Both books are award-winning novels for Author, Margaret Lindsay Holton. In her words, she's a Visual Artist: Photographer, Painter, Poet, Furniture Designer, Writer, and Film Maker. "I love words, the sound, the shape, and the feel of words; they are the flow of sound." She's a Visual Artist indeed. You can experience her artistry in everyway, with the books and links below. Please check them out!
The Gilded Beaver, what happens when an aspiring designer meets up with a big-wig financier? In this quasi-fictionalized account, Canadian fine furniture designer, Iris Ann Burdock, is introduced to one of Toronto’s financial-elite executives, Luke G. Henderson. He considers her, and as well as a commission. The problem, for Iris, is that her recently divorced client is moody and unpredictable. Iris must excavate his carefully crafted façade to find the ‘real man’ in order to rise up to meet his design challenge. A witty and frustrating exchange erupts between them. Romantic sparks fly. As the battle-of-wills escalates, Iris’s meticulous design efforts are contrasted to her meandering solo sojourns to a 25-acre bush property in the backwoods of Muskoka. There, quiet reflection makes her question, again and again, what really matters…
TRILLIUM intimately portrays the intertwining evolution of three very distinct families in the wine-making region known as Niagara in the Golden Horseshoe region, Ontario, Canada... Readers will meet Maaka, an ingenious indigenous trapper; Franco, a dirt poor Sicilian labourer; Paddy O'Sullivan, a sweet-talking Irishman and sweet Cate, the Hamilton Harbour prostitute. And that's just the beginning! All unfolds with a pair of motherless red-headed twin brothers, a diabolical hate-filled drunkard, two devoted raven-haired sisters, an obsessed land developer, hard-working Mexicans, a kind blind man, a handsome Italian-Canadian wine-maker, a blessed treasure trove of attentive mothers, one demented vineyard-wandering wife - and a startlingly beautiful, simpleton savant, Anna. A 250-year-old story about three families: expect the good, the bad & sometimes the very ugly ...
Margaret Lindsay Holton is a Canadian artist primarily known for her 'naïve-surreal-folk-abstracts' oil and acrylic paintings, pinhole photography, short documentary film productions, poetry and literary novel works. Holton is the winner of the K.W. Irmisch 'Arts Person of the Year' Award in 2016 from the City of Burlington. In 2018, she received the Alumni of Influence award by University College, University of Toronto, and nominated for the Premier of Ontario Arts Award.
Our Interview
Ms. Margaret was born in Southern Ontario, Canada; its culture and her roots are deep. She feels lucky to have been raised on a sheep farm with lots of space and animals, which provided a valuable start in life. She’s been writing since her youth, but we’ll get that a little later. The Gilded Beaver transforms you to Iris' and Lukes' presence as Margaret dances them with words. I want to be that fly on the wall everywhere they were together or thinking of their encounters. At the time of writing this blog; I was only at the end of the first chapter where Iris knew 'She'd done it.'
I asked Margaret to tell us how The Gilded Beaver and Trillium came to be and if this was her first novel?
“No, my first work was Economic Sex, which I produced under a Pen name, and The Gilded Beaver came 15 years after. The Gilded Beaver is loosely based on my life and experience.” She tells the story about how, in order for her to write the story, she had to publish it anonymously. “It was under the condition that I couldn’t put my name or his name in the book. Last year I had to contact him about the commission, and found he had passed away at 80. It was sad, but it also released me from the verbal agreement we had. The importance of the book and the belief that it is part of Canadian History, allowed me to take the book and identify him and identify myself.”
This tale of anonymity leaves me wanting to complete this book; just for this alone. She believes that anyone who discovers the commission and wants to know its history can look it up and know the story behind it.
Trillium had been simmering for about 10 years, when she completed it in 2019. She wanted to write a complete work from the rural perspective.
“We need that. We need to know about humanity and the people who live off the land.”
I could tell throughout this interview, her passion, compassion, and the belief in what she writes is ingrained in her being. It was exceptional to experience from the author’s point of view. In Trillium, she wanted to address nature vs. nurture, and how they become who they become, and how generational influence affects future generations.
“It was an ambitious project.” she states. Margaret feels like she's accomplished what she set out to do in this book.
Ms. Margaret loves to write, but she’s not concerned with what her peers think. She’s more interested in what the reader experiences, and it thrills her to no end when the reader gives reviews of how the novels have impacted them.
What has been the most fun or fascinating view of her writing journey?
“I enjoy the craft of writing. I really like the time that it takes to write sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into a completed work. It can also frustrate, when you know you can do better. Though writing is pleasurable, when I can put the last period and put it aside when it’s done; when you know you’ve done the best you can.”
Her most challenging aspect of writing is the production of the book. “It can be a bit bewildering and annoying. Also, promoting is a consumer of time.” She recognizes the need for it, to establish an audience, and it goes both ways when someone recognizes your work and wants to interview her.
On the other spectrum of writing she states, “To write a proper novel, you need a significant chunk of time to write. So, time is a factor of frustration when you have another job, raising a family, travelling or having other obligations can be difficult to get the focus you need to craft a wonderful book.”
I asked Ms. Holton to tell me what she would tell a beginning writer to do before picking up a pen or sitting at a computer?
“Be who you are in writing.” She states. Use your voice, your essence, your story; is my part in this conversation.
Margaret gave great insight and suggested for the beginning writer, “If they are green to this process, get a library card and spend weeks wondering through the books to see what draws them in.”
Meaning, see what genre’s drums up excitement and passion. Do you love mystery, design, love of animals, how people live, crime thriller, historical fiction, science fiction, non-fiction memoirs, biographies, etc.
My second to last question I identify as poignant in Margaret's life and was instrumental in who she is today. What I discussed earlier about how she started writing from her youth.
I asked, who was her greatest support throughout her writing?
“My mother went to an Anglican Church, and she had a good friend who became my Godmother, I called her Aunt Billie. Aunt Billie was always available to me. She knew early on that I had a writer’s instinct. Aunt Billie, wrote Historical Society pieces as well, and recognizing, I had the hunger. She encouraged me every step of the way. She helped me a lot in my writing.”
Our last question for this interview, was what did Margaret do for fun?
Margaret declares, “Going for walks, I enjoy.” She has the great fortune to live on a beachfront, so what nature allows her, she enjoys.
I want to thank Ms. Margaret Lindsay Holton for this interview and for being such an artistic and generous purveyor in the art of writing. I hope to one day interview her again about another book she may write, so that you can hear her words for yourself on NNB Author's Point of View YouTube Channel. In the meantime, check out all the links below and you will get to enjoy Ms. Holton's artistry in all its forms.
MLH PRODUCTIONS Lakeside Studio Open by Appointment Only Phone Number - 905-393-5106
Lake Ontario, Canada MLH visual blog: https://canadadaPHOTOGRAPHY.blogspot.com
LATEST RELEASES: Award-winning The GILDED BEAVER - by MLHolton, 2nd Edition, June 2020
E-Book & Paperback on Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B089T7QJ5B/
On Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089T7QJ5B/
TRILLIUM - by MLHolton. Finalist, 26th Hamilton Literary Awards, 2019 /Winner - Canada Write Award, 2020. Ebook & Paperback on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2q0iEeL New 14.5 hr Audiobook on Audible USA: https://www.audible.com/pd/B08NVLZVSH/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-223385&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_223385_rh_us
Or, on iTunes - https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/trillium-unabridged/id1543424119
Watch The Frozen Goose - OFFICIAL TRAILER & FILM - https://thefrozengoose.vhx.tv/
A Sound Celebration - CANADADA: TAKE TWO - https://canadada.bandcamp.com
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