Welcome to the October Edition of A Turn of Phrase!
First up, many thanks to Inanna Publications and Evelyn Elgie for a wonderful launch of Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon at the Supermarket in Kensington. And a huge thanks to all my fantastic friends who showed up to support me. Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon is now officially part of the world and available to buy or borrow from any bookstore or library.
And if your library doesn’t have a copy, you can fill out this form without too much bother at all: RequestMadDogatTheTPL using this info: Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon by Lisa de Nikolits, ISBN 9781834210025, Release Date: September 1 2025
And this would be greatly appreciated indeed!
Recent reviews of Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon.
“To relate all the backstories, side stories and present goings-on in the story would be to spoil the fun in reading Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon. Is there a deeper message in Mad Dog? Certainly, greed and trust are big issues. Money brings a certain happiness, yes, but it can bring trouble too, especially if the funds are ill-gotten gains. Can Jessica trust Glennis to do right by her? What about Enzo? He has had kept women before her, what happens if he tires of her, or she looses her looks? These are a few of the deeper themes in Mad Dog.
“Lisa’s novels, while dealing with some dark subjects, always contain a certain “lightness” that makes them slightly humorous and enjoyable. I commented on Facebook that her novels are all different, yet have a familiarity about them, like first cousins. I also stated that I believe Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon to be her best story since Everything You Dream Is Real, the sequel to The Rage Room. She has certainly storyboarded this one well, with lots happening, her characters schemers and dreamers all. Highly endorsed for its brisk pace and delightful storytelling.”
– Photo and Review by The Seaboard Review
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“I don’t normally read this type of book, but I’m glad I made an exception for Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon. This noir thriller is told by Jessica Wren, a gorgeous and vain woman raised by her older sister Glennis after their parents’ murder-suicide.
“Jessica falls in with Enzo, a mobster with a domineering mother. She’s the latest in his series of mistresses, pampered but confined by his rules.
“Over the course of the story, Jessica grows from a naive and dependent girl to a savvy and strong woman. Throw in a bad boy from her past, gun-running, pastries and an exotic fish, and you have a great story.
The pace of Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon was great – fast but not overwhelming. Things kept moving along, with lots of surprises and twists, but I never felt that I had to look back to figure out what was going on.” – TrainGeek
Upcoming November Events
I’m extremely honoured to be moderating the above event at TIFA:
Sun, Nov 2 • 12:30pm, Bound & Unbound: Adam Haslett & Shani Mootoo
TIFA too book your ticket.
“Sit down with Pulitzer-prize finalist Adam Haslett and four-time Giller Prize nominee Shani Mootoo for an illuminating talk on the power of storytelling to confront memory, reshape identity, and test the familial bonds that define who we are. In his latest novel, Mothers and Sons, Haslett follows Peter, a solitary immigration lawyer, and his estranged mother as a young asylum case forces them to revisit the traumatic secret that divided them. Mootoo’s innovative work of autofiction, Starry Starry Night, tenderly chronicles young Anju’s coming-of-age in 1960s Trinidad amid family tensions and colonial change.”
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8th November, I’ll be at TPL with Rosemary McCracken and Madeleine Harris-Callway.
And we have a shiny new PowerPoint presentation!
Make Your Prose Sing: A First Course in Editing, with the Mesdames of Mayhem
Sat. Nov. 08, 2025, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., Maria A. Shchuka Library, 1745 Eglinton Ave W, York, ON M6E 2H4
“Join authors Madeleine Harris-Callway, Rosemary McCracken, and Lisa Nikolits for an engaging and practical writing workshop.
“Whether you’re polishing your first draft or getting your manuscript market-ready, these accomplished authors will guide you through the essentials of self-editing and crafting stories that sell. This workshop is perfect for aspiring and emerging writers.
About the presenters: Madeleine, Rosemary and Lisa are members of the Mesdames of Mayhem, a collective of nineteen crime writers who share one deadly mission: to thrill readers with their passion for crime fiction.”
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And a shoutout to Rosemary McCracken, whose new book, Riversong, is a gem!
Riversong is Rosemary McCracken’s 5th Pat Tierney mystery, is now available in paperback, hardcover and as an e-book on Amazon, Kobo and Barnes & Noble. Those who pre-ordered eBooks will have received them on Sept. 30th.
“Rosemary McCracken knocks it out of the park with Riversong. In her best Pat Tierney mystery yet, McCracken delivers a gripping tale filled with exciting twists and turns, and populated by an extremely entertaining cast of characters. You won’t want this book to end!” – Lisa de Nikolits
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A forthcoming novel I’m excited to blurb:
Congrats to Jeff Cottrill for his forthcoming novel, Performance Reviews, Alien Buddha Press.
