Bücher veröffentlicht von Rock's Mills Press

Is there a purpose for the extra "p" in "shopped"? Does the letter "e" in "prince" have a function? Is there a reason for spelling "muscle" with a silent letter "c"? Why are the letters "cc" in "accident" and "account" pronounced differently? Why does the letter "e" in "bake" disappear from "baking"?These are just a few of the mysteries of English spelling that Trevor Schindeler, a lifelong student of the English language, explores in this unique book. He answers these questions and many others in a clear and understandable fashion by setting out the structures and conventions that govern English spelling.In this age of smartphones with spell checking capacities, some people question the need to learn about spelling. There are, however, benefits to understanding how spelling works beyond getting words typed out correctly. Spelling remains vital because it forms a foundation for both reading and writing. A good knowledge of our English spelling system is required to read accurately and to write proficiently. Spelling skills are fundamental to good communication, and open the door to vast stores of human knowledge.This book will be helpful to anyone who wants to improve their understanding of written English including teachers, English instructors, students seeking to master the English language, and general readers. It sets out, in a systematic and comprehensive manner, all of the spelling patterns found in written English. Becoming aware of a spelling pattern will help you to notice it when reading and, eventually, to apply it when writing. In time, reading and writing skills will improve, and a deeper appreciation of our complex spelling system will be acquired.This book also describes the structures and conventions that govern the spelling of words. While dictionaries tell us how to spell a word, this book explains why! MAJOR SECTIONS OF THE BOOKThe Structures of English SpellingLong Vowel Spelling PatternsShort Vowel Spelling PatternsOther Vowel Spelling PatternsConsonant Spelling PatternsConsonant BlendsPrefixesRoot WordsSuffixesGrammatical ConsiderationsPluralsPossessivesOnsets and RimesCompound and Hyphenated WordsContractionsAcronyms

In this enchanting novel, VC, a onetime aspiring pugilist become university professor, explores the meaning of life both in this world and in those worlds still to come. Together with Moreen, the love of his life, their daughter Aila, and their families and friends---not to mention characters out of the pages of his own novel, somehow come to life---VC embarks on a journey that will test the limits of true love. Readers will come away from Finding My Way Home struck by the author's ability to balance humour and pathos, joy and tragedy---and with much to mull over in their own lives.

The year is 1938. With the prospect of another world war looming and faced with overwhelming personal problems, acclaimed Canadian author L.M. Montgomery begins to compose what she has decided will be her final novel featuring Anne Shirley. As she works on the novel, Montgomery remembers the now distant days when Anne of Green Gables became a worldwide literary phenomenon, and the dilemma that she faced at that time: whether to write a series of "Anne novels" in which Anne would forever remain the red-haired girl that the world had come to know and love, or whether she would allow Anne to grow to adulthood, with all the agonizing torments of the one who had given her life---L.M. Montgomery.

For decades David J. Forsyth has researched his ancestors' stories, assembling an enormous cache of records and anecdotes. Although history is filled with the tales of the great and the powerful, much less is known about the lives of ordinary people. Forsyth's goal in his research and in the writing of Alice and the Machine Gunner is to address that gap.Alice and the Machine Gunner is a conscientious blend of fact and fiction, a multigenerational account of the Geherty family based on information gleaned from civil, parish, military and personal records, as well as the reminiscences of the late Alice Geherty.The author begins with Peter Geherty, a 19th-century Irish linen weaver, and concludes with the life story of his great-granddaughter Alice, a London-born war bride. In 1919, she emigrated to Hamilton, Ontario, with little hope of ever seeing her parents again.This engrossing work of creative nonfiction brings to life generations of people now departed, as well as providing a vivid portrait of the city of Hamilton, Ontario in the first half of the 209th century. In the process, it opens the door to a deeper understanding of the past.

