Friday, June 12, 2020

The Gilded Beaver by Margaret Lindsay Holton, Second Edition - June Release, 2020

NOW AVAILABLE on AMAZON
It is with both sadness and delight that I can now able 'reveal' that yes, I, Margaret Lindsay Holton, am the author of the award-winning 1999 novel, 'The Gilded Beaver by Anonymous'

It's sad, because the 'verbal deal' that I made with the antagonist of this quasi-fictional work died this March of natural causes in his 80th year. Yet, I am delighted because, now, I can rightfully claim this 'story' as my own.

Why did we make this 'deal'? 
It's complicated, but suffice it to say, that on successful completion of an ambitious design commission, I wrote about the nit-grit of what REALLY happened during the process. When I asked the client for permission to publish our story, he agreed, on one condition: we were both to remain anonymous, until, quote, "one of us dies."

'Anonymous' 1st Edition  
- I agreed to that, and soon released 'The Gilded Beaver by Anonymous' in a limited-edition paperback under my own artists' imprint. It did well enough, even though, at the time of release, no-one had any idea where it had come from.

Newspaper reviews, at the time, had some fun with it, calling it 'a mysterious psycho-sexual tug of war in the design world' and 'a dance of intellect and eros that expertly unfolds ... closes with panache'I was eventually outed as the author by The Ottawa Citizen, but by then, the initial interest had subsided, and life went on. For all intent and purposes, the title remained 'anonymous' and has sold that way for the past twenty years. However, overtime, I began to regret my 'anonymous author' decision. Why?

Because, in simple terms, very few people understand what transpires when an artist - or designer - interacts with a client. It is often so much more than just a financial transaction or a power dynamic exercised by one - (who has money over one who does not) - to 'do what they want'.

Carving Detail on the Winter Chair
When a self-professed mover & shaker, (in this instance 'G'), offered an ambitious designer, (in this instance, me), the opportunity to do BETTER than their BEST, the design dynamic changes dramatically.

'G' did offer an opportunity to do something spectacular to ADD to 'Canadian Material Culture', and I did just that. But, on route, there were bumps, lumps, periodic disagreements, confusion and personal upsets.

We did manage it in the end, but, believe me, it was not easy. As a client, he was imperious, moody, petulant, demanding, and in the end, a bit of an a**hole primarily because of the money issue ...

Money is an on-going concern for small business owners to keep 'cash flow' going. (It's not of such concern for big-wig financiers who always have easy access to bank credit.) One of my reasons for initially writing this work was to articulate - and demonstrate - what a fine line it is between feast and famine for those who live, out of necessity, paycheck to paycheck.

Autumn, The Four Canadian Fireside Chairs by MLHolton
When the anonymous first edition come out in 1999, I was not able - or permitted  - to 'claim' the good work that was done by so many skilled craftsmen. Nor was I able to promote these new furniture pieces for their good design and exemplary workmanship that would have legitimately positioned them in the international global arena of FINE #DECORATIVEARTSI was just not permitted to speak about them because of the aforementioned 'deal'.
Admittedly, this is all very obscure to most, but for those 'in the trade', they understand that fine decorative objects artfully reflect the culture from which the items spring. Ultimately, well-designed decorative art works honour the precise hand-skill traditions of solid eye-hand-and-heart co-ordination. My hired hands did an exemplary job - and those craftsmen deserve the recognition and reputation for doing so - even if it is 20-years late.

My specialty, at that time, was the designing and making of 'Canadian Fine Furniture'. I had learned the rudiments of this craft from my cabinet-making father, Luther Janna Holton II, and had refined my skills and interest with further self-study and application. By the time I was doing this 'commission' for 'G', aka Gordon, I was, without exaggeration, one of the best 'fine furniture designers' in Canada. I always worked with the best hands I could find to make beautiful 'things'. The revealed chairs in this post, and other items that I produced in the 1990s, attest to that.

'Winter' Chair, The Four Canadian Fireside Chairs by MLH
But, again, life goes on ... I finally left this discipline, after spending 10 months on another high-end commission, when the client ran their hand down the beautifully french-polished and intricately-carved mahogany 16-foot dining room table and asked if it was 'oak' ...

