New novel features Mennonite wallflower, bossy mother-in-law, and shocking secret

I'm pleased to report that my new novel, Song for Susie Epp, is out! It's set in a city like Kamloops, British Columbia and a village like Elbow, Saskatchewan (near where I grew up). The story features a Mennonite wallflower whose confidence grows as she contends with a bossy mother-in-law and a shocking secret. The book is 264 pages, available in paperback or e-book. Ask for Song for Susie Epp by Elma Schemenauer in a bookstore or library. It's also available online from Amazon in many countries. Other online sellers include—IN CANADA: Kobo or Indigo. IN THE US: Smashwords or Barnes & Noble. IN THE UK: Brown's. IN SPAIN: Casa del Libro. IN MEXICO: Librerias Gandhi. IN GERMANY: Thalia. IN FRANCE: Vivlio. IN AUSTRALIA: Booktopia. For more information, please see my website, https://elmams.wixsite.com/elma . Thank you.

 

The Covenant of Water reviewed by Elma Schemenauer

The Apostle Thomas had a tough time believing in Christ's resurrection. But once he did, he took his faith and ran with it. Tradition says he went to India and shared it with people there. A number of them believed and "Saint Thomas Christians" (who also go by other names) eventually numbered in the millions. Some of those in Kerala State are main characters in Abraham Verghese's novel The Covenant of Water.

 

The novel follows three generations of a family from 1900 to 1977. I enjoyed their story for its human interest. Characters find love in unexpected places. They struggle to communicate. They rejoice in the births of children. Some are selfish, others breathtakingly unselfish. Some are Christ-followers. Others are Christians only because they were born into their particular ethnoreligious community.

 

At one point in the story, a physician named Mariamma sees a mural on a hospital wall. "It depicts gowned, masked surgeons bent over a patient, under the halo of the theatre lamp. In the shadows, figures observe the surgery. One of them is Jesus, his hand resting on the surgeon's shoulder." Mariamma doesn't have that kind of faith, but she wishes she did.

 

There's lots of medical content in the novel, not surprisingly since the author is a physician. I didn't understand nearly all the medical stuff, but I enjoyed it. Verghese makes it interesting. He sees medicine as a passionate pursuit, even a spiritual calling. His viewpoint comes through strongly.

 

Reading this novel made me think about my own ethnoreligious community. I'm a first-generation child of Mennonite immigrants from Russia to Canada. As I was growing up., I sank deep roots into the beliefs, stories, and traditions of my extended Mennonite family. They've inspired some of my writing, especially my novels Consider the Sunflowers and Song for Susie Epp.

 

Abraham Verghese was born in Ethiopia to Christian parents from Kerala, India. He's now a professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California. His novel The Covenant of Water has given me new insights on how to write fiction based on one's personal background and experiences. Now I plan to read his earlier novel Cutting for Stone.

submissions opportunity reopens June 1, 2024

Freefall Magazine of Calgary, Alberta, Canada will reopen for submissions of prose, poetry, art, interviews, & book reviews June 1, 2024. They're generally open to submissions from Canadians only. Here are the guidelines: https://freefallmagazine.ca/submissions/

how to write a book review

One of the nicest things a reader can do for an author is to review the author's book. But how do you go about writing a review? I Just discovered the following helpful, comprehensive advice from Victor Wiebe of the Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan. https://web.archive.org/web/20230330031443/https://mhss.sk.ca/books/How-to-Review-a-Book.shtml

Contest for unpublished Canadian writers: May 19 deadline

PEN Canada is now accepting English-language submissions for the 2024 RBC PEN Canada New Voices Award. DEADLINE MAY 19.

The annual award supports and celebrates emerging talent in Canadian literature. Unpublished writers are encouraged to submit short stories, creative nonfiction, journalism, and poetry. The shortlisted submissions will be judged by a distinguished jury of Canadian writers.

The winning entry will receive a $3,000 CAD cash prize and mentorship from a Canadian author.

Submissions guidelines here: https://pencanada.ca/news/now-accepting-submissions-for-the-rbc-pen-canada-2024-new-voices-award/

Canadian hero opportunity

Deadline April 21, 2024. Latitude 46 of Sudbury, Ontario, is open to submissions of fictional or true or partly true "stories from across Canada that push the usual superhero tropes while shining a spotlight on unique corners of Canada. We want stories set in and around the nation's more often overlooked locales—isolated small towns, remote reservations, bedroom communities, and other underrepresented areas of Canada. Give us rural superheroes, backwater supervillains, and tales of characters/communities at a crossroads." More info at https://latitude46publishing.com/super-canucks-call-for-submissions/

Interior Authors Group Christmas Social Dec 13, 2023 at The Dunes Restaurant, Kamloops, BC