prairie grasslands the author loves so much. In a number of passages, she stresses the importance of protecting this endangered ecosystem, which she describes in moving and beautiful ways. For example: "Every square foot of native prairie is home to dozens, maybe hundreds, of life forms…. It includes all the plant life that has adapted over thousands of years to the many varied microclimates created by sun and wind, heat and cold, drought and flood…. Prairie grass is made up of grasses like blue grama and needle-and-thread. It also consists of forbs like pussy-foot and pasture sage. It includes flowering plants like golden bean and scarlet mallow. Its survival is inter-reliant upon the many varieties of lichens and fungi and mysterious multitudinous bacteria in tiny organisms that inhabit the soil, transforming death into life."

Most chapters in Soggie's book begin with a drawing of one plant among the many that make up prairie grass. Each drawing is accompanied by a short description attributed to "Gabriella's Prairie Notes." I'm glad the fictional Gabriella went to Saskatchewan and undertook her sensitive and extensive research. I'll think about her next time I revisit my homeland on the Saskatchewan prairie.

PRAIRIE GRASS is published by BWL Publishing Inc.  http://bookswelove.net/soggie-joan/ . It's available from Amazon, Kobo, Indigo and all participating bookstores. https://books2read.com/Prairie-Grass .

 

 

 

 

 

poetry opportunity Feb 15 deadline

THE JOURNAL OF UNDISCOVERED POETS invites your submissions for the premier issue of a journal shining a light on undiscovered poets. This quarterly, with the help of the W. Garfield Weston Foundation, will support the visions of poets who have not already been recognized by other publishers. The journal means to unearth hidden talent that can surprise the world. And while undiscovered does not necessarily mean unpublished, the journal is interested in poems by writers meaning to enter the world of published poets. Submissions of up to 5 poems of any length will be reviewed. All ages, levels of education, life experience are welcomed. Deadline for the premier launch issue is February 15, publishing in Spring 2020. Late entries will be held for a following issue. No fees will be sought. Selected poets will receive 3 complimentary copies. Submit: www.7moredays.submittable.com/submit. Contact: 7moredays2020@gmail.com. 

coffee party, Interior Authors Group, Kamloops, BC, Feb 1, 2020