That was it for me. I just lost interest in designing and making 'things' for people who had absolutely no idea what they were getting, or what was involved in the design and crafting process. I soon left the 'business' of designing 'Canadian fine furniture'.

That's not to say that my own interest in fine craftsmanship and good design waned. It did not. I still swoon over a beautifully made object - from any culture or from any era. I am just no longer willing to do it - or sell it. 

In the late 1990s, I started to do other things and developed other marketable skills, like my ever-popular pinhole and photo-collage photography, and, as always, I continued on with my signature paintings and my writing, found all over this site.

'Autumn', Four Canadian Fireside Chairs by MLHolton
So, that's the backstory ... 

The final - and most relevant - reason for releasing this title again - with my name on it - is to DIRECTLY and DELIBERATELY tie this book to 'The Four Canadian Fireside Chairs'.  These four well-made chairs now exist in Time & Space. This book, The Gilded Beaver, intimately explains how they came to be. There is, finally, some faint hope that someday, someone, somewhere will finally 'get it'. It is hoped that a few decorative arts connoisseurs will recognize this #Canadian #design contribution for what it really is ...

There are no other chairs on the planet like this set of four.

The Four Canadian Fireside Chairs are a  fusion of English-French and Inuit IDEAS that place them squarely IN CANADA at the end of the twentieth century. Made of blemish-free hardwood, selected from a private mill in Ancaster, these black walnut chairs should easily last for 300 to 400 years, with, perhaps, a restoration or two on route.

I know, without any doubt, that they are GOOD chairs. They will stand the test of time. In the end, I was happy to have designed and created them. I am now, with this new release - with my name attached - willfully putting them into the broader arena of the DECORATIVE ARTS FROM CANADA at the end of the TWENTIETH CENTURY.

2nd Edtion - E-book -NOW AVAILABLE
Yes, they were designed FOR Gordon, but more importantly, they were done FOR CANADA and our own 'material culture'  heritage. 

I hope you will now consider this revised title, by yours truly. Give the story a read, or even a re-read, knowing now that it is a 'true story'.

Consider what went on, and why. Consider this title knowing that what artists and designers build - as 'cultural artifacts' - comes from inherited and invented narratives that manifest in material form. Yes, we artists 'make things', that not only mark our time on the planet, but we also make things to WITNESS and DOCUMENT the dominant stories of our own times for future generations.

Have a read. Learn more about this grand & beautiful country of ours, Canada, on this amazing planet, Earth.

Now Available as an E-book on Amazon
The Gilded Beaver, Second Edition, 
by Margaret Lindsay Holton





BOOK LAUNCH of The Gilded Beaver by Margaret Lindsay Holton

Friday, June 5, 2020

Hamilton Arts Week - 2020 - Margaret Lindsay Holton


HAMILTON ARTS WEEK! 
ON-LINE - JUNE 11th to JUNE 20th, 2020 
Artists, performers, authors and entertainers from around the Golden Horseshoe Region of Southern Ontario, Canada, are offering a variety of different on-line events from classic opera to crochet-making for those housebound during the Covid Crisis from June 11th to June 20th.  I am thrilled to be included in the line-up with a 'broadcast' on June 15th, at NOON, of my 2017 spoken-word & electro-pop album, CANADADA: TAKE TWO. In it, I explore and examine what it means to be 'Canadian'. In many ways, the thoughts and ideas are as relevant today as they were when I first created & produced this work. Check out the extensive and diverse line-up during the 9 days: bookmark what interests you, add the event to your calendar to 'tune in' at the appropriate time.


Community Event Listings are here ... 
and here's a direct link to my offering.
(And YES, you can tune-in to my offering at any time. Here's a wee sample, SHAREWARE, by yours truly.  
Now, go listen to the SHAREWARE poem.:) ) 

ENJOY!

CANADADA:TAKE TWO by MLHolton 
 Sample of other events & workshops 'on deck' from June 11th-20th:

Monday, May 4, 2020

Month of May Blasts Off!

