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Born in Montreal, Reed Stirling lives in Cowichan Bay and writes when not painting landscapes or traveling. Shades of Persephone (Books We Love Publishing, 2019) is his first published novel, which is a literary mystery set in Greece. Excerpts from the novel have been widely published independently, including:
"Inchoate Shapes" in The Nashwaak Review, St Thomas University
"Magalee" from a chapter titled "Grace and Scourge" in Out Of The Warm Land III, an anthology
"Shell Game" in Fickle Muses
"On The Road With Persephone" from the chapter "Thigh Friendship" in Paperplates Magazine
"Song of the Cicadas" in The Fieldstone Review
"Sprung Fully Charmed" in Fictuary
"Like Odysseus" from "Hydra-Headed Beauty" in Maple Tree Literary Supplement, Carlton University
"Knossos, Kazantzakis, and Thereby Hangs a Tale" in Fictuary
"Mistress Muse" in Filling Station
He followed with the novel, Lighting the Lamp (BWL Publishing, 2020) and Séjour Saint-Louis (BWL, 2021), the latter set in Montreal and which dramatizes family conflicts. In 2023, Stirling published The Palimpsest Murders (BWL), a European travel mystery.
"Intrigue is my primary interest, with romantic entanglement an integral part of the action," says Stirling. "Greek mythology plays a significant role in underpinning plots. Allusions to art, literature, philosophy, and religion serve a similar function. Irony is pervasive. Having coffee out or nursing a beer in a pub can lead to observations that connect to themes I’m developing. It could be snippets of dialogue, a bearded face, the shape of a table leg, or a tune playing in the background."
Stirling is a dedicated writer and he says, "I sit down to write every day and try to leave the desk having achieved at least a workable page. Frequently what comes of my effort amounts to no more than a serviceable paragraph, a single sentence, or a metaphor that might work in a context yet to be imagined."
BOOKS
The Palimpsest Murders (BWL, 2023)
Séjour Saint-Louis (BWL, 2021)
Lighting the Lamp (BWL Publishing, 2020) $24.95 978-0-2286120-0-1
Shades of Persephone (Books We Love Publishing, 2019)
[BCBW 2023]
"Inchoate Shapes" in The Nashwaak Review, St Thomas University
"Magalee" from a chapter titled "Grace and Scourge" in Out Of The Warm Land III, an anthology
"Shell Game" in Fickle Muses
"On The Road With Persephone" from the chapter "Thigh Friendship" in Paperplates Magazine
"Song of the Cicadas" in The Fieldstone Review
"Sprung Fully Charmed" in Fictuary
"Like Odysseus" from "Hydra-Headed Beauty" in Maple Tree Literary Supplement, Carlton University
"Knossos, Kazantzakis, and Thereby Hangs a Tale" in Fictuary
"Mistress Muse" in Filling Station
He followed with the novel, Lighting the Lamp (BWL Publishing, 2020) and Séjour Saint-Louis (BWL, 2021), the latter set in Montreal and which dramatizes family conflicts. In 2023, Stirling published The Palimpsest Murders (BWL), a European travel mystery.
"Intrigue is my primary interest, with romantic entanglement an integral part of the action," says Stirling. "Greek mythology plays a significant role in underpinning plots. Allusions to art, literature, philosophy, and religion serve a similar function. Irony is pervasive. Having coffee out or nursing a beer in a pub can lead to observations that connect to themes I’m developing. It could be snippets of dialogue, a bearded face, the shape of a table leg, or a tune playing in the background."
Stirling is a dedicated writer and he says, "I sit down to write every day and try to leave the desk having achieved at least a workable page. Frequently what comes of my effort amounts to no more than a serviceable paragraph, a single sentence, or a metaphor that might work in a context yet to be imagined."
BOOKS
The Palimpsest Murders (BWL, 2023)
Séjour Saint-Louis (BWL, 2021)
Lighting the Lamp (BWL Publishing, 2020) $24.95 978-0-2286120-0-1
Shades of Persephone (Books We Love Publishing, 2019)
[BCBW 2023]
