Hello friends, fans, foe and lovers,
here is part II of my book preview for the upcoming publication "N'shaytkin: Those that came before us." My first book of fiction, it's based on traditional N'lakapamux stories told to me by my grannie and grandpa, or Yeah Yah and Spah-puh-luh7 when I was a kid. I never forgot them, the delivery or a lot of details. I started writing this book back in 2016 and I'm not sure how a book deal came about with "Battery Opera Books" but I think I might have sent some of it to David McIntosh (publisher/editor) for feedback. I don't think I had any plans at that time to publish it, I just needed direction, because I had written a script, which is included virtually unchanged, in the book. David thought blending or weaving the two together would be interesting and I just went with it, as I generally do with outside advice.
At this age and stage of the game, most of the people I turn to for advice or suggestions are generally on point, because they know my writing style, or art style or whatever and can generally offer good direction or sound opinion on whatever it is I ask of them. ANYWAY, at some point David offered me a book deal and I said "Sure, why not," or something like that, hahaha, and it marks a departure, for now, from Kegedonce publishing. Kegedonce did my first two books of poetry and they were and are awesome to work with, they're also great at telling me what works, what doesn't and so on. I'd like to continue working with them in the future as well, we've talked about a couple projects I'm working on, one is a book of Non-Fiction and is sort of a "how to survive: the art world, the literary world, the film world and more!" I've learned everything through the valuable advice of mentors and I have a ton of life experience, so I figured this would be a great way to share some valuable lessons I learned as I've made my way through the world based on my creative endeavours. The 2nd book we've discussed is a new book of poetry which I'm still working on.
My first book of poetry with Kegedonce was "Stone the Crow," and encapsulated a good 10 years of my writing, some which dates back to 1996 and was in various chapbooks and self-published works. Then my next book with them was "A Moon Made of Copper," and was written in a year or two, almost always on the road for many years, it's an exhaustive, dark and foreboding piece of work. Detailing the wild, crazy times I spent touring for various creative projects and the dark side of that world. When I do readings or tours reading it, surprisingly people really love that book, the darker the poems the better, which really blows my mind. People will come up afterward to get the book signed and tell me which ones are their favourite and I'm always surprised because they look so "normal." haha. This 3rd and in time, upcoming book of poetry is far more balanced as I've been working on it a few years now and is about getting off the road, getting myself balanced and grounded again in my life, changing my lifestyle, habits and generally working on being a great dad and community leader for the arts and indigenous representation in my community. I think it'll be my last book of poetry for awhile and I hope to be done writing it within this year. I'm a slow writer, haha. each book takes a toll creatively and I want to make sure each one counts.
Well, without further ado, here's more of a book preview of "N'shaytkin," please click on the images to read them full size. It will be released this December and don't ask me anymore than that, haha. I'm just the writer. Kukstemc, thanks for coming by and visiting. Stay tuned for more previews.
Chris Bose.
