Hey! I just realized that Christmas is only about two month away so it's time to start thinking about gifts for special people on your Christmas list, especially those readers and book lovers.
I'd like to recommend my books, my historical novels, and others that I have written.
They are available through the Chronicler Publishing bookstore, as well as the major online books, such as Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Barnes and Noble, Booksamillion, and Chapters.
Most of my books are historical novels based on Canadian history, particularly French Canadian history from 1670 to almost the present day.
I won't list them here but I will direct you to websites:
http://www.chucksbooks.com
http://www.chroniclerpublishing.com
At Chronicler Publishing you will find historical novels by several other authors whose books can be purchased at the publisher's bookstore as well as other website bookstores. All can be search on Google, Yahoo, etc.

I'm working on a number of writing project at the moment. Black Gold is the story of Peter O'Liam a young man for the Evansburg area of the Province of Alberta during the period from 1925 to 1950 during which time the coal mine in Evansburg closed and oil and gas began to displace coal as the main source of energy.
As well, the Second World War occurred and Peter was of the right age to serve. He started in the Canadian Army, but after surviving the diastrous Dieppe raid he joined the air force, which he also survived as a fighter pilot.
When he returned home, he became involved in the petroleum industry.
I'm only up to Chapter 5, so I have a way to go.
Also, I'm writing a series of short stories based on the western ranch scene in the late 1800's and the beginning of the 20th century in southern Alberta.
I'm also writing a series of articles on the metier of writing--fiction and non-fiction that are being posted to the internet. Hopefully, they will be helpful to beginning writers as well as mature, professional authors.

Since the release and launch of my latest historical novel, The Wanderers, I've been working on the next book in the series, The Explorers, which continues the saga of the three Marin brothers, Pierre, Jean, and Charles.
As well, I'm working on a series of short stories about the cowboys of the western plains of Alberta and Saskatchewan. I hope to publish them in a single volume, as yet untitled. These stories are meant to show the independence, resilience, and courage of these early pioneers of the 18th and 20th centuries in Western Canada.
Also, as editor of Chronicler Publishing, I'm working on several submission that seem promising as historical novels. Again, I repeat, Chronicler Publishing's mandate is to publish historical novels preferably centered on Canadian history and by Canadian authors although we will consider any historical novel that is well written with a captivating story.
You may follow me at
http://www.chroniclerpublising.com
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/go1c

Chronicler Publishing has just released and launched my latest historical novel, "The Wanderers," which is the sixth book in the series,The Marin Family Chronicles.
The Wanderers is the story of the three sons, Pierre, Jean, and Charles who wander about New France as they struggle to establish themselves in a world of conflict and uncertainty in the early 18th century in North America.
The Wanderers is available from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Barnes and Noble, and many other online bookstores. It is also available from the publisher's bookstore at www.chroniclerpublishing.com.

The Venturers is a new book to be launched soon by Chronicler Publishing for Charles
 O. Goulet. This is a reprint as the original was published by Saga Books.
Since it is part of a series, The Marin Family Chronicles, I felt that it would be better if all the books were published by the same publishier.
Chronicler Publishing has published The Traders, The Raiders, The Warriors, and The Avengers so it was only fitting that they publish the first book of the series.
Soon, The Wanderers, the sixth book in the series will be published.
All the books are the story of the Marins as they spread out from Port Royal, Acadie, New France to all parts of North America.
The original settlers where Pierre and Francoise Marin who came to Port Royal in 1670 shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Breda between the French and the English who were rivals throughout the known world at that time.
The Venturers and the other books are available from the Chronicler Publishing bookstore on their website and also from Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books a Million, and many other book stores.
If it's not in your favourite bookstore, ask them to order it.

With the recession publishing is experiencing tough times like most other business, but the future does look bright because when money is scarce people look for less expensive forms of entertainment and books are just that.
Compare tp movies, hockey, baseball, or football, books are a real bargain so very likely the book industry will see an increase in sales if not a boom.

     The only way to become a writer is to write. That requires a great deal of self-control and dedication, not only writing when the urge is upon you but even when it is not. That requires seeing the words flow onto the blank page or blank screen.

     Force yourself to sit at your desk or in front of your computer screen and write something, anything until the ideas begin to flow, and flow they will. You will soon learn that what you write when the urge is not there will be as good as when the impulse is strong. Later, when you reread what you wrote, you will be unable to tell what was a struggle or what was an inspiration.

