Niagara Novel, TRILLIUM, on Fire!

Renee Sferrazza Instagram Wine Influencer

When an international wine #influencer on Instagram, with a following of over 10K, gives a super 5-star rating for your novel, expect a swift reaction from her attentive audience. Within one week, Renee Sferrazza's positive post about TRILLIUM  has 600 likes with over 125 comments and commitments to purchase, voiced by #winelovers from all around the globe! - Now, that's social impact!! 

Her rating is also a tremendous boost for the real life setting of the novel, the  #winemaking region of the #Niagara peninsula, sandwiched, as it is , between the southern shore of #LakeOntario, #LakeErie and the grand meandering Niagara River, (yes, the location of famed #NiagaraFalls.)   

THANK YOU RENEE!! - @wine.by.renee - and to all the other great gals affiliated with Instagram @sips.aroundtheglobe & @wineandbubblelover. I am most humbled, grateful and honoured that you found TRILLIUM "captivating"!

Booklytical TRILLIUM review

Equally, when a more traditional #bookreviewer at Booklytical criticizes, in detail, the failings of the novel from their perspective, and then goes on to give the work an 8 out of 10 rating, that's really not too shabby either. Certainly, the criticism hurts, but the overall book rave as - "a stand-out gem"-  does compensate. With that rating, I know that the story did work its magic ... eventually!
....

Book reviews really are the circulating life-blood of an author's efforts. It tells #writers what does and does not resonate. It tells us where work may be needed, and where too one excels at the craft. It has been mentioned, as example, a couple of times now, how my capacity to generate imagery is "like a painter." As a highly visual person who believes that the use of colour, form, and design intimately expresses our current humanity, this comment is always very welcome. I know my imagination has successfully grafted onto the reader's imagination.

I have also heard that some readers long to know more about one of the central characters, Anna Di Angelo.

Dear Anna IS an integral part of the evolving story. In fact, the story wouldn't have its name or have even come to fruition without her experimental childhood mucking about.

In response, I have just finished an interview with a very engaging website, The Protagonist Speaks, where I've given more rein to Anna's thoughts and motivations. That's releasing October 24th.

It was a difficult task to exude her personality in written form because Anna, as an illiterate character in the novel, neither reads nor writes.

Yet, to my mind, she is the epitome of a free spirit. Her thoughts, I believe, ought to exhibit the same kind of tendency. She goes where the wind blows. She responds to what the wind is doing. She reacts, she responds, she interacts. She dips, she dives, she swirls. She is a child of the Earth. She also has this uncanny ability to observe Nature in a unfiltered and unbiased state. As a result, Anna has an incredible knack for growing things. There will be more from her at the end of October ... 

In the meantime, please do pick up & enjoy 

the "epic!" & "gorgeous!" TRILLIUM 

as either an ebook or paperback. 
 

Your thoughtful reviews are always appreciated. 

Thank you. - mlholton

The Zeitgeist of TRILLIUM by MLHolton

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada - circa 1800s

Very excited to share two recent events that capture the 'zeitgeist' of my latest #canlit novel, TRILLIUM ---

TRILLIUM on TRIP FICTION

First, TRILLIUM has recently been listed on tripfiction.com - a thoroughly engaging website that links books-to-place.

TRILLIUM scores 5 stars for LOCATION and CONTENT. It is a wonderful acknowledgement that my words are deeply rooted to the landscape on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. The tripfiction website is an ideal site to send to anyone coming to the wine-making peninsula of Niagara.

Shoot visitors this link to TRILLIUM as a preparatory read!

Filled with distinct characters over a span of 250 years starting in the mid 1750s, TRILLIUM explores the rural roots of three principal & distinct families - the Italian Di Angelos, the Irish O'Sullivans and the Anglo-Canadian WASPs, the Hartfords. As their lives intertwine over the decades of centuries, their children inter-marry. - But there are secrets: deep, dark family secrets ...

Pick-up the novel - TRILLIUM by MLHolton.

Second, one of my ambitions vis a vis this book project over the past year was to create a 'playlist' that captures the zeitgeist of the novel. After a few false starts, I think I've finally got it! With a mixed medley of nearly 300 tunes, (or 16.5 hours of listening pleasure), I am very happy to share this zeitgeist mix on SPOTIFY.

TRILLIUM on SPOTIFY

I have just recently learned that SPOTIFY also has a computer and TV streaming app option. The TV streaming option is fabulous way to listen if you've got a good sound system hooked up. A very popular music site, listening-in is free on Spotify, with ads. I'd say it is well worth the small membership fee for uninterrupted listening pleasure! - If you love music, it will be hard to leave!

