Writer goes from newspapers to novels

Gary May reads from his new novel “Unburdening” during a recent visit to the River Bookshop.

An area author was in Amherstburg to promote his new book and speak of his journey from reporter to novelist.

Gary May spoke about his new book “Unburdening” and noted it was his first novel. He has written non-fiction work including a previous book entitled “Crude Genius.” 

The former journalist with the Ottawa Citizen and London Free Press now lives in Windsor and spoke about his book and did a reading May 3 at the River Bookshop. His book synopsis reads: “In 1975, James O’Malley, a journalist-turned-college professor, returns to his family’s Ontario apple farm after his mother’s sudden death. As he confronts the silence surrounding her death, he is drawn into deeper currents of his family’s past and the unsettling realization of how little he truly understands those he loves. Spanning generations, from the O’Malley family’s flight from Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century to the upheavals that shaped modern Canada, Unburdening traces the enduring ties between identity and place, and the quiet burdens passed from one generation to the next.”

While noting it was not based on his life or that of anyone else, May pointed out he leaned on his reporting background to create characters and advance the story.

“Our lives are dominated by relationships,” he said.

May was inspired by some of the events he has seen in his life but his imagination created the story and the characters. His job as a journalist was to gather facts, but as a novelist he was allowed more creativity and create his own stories.

“Unburdened” is set against the backdrop of events in Canadian history, and May said his love of research came into play as he was writing the book. Writing a novel came with fewer deadlines than the newspaper industry, and he was allowed to write with a more relaxed schedule.

Emphasizing the characters are not real people and it is in no way autobiographical, May said he used his “total freedom” to create his own world.

“It’s strictly fiction but I was influenced by things in the past,” he said, with some of those events being family dinners and gatherings.

The novel is published through Mosaic Press out of Oakville. He began writing “Unburdened” in the COVID-19 pandemic and finished a couple of years ago. He found a publisher and now the book has hit the market. He is working on another non-fiction book but once that is complete, May envisions writing more fiction novels like “Unburdened.”

Writer goes from newspapers to novels

By Ron Giofu