ONCE REMOVED by Andrew Unger reviewed by Elma (Martens) Schemenauer

I like the title of this novel. ONCE REMOVED is a gentle jab at Mennonites' interest in who's related to whom, and how closely or distantly. The title may also refer to the painted canvas floor coverings done by Mennonites of the past. The book cover features what looks like a fragment of a floor covering that has been removed from its original location and unfortunately torn in the process.

 

The title ONCE REMOVED could also relate to the book's central conflict. BLT Wiens, mayor of Edenfeld, wants all traces of the town's past to be removed. His vision for the future doesn't include Mennonite street names like Klippenstein Drive, West Schroeder Road, and Heppner Strasse. He changes them to California names like Sunset Boulevard and Rodeo Drive.

 

BLT's vision doesn't include heritage buildings like housebarns. He plans to bulldoze them to make way for a mega-mart and giant parking lot.

 

Butting up against BLT is Timothy Heppner, a mild-mannered ghostwriter and parks and recreation employee. He and his wife, Katie, are the youngest members of the town's Preservation Society. Their attempts to stop the brutal onslaught of progress constitutes the driving force of this story.

 

The author writes in an easy, approachable style, almost always with tongue in cheek. The book is full of references to Mennonite history, beliefs, culture, folkways, foods, and foibles—many of them over-simplified or exaggerated for effect. Unger can say a lot in a few words. Examples:

 

On Russian Mennonite immigration to North America: "Some came in the 1870s fleeing the tsar and some came in the 1920s fleeing the people who replaced the tsar." (page 16)

 

Mrs. Ens muttered that she'd never really liked that song because it sounded a bit "socialist" to her and she thought we had left all that garbage behind in the Soviet Union. (page 149)

 

On baptism: "It's not that I didn't believe or didn't want to get baptized as a teenager, but in those days I hadn't yet found someone I wanted to marry and I knew that as soon as I was baptized the pressure would be on to get hitched." (page 37)

 

On Mennonite foods: "Large quantities of sausage." (page 88) "A well-worn cookbook called 1001 Ammonia Recipes." (page 108)

 

The author of ONCE REMOVED doesn't keep me in suspense, wondering what will happen next. He doesn't present me with mind-expanding insights. Thankfully he also doesn't exhibit the bitter, blaming, faith-denying attitude evident in some novels by Mennonites. His book is a clever, affectionate, respectful satire on his (and my) people. It amuses me and warms my heart.

 

 

 

 

writerly news for Oct 12, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving. We do have a lot to be thankful for, including the writerly advice, information, and encouragement found in the following articles.

How to shorten a piece of writing without spoiling it. https://tinyurl.com/y2kv6fbj

Author Jane Littell writing in 1940 about writers "running dry," i.e., running out of ideas and inspiration. Excellent advice here: https://tinyurl.com/yy63y5rt

Timeworn is a magazine publishing stories "at the intersection of history and fantasy." They're open to submissions of unpublished stories 2000-5000 words long, set before 1996. Learn more by searching on the words TIMEWORN SUBMISSIONS. You can read Issue 3 free at the following website--or you can buy it. https://tinyurl.com/y4b2wpjb

What's a writer's "voice?" Why is it important? Article here: https://tinyurl.com/yyg3dpth

Are you self-publishing a book? Here's an article on sabotaging it [which you of course don't want to do]: https://tinyurl.com/y66xj4s9

Encouraging & enlightening words for writers from J.R.R. Tolkein: https://tinyurl.com/yyqz5gpd

YOU ARE NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED reviewed by Elma (Martens) Schemenauer

I bought this book because I lived for many years in Toronto's Bathurst and Steeles area--near Thornhill, where Sidura Ludwig's stories take place. During those years, I became very familiar with the ever-changing suburban community of Thornhill and the wide variety of people who live there. I feel a special empathy with Thornhill's Jewish community. The author brings it to life in a thoughtful, sympathetic, and sometimes amusing way. There are lots of tensions here, for example, between beliefs and practices, between secular Jews and religious Jews ("frummies"), and between old and new ways. I have a Mennonite background, and detect similar tensions within Mennonite communities. I explore some of them in my 1940s-era novel CONSIDER THE SUNFLOWERS, which is set in Vancouver and rural Saskatchewan. I'm grateful to Ludwig for writing YOU ARE NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED. It sheds light not only on her own community, but on others facing similar experiences and challenges.