     Stay before the bare page or empty screen until it is full. One page is not impossible, and once that page is full, you will find that it is easy to fill two pages or more. Write as quickly as you can think. Do not disrupt the flow of ideas and sentences with concern about grammar, syntax, and other rules.

     This is not the time to rewrite. Write quickly, ignoring spelling and punctuation. That can be corrected with rewriting as is the use of the dictionary and thesaurus. The important action is to put words to paper or to screen, to explore your thoughts, to brainstorm, if necessary.

     More important is the development of self-control, of dedication, of persistence, and of a work habit. All productive writers have acquired this determination.

If a writer considers writing to be a task, he/she is doomed to failure. Since it cannot be a task, then what is it? It is a discipline. What does that mean?

A discipline means development, and that means preparation. So a writer must prepare to be a writer and that means study, study of the English language—its words, its structure, its syntax, and its style. That is the groundwork that a writer must follow all his/her life. This implies training.

Where does a writer obtain this training? From many sources—workshops, seminars, courses, reading, and connection with other writers. Every day becomes part of a writer’s training. Every moment adds to the writer’s store of information, ideas, topics, and themes.

Discipline means the cultivation of input, of broadening the writer’s outlook, of developing something to say, and of creating a way to say it. Without effort there can be no output—at least no yield that readers are willing to add to their store of thoughts and ideas.

Discipline means practice. A writer is not a writer until he or she puts words to paper or screen and this is the application of the training that preceded it. All of this implies a love of the art, and if that is not present, then it becomes a task, and writing can never succeed as a chore.

Discipline means exercise, which means action, which means the act of writing, of sitting before the blank page or screen and filling it. This is the time of labor, but it must be a labor of love, a desire, a need, an addiction, in fact, to expressing oneself. Of course, this action can take many forms—poetry, essays, short stories, articles, novels, and non-fiction books—but it must be treasured and desired for its own sake before it is presented to readers.

Without discipline, writing becomes nothing more that a job to be completed leaving the author unfulfilled and wanting.

            Many writers stare at the blank page or clean computer screen and wait for inspiration with a feeling of hopelessness. That white page or screen is always a struggle to fill, and it probably will always be for most writers.

            Writing is fatiguing work because it is the source of great stress, great concentration, great thought, and a great expenditure of energy—mental, emotional, and physical.

            Writing is stressful because it requires the writer to be aware that others will read what one writes and thus pass judgment on it. Writing is stressful when ideas and thoughts will not come to fill that blank page. Writing is stressful if the writer feels that he must write and yet cannot write. Writing is stressful because the writer is never sure of how effective the composition will be.

            Writing requires thought. The writer must think of many elements as he writes: grammar, syntax, topic, theme, punctuation, spelling, and all the other factors that are required for effective, useful, and favorable writing whether it is fiction or non-fiction. In addition, this rational process must happen simultaneously as words are put to paper or screen.

            Because thought requires concentration, and concentration requires effort, and effort requires discipline, the writer is under a great deal of pressure when he or she is working to express an idea in the most effective way. Writing is never easy although it may be easier at one time and not at another.

            With all these impediments to conquering the blank page or screen, what must a writer do? The writer must start writing one word at a time until the flow comes, and then the page or screen can be dominated—not easily—but it can be controlled. With its filling, the agony diminishes.

            Rejection slips are the bane of all writers, yet they are inevitable. The most successful of writers had their share of them, and even get them now that they are prosperous.

Although rejections are inescapable, they should not be considered maleficent; they should be considered helpful. Though when first received, they can be disheartening, they should be contemplated as a valuable learning experience. Even if they come as form letters, they can serve as valuable lesson in determination.

            Look at it this way: One more “no” is that much closer to a “yes”. Each time a manuscript comes back, the quicker it should be sent to the next market prospect, and the writer should get on with the job of writing. Hesitating will only prolong the period of time before the piece is accepted for publication.

            If the rejection notice has a personal message attached with a critique from the editor it should be studied carefully and heeded. If that happens, the writer knows that the composition had merit, and with a little more work can be placed.

            Once the “work of art” is further improved, it is time to send it on its way again. When the writer is confident that it is the best that can be produced, then it is ready to return to the eyes of editors, whether it is an anecdote or a mammoth saga. It must be out there to be considered.

            Perseverance is the writer’s best virtue. If at first you do not succeed, try and try again.

            As Anaïs Nin says in her autobiography “Beware of allowing a tactless word, a rebuttal, a rejection to obliterate the whole sky” that should be a writer’s philosophy about rejection slips.