On the Road, More on AI, Partridge Island Press, and a Review of What the Wind Brings by Matthew Hughes
Live with integrity, respect the rights of other people, and write your own subtitles
Being the 21st edition of Assorted Nonsense, the official newsletter of Donovan Street Press Inc.
On the Road Again
Little light on the writing and editing this week as I take some time to collect a daughter from one province and move her to another. I’m almost halfway through the process, writing this while sitting in a hotel in La Pocatiere, Quebec with my daughter and her pooch nearby.
“You’re driving her all the way?” someone asked me. “Why?”
“One: road trip. Two: any excuse to visit Toronto, however briefly. Three: one of my daughters needs me, I’m there. Four: I’ve always wanted to take the ferry to Newfoundland.”
That’s next week, the ferry. Yeah, lot’s of driving. But still getting some editing and writing done in the mornings and evenings.
You see the strangest things on the road sometimes (confession: this was actually on the way to Saint John to see Mary Poppins last week).
And this from a shop in Ontario. Presumably proper grammar costs extra (unless I’m missing something here, always a possibility).
AI
The debate around the use of AI continues.
If this were Skynet we were talking about I would be completely in favour of banning AI altogether. (Skynet = AI from Terminator movies for any non-SF fans reading this). Who wouldn’t? The various iterations of AI we’re seeing now are not Skynet, though. Could they become Skynet? Not for a long time, I think.
The main concern with AI right now is about taking jobs from artists such as illustrators and writers. To be clear, I am completely opposed to using AI to replace the work of illustrators and writers. Although I played with the technology early on, I do not use AI images for my books or my newsletters. Nor do I employ AI to write any portion of my books or this newsletter or blog posts and so on.
(As an aside, I wish we could call it something other than Artificial Intelligence, cuz that’s such a misnomer. We’re not talking about intelligence here. It’s not sapient or sentient. It’s not actually intelligent or conscious. It’s just a tool.)
But just because I’m utterly opposed to using AI to write my fiction or newsletters etc. or to supplement any of that with AI illustrated material does not mean that I’m completely opposed to the use of AI. For one thing, this tool we’re calling Artificial Intelligence is here to stay. It’s not going to go away. That ship has sailed. All that’s left is to figure out how to deal with it, collectively and individually.
I don’t want to succumb to fear of “the other,” as portrayed in the recent movie The Creator, with equally disastrous consequences. We fear that which we don’t understand. I would prefer to educate myself about AI, to understand exactly how the various iterations of AI work. To understand how AI can hurt us, so that I don’t contribute to it hurting us, but also to determine how AI can help us. Because it’s already helping us. Predictive text is basically AI. Voice assistants like Siri and Alexa employ AI. Image recognition. Uber apps. Fraud detection. Who doesn’t want better fraud detection? The list goes on, and I expect it will continue to help us in greater and greater ways.
I will continue to keep an open mind about AI as I explore how it can help me personally… without hurting anyone else, such as my fellow artists.
Partridge Island Press at Area 506 Container Village, Saint John
Recently I popped up to Saint John with my wife Lynda to take in a performance of Mary Poppins at the Imperial Theatre (it was a great show). Afterward I walked down to the harbour where I knew the Patridge Island Publishing folks were selling books from the Area 506 Container Village. Located at 85 Water Street in Saint John, this unique container village features “a diverse collection of retail shops, a performance space, a Waterfront Container Lounge, food trucks, public art and pop-up activities. All wrapped up in more than 60 shipping containers.” It’s pretty cool and if I lived in Saint John I’d be checking it out often.
Patridge Island Publishing has offered New Brunswick authors a chance to feature their books in their own part of this space so I leapt at the opportunity. That’s the Patridge Island Publishing team pictured above, each holding a copy of one of my books. They were super friendly and I look forward to working with them over the next few years in the Atlantic Canada publishing community.
Review: What the Wind Brings by Matthew Hughes
Matthew Hughes' What the Wind Brings is a compelling tale of slaves shipwrecked on the coast of Ecuador attempting to secure their freedom by establishing their own nation (it's based on a true story). It's also a captivating tale of outsiders trying to find their place in a frequently hostile world. And it's historical fiction with engaging dashes of magical realism.
This is the work of an experienced, accomplished writer working at the top of his game. Hughes believes it's his best work; I will not argue the point. Hughes clearly put a lot of thought, effort and research into What the Wind Brings and it shows in the best possible way. The detail is entirely convincing and not overbearing; Hughes knows how to evoke a place and time while getting on with the interesting bits.
But the story, while fascinating and expertly told, is not the best part. The best part is the characters. Alonso, desperate to make himself useful. Anton, an escaped slave turned war chief and possibly his own worst enemy. Alejandro, a young Trinitarian monk seeking captives to shepherd, entirely without guile. And most compelling of all, Expectation, a Nigua hermaphrodite and healer, and our guide to the spirit world, tolerated (if not hated) by those who benefit from her unique skill set. Along with a host of other characters no less expertly drawn despite less page time.
What the Wind Brings was published by Pulp Literature Press, a Canadian Small Press (one of the few left). They only started releasing novels in 2017. The quality of the physical copy I read (the trade paperback edition) is on par with that of any publisher, large or small. The book is lovingly put together, from its Willem van de Velde cover art (I do love a nice matte cover) to its professionally copy edited interior, always a joy (and relief) to see.
What the Wind Brings is a superb book by a skilled storyteller that I strongly suggest you move to the top of your Want To Read list.
Yet Another Book Distributor…
Regular readers will know that I’ve been exploring book distributors the last few newsletters, the better to understand how that side of the business works. And Donovan Street Press Inc. is actively seeking distribution. Before I start approaching distributors, though, I want to be able to compare them all. There aren’t that many, certainly not many that service small outfits like ours, so I’ve been tackling them one by one.
Today we look at this company:
Bella Distribution
Based in Tallahassee, Florida, these folks avow to meet “the book distribution needs of the small publishing community.” They claim to warehouse, provide fulfillment for, market, and distribute books, all tailored to individual publishers, and especially interested in working with smaller and emerging publishers “who struggle with getting their books into bookstores.”
Publishers can call them directly at (850) 576-2370 or email them at info@BellaDist.com.
And that’s all the information they make available about themselves via their website. I can’t see anything else about them elsewhere on the net. To find out more, one presumably must get in touch with them.
Donovan Street Press Books (So Far!)
Adventures in the Radio Trade
"In dozens of amiable, frequently humorous vignettes... Mahoney fondly recalls his career as a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio technician in this memoir... amusing and highly informative." ~ Kirkus Reviews
A Time and a Place
“Entertaining, chaotic adventure.” ~ Publishers Weekly.
A note as well that the hardcover version of A Time and a Place now features the new cover, and is available at a much less expensive price than before.
Other Times and Places
“ …a lovely little collection of sci-fi and fantasy short stories, fun and well written.” ~ Charles P. Kelly
The Deer Yard and Other Stories
“Partly memoir, partly fiction, The Deer Yard is more than merely a good read …well-written, gentle stories, well worth reading.” ~ Ottawa Review of Books
Coming Soon
The Gates of Polished Horn by Mark A. Rayner.
Huey and the Wasteland by Matt Watts
Re-Creative: the Podcast
Our podcast Re-Creative (hosted by the author of this newsletter, Joe Mahoney, and author Mark A. Rayner) is currently on a brief hiatus, but will resume shortly.
Appearances
Taking a bit of time off over the summer, but I’ve already booked three craft fairs for the Fall
This has been the twenty-first edition of Assorted Nonsense, the official newsletter of Donovan Street Press Inc.