“Uncomfortably accurate, this pitch-perfect portrayal of corporate life leaves no stone unturned in examining and exposing the drudgery, the bullying and the bitter cost on personal relationships, as well as the drain on what it takes to survive, including, at times, the loss of who we are to ourselves. In the end, does The Man win? Read Performance Reviews to find out!” – Lisa de Nikolits
This Issue’s Reviews (in no particular order)
CAMEL, an illustrated journal of narrative #3
The journal includes work by amazing authors; Brent Mason, Nicholas Ruddock, Diane Bracuk, Darlene Madott, Carmelinda Scian and Elise Levine and is co-foundered and co-editored by Mark Anthony Jarman and Clarissa Hurley.
This collection is a smorgasbord of CanLit’s most delicious offerings. There’s so much talent and creativity in this issue. The pacing of the journal is perfect; a chef’s expertly curated multi-course delight. The stories are funny, surprising, insightful and original, with each story getting five stars all the way.
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Hemo Sapiens by Emily Weedon, Dundurn Press
Brilliantly written, I truly believed these characters exist in real life. Yes, even the sharp, titanium-boned super-species. I so enjoyed Weedon’s wit, her razor sharp sociological observations, her effortless and deeply convincing range of dialogue. I’ve always been a fan of vampire novels and Hemo Sapiens offers mouthwatering new twists that you’ll be dying to sink your teeth into. Sensual, powerful, erotic and the kind of book you can’t bear to step away from. Personally, I’m hoping for a sequel.
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Yellow Watch: Journey of a Portuguese Woman, by Carmelinda Scian, Mawenzi House
A fine example of the power of gentle and beautiful prose to draw the reader into a poignant, cinematic world filled with complex familial relationships and economic hardship. Brimming with a wealth of Portugese folklore, Yellow Watch invites you to live in the skin of an observant, sensitive young girl through to womanhood. The book with keep you rapt and move you to tears.
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Bad Juliet by Giles Blunt, Dundurn Press
I’ve been a great fan of Giles Blunt’s writing since Forty Words for Sorrow and while Bad Juliet is a stylistic departure from the the John Cardinal series, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Eerie and mysterious, Bad Juliet was increasingly and utterly engrossing, a quiet tour de force that ramped up in powerful intensity as the key character’ complex lives and relationships reaches a boiling crescendo. Set in a tuberculosis sanitarium in the Adirondacks, a young tutor falls in love with a mysterious woman who survived the Lusitania disaster but all is not as it seems with Sarah Ballard. A haunting tale beautifully told.
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On the Lam, Great (and Not-So Great) Escapes from Prison, by Lorna Poplak, Dundurn Press
Author Introduction by Lorna Poplak:
“My debut non-fiction book probed Canada’s grim 109-year experiment with capital
punishment. My second book focused on the history of Toronto’s infamous Don Jail from its inception to the present day. In a sense this book, with its emphasis on the tension between an assortment of correctional institutions struggling to keep inmates inside and a jumble of escapees desperate to get out, may be seen as the last of a loose trilogy.
An important thread in On the Lam is the investigation of the origins, structure, and shortcomings of a collection of historic and contemporary institutions located largely, but not exclusively, in Canada. But, as with my previous books, I was drawn to the human side of the equation — what drives individuals to attempt a prison break, where the risks may be so high? What stratagems do they use in their escapes? And I was faced with the thorniest question of all: What is the measure of a successful escape? Is it getting out or staying out?
It became my passion to explore — and share — these issues, and I appreciate your generosity for taking the time to read my book and accompany me on my journey.”
– Lorna Poplak
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My Review:
Aren’t we all fascinated by prison life, prisoners, escapes and life on the lam? In On the Lam, Lorna Poplak takes fascinating newsworthy facts and crafts thriling and chilling stories about bankrobbers and bandits. Utterly engaging, Poplak’s style is eloquent and funny, anecdotal and conversational. And, compassionate. I was left with the insights that many of these career criminals led lives of filth, poverty and desperation, while others seemed born evil from the start. And the lives of those affected, as well as glimses into vividly-depicted bygone eras.
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Trachea by Mayank Bhatt, Mawenzi House
Trachea boasts a beautiful collection of stories by Mayank Bhatt, also author of Belief. I’m so glad Mawenzi House Publishers Ltd. published this fine collection. Mayank Bhatt would be so happy and proud that this book is now a forever part of the world. What fine writing, and so much of it written during his final days. This book is a wonderful legacy to the world and be sure to read the lovely afterword by Dawn Promislow, author of Jewels and Other Stories and Wan
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Thank you for reading this issue of A Turn of Phrase!
Thanks for the shout out (and the photo). Congratulations on bringing another book baby into the world!