My Novels On Sale For One Dollar!

Heads up! Until MARCH 1st, 7 of my novels are on sale for $1 on Amazon platforms!

Get them while you can!

$0.99 on Amazon USA, and the equivalent in every other Amazon country. Here’s a list of the novels on sale:

I Will Tell the Night:

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

Finn Barker escaped his family in Miramichi, New Brunswick, decades ago for the anonymity of Toronto. When he learns of his mother’s impending demise, he decides to make the trip back home to say goodbye. But going back will awaken all the sleeping ghosts Finn’s not quite sure he’s willing to stir. With no time to decide, his split-second decision to jump back in has him driving across the country, with his boyfriend Steven behind the wheel. Along the way, Finn begins to unpack the mess he left behind. There’s the grandmother, MyImogene, he adored, and the twin brother who died of cancer when his own parents would have preferred to lose the other twin. There’s also the huge scandal Finn orchestrated with a teacher that gave him the Dutch courage he needed to flee. It was almost all bad.

Finn makes it in time for goodbyes, but then there’s the still very active strife between him and his father, the funeral, the family, and the secrets that shed new light on the cause of the rift between his parents and his beloved MyImogene. Every family carries secrets. Finn discovers they’re the one thing you can’t escape, no matter how far away you run. Secrets always catch up. Often, it’s death that has a way of bringing them back into the light of day. He was able to make peace with his dying mother, but can Finn make peace with all the rest…or is it time to run away for another thirty years?

Summer on Fire:

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

Zach Carson is a loyal friend. But is loyalty enough to keep best friends together when one of them sets fire to the rural barn they use as the local hangout?

Zach, Jeff Barsell and Arnie Wilson struggle to pick up the pieces when news spreads that a body was discovered in the burnt out shell of the neighboring home. When the word murder is used by the local police, the stakes grow even higher. When the police start searching for their most likely suspect—none other than Jeff’s older brother, and nemesis, Marty Barsell—the boys decide to join forces and come up with a way to prove his innocence.

But just how innocent is Marty Barsell? When Marty admits to being at the scene of the crime, the three friends enlist the help of Zach’s annoying sister, Sherry, as well as the sympathetic town eccentric, Ms. Halverton. But can they keep it together long enough to save Marty, and themselves, from eminent catastrophe? Summer on Fire is the story of friendships, and the lines we are asked to cross in order to keep them.

Pride Must Be A Place

 

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

Ezra Caine is gay. He’s sort of out at school but not at home, where he fears the wrath of his father’s bigotry. When Ezra’s flamboyantly out friend Alex Mills takes one too many beatings from homophobic bully Will Carter, Ezra finally snaps. Fed up with the situation at school, he decides to do something about it. With the help of his BFF, Nettie, and some unlikely allies, Ezra rallies to create their small-town school’s first gay-straight alliance. The Rainbow Alliance Club is formed. But the changes don’t come without hiccups, one of which being a messy scandal involving Alex and a gay hook-up app. As Ezra and his friends attempt to sway their school into an alliance of tolerance and acceptance, Ezra experiences a few surprises of his own on the home-front. He also learns the hard way that friendships out of convenience aren’t always a good idea, just as some enemies might not be as bad as he originally imagined them to be.

Burn Baby Burn Baby

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

Seventeen-year-old Francis Fripp’s confidence is practically non-existent since his abusive father drenched him in accelerant and threw a match at him eight years ago. Now badly scarred, Francis relies on his best friend Trig to protect him from the constant bullying doled out at the hands of his nemesis, Brandon Hayley-the unrelenting boy who gave him the dreaded nickname of Burn Baby. The new girl at school, Rachel Higgins, is the first to see past Francis’s pariah-inducing scars. If Brandon’s bullying doesn’t destroy him, Francis might experience life as a normal teenager for the first time in his life. He just has to avoid Brandon and convince himself he’s worthy of Rachel’s attentions. Sounds easy enough, but Francis himself has a hard time seeing past his scars. And Brandon is getting violently frustrated, as his attempts to bully Francis are constantly thwarted. Francis is in turmoil as he simultaneously rushes toward his first kiss and a possible violent end.

