Tanah Haney Launches A Peculiar Symmetry! And DSP Inc. signs author Michael Antman

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Dec 03, 2024

Being the 45th edition of Assorted Nonsense, the official newsletter of Donovan Street Press Inc.

Here in the hallowed headquarters of Donovan Street Press in frigid Riverview, New Brunswick, we’re celebrating an embarrassment of riches. Tanah Haney’s debut novel A Peculiar Symmetry launched this past weekend and we just signed a new author, Michael Antman, to our growing list of talented writers.

I’ve known Tanah Haney a long time now. Pretty sure the first time I met her was in Peterborough back in the nineties. I’d been invited to join an informal writing group that, over time, came to be known as the Saturday Night Scribes. When I say informal I mean informal: there were no regular meetings, there was no official membership; it was just a group of friends and friends of friends who would meet once, twice, three times a year, or sometimes not at all for several years, basically just whenever we got around to convening a “reading night.” There would usually be food involved. Usually we’d meet in a farmhouse in Omemee. You know the place:

“There is a town in north Ontario... All my changes were there” ~ Neil Young (Helpless)

But we’ve also met in Peterborough, High Park (Toronto), Whitby, Port Perry and probably other places I’ve forgotten. We’ve met off and on for almost forty years. I’m not sure how many people have rotated through the group. I think at least twelve people could be considered core members, but several others have shown up on occasion. We’d read short stories, novel excerpts, poetry, and I remember the group indulging me by letting me play the occasional radio piece I’d produced. The Saturday Night Scribes can take credit for at least two published novels so far, though more may yet emerge.

I remember being impressed with Tanah’s writing that first day with the group, when we were both just in our twenties. I’ve probably heard bits and pieces of her debut novel A Peculiar Symmetry many times over the years, but only finally got to read it in its entirety this past fall.

Here’s a little video I made in 2017 about the Saturday Night Scribes, shot in my friends’ farmhouse in Omemee where most of the Reading Nights have taken place. You’ll see a lot of Tanah:

And here’s Tanah’s novel, A Peculiar Symmetry. The figure on the cover is actually Tanah. The photograph was taken by her partner, Mark A. Harrison, an accomplished photographer and digital artist with whom Tanah collaborated on another project called Where the World Bleeds Through (for which Tanah wrote the poetry and Mark created the images).

Here’s the back jacket copy for A Peculiar Symmetry:

Aiden and Minnie. Two of the least ordinary people you’re likely to meet.
Aiden’s missing the first eight years of her life, yet she can play Beethoven’s Concerto without ever having been taught. Minnie can see people’s emotions, in vivid colour, no less. That doesn’t help much when she meets Aiden, who doesn’t seem to have any.
When British Intelligence sweeps in, along with belligerent spies and a half-brother Aiden never knew existed, Minnie soon discovers that whatever Aiden might lack, she more than makes up for in intrigue. Getting to know one another will have to wait, though; when bullets start to fly, and the bodies begin to pile up, the two young women find themselves caught up in a clandestine war for control over the human psyche…and their own lives.

And a little bit about Tanah herself:

When not writing, Tanah Haney divides her time between playing the Celtic harp, teaching music, gardening and cat wrangling. She is a published poet and is co-author of Where the World Bleeds Through with her husband, photographer and digital artist Mark A. Harrison.

The character of Aiden in Tanah’s debut novel, A Peculiar Symmetry, was inspired by Tanah’s own experience with neurodiversity. Late diagnosed with ADHD at age 50 but neurodivergent from day one, Tanah is determined to be a more vocal champion of everyone who has ever felt different, and for the free expression of same in a diverse, inclusive, and compassionate society.

Tanah lives in Peterborough, Ontario, with her husband Mark and a small but vocal menagerie.

Donovan Street Press Inc. Signs Michael Antman

We’re very pleased to welcome author Michael Antman to our ranks! DSP Inc. will be publishing a special 20th anniversary edition of his superb novel Cherry Whip, originally published by ENC Press in 2004.

