John Passfield

In June 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, two part-time railway workers, 23-year-old Cyril Passfield and his friend, Charlie Thompson, decide to leave their hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario. They go "on the hobo," joining the great army of the unemployed who are riding the trains back and forth across Canada. As they travel west, they hope to get work in the harvest or hop a freighter in Vancouver and see the world. This novel is based on Cyril Passfield's diary from the summer of 1932.Cyril Passfield: Out West, together with the accompanying journal and notebook, represent the twenty-first installment in author John Passfield's project of exploring the concept of form and meaning in the contemporary novel. More information can be found at www.johnpassfield.ca.

Lord and Lady Macbeth are being stung, not by scorpions, but by imagery, the medium by which human beings think at the deepest levels. And the kingdom which they seek to conquer and control is not just Scotland, but the kingdom of the mind. Imagery enlightens, but it also obscures; imagery is loyal, but it also betrays; imagery is visible on the surface, but manifests itself at hidden depths. Their mutual struggle -- to live in prose while thinking in imagery -- affects the two Macbeths in different ways.The Project Together, this novel and the journal and notebook that accompany it, comprise the twentieth installment in an on-going novel-writing project in which the author is exploring the concept of form and meaning in the novel, and of the novel as a form of expression in the 21st Century. All of the published journals and notebooks are available for free download at www.johnpassfield.ca.The Making of Full of Scorpions is My Mind - a reflective journal This journal records the author's reflections on the process of the crafting of the novel as it evolved through the stages of planning, writing, editing and polishing. It constitutes an effort to be as conscious as possible of the process whereby the single idea that suggested the topic of the novel is expanded into a complex work of art. Topics range from the nuts and bolts of novel-building to the nature of the novel as an art-form.Planning Full of Scorpions is My Mind - a planning notebook During the writing of the novel, the author kept a hand-written notebook which records the day-by-day development of the novel as it found its shape and style. The notebook - now in print form - reveals how a vast cluster of thoughts was sifted, selected, structured and polished into novel-form.

A one-legged boy, Terry Fox, sets himself the task of running a marathon a day across the length of Canada, the second-largest country in the world, in aid of cancer research, because the children are crying with pain in the cancer wards and somewhere the hurting must stop.Together this novel and the accompanying journal and notebook comprise the nineteenth installment in an ongoing novel-writing project in which the author is exploring the concept of form and meaning in the novel, and of the novel as a form of expression in the 21st century. All of the accompanying journals and notebooks, as well as more information on the project itself, are available on the author's website, www.johnpassfield.ca.The Making of Somewhere the Hurting Must StopThis journal records the author's reflections on the process of the crafting of the novel as it evolved through the stages of planning, writing, editing and polishing. It constitutes an effort to be as conscious as possible of the process whereby the single idea that suggested the topic of the novel was expanded into a complex work of art. Topics range from the nuts and bolts of novel-building to the nature of the novel as an art form.Planning Somewhere the Hurting Must StopDuring the writing of the novel the author kept a handwritten notebook which records the day-to-day development of the novel as it found its shape and style. The notebook, now in print form, reveals how a vast cluster of thoughts was sifted, selected, structured and polished into novel form.

A young Canadian doctor, Norman Bethune, sets up a practice which he hopes will lead to money and prestige; however, his social conscience takes him on a journey through the Canada of the Great Depression, the Spain of the Spanish Civil War, and the China of the Chinese Civil War and Japanese invasion. Ultimately, the journey becomes a quest to understand the world in which Bethune finds himself living, to develop a compassionate response to that world, and to discover the essence of himself as a human being.Also AvailableThe Making of The Only Person Alive in the World - a reflective journalThis journal records the author's reflections on the process of the crafting of the novel as it evolved through the stages of planning, writing, editing and polishing. It constitutes an effort to be as conscious as possible of the process whereby the single idea that suggested the topic of the novel was expanded into a complex work of art. Topics range from the nuts and bolts of novel-building to the nature of the novel as an art-form.Planning The Only Person Alive in the World - a planning notebookDuring the writing of the novel, the author kept a hand-written notebook which records the day-by-day development of the novel as it found its shape and style. The notebook - now in print form - reveals how a vast cluster of thoughts was sifted, selected, structured and polished into novel-form.The ProjectTogether, this novel, journal and notebook comprise the eighteenth installment in an on-going novel-writing project in which the author is exploring the concept of form and meaning in the novel, and of the novel as a form of expression in the twenty-first century. All of the published journals and notebooks are available for free download at www.johnpassfield.ca.

Wracked by fever, tormented by boils, devastated by the loss of his entire family, the wretched Job cries out to the heavens. Why has God forsaken him? Who do such things happen here on earth? Why is the universe so flawed? Why are human beings subjected to such agonizing torments? He shakes his fist at the sky and demands a personal audience. His agony has given him the questions. He insists on hearing the answers from the mouth of God.Together, the novel as well as an accompanying reflective journal and planning notebook comprise the seventeenth installment in an ongoing novel-writing project by author John Passfield in which he explores the concept of form and meaning in the novel, and of the novel as a form of expression in the 21st century. All of the published journals and notebooks are available for free download on the author's website at www.johnpassfield.ca.

Author's Preface Pompeii: Vesuvius Dominus - a novel On the afternoon of AD 79, a white cloud appears above Mount Vesuvius and begins to deposit a layer of ash on the nearby town of Pompeii. Gradually, the people of Pompeii become aware that an awesomely destructive natural force has unleashed its full fury against the lives that they have established in their community. As they are swept up in the destructive experience, three people - Pliny the Younger, Pliny the Elder and Julia - consider the premises by which they have been living their lives. The Making of Vesuvius Dominus - a reflective journal This journal records my reflections on the process of the crafting of the novel as it evolved through the stages of planning, writing, editing and polishing. It constitutes an effort to be as conscious as possible of the process whereby the single idea that suggested the topic of the novel was expanded into a complex work of art. Topics range from the nuts and bolts of novel-building to the nature of the novel as an art-form. Planning Vesuvius Dominus - a planning notebook During the writing of the novel, I kept a hand-written notebook which records the day-by-day development of the novel as it found its shape and style. The notebook - now in print form - reveals how a vast cluster of thoughts was sifted, selected, structured and polished into novel-form. The Project Together, this novel, journal and notebook comprise the fifteenth installment in an on-going novel-writing project in which I am exploring the concept of form and meaning in the novel, and of the novel as a form of expression in the 21st Century. All of the published journals and notebooks are available for free download at www.johnpassfield.ca.

HOW does an idea become a novel? What are the minute-by-minute decisions and discoveries that lead to the realization of an artistic vision? In this companion book to the novel Water Lane: The Pilgrimage of Christopher Marlowe, the reader of the novel is invited to look over the shoulder of the writer at the process whereby a cluster of related images evolves into a realized work of art, and at the on-going exploration of the techniques that will allow us to process the bombardment of images that is life as we experience it in the 21st Century.