Half Dead & Fully Broken

Amazon USA

Amazon Canada

Carter Colby is the most unpopular teen at Jefferson High. This would be easier to deal with if his identical twin brother, Marcus, weren’t the hottest, most popular boy in school. When Marcus is killed in a motorcycle accident, Carter discovers the one thing more painful than trying to compete with Mr. Wonderful: wearing his dead brother’s face. He felt invisible before the accident, but with Marcus dead, everybody turns away from him in mourning. How can he blame them? He can’t bear to look in the mirror. When Carter begins to see Marcus’ ghost, Mr. Wonderful’s quest to save the world and spread happiness may not be over after all, even in death. Marcus knows that Justin Dewar, the boy who drove the truck that crashed into his motorbike, is struggling with the guilt of taking a life. Melanie, Marcus’ mourning best friend, was also hit hard by the tragedy. Marcus wants to make things right before it’s too late. With Marcus’ help, Carter experiences love and friendship for the first time in his life. But is Mr. Wonderful’s helping hand enough for Carter, Melanie, and Justin – three kids fully broken by the tragedy – to save one another?

Sebastian’s Poet

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

Sebastian Nelson is a boy in search of a family. Abandoned by his mother, Sebastian is left with a broken father who doesn’t even seem present when he does show up. Forced to be the main caregiver of his younger brother, Renee, and lost in a sea of indifference, Sebastian only wants to experience the love a real, stable family could afford him.

One morning he discovers the famous folksinger, Teal Landen, asleep on the sofa. Teal’s nurturing nature brings an immediate sense of security into Sebastian’s tumultuous life. But a dark secret looms between Teal and Sebastian’s father of a hidden past. Sebastian is driven to discover their secret, but also he’s aware of how tenuous their hold on Teal really is. He doesn’t want to lose the feeling of home Teal’s presence has brought him.

If Sebastian pushes too hard, he could lose Teal forever. He could be destined to raise his younger brother alone, while witnessing the total decline of his emotionally devastated father. If Sebastian is abandoned by the only healthy influence in his otherwise shaky existence, he will also be forever in the dark about the secret that will reveal so much about his fractured family.

Sebastian’s Poet was the winner of the 2007 Muskoka Novel Marathon’s BEST ADULT NOVEL AWARD.

The Reasons

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

With a mostly absent father, a deceased older sister, a younger sister on the verge of invisibility, and a certifiably insane mother, Tobias Reason is forced to grow up quickly. Though he tries to be a surrogate parent to his sister, their broken mother, Maggie, takes up a lot of his time. Annabel falls to the wayside and becomes a ghost in their chaotic existence.

When Maggie flippantly hands her mother’s house over to Tobias, he sees an opportunity to learn how and why his family became so shattered. Be careful what you wish for. When his world begins to collapse from the weight of un-buried secrets, he focuses on a stranger from his parents’ past. Only by eliminating the past, he believes, can he make his family whole again.

The Reasons won the Muskoka Novel Marathon’s 2008 BEST ADULT NOVEL AWARD.

 

7 titles ALL for $1! That’s a deal you can’t beat! Get them now before the sale is over!

What would really make my day, my week, my month, my year is if someone bought all 7! Who has $7 burning a hole in their pocket?! (-;

Just click the links above if you’re in Canada or USA. Search your country’s Amazon to find each title. Thank you in advance!

I WILL TELL THE NIGHT Has Been Reviewed in THE MIRAMICHI READER!

I Will Tell the Night is a touching novel about going home again. There are so many vivid details in Craig’s work, and it will fill one with a bit of necessary hope.” – Alison Manley, from the review of I WILL TELL THE NIGHT on THE MIRAMICHI READER

As a writer, I’m almost certain I’m not alone in having a literary bucketlist. One of the top items on my own literary bucketlist (LB) came true this week. Not once, but twice! For years I looked toward The Miramichi Reader as one of those publications I wished to be a part of…at any level. It’s right up there on my LB alongside the item Get Poem Published in the Paris Review.

I was absolutely thrilled a couple of months back when they responded to my wish to be a part of their WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK feature with an ‘absolutely!’ I prepared and submitted my piece for that feature at the speed of light, just in case they had a change of heart.

My Why I Wrote This Book piece came out earlier this week. You can click the image from their Facebook page below to go directly to the piece…there are several different books/authors featured:

Today The Miramichi Reader posted a review of I WILL TELL THE NIGHT. It’s such a lovely review too. I don’t know about other writers, but when I know a publication has one of my books with the intention of writing a review I am on pins and needles until that review comes out! It never gets easier. This is my ninth novel. I was as scared waiting for this review as I was ALL the rest!

“It’s a sweet and tender read, surprisingly wholesome…”

“I felt cared for by the river in Craig’s very realistic dialogue.”

I’m not going to lie, the quotes above brought a few tears to my eyes. I invested so much into this story. I still feel as though it might be the best thing I ever wrote. It, at the very least, has a very special place in my heart.

You can read the full review HERE.

I would like to thank Alison Manley (the reviewer) and The Miramichi Reader for taking the time to review my novel. I could not be more thrilled to have it featured at such a prestigious site at The Miramichi Reader!