For those who have read TRILLIUM, tune into the TRILLIUM PLAYLIST on SPOTIFY.
 
For those who haven't read it yet, TUNE IN and see if you might like to ...  (One character, Kieran O'Sullivan, has an extensive record collection from the 1930s, 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s ... Fun!)

Let me know what you think! Is there a good representation of music that wafted over southern Ontario from the mid 1750s to 2001?! When compiling it, I believed that contrary to current trends and influences, music that arrived south of the lake in the past two centuries would have come in by ships first, and then by radio stations from the States, principally Buffalo and Detroit. Thus, many of the East Coast sea shanties and popular American tunes in the playlist. -- Am I missing anything that you think is absolutely essential to reflect the decades from 1750 to 2001? -- Let me know!

Putting this list together has been a real labour of love: I had to listen to hundreds of fantastic, memorable - and dance-inducing - musical tracks. Hurled back in time, I stumbled on old favourites & all-time classics . Oh my - 'House of the Rising Sun' - CLASSIC!!! - Tune in to the TRILLIUM playlist!

If a regular on Shopify, be sure to follow the playlist.
I'll be adding more tunes as time allows.

My one regret is that I didn't set up the playlist chronologically. But after listening for awhile, I rather like how Spotify's algorithms 'shuffles'. Tunes lead naturally into each other. (Does it really matter that they may be decades apart?)

The main IDEA is to capture the zeitgeist of several evolving eras in southern Ontario ... I think it does do just that.

--- ENJOY!

Read more - TRILLIUM - by MLHolton
 
LISTEN IN to the TRILLIUM playlist on SPOTIFY!

WORLDS SMALLEST FILM FESTIVAL at NIFF, June 18th-21st

The 'Worlds Smallest Film Festival' challenge was to shoot an ultra short film ( less then 3 minutes) using a smart-phone or tablet. My ultra short 'stop motion' film, (52 seconds) was shot on an iPod in the spring of 2015. - The 'theme challenge' this year was WATER. So, guess what I did??

***PLEASE***

WATCH & 'LIKE' - my light-hearted mini film - 

 > SUGARING OFF!<

Sugaring Off -Video Still  by M.L.Holton

NIFF FESTIVAL DATES: : June 18-21, 2015. 
Expect a unique culinary & film adventure with exquisite food, phenomenal films, and stellar wines all in the heart of Niagara. The Niagara Integrated Film Festival (NIFF) is an unforgettable adventure in great food and phenomenal film taking place at all the top wineries in breathtaking Niagara Region.

Consider one of the four event 'packages': -

GALA - Experience a Hollywood premiere-style affair. The Opening Night Gala will take place at Peller Estates with a seasonally designed plated dinner and delightfully paired wines to kick off your NIFF experience. Fri-Sun night Galas will take place at Jackson-Triggs Winery with spectacular chef-attended food stations spanning the property. We'll have red carpets and talent to introduce the films and provide an interactive audience Q&A. Finish the night off at the complimentary after-party with a glass of wine!

FILMALICIOUS - It's dinner and a movie at its finest! Hosted at some of the most splendid wineries across Niagara-on-the-Lake and Twenty Valley, during this sensory experience guests will enjoy a sumptuous dinner paired with award-winning Niagara wines selected specially by the winemaker.

FILM FEAST - Film Feast shines the spotlight on the very best of food, film, and wine -- all combined to create a unique afternoon in the vineyards. Leave the tour behind and take a guided bus tour to some of Niagara's remarkable wineries. At each winery, guests sample a flight of vintages accompanied by exquisitely prepared hors d'oeuvres. What makes Film Feast unlike anything else is that at each winery you will enjoy the amazing short films selected from Canada's Not Short on Talent, a program imported express from the Cannes Film Festival.

SPOTLIGHT SERIES - Spotlight Series takes place at the Pen Centre in St Catharines and at the historic Seneca Queen Theatre in downtown Niagara Falls. The Spotlight Series Weekend Pass is your best bet to see as many films as you can from Thursday to Sunday for one low price!
 

For TICKETS & MORE INFO - 

Phone 289-438-1695
http://www.niagarafilmfest.com/

Learn more about NIFF: 
Bill Marshall (Founder & Chair Emeritus of TIFF) & Sar Ruda (Producer at Corsair Entertainment Corp) head up the Founders & Board of Directors -  https://niagarafilmfest.com/about-us/#founders

Individual Tickets - Schedule of Galas & Special Events - https://niagarafilmfest.com/buy-tickets/

Line up of the Main Festival 2015 FILMS - https://niagarafilmfest.com/2015-films/