I’ve never met Michael in person but I do feel like I know him a little bit; he’s a former guest on our podcast Re-Creative, where I heard a bit of his life’s story. Well, from one angle, at least. Michael is also the author of the novel Everything Solid Has a Shadow (Amika Press, 2017) and the recently completed novel A Distant Place of Slaughter. Michael is a two-time finalist for the National Book Critic Circle's Balakian Award for Excellence in Book Reviewing, and the former head of Global Head of Marketing for a Fortune 100 company.

As Donovan Street Press itself aspires to be a Fortune 100 company one day, perhaps Michael will get a second shot at being part of a such a company. Or, more likely, considering there are about 1.22 million businesses in Canada with employees, he’ll get to be part of a Fortune 1.22 million company.

After meeting Michael on the podcast, I became intrigued with his book Cherry Whip. Although the original publisher is defunct and the book out-of-print, I was able to get my hands on a copy and read it right away. I was impressed, and reviewed the original version thusly:

Cherry Whip is an elegantly constructed, superbly written novel about a young Japanese jazz prodigy named Hiroshi who visits New York and immediately falls ill, placing his budding career (and perhaps his entire life) in jeopardy.
Executed with precision, compassion and wit, Cherry Whip kept me turning the pages. Hiroshi lives and breathes on the page. Neurotic but charming, I enjoyed his company. His misadventures, including a tragic subplot involving his older sister, are compelling and affecting.
Antman writes beautifully on every level: prose, theme, structure, and character. Cherry Whip is out of print, which is a shame. It's a terrific book that deserves a much wider readership.

I happened to mention to one of Michael’s friends (Christopher Guerin, also a guest on the podcast) how much I enjoyed Cherry Whip, and wondered aloud about the possibility of re-publishing it. Michael realized that the 20th anniversary of the book is fast approaching; one thing led to another, and here we are.

All to say that soon Cherry Whip will no longer be out of print.

I consider the addition of Cherry Whip to DSP Inc.'s growing list of titles nothing short of a gift. Thanks Michael!

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World

I discovered C.A Fletcher’s A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World on sale at Chapters in Dieppe recently. The title got me; obviously a play on the film (with Don Johnson) and novella (by Harlan Ellison) A Boy and His Dog. I love post-apocalyptic tales (don’t we all? Why? I have no idea) and reading the first few lines of this one, obviously involving a dog (something else I love; my Sheltie needs a walk soon), I was hooked.

The book doesn’t disappoint, accounting for its current 18,569 ratings on Goodreads (where it scores 4.15). It’s not exactly an action adventure, but it is a cool journey through a post-apocalyptic landscape around Britain sometime a couple of hundred years from now. There are only a handful of characters, and fewer dogs, but enough to keep the proceedings relatively lively.

For much of the novel I thought the ending was going to be predictable and grim, but Fletcher displays some serious plotting chops with a couple of startling surprises that he pulls off with considerable aplomb. All the more so when you realize that it all makes perfect sense. And no where near as grim as you’d been expecting.

It’s not quite in the same league as David Brin’s The Postman (the book, not the movie), George R. Stewart’s Earth Abides, Walter Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz, or Stephen King’s The Stand, but it sits comfortably alongside the likes of Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven (I actually enjoyed the TV adaptation of Station Eleven more than the book, which I did enjoy.

Advance Readers Wanted

Donovan Street Press Inc. is looking for advance readers for upcoming books. If you’re interested, drop us a line at contact@donovanstreetpress.com

Podcast

Re-Creative: a podcast about creativity and the works that inspire it.

Last week Mark A. Rayner and I talked to the Video Diva herself, the inimitable Cathi Bond. If you're a fan of CBC Radio, you will remember Cathi from her many appearances on CBC Radio's DNTO, Spark, Metro Morning and other shows.

I was privileged to get to know Cathi at the CBC. The first time she ever saw me in a studio, she said, "You look competent" and I've loved her ever since. Sharing a mutual love for writing fiction, Cathi and I have stayed in touch over the years and I knew I had to get her on the podcast. It was so great hearing that distinctive and engaging radio voice of hers again.

We talk about the books in her Woman of Good Standing trilogy, writing fiction, her musical inspirations, and Cathi even barks once or twice. Somebody really needs to get this woman back on the national airwaves.

Cathi Bond on Re-Creative

All previous episodes are available online, comprising the first 3 seasons, over 60 conversations with creative people from all walks of life about the art stoking their imaginative fires.

Assorted Nonsense