Here’s the synopsis of the novel:

I WILL TELL THE NIGHT – Finn Barker escaped his family in Miramichi, New Brunswick, decades ago for the anonymity of Toronto. When he learns of his mother’s impending demise, he decides to make the trip back home to say goodbye. But going back will awaken all the sleeping ghosts Finn’s not quite sure he’s willing to stir. With no time to decide, his split-second decision to jump back in has him driving across the country, with his boyfriend Steven behind the wheel. Along the way, Finn begins to unpack the mess he left behind. There’s the grandmother, MyImogene, he adored, and the twin brother who died of cancer when his own parents would have preferred to lose the other twin. There’s also the huge scandal Finn orchestrated with a teacher that gave him the Dutch courage he needed to flee. It was almost all bad.

Finn makes it in time for goodbyes, but then there’s the still very active strife between him and his father, the funeral, the family, and the secrets that shed new light on the cause of the rift between his parents and his beloved MyImogene. Every family carries secrets. Finn discovers they’re the one thing you can’t escape, no matter how far away you run. Secrets always catch up. Often, it’s death that has a way of bringing them back into the light of day. He was able to make peace with his dying mother, but can Finn make peace with all the rest…or is it time to run away for another thirty years?

You can purchase your copy of I WILL TELL THE NIGHT here:

Amazon Canada | Amazon USA | KOBO Canada | KOBO USA | Amazon UK |

It’s available in all Amazon and Kobo countries in either paperback or ebook.

If you read I WILL TELL THE NIGHT, please consider leaving a review on GOODREADS.

The Proust(ish) Questionnaire – With Author and Hiker Reg Spittle

Hello friends!

It’s time once again to highlight a fellow author! Today, I have a hiking/Camino friend on board for the Proust(ish) Questionnaire. Reg Spittle is a fellow Camino walker who has now authored three books. His latest, HOOFIN’ IT On The John Muir Trail: A Sierra Nevada Wilderness Adventure, was released in January. I’m about halfway through it and already dreaming of walking the John Muir Trail. I absolutely loved his Camino Sunrise: Walking With My Shadows. He brings the same honesty and silent reflection into Hoofin’ It that he introduced in Camino Sunrise. You can see transformation on the page.

Reginald Spittle is a retired political science professor and longtime newspaper journalist who once considered walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route across Spain on the Camino Frances. When his self-doubts and insecurities had him thinking, “I can’t do that,” his wife’s response was, “What if you can?” So they did. I think it’s safe to say they have not looked back.

Reg, standing atop Mount Whitney, highest peak in the continental USA at 14,505 feet (the sign is off by 3 feet).

Reg’s latest book is the culmination of his wondering if they’d be able to walk the John Muir Trail. Spoiler alert: They did it! Today, I ask Reginald Spittle to partake in my Proust(ish) Questionnaire. So glad that he agreed to do this. Twenty questions may not seem like a lot to ask someone, but I’m sure it’s quite time consuming to answer them…so a thousand thank yous to Reg for being a great sport and taking part! Let’s face it, twenty questions is a downright lie. Some of these questions have two, three or more parts.

Before we get into the questions, here’s Reg Spittle’s BIO:

Reg Spittle and his wife Sue raised three sons in the shadow of Yosemite National Park, exploring its many trails. As an educator, Reg won a yearlong teaching exchange in Scotland, taught all seven elementary school grades during 20 years in California, and instructed political science for 11 years at a California community college. He was a journalist at five newspapers.

He could not have anticipated the new experiences that awaited him in retirement. Sue and Reg have walked eight distance trails in seven countries, covering more than 2,000 miles. In 2023, they walked 500 miles on the Le Puy Camino route in France. They have also crossed the USA five times in their truck and travel trailer, visiting 46 states and four Canadian provinces.