The Month of May started off with a bang: three new book reviews of my latest novel, TRILLIUM, and two new print inclusions in on-line news-and-views sources. Plus, two on-line art exhibits.

BOOK REVIEWS: It is so gratifying when another author writing #historicalfiction acknowledges, reviews and promotes your title on their website. It’s a vote of confidence. Malve Von Hassell is no slouch.  Her bio follows: – 

Malve von Hassell was born in Italy and spent part of her childhood in Belgium and Germany before moving to the United States. She is a freelance writer, researcher, and translator. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the New School for Social Research. Working as an independent scholar, she published The Struggle for Eden: Community Gardens in New York City (Bergin & Garvey 2002) and Homesteading in New York City 1978-1993: The Divided Heart of Loisaida (Bergin & Garvey 1996). She has also edited her grandfather Ulrich von Hassell's memoirs written in prison in 1944, Der Kreis schließt sich - Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft 1944 (Propylaen Verlag 1994). She has taught at Queens College, Baruch College, Pace University, and Suffolk County Community College, while continuing her work as a translator and writer. She has self-published a children’s picture book, Letters from the Tooth Fairy (Mill City Press, 2012) and her translation and annotation of a German children’s classic by Tamara Ramsay, Rennefarre: Dott’s Wonderful Travels and Adventures (Two Harbors Press, 2012). The Falconer’s Apprentice (namelos, 2015) was her first historical fiction novel for young adults. Her most recent releases are Alina: A Song for the Telling (BHC Press, 2020), set in Jerusalem in the time of the crusades, and The Amber Crane (Odyssey Books, 2020), set in Germany in 1645 and 1945.

An up-and-coming book-blogger and author from the U.K, Melissa Hawkes, gave a shout-out to TRILLIUM, my 3rd novel, in her ‘May Book Recommendations’ post. Her first novel is coming out next year. She's gong-ho and jumping in!

ENVIE, a new on-line literary journal that engages directly with the Twitter #writingcommunity, also included TRILLIUM in their useful & informative May edition. -- No review, but a serious four-colour ‘plug’. - I’ll take it! 

 WRITING:
--- In the writing department, I have been invited to write a column on how the art world is faring during the #COVID19 pandemic. A rather broad topic, but I took a swing at it. It’s coming out shortly in the local news blog, The Burlington Gazette. The publisher and I have a long and somewhat cantankerous relationship, but we struggle on together to inform and delight local readers. 

Sample of graphic & poetic design ...
Finally, an older poem of mine, Pond Life, was recently included in an on-line Eco-Arts zine entitled, ‘The Materialist – In Honour of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day’. It was compiled and designed by Lauren Frick, an undergraduate at Indiana University Northwest pursuing a BA in both English and Spanish. She is also a 2020 Sierra Club Climate Justice League student fellow and a contributor with EcoLit Books. -- It is always so much fun to see how other readers ‘get’ what I’ve written. In this instance, Lauren ‘played’ with the syntax to create a unique graphic visual that amplifies the words. It's an interesting choice that focuses the mind.


VISUAL WORK: 
In the visual department, my art work is in two on-line exhibits with the Women’s Art Association of Hamilton. The first is dedicated to SPRING 2020, (shown here) and the second is related to #COVID19 and Social Distancing' ...
  
'Spring Thaw' by MLHolton - NFS/SOLD  - NB: Naive-Surreal-FOLK-abstracts ...

 ... In sum, I’d say Spring has officially begun …
May the Fourth Be With You!
... Now back to work. - mlh :)


 

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Greetings from Canadian Artist & Author, MLHolton



Yikes! What a Spring!


mlh 2
Canadian Author & Artist - MLHolton

Who knew that 2020 – a red-letter year that once held so much promise - would prove so challenging?

Out of necessity, we’ve all become monks as we isolate away from our loved ones.

Many try to communicate through screens and cell technology, but clearly, it’s not the same. We want to embrace the warmth of family and friends. We want to be able to see them with our own eyes and just be with them in ‘real time’.

If there is any consolation, this ‘alone time’ has forced us to reflect on what really sustains us. Many are aware of a massive psychic shift happening on many fronts.-- What are we wiling to give up now to live better later?

