Black Moss Press

The Last Labour of the Heart

The Last Labour of the Heart is the story of two lives intertwined in surprising ways, that in the end becomes a meditation on life and loss, death and hope.
It follows the life of 92-year-old Lucille (Lou) Sutter from the death of her parents when she was a child through her long marriage to her final days in a nursing home.
The novel was inspired by the author's aunt who spent the final five years of her life in a nursing home. When it became apparent she could no longer live alone in her own home, the author and his wife helped her clear out the house she had shared with her husband for more than three decades -- a sad and daunting task.
The Last Labour of the Heart is a work of fiction which should come highly recommended to people in the health profession, particularly those charged with the care of the elderly.

$18.99
ISBN 0-88753-407-4

It's Only A Broken Heart

As a writer, Vasey chooses to take a socially responsible approach to his work, delving into the whys and hows of many tough issues, but not in a preachy manner … He has written yet another outstanding novel.
–The Lance

In this dark and haunting tale, we see a middle-of-the-night dog walker come across a badly-beaten body in a field by a river in a small southwestern Ontario town. The victim is a 17-year-old drug addict and hooker. And the questions surrounding her death begin to be asked.
It is a newspaper reporter who sets out in search of the answers. He finds himself immersed in the seamy side of a town called “The Swamps” and coming to face with the world of drug selling and prostitution. He fends off the pimps and the dealers, the thugs and the psychos, to get his answers.
This is a story that no one is better qualified to tell than Paul Vasey. Host of CBC radio’s Windsor morning show, Vasey is an award-winning journalist who spent the early part of his career working at newspapers including the Hamilton Spectator and the Windsor Star. He brings that experience to life in It’s Only Only a Broken Heart.

Fiction
212 Pages
ISBN 0-88753-343-4
$19.95

Into Thin Air

ISBN 0-88753-245-4
fiction, 112 page, $18.95

What makes this particular work unique?

This is a novel, but it was inspired the death and the life of my Godmother. During the final years of her life, spent in a nursing home, we talked a lot about her life and times and these conversations became the backbone of the novel.

Is fiction the genre of choice for you? Why not poetry,

or a book of short stories?

I had thought of writing a memoir, but wanted the freedom to take liberties with her story, so fiction was the natural choice.

Is this kind of work more marketable today?

This work would certainly appeal to a wide readership: most particularly middle-aged people who are faced with the illness and death of their parents.

In this book, do you blur the lines between fiction and truth? Is some

of this autobiographical? Do you take liberties with it?

As mentioned above, much of this books rests on the foundation of fact. But throughout the book, I take many liberties with my Godmother's story, and my own. Some of the book is factual, all of it is true.

Is this a departure for you, or a continuation of ideas you set a long

time ago ?

This book is a major departure for me; a much more intimate work than any I've attempted thus far.

Do you have any mentors? Influences in your life as a writer?

I spent a lot of time with W.O. Mitchell when he was writer in residence at the University of Windsor. I would say that Bill influenced my writing, from a purely story-telling perspective. I have attended a couple of Alistair MacLeod's writing workshops while in university and have been greatly influenced by his ability to turn language into music. Other influences would have to include Wendell Berry, Bernard Malamud, Margaret Laurence and Don Coles - among many others.

What kind of advice would you give a young writer today in Canada?

Write every day. Without fail.

Never a day without a line.