While driving his granddaughter home from day care, John -- the very author of this book! -- suddenly finds himself without warning standing in the midway of a carnival of Mother Goose fairy tales! He is greeted by Jack -- of Jack and Jill fame, of course -- who tells John that Mother Goose is expecting him, as she has a role for him to play. But what does Mother Goose really want? And why does she think John is a writer of detective stories? And why when she meets John does she greet him as almost a long-lost son? And for that matter, why do so many of the fairy-tale characters have a different story they want John to write for them, instead of the ones in which they have lived for hundreds of years? John is not a mythical creature -- he's only a human, after all -- but can he save the Mother Goose Carnival? Can he solve the mystery of the vanishing fairy-tales?John and Mother Goose: The Carnival of Tales is complemented by a selection of Mother Goose rhymes, chosen by John himself. Together, this charming novella and the fairy tales make ideal reading for young and old.

The terrifying Wîhtikow Rex takes centre stage in this exciting second book in the Lukas Encounters series. The mysterious creature-a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that Lukas and his cousin KC accidentally bring to life-is described in Cree mythology as a ravening monster that grows as it consumes its victims. The adventures begin when Lukas and KC meet paleontologist Mekwen Calf Robe at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. From Mekwen they learn that Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park is not far from the Johnson family farm where KC lives. She agrees to show them various rock formations and maybe even some dinosaur fossils at the park. But as Lukas and KC begin exploring the park on their own, they stray into areas Mekwen warned them to avoid, and before you can say "Tyrannosaurus rex," a menace as old as time is nipping at their heels!

The Tuneful Voice: Selected Libretti presents a collection of works by Eugene Benson, professor, novelist, playwright, and editor, written over a fifty-year period. The volume includes adaptations of the writings of such prominent authors as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Oscar Wilde as opera, operetta, musical theatre, and oratorio. The death of Canadian painter Tom Thomson is probed in the oratorio The Mystery of Canoe Lake, and the extraordinary story of the Canadian theatre mogul Ambrose J. Small is dramatized in the musical The Millionaire Who Disappeared. Other subjects range from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century.This is a book, rich in detail and personal insight, and an illuminating exploration of how musical theatre in its various genres is created. Benson's work has been performed by the Canadian Opera Company, the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guelph Spring Festival, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Westben Arts Festival, Opera-in-Concert (Toronto), Stratford Summer Music, and broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

In this moving novella, Peter Abbot has penned a moving meditation on what it means to live --- and to die. In short order, Derrick deals with the passing of his Auth Martha, home from South Africa to die; the loss of his best friend "Pip"; the implications of hundreds of children's graves newly found at former residential school sites; and the grisly end of his long-lost uncle, gunned down on the sidewalk outside Derrick's house.What does it all mean? Does it mean anything at all? Exeunt, like all of Abbot's works, looks unflinchingly at the dark corners of the human condition, yet finds hope in the hidden strengths of the human heart.

With contributions by Kim Blanchette and Colleen KillingsworthIntroduction by Daniel GrangerThis book was created to assist entry-level communicators in learning how to develop successful campaigns, as well as to provide more seasoned practitioners with a refresher on the elements of an effective communication plan. It covers:the creation of executive summaries using the RACE formula; research and analysis;the setting of goals and objectives;identification of target audiences and key messages;development of strategies, tactics, timelines, and budgets;effective use of human resources in a campaign; andevaluation of a campaign's outcome.Case studies of real-life campaigns round out this invaluable guidebook.

At the end of 2019, Aron Lee decided to live 2020 without access to the internet. He would interact with the world in what we have already come to think of as the "old-fashioned" way --- taking calls and texting on a flip phone, paying bills by cheque (and receiving them by snail mail), and writing actual pen-on-paper letters to friends and family, all the while continuing his doctoral work at McGill University. Along the way he discovered a good deal about the internet, about our modern wired (and wireless) world, and about himself. This is his story."A modest experiment, beautifully chronicled." --- Darin Barney, Grierson Chair in Communication Studies, McGill University"¿¿¿Lee's memoir challenges readers' beliefs about the power of connection (and disconnection), as well as the very nature of what it means to live a life 'online.' " --- Roopika Risam, Director of the Digital Ethnic Futures Consortium, Dartmouth College"Jacking Out is a queer and quirky account of the queer and difficult year that was 2020." --- Wendy Oberlander, Artist, Educator, Lesbian Mom