INSIDE THE BOOK BUSINESS talk October 6, 2020

Folks have shared facts, fantasies, & feelings in book form for 5000-plus years. Elma Schemenauer worked in the book business in Toronto for 30-plus years (as an editor & author). She continued in Kamloops, BC, for another 14. She'll share highlights of what she learned Oct 6 in the North Shore Community Centre, Kamloops, 1:30-3:30 PM. A talk for anyone interested in reading, writing, & history. Part of the Kamloops Adult Learners Society fall series. Registration info at https://tinyurl.com/y3x2tnnx .

writerly news for Sept 7, 2020

Do you have a good story, written or not written yet? How can you make it great? https://tinyurl.com/yyggcm49

 

Would you like an Artificial Intelligence to analyze your novel & tell you what's right & wrong with it? A.I. has its limitations, but might help you improve your story. Article here: https://tinyurl.com/y3fle9uk

 

Want to write about faith & maybe get paid for it? Possibilities here: https://tinyurl.com/y6fy8xe4

 

Have publishers & literary agent rejected &/or ignored your writing? Reading other authors' stories of rejection may help you gain perspective--and hope: http://www.litrejections.com/stories-of-rejection/#

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL invites submissions of poems & brief stories on a wide range of encouraging topics. Click on the link to see their guidelines: https://tinyurl.com/y5focrdg

Suggestions on getting your manuscript ready for an editor: https://tinyurl.com/y62f5op3

 

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Writing Awards Won by Alex McGilvery & Brittany van der Merwe of Kamloops, BC, Canada

The 2020 Dr. Robert and Elma Schemenauer Writing Awards were presented at the August 15 Interior Authors Group social to Alex McGilvery and Brittany van der Merwe, both of Kamloops. This is the fifth year for the Awards.

 

Alex McGilvery won in the category Writing with a Kamloops and Area Theme for his novel TRANQUILLE DARK.

One judge said TRANQUILLE DARK "hinges around a group of Street People in Kamloops, as well as some of their families, the people who help them, and those who use them. The characters and settings are nicely delineated, with a wide variety of real characters with realistic needs and worries. There is some beautiful description and many interesting turns of phrase. The story itself is unique and one that only someone who understands street people could write. It's a story that more people need to hear."

Another judge called TRANQUILLE DARK an "edge of your seat adventure. The author captures your attention from the start and doesn't let go. Very good description of what it may be like to live on the streets. Also portrays how a person may end up this way. Lots of drama and mystery with good dialogue."

Alex McGilvery moved to Kamloops in 2017 in order to be near his grandchildren. He quickly became involved with the Interior Authors Group and is now the president. Alex has been reading as long as he can remember and writing almost that long. From the early 1990s on, he reviewed books on the Internet, then moved to critiquing books, then to working as a professional content editor. Alex published his first book in 2010 and now has more than twenty books in print. TRANQUILLE DARK, the first book of a planned series, is his newest. 

 

For this book, Alex took his own experiences, and those of the Lived Experience Committee, to build the world Blue lives in. Every person living on the street has their own story. TRANQUILLE DARK is not intended to tell the story of street people, but to show they have stories.

 

Brittany van der Merwe won in the category Writing Showing an Appreciation of Nature for her poem THE STORM.

One judge said THE STORM "contained vivid imagery and some innovative use of language. I particularly liked phrases such as 'nature brawls' and 'the sky tears down the middle.' Those lines hold action and portray a sense of the storm's physical presence."

 

Another judge observed that "The flow throughout is good, providing the reader a feeling of being there, on site, to experience the visual, audible and atmospheric changes unfolding."  

 

Brittany is a 34 year old wife and mother of two who works full-time as a medical office assistant in Kamloops. Writing has been an integral part of who she is since she was old enough to hold a pen. She uses it as her main tool to express how she feels, and how she perceives the world around her. In addition to poetry, Brittany has also written a short series of children's books that were initially intended only for her children. However, their love for the stories combined with encouragement from family and friends have recently motivated her to actively pursue publication.   