Jens Hansen

At this end, I continue on with my work -


Many of you have asked when an audio version of my last novel, TRILLIUM*. would be available. With luck, SOON! The wonderful local actor, Jens Hansen, has long been my preferred narrator for this story. We are about half way through now. You are in for a real treat!
Watch his brilliant rendition of 'The Cremation of Sam McGee.'
.. It really is so very gratifying that my tale of Canadian manners and mores continues to accrue positive reviews from as far afield as Australia, Montana, the Yukon and the coastal shores of Ireland - "epic" - a "thoroughly enjoyable read!" - "Powerful page-turner!" - and my all-time favourite - "Magificent!" 
Seriously, it is very gratifying when others deeply enjoy a family-centric story. 


So, what's it about?


TRILLIUM starts in 1756 when young Tom Hartford, a British foot soldier of George II, crosses over the mighty Niagara River. The evolving tale focuses on three very distinct families who arrive, strive and interlock over desires for land, lust and loot within the wine-making region of Niagara in southern Ontario, Canada. - It all ends with a bang 250 years later, in 2001 - WHY then?  Find out  ... :) 

Otherwise, in isolation, I have compiled a fun musical #playlist  to compliment the changing social landscape as it churns thorough-out the historical periods depicted in TRILLIUM.

Travel back in time through two World Wars. - Trip down memory lane through the rock'n'roll 50s & the hippie-dippy 60s!

Tune in to 380+ tunes
- or 20+ HOURS - of listening pleasure. 

(You might want to Bookmark the site!) 

--- 
I  must also take a moment to thank many of you for your thought-filled book reviews - especially on Amazon CA and Amazon COM, and on dedicated readers' primary book site, Goodreads. 

Your kind words help. A lot.

If you haven’t already done so, please add your two cents to the sites above.  It means the world to me to have your support.


... Meanwhile, older projects continue on ...


An unexpected 5-star review of my second novel, THE GILDED BEAVER (winner of the Hamilton Literary Awards in 1999), was a delightful surprise! On the strength of it, I have decided to transform that older novel into an updated e-book. I’m working on that now and should have it ready for you by the fall. - If you like Canadian stories with plot twists, this one will be for you!


Tangentially, my 2014 short story, THE FROZEN GOOSE (now adapted into a short 25 minute film) has just been picked up by renowned voice actress, Jacqueline Belle. 

From her studio in Manitoba, she recorded and broadcast it on Youtube. Listen-in to her 13 minute wonderful & unique style of story-telling here


As artists, we are helping each other out.

Overall, 2020 - an annus horribilis is there ever was one - is proving to be a very unsettling and tough year - especially for those of us who live on the fringes - but we WILL get through it! 

With faith and fortitude, this imposed 'slow lifestyle' will reset how we choose to live on this amazing and life sustaining planet. 

In the short term, please do pass along TRILLIUM to those you think would enjoy a good spring or summer read. (Why not send the e-book version as a gift to a loved one in isolation? --- Know that helping them, helps me too.)

Stay Safe, Stay Strong and Stay Healthy! 
With warm regards, 
Margaret Lindsay Holton





Thursday, April 9, 2020

Rites of Spring, 2020



Lake Ontario, Spring, by MLHolton
For many, early April marks sacred ceremonies that honour ancient rites of renewal & rebirth.

2020 is no different. I have been watching from my window as buds emerge on trees, daffodils pop up and rhubarb patches emerge from the damp soil.

I've ventured out a few times, in solitude, at dusk, when there are no other humans about, to just marvel in the continued resurgence and re-emergence of OTHER Life on this, our amazing home planet. Spring smells are so aromatic, especially down by the lake ...

Over the past few weeks, as we've all been confined to our homes for our own and others health and safety, I have, like you, seen numerous videos of how the near terminal ceasing of human activity has impacted the Earth.  Dolphins are swimming in the canals of Venice for the first time in decades. Los Angelos is smog free, as are many of the major industrial cities throughout China. Cumulatively, it's a vivid reminder, not only of our impact, but of our responsibility to the fundamental health and well-being of this place, our collective home.