In this poignant memoir, anthropologist and author David Turner tells of how he played the yiraga --- a musical instrument played by the aboriginal peoples of Australia --- for his friend and former partner Alexa, following her death in 2020. Turner describes the meaning of the yiraga within Australian aboriginal culture, and how he learned to play the instrument over the course of several decades living with and learning from indigenous peoples on Australia's Groote Eylandt archipelago. The result is a profound meditation on the meaning of life and death.FROM THE BOOK:"Grief might prove debilitating at first and serve to clear the mind of all thoughts and distractions in preparation, except that the act of playing the yiraga induces a becalming state of mind/being in which only the sense of breathing remains. This is effected by the repetitive rhythms of the mouth-sound tempos (which there is no need to sound to oneself once one becomes adept at playing), of which there are three: degul degul, quick; degul-degula-gula, medium; and degula degula, slow. It is in a becalmed but empty state of mind/being that one potentially enters a mediating zone between the "real" and the "transcendent" and is able to open a portal for the departed in their journey." Illustrated with more than 40 full-colour images

Following in the tradition of Mark Twain's cherished classics Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Time and The Place is a poignant story of a boy's coming of age in the America of the 1940s. Despised by his father, David --- known to all as Junior --- finds solace in his summers at his grandparents' farm, "The Place," where he confronts death, loss, love, and the tangled web of family history. Will Goede's previous novel, Quantrill, was a finalist for the B.C. Book Prize, while his story collection Life in Beijing was a finalist for the Edith Wilson Prize in literary fiction.

Glenn Gould's life as a musician begins as a fairy-tale, as his very first recording --- the Goldberg Variations --- skyrockets the young Canadian to the top of the music world, as a must-see and must-hear concert-pianist with sold-out performances all around the world. And then, at the height of his powers and his popularity, he makes a decision about his music and his life which splits the music world right down the middle, and remains controversial to this day.

In this charming collection of stories, John Steckley describes the (mainly) imaginary adventures of his granddaughter Mia. Whether it's foiling bullying at school or a robbery at a restaurant, investigating a case of baby-snatching carried out by aliens, or saving a pair of orphaned bear cubs, Mia's adventures are sure to entertain readers young and old.I was very fortunate to have been able to spend a lot of time with my grandfathers when I was growing up. Both of them took me fishing, for example, and put up with my lack of ability to cast. They were my heroes. But they were in their early sixties when I was born. When Mia was born I was 70. She was our first grandchild. Her birth and presence in our lives were exciting to us, her Omi (grandmother) and Opa (grandfather), and cherished memories soon were created. Alas, we probably won't have the years together with Mia that my grandfathers had with me....When I retired as a college professor in 2015, I began writing short stories, along with my usual nonfiction books (several published by Rock's Mills Press) and articles. It was only natural that Mia would prove to be an inspiration for story after story. It wasn't long before I wrote enough of them to make up a book. I felt it was important to publish such a book. In that way, when Mia has grown up, she will have the book to remind her of her grandmother Angie (the illustrator) and me and of our time together in her early years. I am also hoping that grandparents who read the book will be inspired to write their own short stories about their grandchildren!---From the Author

As the author notes in his introduction, this fascinating and insightful book is "family history with a context." Placing the lives of his parents, John Hair and Alice Runnalls, at the centre of the narrative, Dr. Hair explores the history and culture of Southwestern Ontario, that great peninsula of fertile farmland lying between Lake Erie and Lake Huron.Dubbed "Souwesto" in the 1960s by artist Greg Curnoe and playwright James Reaney, the region was home to the kind of people that Alice Munro writes about in her short stories---people mostly of Scots-Irish descent; Protestant; practical, hard-working people attached to the land, defining their community as their school section and their social milieu as their rural Methodist or Presbyterian church.Souwesto Lives tells their story, beginning in the first days of European settlement, continuing through the clearing of "the bush" and into the twentieth century, when the coming of the telephone and rural electrification marked the beginning of social and technological changes that would change the area forever. It is a story of the movement from country to city, from family farm to suburban lot, told with verve and affection.Natives of Souwesto, historians and genealogists, and the general reader all will find much to treasure in this detailed portrait of a region, its people, and a family.