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Invincible Ink
Invincible Ink by Don Gutteridge is a beautiful and immersive collection of poems. The poetry feels both carefree in their evocations of memories and careful in their construction. The verse flows in intervals, easily giving up its content without losing any of its beauty. The beauty shows up in alliterations about a sunny day, in descriptions of youth and decay, and in all the carefully packaged memories. There’s a lot of personal sentiments and recollections- it feels like being allowed a peek inside a fully-inhabited life. A life full of love, humor, sadness, charm, decay, details, and fantasy- much like my own life and probably many others. All the best parts are photographed and presented for display. One of my favorites was Beyond Blood and Bone – a poem waging an subdued war on the objectification of lovers, instead proclaiming a beauty that “breeds in the genes, and lets us live beyond the boundaries of blood and bone.” Another treat for me was all the poems written about abiding in the blissful summers of his Grandfather’s home. They had the vivid and enchanting filter that surrounds childhood memories and reminded me of some of the more wondrous times of my childhood. There isn’t any significant or concrete theme binding all the poems, but the presence of a singular, thoughtful source behind them is clear. It was a wonderful way to simply sit for a while and let the poems simmer. I had a lovely time reading the poems and then re-reading my favorites. It was a simple and elegant collection and brought about a sense of peace in me- as much is possible in a year like this one.
Pages: 89
An Extraordinary Pioneer Woman
Don Gutteridge Author Interview
Lily Fairchild details the life of a young woman through the challenges of her youth and her quest to have a family of her own. What was the inspiration for the setup to this intriguing story?
My purpose in creating Lily was to follow an extraordinary pioneer woman through the various phases of her long life.
Lily’s character is refreshing, she is blunt and many times quite curt as she proves her point. What were some driving ideals behind her character?
The ideals behind Lily are here fortitude in the face of adversity, the insight that comes with embracing challenges, and the pervasiveness of love in her life.
The story takes place in 1850’s Ontario. Why did you choose this time and place for your story?
The book is set in the 1850s and beyond because I have always been interested in the history of my birthplace (Point Edward, Ontario) and the tumultuous historical events that impinged upon it and its citizens.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My fiction writing days are over (after 22 novels) and I now keep myself occupied writing poetry abut Point Edward and my upbringing there.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
![Lily Fairchild by [Gutteridge, Don]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51NvdqLRqoL.jpg?resize=279%2C419&ssl=1)
Lily Fairchild follows the life of a pioneer woman, born in the backwoods of Lambton County in 1840, throughout her long life, ending in 2019. During that time, she is witness to historical events that impinge on her life: the Underground Railroad, the coming of the railways, the discovery of oil, the Fenian raids, the first and second Riel Rebellions, the construction of the tunnel under the St Clair River, the Great War, and the flu pandemic of 1919. Lily struggles against the forces of history and the small tragedies besetting a nineteenth-century woman and, against the odds, bearing children, marrying three times and taking part in the founding of the village of Point Edward and its steady growth as a port and railhead. Hers is a heroic story.
