Nicholas Read Writing Non-Fiction for Young Children by Adelia MacWilliam

“The state of the planet is broken,” UN Secretary-General Guterres said recently in a speech at Columbia University. “Humanity is waging war on nature.”

While it may seem like a stretch to go from Guterres’ proclamation to an interview with a writer of children’s books, not so. Nicholas Read’s books are part of what will heal the divide. Read’s most recent book, A Bear’s Life, is one of a series of several books done in concert with Ian McAllister, a world-renowned nature photographer and filmmaker. McAllister was at the forefront of the activism that helped preserve the Great Bear Rainforest, a swathe of temperate rainforests that stretch across 6.4 million hectares of the remote British Columbia coastline and Haida Gwaii. After a visit there, poet Patrick Lane wrote: “I walked in the hollowed paw prints a grizzly bear left / ten thousand years ago this morning.” As Read tells it, “Ian and I got to be friendly when I was working at the paper (the Vancouver Sun) and we wanted to do something together, which is how we ended up going to see the publishers at Orca. And they did something that publishers rarely do, they saw how exceptional the photographs were and decided right then and there that they should have books with these photos.”

What followed were a series of books for middle school readers: Salmon Bears, The Sea Wolves, and The Great Bear Sea. Then the publishers decided that there should be a series for younger readers, Kindergarten to Grade 3, which became The Seal Garden, A Whale’s World, Wolf Island, and the most recent publication, A Bear’s Life, pairing McAllister’s beautiful photos with Read’s playful storyline.

Read explains, “Ian doesn’t like writing, whereas I love it. I use the information he gives me as well as drawing from other sources. Ian reads what I write and corrects any errors. It’s very much a collaboration.” He went to say, “Ian has spent years of his life there (the Great Bear Rain Forest) and he knows it as well as anyone could. He’s as much a part of it as the bears and the bees. However, I’m much more of a city boy.”

While Read’s text is an integral part of these books, he prefers to shine the light on McAllister. “If we were a stage act, Ian would be front and centre and I would be the accompanist, off to the side.” Read went on to say, “Unlike most people, Ian has a cause. He has a mission. He has a purpose. I do what I can to help him.”

Read’s background in journalism has been helpful. As Read explains, it’s a journalist’s job to make to make things simple for people to understand. Most newspapers are written to a Grade 6 level, so it wasn’t a stretch for Read to write for middle school students. Writing

for K-to-3 proved to be a little more challenging, because he had to get the point across very simply using fewer words. Luckily Orca had a very helpful editor.

When it comes to interviewing people, you have to get off on the right foot. Read says the best way to do that is to be genuinely interested in what your subject has to say.

“When you do this, people are more than happy to share. It’s also important not to be embarrassed about not understanding something. Don’t be afraid to say, ‘I don’t understand what you’re talking about, could you start from the beginning?’ Most people are happy to be asked again. Ninety-nine percent of them!”

Read has no problem being enthusiastic about his topic. “Writing about animals and nature is a pleasure for me because I care about them, so that’s my drive, that’s my motivator.”

However, Read admits that writing about nature well enough for kids to be interested takes a lot of revision. He says to assume the kids have some information but not a lot, and to present the information as part of a story. That way the writer will reach a lot more readers. “Beginning, middles, and ends,” says Read. “And it’s best not to use numbers over a thousand, just one or two. Try to zero in on one bear spending its afternoon on the beach. And write as if you were speaking to kids. You want to sound warm, friendly and genuine. This may mean breaking a few grammar rules in order to sound natural.”

He also notes that the thing we respond to most (in life or literature) is emotion. But what about emotions in the animal world? Read says, “It used to be verboten to talk about animal emotions twenty-five years ago. Biologists would never stoop so low as to talk about animal feelings, but now they recognize that animals have feelings that they show, but also feelings that we don’t recognize.”

As Read writes in A Bear’s Life, “Cubs learn lessons all the time, but sometimes all they want to do is play and let off steam. Just like you.”

Read hopes that the books he’s done with McAllister will help raise awareness of wild animals and nature in general. “Many of the books I write end up in schools, so kids are forced to confront these issues, at least while they’re in school. Zoos wouldn’t be there except that parents love to take their children to see the animals. Most children are interested in animals.”

Before our conversation ends, I ask Read to tell me about his first encounter with the Great Bear Rainforest. He tells me that he landed near Bella Bella with Chris Darimont, an associate of McAllister’s who now teaches geography at the University of Victoria. They took a speedboat and headed toward the mainland. There was no dock to land at, no trail. They tied the boat to some rocks and went in. Read’s “WOW!” when he saw the forest was so loud it must have echoed. Darimont still tells the story to other visitors he takes there.

Read goes on to say, “If a hunter shoots a bear, that bear is gone. If people come and see the bear, that means a lot of people passing through and spending their money and helping the local economy. Preserving nature is good for the economy and now there are facts and figures to back it up.”