Who cannot see the OBVIOUS benefits of fresh air, access to clean water, and the varied fruits of cultivated lands for our own health? 

This connection to the planet, more specifically, to the rich land beneath our feet, is very much a substrate of TRILLIUM,  my third novel. I was delighted when it was recently listed in Hamilton's largest newspaper as a recommended #SPRINGREADDamn right: The Time Is Now!


When I started TRILLIUM in the spring of 2018, I had a palpable sense of urgency to 'get the message out' as soon as possible so others could prepare. ... No guff.
Spring Rhubarb, by MLHolton

TRILLIUM is, aside from the surface story of three entangled and entertaining families, a blueprint about the necessity for #localfood harvest and networks. It outlines, through fiction, how generations of neighbours help each other in the planting, gathering and harvesting of needed crops. Agriculture and animal husbandry is an activity as old as humankind itself. TRILLIUM demonstrates how these grassroot alliances establish human bonds thicker than the loftiness of any grander 'national identity'.

Our immediate civil society is built on these links. Families grow when families cross-pollinate and germinate. These deep generational roots are what bind us together in our communal humanity. It is times like this that we truly come to understand and appreciate the recurring and rejuvenating aspect of what makes a #goodneighbour. 

SPRING! - TRILLIUM by MLHolton
To be clear, globalization does not offer this sense of community. In contrast, globalism is an airy scheme that profits jet-setters, bankers, billionaires and rootless tax-avoiding corporations. It does not bind us, the commoners, within the locality of #families.  Globalism does not know your voice or your face. That kind of intimacy only comes from day-to-day interactions at the grassroots level where 'I know you & you know me'.

As we do emerge from the devastation and impact of this horrific and horrifying pandemic, please let us remember our #goodneighbours. Remember what really makes our unique local civil communities work in times of crisis.

If you need a friendly reminder, please do pick up TRILLIUM.  Share it with your #family - your grand-parents, your spouse, your children and your grand-children. Re-establish a deeper understanding of #families, and the tangible blood network of kinfolk.

Work harder at sharing your isolated and alienated Self in real ways with those who stand near you in real life. - Live in the Real World with all your Senses Wide Awake and Active.  The Time is Now! 

Spring Blessings to you All. 
Margaret Lindsay Holton / Canadian Artist & Author

---

Extract from The Spec article ....

5. 'TRILLIUM
By Margaret Lindsay Holton

TRILLIUM, no modest undertaking, is a novel whose action stretches over 250 years of #Niagara peninsula history, as it follows the branching out of three diverse families - the Hartfords, O'Sullivans and Di Angelos. Short-listed for the 2019 Hamilton Literary Awards, the book is divided into nine parts with titles like seed, roots, harvest, second harvest. It covers much changing ground, from the agricultural to the industrial to the computer age in the sweeping way that Holton is known for.' Get it now > TRILLIUM.

Monday, March 30, 2020

Spring 2020 - Two Paintings by MLHolton

The euphoria felt at Spring's arrival is undeniable. It's like everything is waking from a great long slumber and S-T-E-T-C-H-I-N-G - WIDE AWAKE!

Two paintings follow, one painted last week -'Spring - from the Mountain Brow, 2020'.

The latter is an older Spring painting, when the warmth of the air and soil nurtures tulips to bloom.

#EarthDayEveryDay

Spring -from the Mountain Brow, 2020 - by MLHolton - (Signed and Dated)

Tulips in the Garden - by Canadian Artist, Margaret Lindsay Holton

Friday, March 20, 2020

The Writer's AIM - by M.L.Holton

'Protect Your Spirit', by MLHolton, 1991
There is a certain inevitability that a writer will have a reading critic who hates your work.

I encountered this last year when I learned that an assigned book reviewer for a local newspaper was intending to publish a disappointing '3-STAR' review of my latest novel.

It would have been the first '3-STAR' review after numerous '4 to 5 STAR' reviews from destinations as far flung as the UK, Germany and California.

Naturally, it was upsetting. It hurt.

I could not understand why the author would bother writing a review if she didn't like the book. So, naturally, I asked her why she did.