                                                                                                             

To read the winning entries, please see https://elmams.wixsite.com/awards/2020-winners .

Awards Information http://elmams.wix.com/Awards

Interior Authors Group (Kamloops) https://interiorauthorsgroup.wordpress.com/about/

Both the Kamloops Theme and Nature Theme Awards consist of a cash prize to the winner, a certificate, and a press release issued to local media. Accompanying each Award is a cash donation to the IAG to support its growth and educational activities. The yearly deadline for submissions is March 21.

 

The Awards are privately sponsored by Dr. Robert and Elma Schemenauer. They are not given by the Interior Authors Group of Kamloops. However, membership in the IAG is required to enter the annual contest. This is the fifth year they have been given to help support and recognize writers in Kamloops and area.

Swiss Mennonite novel OUT OF THE ORDINARY by Ruth Smith Meyer reviewed by Elma (Martens) Schemenauer

Many Mennonites in Southern Ontario came from Switzerland via the United States. A number of them were and are "horse and buggy" people. The Swiss Mennonites in Ruth Smith Meyer's community weren't. They drove cars, trucks, and tractors, and had electric lights and appliances. They were quite conservative just the same. They didn't have organs or other musical instruments in their churches—singing only. Young people weren't supposed to go to high school; elementary school was considered enough. And Ruth wore her Mennonite garb (white head covering, plain dark dress) until well after her marriage.

 

I bought her book OUT OF THE ORDINARY because I also grew up in a Mennonite community. My people came from the Netherlands and Northern Germany via Russia. Our Mennonite community—located near the village of Elbow, Saskatchewan—was less conservative than Ruth's. But we shared the same Mennonite beliefs and values including personal conversion to faith in Christ; believers' baptism; pacifism; thrift; helping others in practical as well as spiritual ways; and living "in this world but not of it."

 

My Mennonite relatives' stories and my early years in our Elbow-area community inspired my 1940s-era novel CONSIDER THE SUNFLOWERS (published by Borealis Press of Ottawa in 2014). In a somewhat similar way, Ruth's Mennonite identity forms the core of her autobiography. Her family came from Switzerland to Pennsylvania to Ontario. She grew up in Pickering Township, northeast of Toronto. Her family lived in a hamlet across from a general store and near a brick Mennonite church surrounded by a cemetery. Among names of Mennonite families in the area were Reesor, Grove, Lehman, Neuenschwander, Meyer, Wideman, Smith, Burkholder, and Bowman.

 

Ruth's childhood experiences included jumping into the hay in the barn, picking berries to send to market, writing to pen pals, and going on school field trips. As a child she discovered that her people's Pennsylvania Dutch dialect (a form of German) is similar to Yiddish. Interestingly, the Low German dialect that was spoken in my Mennonite community is also similar to Yiddish.

 

Singing was important in Ruth's community. Events called "singings" were held in church on Sunday evenings. These presented opportunities for courting. If a young man had his eye on a particular young woman, he would ask if he could walk or drive her home. That was how Ruth became acquainted with her first husband, Norman Smith. They were married in 1960, and went west for their honeymoon. One motel they stayed in cost ten dollars, which was shockingly high in those days.

 

The Smiths' marriage had its ups and downs. Ruth grappled with health challenges including low thyroid, migraines, a broken leg, and sleep apnea. Also, she was frustrated by the lack of leadership roles for women in the conservative Mennonite church she and her husband attended. Eventually they left and joined what later became the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada. In the new church, Ruth found more opportunities to exercise her leadership abilities. Unfortunately, her blossoming in this direction caused problems in the marriage. Norman felt she was ignoring him and leaving him behind. Their marriage almost collapsed. The story of how it survived and flourished makes for fascinating reading.

 

Sadly, Norman passed away in 1999. Ruth's account of her six years as a widow is unvarnished, touching, and inspiring. It was after Norman's death that she started to write. This book is one of the happy results. Readers will be pleased to know that she found love again, marrying childhood friend Paul Meyer in 2005.

OUT OF THE ORDINARY is available online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo, and other sites.