For readers who would like a glimpse of Ian McAllister’s photography and want to learn more about his team’s accomplishments, go to Pacific Wild at https://pacificwild. org/. For the books that Nicholas Read has done with Ian McAllister go to Orca Book Publishers at https://www.orcabook.com/.

Illustration: a textbox from page 29, A Bear’s Life, by Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read (Orca Books, 2020). Book Cover: Photo by Ian McAllister. Used with permission. Adelia MacWilliam is a poet and co-founder of Cascadia Poetics Lab, www.cascadiapoeticslab.ca

Vicki McLeod: Hitting the Sweet Spot in Non-Fiction by Ann Graham Walker What if you got paid so well to write, you could actually make a good living from your writing?

Author Vicki McLeod has achieved that by combining her writing skills and her entrepreneurial smarts. After working in various capacities as a communications specialist she set up her own company, Main Street Communications Ltd, twenty-five years ago. It became a thriving business springboard. I Zoom chatted with Vicki one morning back in November. She was in her studio in Nanaimo—wearing jeans, I think, not pajamas, but if you read the “About” section of her vickimcleod.com website you will see that was just chance. Vicki writes about “connecting with the joys of ordinary life,” and, for her, being able to work in her pajamas is one of the delights of working for herself. “I am a writer-author-coach-consultant these days, in that order,” she told me. The writer-author part is currently first because she has published four non-fiction books in the past four years. Her niche: humanizing technology, in friendly, accessible language that speaks to people who need help finding their way.

What you’re probably wondering is, how much money can a writer expect to make, writing non-fiction books and articles on marketable topics? And what does a “newbie” need to know to break into this market?

Starting out, Vicki says, you can expect to do some projects for free, to build profile and a portfolio. But once you’ve established a professional reputation and a client base? About $65–$95 an hour, is what a communications company like Vicki’s pays as a subcontract fee. Writing articles can fetch seventy-five cents to a dollar (or more) a word. Or you might be paid a flat rate of around $75 for an article. (Well-experienced writers can always negotiate upwards).

Is that tempting?

As we talked about the potential of becoming a successful non-fiction writer, Vicki wanted to be sure people understood the importance of nailing a marketable focus, to get the right starting point. She stressed the “R” word: research, research, research. Clearly and thoroughly researching the idea you plan to pursue helps to ensure you are writing about something people care about. You need to be sure it has not already been done to death. You need to know exactly how you will approach the subject differently. (In her area, writing about humanizing technology, what is unique about Vicki’s books is that they speak in plain language to people who don’t have a comfort level with technology and need a dose of normalcy and kindness).

But there’s something even more important to consider in choosing what kind of professional non-fiction writer you will be. “It’s really important that you choose topics you care about,” Vicki stressed.

She got into humanizing technology because she realized how important it was in her work with her communications clients.

“As clients learn to use digital tools and technology, and how to create content for multiple purposes, it can be overwhelming. I want it to be a mindful experience that feels integrated with their life, not something that takes life out of them.”

Getting on to the question of whether she had tips for writers starting out, Vicki had so many practical suggestions, we decided it would be a great idea for her to teach a couple of workshops in the early Spring.

“Whether you are going to pitch your project to a publisher, or are planning to publish it yourself,

research is one of the most valued marketing skills and a publisher expects you to have done this work,” Vicki stressed again.

There are a range of research and marketing tools you can use to get the answers you need—some, like Survey Monkey, may be already familiar to most writers.

“Once you have done your research thoroughly, if you are approaching a publisher you need to write a proposal. Your contract and letter of agreement—if you are successful—will be based on that proposal.”

If you think you might want to participate in her workshops, you can email Vicki for more details at vmcleod@mainstreetcommunications.ca.

Are you thinking that someone who writes four non-fiction books, runs a communications company and coaches clients (including writers) probably doesn’t have time for other writing? Nope. That wouldn’t be Vicki.

When she is not working for pay, she is a Creative Writing student at Simon Fraser University, studying poetry with Rob Taylor. She has also studied memoir with J.J. Lee and Aislinn Hunter at the SFU Writers’ Studio, and is tinkering with a manuscript.

“Writing has taken me everywhere I wanted to go, including enabling me to build a business that gave me freedom and a good living—but my idea of bliss is still

If you are approaching a publisher you need to write a proposal. Your contract and letter of agreement—if you are successful—will be based on that proposal.

to simply curl up in my pajamas with my journal, a cup of hot tea and work on a poem.”

Vicki’s books, #Untrending, Digital Legacy Plan, Effective Communication at Work and You and the Internet of Things are available on her website, vickimcleod.com/books/. You and the Internet of Things—one of the most recent—is a guide to integrating smart devices into everyday life. Ann Graham Walker is a poet living on Vancouver Island.

Carolyn J. Daley: Writing History—a Q&A by Caitlin Hicks

Carolyn Daley is a retired police officer with twenty-eight years of service, the first woman to earn the title of Deputy Chief Constable for the Vancouver Police Department. She researched and wrote Vancouver’s Women In Blue: Trailblazers of the Vancouver Police Department 1904–1975 (Ruddy Duck Press, 2020), chronicling the changing realities of women in policing as the roles of women were re-defined within society. The book is a historical reference of depth and scope. It is also a resource for anyone wanting to know about women’s evolving role in public life, and a solid reference for writers who are attempting historical fiction in Canada between the years of 1904 and 1975.