She responded quickly saying that it was no reflection on me as the author, but rather, a response to the work. (---huh?) When I queried further, she got defensive and said that she writes reviews for her audience not mine. (---huh? That was an odd thing to say. What became apparent was a telling lack of the 'meeting-of-the-minds'. We were not going to 'click', then or ever.

But my writer's mind could not let it go ... I wanted to understand WHY there was no bend in her opinion. Yes, I understand her opinion is her prerogative. But equally, there seemed no desire on her part to understand how and why I had written this work. There seemed no basic interest to empathize  - and this lack of empathy raised more questions than it answered ...

The bigger issue soon became, for me, about a writer's insatiable desire to be liked. Writers want our words to resonate with our readers. We want them to 'get it': to affirm our perspective, to applaud our insights and efforts. At a very primal human level, we want them to 'like', not only our work, but us.  

Well, clearly, Life just doesn't work that way. Critics critique: good or bad.
What's more, I know I have my own prejudices and blind spots too.

I do not, as example, care for 'horror'. - (There's quite enough of that in 'real life' : why would anyone want to amplify that in books or film?) - Because of this dislike, I know I could never write a unbiased review of a work of horror. I know my antipathy would reflect back badly in any review. So, I just wouldn't bother. I also know I am in the minority about the love of this genre. There are far more horror fans than there are historical fiction fans out there now. This fact invariably leads to the notion of 'popularity' and that quickly leads to the question of Why a Writer Writes ...

Am I writing to be popular? No. That's not my aim.
Am I writing to be understood? This is the most likely.

Novel writing, in particular, allows long-form exposition. It allows authors a chance to draw a large picture for readers of a constructed reality where characters act out their vices and virtues within fixed perimeters. The twists and turns of plot make sense within that invented world. As writers, we are offering a 'whole package' to readers of our personal vision, unique to our own experience and times. Our finished works represent our singular voice.

Writers generally aim for a kind of universality as chroniclers of the human condition. - As example, most writers compose with 'a sense of knowing' of familial relationships. They write with first-hand knowledge of the dynamics between mothers, fathers, daughters, brothers, siblings, sons and grand-parents. We expect readers to resonate with these depictions - not only because they are commonplace - (everyone has a mother and father) - but because #families represent the common human framework from which all human life has emerged ... until very recently.

Emotional Empathy Shift - Example
Have you noticed this SHIFT too? 

There seems a growing propensity amongst a certain crowd to identify with fake 'super-humans' and #scifi #dystopian plots filled with #alien and #horrific characters.

They're not as interested in the earth-bound interactions of our common human family as they are in the antics of their own disenfranchised peers. The reasons for this jarring and fanciful Emotional Empathy SHIFT are manifold and not really the point of this post.

Even so, this observation does explain, to some degree, the 'off-reading' between the above noted book reviewer and myself. We will not, and perhaps fundamentally, cannot, see 'eye-to-eye'. We may be from the same typographical region of Southern Ontario in Canada. I know that we drink the same tap water from the Great Lake and breathe the same air - but we, as humans, are not 'like-minded'.

At core, the element that seems to distinguish our preferred 'likes' and 'dislikes' seems to be our age. We are separated by decades of generational 'screen' influence and life perspective. Her current lived 'reality' is not my 'reality', anymore than my current lived 'reality' is hers. Call it #AGEISM if you will.

And yet, this is the point where I start to realize and recognize that perhaps my writing ambition has, indeed, failed. If I have been able to conjure a believable fictional world filled with engaging characters that she could empathize with, then my writing craft would be as universal as I had aimed and hoped.

Or, perhaps it's just a lot simpler than that. - I hate horror and nonsensical alienating tropes and she doesn't like my way of writing. We are who we are - at this time and in this place - and that's that.

On a lighter note, I did just receive another 5-star review for TRILLIUM .... this time from the southeastern shore of Ireland by delightful, family-loving, Irish novelist, Mary Crowley.

So, all's good. Life really does go on - as we like it, or not.

---

Apropos the above, some #writers and #readers may find this link useful ... > https://selfpublishingadvice.org/finding-the-right-readers-for-your-book/