Dog Tales

DOG-EARED INDEPENDENT

IMPRESSIONS provides

typesetting, design and editing

services, and assistance with

printing for independent writers

of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

The following titles, by Arcadien

writer j.e. arseneault have

benefitted from dog-eared’s

attention and are available in e-

book form on Amazon, or by

contacting the publisher directly

and requesting a PDF.

The Prophesies of Isaiah

(An Acadien Story)

A madness engulfs the Republic after 9/11, eventually swallowing it, digesting it, and in time fertilising the soil with its foul waste. The almost predictable result is a fascist state, the tools of its oppression being religious fanaticism, violence and the lust for power that curdles reason and makes heavier the hand of tyranny. The armies of the Republic invade Nova Scotia and reduce the local population to slaves. Still the Republic needs more land and the armies move to Cape Breton; but it is there that one woman defies them. One woman and the man who falls in love with her. This is an epic tale told by three narrators over 30 years, a tale of the long struggle for freedom, independence and finally peace. It is testimony, reminding us it has always been easier to wage war than foster and sustain peace.

Nineteen thirty-two

(An Acadien Story)

Described by critics as a 'gem' and a 'little story with a big heart'. Nineteen thirty-two is a tale of mistaken identity. The wrong man has been killed, but has justice inadvertently been served? Nearly everyone in the small village holds a grudge against the victim, even though no one dares speak of it. David Landry is a veteran of the war and his scars are visible for all to see. An inspector in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he distrusts the facts, veiled as they are by furtive glances. But soon, too soon, there are more important crimes to be solved, more important that the killing of a Frenchman in an obscure village. The scene is Northern New Brunswick and the characters are Acadiens, a people used to oppression, centuries of it. It is 1932, a time when rum- runners and bootleggers prop up a failed economy, when the police have too much to do, when the government cares more about revenue than the welfare of its people, and when the Marx Brothers ridicule society. With the nation in the depths of a depression, the memory of the First World War hangs over everyone. The women know that war is an inverse alchemy, transforming gold and silver into iron and lead. Even more than a decade after the armistice, the base metals still poison the flesh and blood, the heart and soul. War destroys that which is crucial in men – do they not understand, those who choose to go to war? Tongues of sea mist drift in from the Gulf of St Lawrence, blurring events, obscuring motives; ravens swoop down from the spear- like branches of black spruce to witness, their raucous cries a chorus of judgement.

The Moons of Jupiter

(An Acadien Story)

It is 1852. Four old people are huddled in a tumble-down cabin on the North Shore of New Brunswick; they are in hiding, only waiting for the authorities to come and take them away. They are cranky and unwell; as well, they are anxious, and pass the time as best they can. It is November and the weather is unkind; outside English soldiers are going back and forth along the shore adding to the oppressive atmosphere in the cabin; the soldiers are looking for clues to help them find their missing captain but the four do not know this and only assume the soldiers are far too casual in their search for the four of them. This is a tale of an unexpected alliance, a tale which leads the reader through the mysteries, not just those surrounding the four elderly Acadiens in their cabin, but the century of crimes which had led to this moment in time.

“Live simply so that others may simply live.” (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi)

The Smell of Ice

It is 2010 and the Polar Explorer, a 178 metre handyclass bulk carrier, is making its maiden voyage. Everyone involved with the ship wants to make a statement and the ship sets out from Yokohama on the first unescorted voyage through the Northwest Passage, bound for New York City. The ship negotiates the early pack ice of Lancaster Sound as far as the open waters of the Baffin Sea. But it is here that the unexpected looms out of the darkness, and the ship runs aground. Winter is setting in, temperatures have plummeted and storms are forecast. Most of the crew are injured and help from the Canadian Coast Guard is four long days away. Asking nothing in return, it is the residents of Baffin Island, the Inuit hunters and guides, and a wildlife biologist who risk their lives to rescue the crew and then find a way to save the ship. Instead of gratitude, the shipping company heads off on a trail of deceit in an attempt to shift the blame and keep the Northwest Passage open to shipping and free from regulation.

The Stranger

Refuge Cove is a safe anchorage in the archipelago that lies between Vancouver Island and the mainland. A stranger arrives, searching the temperate rainforests for the secret of immortality. He returns eight years later, and again eight years after that. In visit after visit he sails into the cove but never seems to grow any older. On his seventh arrival he realises he has fallen in love. That has never been part of his plan and it is further complicated by the tragic news for the island’s residents that he brings with him. This is a story about love, about curiosity and determination, and it is about the richness of life that is often right in front of us.

The Night Already Devoid of

Stars

The Night Already Devoid of Stars is a tale stolen from a time in the distant past and hidden away in a secret place that will not exist until tomorrow. It is a tale of love. It is a story of lust in search of war. It is a reminder that there is no courage without fear. Josef is a 29 year old virtual artist unable to leave his apartment, and Miriam is a tattooed waif living on promises and street smarts. They are set in their ways, and it is difficult for each to deal with the other. However, together, they are more formidable than they ever envisioned. The scene is the City, a small republic on an inland sea wallowing in the aftermath of a civil war, a war that solved nothing. The City’s fathers dream of capturing lost glory and delivering the final blow to their brothers in the North. But glory dissolves leaving no trace, and dreams are just dreams, lacking substance and meaning. And war? Be warned, war is a hungry beast best left in its distant wild place where it cannot turn against those who would use it against their brothers and sisters.

J.E. Arseneault's The Prophesies of Isaiah

J.E. Arseneault's A Night Already Devoid of Stars

Dog Tales

DOG-EARED

INDEPENDENT

IMPRESSIONS

provides typesetting,

design and editing

services, and

assistance with

printing for

independent writers

of fiction, non-fiction

and poetry. The

following titles, by Arcadien writer j.e.

arseneault have benefitted from dog-

eared’s attention and are available in

e-book form on Amazon, or by

contacting the publisher directly and

requesting a PDF.

Made with Xara

The Prophesies of

Isaiah

(An Acadien Story)

Nineteen thirty-two

(An Acadien Story)

Described by critics as a 'gem' and a 'little story with a big heart'. Nineteen thirty-two is a tale of mistaken identity. The wrong man has been killed, but has justice inadvertently been served? Nearly everyone in the small village holds a grudge against the victim, even though no one dares speak of it. David Landry is a veteran of the war and his scars are visible for all to see. An inspector in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he distrusts the facts, veiled as they are by furtive glances. But soon, too soon, there are more important crimes to be solved, more important that the killing of a Frenchman in an obscure village. The scene is Northern New Brunswick and the characters are Acadiens, a people used to oppression, centuries of it. It is 1932, a time when rum-runners and bootleggers prop up a failed economy, when the police have too much to do, when the government cares more about revenue than the welfare of its people, and when the Marx Brothers ridicule society. With the nation in the depths of a depression, the memory of the First World War hangs over everyone. The women know that war is an inverse alchemy, transforming gold and silver into iron and lead. Even more than a decade after the armistice, the base metals still poison the flesh and blood, the heart and soul. War destroys that which is crucial in men – do they not understand, those who choose to go to war? Tongues of sea mist drift in from the Gulf of St Lawrence, blurring events, obscuring motives; ravens swoop down from the spear-like branches of black spruce to witness, their raucous cries a chorus of judgement.