"A sense of deep satisfaction"

Praise for My Father's Secret
Not a winner, but great feedback from The Whistler Book Awards and the Canadian Authors Association

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In the spring of 2022, I entered the Whistler Independent Book Awards—a contest recognizing excellence in self-published novels. While I did not win, I did receive some excellent feedback on my writing and a thoughtful critique of My Father's Secret.​ The evaluation was completed by a member of the Canadian Authors Association and, while there were some suggestions to improve my storytelling and writing, the evaluator ended their critique with a wonderful four word sentence: I am a fan. 

The criticisms and advice will remain with me as I strive to improve as a writer. However, I thought I'd share the highlights of the evaluation: 

• The author did a masterfully imaginative job of weaving a tale that was both heartwrenching and utterly believable.
• Driven by an unsolved mystery, the author creates an authentic account of what could have happened in and around the Air India bombing of Flight 182 on June 23rd 1985. While the story itself is completely fiction, it reads like a well-crafted actual event. The book is very well written and draws the reader, slowly and suredly into the lives of the main characters with precision and clarity.
• My Father's Secret is well written, well told and left me with a sense of deep satisfaction ... It moves well from chapter to chapter, back and forth between the two dispensations it lives in, and it resonated well with this reader.
• ​The sequence of events leading to the climax (which is not what the reader thinks it is)—a very pleasant surprise--unfold and peak right where they should.
• The dialogue in this novel is where the book truly shines. From the initial conversation between a daughter and her mother on the ill-fated BOAC flight 281, to the final conversation between Kerrigan, Boyle and Keenan, the dialogue is very compelling.
• It is perhaps the supporting characters that truly enliven this story. The friends and colleagues of the protagonist's father who can no longer keep the secrets they know about the bombing. And the Irish pub crawlers who plan and execute the attack. These supporting characters add depth and a sense of realism to the tale which captivates and keeps the reader reading. They are well thought through and well developed. The reader does not know everything about them nor does one need to. There is enough character development with this cast to draw the reader in without overwhelming them with the minutiae that often accompanies supporting characters. I enjoyed these characters very much.

I want to express my thanks to the Whistler Independent Book Awards for the opportunity to enter their contest and the Canadian Authors Association for partnering with the competition and providing a thoughtful critique of My Father's Secret.