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Big-Name intro for local writer’s first book GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
and paintings that Karstad and Schueler provided. The end product is a natural his- tory study that strives to be both informa- tive and entertaining rather than a dry lec- ture text. “It’s the most beautiful book I’ve ever seen,” Vetter said. “It’s like a coffee-table book, but smaller.” Vetter’s contribution to the project, ex- cluding all the past research work she had already done that provided the original inspiration, spanned about 150 hours of pounding the keyboard, most of that hap- pening in the evening, spaced over a four- week period. She also did some supple- mental research to fill in gaps in her own knowledge of the Red Shale Hill area. The finished product, priced at $35.95, is now available www.lulu.com through Lulu Press, one of the new print-on-demand publishers now proving popular with some writers. Vetter, meanwhile, is turning her at- tention to her usual workload of freelance writing along with two other book projects. One is a work-for-hire contract with the Council of Canadians to pen The Com- munity Defence Manual, a how-to guide for community activists on organized civil disobedience, including information on how to prepare petitions, organize sit-ins and other forms of peaceful protest, along with advice on legal points and other mat- ters than grassroots citizens groups need to know when they challenge and oppose development projects and other activities they feel are harmful to their communities. Vetter noted that the manual is focused on peaceful and responsible protest and does not deal with or support the illegal and dangerous “monkey wrenching” tactics of radical groups like Earth First! Her other project is a young adult fanta- sy novel that, once finished, could put her among the ranks of England’s J.K. Rowling or Canada’s Lesley Livingston. “It’s like ‘Meg Cabot-meets-Charles de Lint’,” she said, citing the names of the au- thor of the Princess Diaries and an award- winning Ottawa fantasy novelist, in her metaphor.“It’s the idea that there is a world out there that we can’t see, but we can ac- cess it if we want to, and we can find the way.”
RUSSELL | It is a toss-up which is the most exciting thing for Candice Vetter about having her first book published. Seeing her name on the front cover or having Robert Bateman contribute a glowing in- troduction for the work. “Seeing my name mentioned in his (intro- duction) writing is such a thrill,” Vetter said during a morning phone interview June 29 before the evening book launch at Russell House Pub for Island of Biodiversit y : A Natu- ral Histor y of the North Russell Red Shale Hill . Robert Bateman is a world-famous Can- ada naturalist and painter, whose wildlife illustrations, other original museum and gallery pieces and reproductive prints, are in public and private collections all over the globe. He is also a friend and colleague of Aleta Karstad and Frederick W. Schueler, co- authors with Vetter on the book and was more than willing to provide an introduc- tion to their work. Island of Biodiversity is the latest natural- ist work in print for Karstad and Schueler but a first for Vetter and developed out of her own research of Russell Township’s ge- ology and other natural history features for various freelance writing projects that she has worked on. “I have been working on various book projects for years,”Vetter said. “I had learned lots of geology and paeleontology and nat- ural history of this area that I hadn’t known before. I thought it would be great to write a natural history book then using what I knew.” As she was working on preliminary de- tails for the book, she received a call from Karstad and Schueler, who were doing a geological study of the Casselman karst formation. They suggested a triad tag-team approach to a natural history book on North Russell’s Red Shale Hill area. “It dovetailed perfectly with what I had already been thinking,”Vetter said. “My part was writing the actual natural history.” For her that resulted in seven chapters worth of text, accompanied by photos, to supplement and support the field studies
Candice Vetter (right) with co-authors Frederick W. Schueler and Aleta Karstad.
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L’ORIGNAL | Social media is changing the way people plan their holidays and that is also affecting how local and provincial governments also work out their tourism budget strategies. The Ministry of Tourism is closing down seven of its Ontario Travel Information Cen- tres (OTIC) in various parts of the province. That won’t affect the future of the centre in Chute-à-Blondeau on Highway 417, which helps promote local and regional events and places in the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR). But Sylvain Charlebois, UCPR economic development and tourism director, ob- served that the ministry’s actions may be a sign of modern times for tourism promo- tion strategy. “Figures have gone down considerably,” Charlebois said, concerning visitor stops at
OTICs, both provincial and regional. “That’s due to the Internet.” More people start their vacation planning at home using Google and other Internet search engines to decide where they want to go, book reservations, and make any oth- er arrangements necessary. They are also more inclined to adjust their travel plans en route using the Internet as their guide and relying more on social me- dia for destination suggestions. “People don’t stop in much more,” Char- lebois said, regarding declining visitor num- bers at travel info centres. “People rely more on their iPads and smartphones. There’s more personal touch when it comes to Twitter and Facebook. That’s the personal touch the younger generation is looking for, though there are still those people who prefer to stop in and chat.”
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