WHAT WAS YOUR PASSION IN WRITING THIS BOOK? It began as a result of a Diversity Advisory Committee discussion over concerns that the Police Officers Physical Abilities Test could be too difficult for female recruits. The test was designed to recruit and hire individuals capable of meeting the physical demands of the job. During my explanation of the dangers of gender-based double standards, I spoke about the evolution of women’s role in policing since the early days. Someone asked me if that history had ever been written. Thus began an eighteen-year project.

I learned more about the women and how the role of women evolved from matrons to operational police constables. I also began to better understand the push-back from the men as the women’s roles became closer to their own. WHAT WERE YOUR SOURCES? My own experience (as a recruit in 1975 and throughout my career). Of the thirty-seven women I connected with, several had personal collections of newspaper clippings and photos they shared with me. They all trusted me with their stories and reputations and were content with my vision of how the book would unfold. I wanted them to remember their career and service with pride. My research took me not only to the Vancouver Police HR, but also to the BC Archives, the provincial museum, the City of Vancouver Archives, and the UBC Rare Books and Special Collections Library. In the mid eighties when everyone went to computers, physical records were boxed and stored; I spent hundreds of hours going through old documents (sorted and unsorted) and miles of microfiche.

This research carried on throughout the eighteen years. Information from early years allowed me to check and cross-check the accuracy of records—there were many errors (spelling, dates, etc.). Some details popped up at the last minute: A few months before printing, we discovered a photo of the first woman ever hired by the VPD, Matta Raymond, in a photo of a wedding party in 1915!

HOW DID YOU DO THE RESEARCH? The most activity took place at the beginning; hours and hours going through old cardboard boxes, studying ledgers, meetings, newspaper articles and following their leads.

Over the years, I was able to personally connect with thirty-seven women still living. Pulling the data together and turning it into a chronological story took time and often had to be re-organized as new information came to light over the years. I had no idea how many years would fly by as I searched through mountains of paper, checking and rechecking the thousands of numbers and tidbits of data that needed to be verified. On many occasions, entire sections needed to be re-written when new information surfaced. Even greater challenges surrounded the issue of “permission.” Not only did I need to acquire written permission from every person I represented with information above and beyond the bare basics already in the public arena, I also had to seek out and nail down formal permissions from the legal owners of each photograph, article, and longer quotes I wished to reproduce. Even the extended span of time created challenges as some newspapers and magazines no longer existed, and others had been purchased by new owners and larger corporations. As well, I had not appreciated the cost some “owners” would assign to those permissions, and formatting and editing was a whole new world. All that being said, these challenges and others melted into the past as the manuscript crept between her covers and became a book and a permanent record of a story worth telling.

WHEN DID YOU FEEL YOU HAD A SENSE OF NARRATIVE? The research and writing ran parallel to each other. First I established the original framework: the years 1904–1975 and the 125 women hired between those

years. In 1975, men and women were hired, trained and deployed as equals. So those events were the bookends. I realized I wanted to tell how the role of the women in the VPD evolved through time.

ANY MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN FINDING SOME TREASURE? Finally identifying a photo of Evelyn Daisy Le Sueur was exciting. She was hired in 1919 and fired in 1921 for basically having the audacity to belong to a women’s rights group! The only photo of her had been misidentified as someone else. Another discovery was Ada Tonkin; her name had been totally missed on previous rosters. She was hired in 1929 and three years later was required to resign as a result of a policy that stated married women whose husbands were employed could not themselves earn a salary. I had no idea how many years would fly by as I searched through mountains of paper, checking and rechecking the thousands of numbers and tidbits of data that needed to be verified.

WHO DID YOU WRITE THIS BOOK FOR? For the women themselves. It may have started as a promise to a committee, but as I learned more about the early women and the women of the sixties and seventies I became absolutely convinced the story of their role in policing, and the fact of their service, needed to be told—and told in a respectful and celebratory manner. In so doing, the evolution of women in municipal policing unfolded. As I continued to write, I came to realize I was also writing for others. The men and women currently serving had not had the opportunity to understand this part of the past, and I am a firm believer that by understanding where we come from, we can better understand where we are and where we’re going. I was also writing for young women and men who might be considering a future in law enforcement and for the friends and families of the women who have already served, are serving, and who will serve in the future. That being said, this book is dedicated to the women who served and are currently serving in the Vancouver Police Department.

This is their story. It has now been told.

CJ Daley is online at www.cjdaley.ca. Caitlin Hicks is at www.caitlinhicks.com.

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Located on beautiful Vancouver Island in the historic waterfront District of Oak Bay For upcoming classes go to www.joeleneheathcote.com To register: 250.516.6903 | joelene@joeleneheathcote.com