This summer, I got to add the words ‘contributing author’ to my resume.
My story, The Secret That Won The War, was selected for inclusion in The Fur-Bearing Trout…and Other True Tales of Canadian Life.
The book is a collection of non-fiction pieces by 16 local writers, and was published by the London & Southwestern Ontario chapter of the Professional Writers Association of Canada to mark the Canada 150 celebrations.
I am grateful to be a contributing author….
This was a thrill for me for two reasons: I can now say that I’ve been published in a book, and more importantly – I had been sitting on this story for 13 years.
The Secret That Won The War was written in 2004 when I was still in journalism school at The University of Western Ontario.
As a student, my goal was to publish every assignment I wrote for J-school. I did – with the exception of this one.
Perhaps it was the subject matter, telling the story of Canada’s top-secret radar program through the eyes of Word War II radar veteran Fred Bates. A storekeeper from Wingham, Ontario, Bates had been trained at RAF Station Clinton – located 85 km north of London – before serving on Canada’s West Coast and in Europe.
Perhaps it was the length. Bates’ personal recollection was interspersed with plenty of historical and technical information – necessary, I felt – to properly tell the tale. But at more than 4,000 words, the draft I handed in was certainly far too long for most traditional publications.
Perhaps my student writing skills just weren’t strong enough to pull off such an ambitious project. I received a mediocre grade and some unenthusiastic feedback.
But Fred Bates had passed away less than two weeks after our interview, and I felt that I couldn’t simply throw away his words.
The story was filed away on my computer. And then on another computer. And another.
Filed away, but not quite forgotten.
When the call for submissions for non-fiction stories about any facet of Canadian life dropped into my in-box last November, I knew that The Secret That Won The War had finally found a home.
It’s now 2,500 words shorter than the original, with a new beginning and ending, but each one of Bates’ words remain.
As for the fur-bearing trout, that’s another slice of Canadian history worth reading about.
The Fur-Bearing Trout…and Other True Tales of Canadian Life was launched at Anderson Craft Ales on June 25. Copies are available at Attic Books and Chapters / Indigo in London, Ontario and it will soon be available on Amazon.
Learn more about Canada’s secret WWII radar program.
As a story-based copywriter, marketing & website copywriter, content consultant, and blogger, I am passionate about helping people grow their success by sharing their stories with the world. Read what I’ve been up to at Spilled Ink Writing & Wordsmithing.
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