This work of fiction first appeared in The Canadian Children's Annual (1983).
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First Edition: HMS Press (London, ON), 1996; a children's book on disk.
Second Edition: Island Scholastic Press (Quesnel, BC), 2014.
Revised Edition: Island Scholastic Press (Sardis, BC), 2015.
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An excerpt
“Drat!” I said, peering out the window. I breathed on the glass and fogged it up. I wiped a circle, drawing a peep hole, and spied a soggy world. “The ground is wet, the air is cold, and I’m stuck inside,” I complained.
“Morris,” called my mother. I heard her rattling dishes in the kitchen. “Clean up those pots and pans.”
“She’s been so grumpy,” I thought. “Ever since she brought Tommy, my new brother, home from the hospital, she’s baggy-eyed, bad-tempered, and boring. Who needs a mother who never takes me to the zoo? Either she’s nursing Tommy, cuddling him, or she’s cooking or cleaning. Tonight she’s cooking shepherd’s pie. I hate shepherd’s pie! And I’m getting sick of my brother’s endless crying. His mouth ought to be corked.”
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The author
Dan Lukiv is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer—and an independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). His creative writing has appeared in 19 countries. His formal apprenticeship includes intensive personal direction from writers such as Canada’s Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA’s Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England’s D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry), and includes studies at The University of British Columbia (The Creative Writing Department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer’s Digest School (novel writing program).
He and his wife have four daughters, one granddaughter, and two grandsons. Over many years he taught a variety of subjects (English, English Literature, communications, guitar, drama, social studies, mathematics, science, consumer education, career planning, Response Ability Pathways®, physical education, composition, and creative writing) at award-winning McNaughton Centre (Quesnel, BC), a school for troubled teenagers. Since 1978, he has edited CHALLENGER international, a literary journal that, over many years, focussed attention on young, up-and-coming Canadian poets, and, since 2001, he has edited The Journal of Secondary Alternate Education, a scholarly forum of research, practise, and theory. Through Island Scholastic Press, he has published many poetry collections, some by well-established poets such as George Swede (Canada), Paul Gotro (Canada), Elana Wolff (Canada), Bill Caughlan (Canada), Dimitar Anakiev (Slovenia), Neal Leadbeater (Scotland), Robert Lavett Smith (USA), Simon Perchik (USA), Michael J. Vaughn (USA), Esther Cameron (USA), Michael Zack (USA), Richard Luftig (USA), Luis Benitez (Argentina), and Coral Hull (Australia).
He serves as an elder in a congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Sardis, BC. For part of 2015, his wife and he served together as pioneers (full-time ministers). Hobbies include longboarding, searching for haiku moments, singing and playing guitar, studying mathematics, and hybrid biking.
*
First Edition: HMS Press (London, ON), 1996; a children's book on disk.
Second Edition: Island Scholastic Press (Quesnel, BC), 2014.
Revised Edition: Island Scholastic Press (Sardis, BC), 2015.
*
An excerpt
“Drat!” I said, peering out the window. I breathed on the glass and fogged it up. I wiped a circle, drawing a peep hole, and spied a soggy world. “The ground is wet, the air is cold, and I’m stuck inside,” I complained.
“Morris,” called my mother. I heard her rattling dishes in the kitchen. “Clean up those pots and pans.”
“She’s been so grumpy,” I thought. “Ever since she brought Tommy, my new brother, home from the hospital, she’s baggy-eyed, bad-tempered, and boring. Who needs a mother who never takes me to the zoo? Either she’s nursing Tommy, cuddling him, or she’s cooking or cleaning. Tonight she’s cooking shepherd’s pie. I hate shepherd’s pie! And I’m getting sick of my brother’s endless crying. His mouth ought to be corked.”
*
The author
Dan Lukiv is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer—and an independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). His creative writing has appeared in 19 countries. His formal apprenticeship includes intensive personal direction from writers such as Canada’s Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA’s Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England’s D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry), and includes studies at The University of British Columbia (The Creative Writing Department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer’s Digest School (novel writing program).
He and his wife have four daughters, one granddaughter, and two grandsons. Over many years he taught a variety of subjects (English, English Literature, communications, guitar, drama, social studies, mathematics, science, consumer education, career planning, Response Ability Pathways®, physical education, composition, and creative writing) at award-winning McNaughton Centre (Quesnel, BC), a school for troubled teenagers. Since 1978, he has edited CHALLENGER international, a literary journal that, over many years, focussed attention on young, up-and-coming Canadian poets, and, since 2001, he has edited The Journal of Secondary Alternate Education, a scholarly forum of research, practise, and theory. Through Island Scholastic Press, he has published many poetry collections, some by well-established poets such as George Swede (Canada), Paul Gotro (Canada), Elana Wolff (Canada), Bill Caughlan (Canada), Dimitar Anakiev (Slovenia), Neal Leadbeater (Scotland), Robert Lavett Smith (USA), Simon Perchik (USA), Michael J. Vaughn (USA), Esther Cameron (USA), Michael Zack (USA), Richard Luftig (USA), Luis Benitez (Argentina), and Coral Hull (Australia).
He serves as an elder in a congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Sardis, BC. For part of 2015, his wife and he served together as pioneers (full-time ministers). Hobbies include longboarding, searching for haiku moments, singing and playing guitar, studying mathematics, and hybrid biking.
