Before Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, there was the same sort of talk of young men sacrificing their lives so that a country might grow - that somehow it had been a great nation-building success for Newfoundland. Michael Winter More Quotes by Michael Winter More Quotes From Michael Winter The truth is, everybody falls into an incinerator of some measure or other. Not literally one. The question is what are you going to do with those bad times? Are you just going to let them gnaw at you? Michael Winter you bad-times truth-is truth When you join the army, you are asked to lay down your life for your country. That is a tremendous oath to take. In return, a good country should offer that soldier every possible means it can to allow that soldier to stay alive and, upon return, healthy - both mentally and physically. Michael Winter good you soldier life I've never in my life categorized a year of my life as good or bad. I just think I'm living a good life, warts and all. Michael Winter my-life good good-life life We found letters at the house we bought from a sailor to his wife who lived in the house. He went down to the Caribbean on this trader vessel, bringing down salted fish. There would be handwritten letters, but also telegrams, saying which ports he was in. And he'd be gone for three months. That was just the way it is. Michael Winter fish down wife way Linda Svendsen's 'Marine Life' was important. I was nearly 22. Larry Mathews discussed the book in a creative writing class. We examined her stories, figured out how they worked. Michael Winter important writing life book The greatness of being an artist is the kind of ridiculous guffaw you can have at one's own misery. 'That was miserable! Now how can I write about it?' Michael Winter own you greatness artist A few years ago, I was trying to buy a piece of land next to a house I had in Newfoundland. I discovered that the plot had been owned by a family, and the son had gone off to World War I and been killed. It began to interest me: What would have happened on that land if the son had lived, had brought up his own family there? Michael Winter me family war son The fantastic thing about the memorial to the Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel is that it's one of the rare examples where they've preserved a battlefield more or less as it was. You can see all the trenches, where the British were, where the Germans lined up. Michael Winter rare more see you To me, the idea that any kind of disaster helps create a nation seems a ridiculous one. There was no family in the house on the land next to me, and there might have been. Michael Winter nation me family house If you look at footage of the Newfoundland Regiment, you see they are at rest and giddy and being silly with one another. Silliness is the antidote to trench warfare. Michael Winter rest see look you I plan to live to be 98, so I'll be the guy at Dundas and Yonge flogging a box of mouldy novels. Michael Winter plan live box guy If I didn't write sex scenes, all my characters would head to the kitchen and make cups of tea. Michael Winter head kitchen tea sex There are scenes from books I'm happy with. I tend to think my books are all broken. But then my favourite reads are almost always books that don't, in the end, pull off what they set out to do. Michael Winter end think broken happy Wild and urban at the same time - that's the type of woman I'm with. Michael Winter wild woman urban time How does the past ambush us? How can we be accurate about what happened, how can we be true to it? And can war be declared over? And can we ever evolve from the notion of war, of nations, of us versus them? Michael Winter be-true true war past Hockey wasn't invented but discovered. The game, and the large organizing idea behind Stephen Smith's deeply personal 'Puckstruck,' sleeps in ponds and in the crooked limbs of trees overhead; we merely pluck a stick from the sky and skate over the frozen world to find ourselves and each other. Michael Winter behind game sky world I approached writing a story for the CBC Literary Awards as a mercenary venture - $5,000 for one story, not bad. Now, how do you win it? Jurors are wading through skyscrapers of paper, looking for one story that stands out. Michael Winter looking bad win you If you are having trouble with a story, it may not be an issue with the quality of the writing - there may just be too much of it. Michael Winter story you quality writing Through an arbitrary problem, I had arrived at a tenet of good writing: brevity wins. Michael Winter through good problem writing You can't go wrong with major life and death stories when it comes to a competition, so I thought I'd have a go at writing one. Michael Winter you competition life death
