Robert W. Mackay

The Road to Hong Kong in 1941

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The ships that carried the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Rifles of Canada to Hong Kong

Here is Awatea, the New Zealand steamship pressed into service as an RN troopship for the Second War. She delivered Canadian troops to Hong Kong in November, 1941. She was sunk in 1942, performing a similar task for the invasion of Vichy French North Africa.

 

Canadian National Steamship Prince Robert, pictured in Vancouver before her conversion to armed merchant cruiser.

 

 

 

HMCS PRINCE ROBERT, at one time Canada’s largest warship, about the size of a cruiser.

About Writing

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Dude reminds me we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously

I’ve been a writer, off and on, since 1984. Mostly “off,” as my two published books (2011 and 2014) demonstrate. The early effort, in the mid ’80s, came to naught. It was a crime novel, a thriller, and has for years languished in my crawl space. “Soldier of the Horse” and “Terror on the ALERT” dealt with World War I Canadian cavalry and a Cold War submarine respectively. I’ve returned to my roots, in a way, having embarked on a police procedural, trying to steer it through to publication.

I’ll follow up this item with more about the genesis of “Soldier” and “Terror”, and about the story to come.

My New Project

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Mystery StickiesI’ve dropped lots of hints–more than hints, really, because at various times I’ve read in public places from my uncompleted manuscript. It’s moving along, though, I’m happy to say. Shown in the photo are a couple of sliding doors in my office. On the right is part of an outline, and to the left are cards with scenes. As you can see, nothing is written in stone–yellow stickies abound: helpful notes like “NEEDS TO BE SOONER”, “CHANGE TO (different character)”.

At this point I’ve had a marvelous writer do a structural edit, which has been extremely helpful.

Next up: more polishing, to be followed by copy editing.

Do stay tuned–I’m keen to share my progress, and to get feedback.

Canadian Authors at Canadian Writers Summit

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CAA Chair Margaret Hume and Past Chair Matt Bin

This year the Canadian Authors Association joined with other writers’ organizations to take part in the Canadian Writers Summit (CWS) rather than hold our annual CanWrite! conference.

The inaugural CWS was an exciting affair, with some 800 writers, publishers, editors, and readers meeting at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto.

Fortunately the site was large enough that it never seemed crowded.

The Canadian Authors Association awards luncheon was well attended, with shortlisted authors invited. Among the winners were Nino Ricci (not for the first time!), Debra Komar, Joe Denham, and Kayla Czaga.

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Diane Kerner, Caroline Vu, Matt Bin

Particularly notable was the awarding of the first ever Fred Kerner award. Fred was a longtime CAA stalwart. The award named after him is for the overall best book written by a member of the CAA, and this year was won by Caroline Vu. Fred Kerner’s daughter Diane Kerner made the presentation.

The other presentations were by CAA’s national chair Margaret Hume, with past chair Matt Bin MC’ing the proceedings.

Robert J. Wiersema speaks at CAA event in Victoria

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FullSizeRender (2)Canadian Authors Association members in Victoria sponsored a very successful event in Victoria on February 28th. Presenting was Victoria author, book reviewer and seller Robert J. Wiersema, pictured here with Liz Walker. Liz and fellow member Myrtle Siebert, assisted by Steve Szalai, were key people behind the event. Robert’s talk, “Seven Myths of the Writing Life,” attracted a roomful of interested writers and readers, including attendees from the Lower Mainland.

The Victoria group are planning more events. Stay tuned!

About

From saddles and spurs to periscopes and north-seekers, Robert W. Mackay is an avid military, naval and wartime writer.

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Contact

T: 604-541-9098
E: robert@robertwmackay.ca