Now. Let’s get into it, shall we…

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Perfect happiness doesn’t exist. I try to focus on incremental accomplishments, like writing a chapter in a book that will lead readers to eagerly anticipate the next page. Or spending a day on a trail that satisfies me because of its challenges, scenery, and physical exercise. Even if these things are not fun in the moment, time usually offers fresh perspective. The most difficult pursuits in my life have been the ones that have brought me the most positive feelings.
2. Do you know what your next great adventure will be? And…do you now go into your adventures with a plan to write about them?
During spring 2025, Sue and I are walking an Italian section of the Via Francigena, a pilgrimage to Vatican City that begins in Canterbury, England, and has been walked for hundreds of years. Then we plan to walk the Cotswold Way in England after rests in Rome and York. I will probably keep a journal, like I did on the John Muir Trail. I did not go into the JMT with the intention of writing a book, but I knew there was a book there long before the trek was even finished.
3. What is your greatest fear?
Health problems that keep me off the trails, or losing mental sharpness.
4. What is your most preferred genre as a reader?
Young adult fiction and non-fiction, particularly books that portray young people who have overcome difficult childhood challenges. And, if I may, there is a second genre I am drawn to just as much: adventure stories about people who have traveled long distances by foot, bike, or boat. There are so many great books about incredible human travel accomplishments. I just finished Dove, about a California teenager who became the youngest (at 16) person to circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat—solo!
5. Which writer do you most admire and why?
The late Gary Paulsen, the author of a sky-high pile of fiction and non-fiction books. He wrote several survival stories that took place in wilderness settings. Many of his characters, who discovered courage that they never imagined possible, remain in my heart. His best books? Two—Hatchet and Canyons—are my favorites. I read these to my sons and to several hundred children in my classes. I encouraged my students to doodle or sketch while I read aloud, but often, while I read Paulsen’s books, their pencils remained still while they hung on every word. I owe you big time, Gary.
6. How do you decide what to do next? There are so many options out there for wanderers to choose from. What criteria do you use to decide? Is it random, or do you listen for a calling? (I threw that last part in there because I truly believe the Camino is a calling. You hear about it one day and it doesn’t let go until you decide, “Okay, I’ll do it…”)
You are so right; the world has many lifetimes worth of distance trails. When we read and/or watch YouTube videos about a trail, if we are drawn to it, we look for blogs and reviews of the trek. If it catches our fancy, we order a guidebook to look at the trail in more detail. (We have quite a library of guidebooks, I tell you!) We read the guidebook and debate it for a while. Sometimes, like with the Via Francigena in Italy (which we are walking in April 2025), we return to consider a trail we had previously put on the back burner. In the case of the John Muir Trail, our son Chris, a big Sierra Nevada backpacker, had lobbied me for years to do the JMT. “You can do it, Dad. And you’d love it!”
7. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Being positive all the time. It is unnatural, and I sometimes find it toxic.
8. What did you take with you on this journey that you wished you hadn’t packed and what did you not have that you wished you had packed?
We took a solar shower and never used it because it was too much trouble to set up and there was (freezing) water everywhere to rinse off in. Oh, how we longed for more snack food. We got so tired of Clif bars and wished we had provided for more variety. I envied people who carried squeeze peanut butter and tortillas. At high altitudes, your body needs far more calories as it works in high gear to cope with the lower oxygen levels, as well as the challenging ascents.
9. For those considering the John Muir Trail, what advice do you have for them as far as preparation training goes?
Acclimate to the altitude. We spent three days just before the JMT in Mammoth Lakes, a resort community in the eastern Sierra at about 8,000 feet. Each day, we walked at 10,000 feet or more. You need to be in reasonable condition, able to walk 10-12 miles a day carrying a backpack. Be sure to include some days with challenging ascents and descents and walk on a variety of surfaces to make sure your shoes/boots will work. Train with trekking poles, which are musts on the JMT. There are several Facebook groups that offer loads of advice.10. When and where were you most afraid?
I was most fearful before the trek, at home. I worried that I had gotten myself into an adventure beyond my capabilities. My failures as a kid whenever I faced physical tests came back to haunt me in the middle of several nights. Then, on the first day of the JMT, I felt like a rookie among pros when we met our fellow trekkers, most
of whom had been on the JMT before. I had never done a wilderness trail, which is so different than the European trails we had walked. During the trek, I was on edge several times, but I don’t recall ever being afraid, even on Mount Whitney.11. Which talent would you most like to have?
Confidence in myself, especially in challenges that test my physical abilities. It has held me back from many experiences, but the John Muir Trail was a huge boost in making me feel better about my skills on the trail.
12. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
I would want to come back as a kid who was athletic, living in a family that loved the outdoors. I would grow up with an incredible friend who was filled with an adventurous spirit. After high school, my friend and I would set out on wilderness treks like the Pacific Crest Trail or the Appalachian Trail, spending many months, or even years, on the trails. We would also backpack in Europe and maybe other continents, getting jobs now and then to see us through. We would make new friends along every trail. Would we ever grow up? In a way, I hope not.
13. After walking/hiking both the Camino de Santiago and the John Muir Trail, which do you prefer? Also which would you recommend to someone who has done neither? I ask this question knowing that the two must be as different as night and day (Albergues vs. Camping, etc.).
It is a bit like asking which of my three sons I love most. Because I am truly in love with each distance trail I have walked, for reasons unique to each one. (Much like how I feel about my kids) But, if I were to choose the most memorable trail that fills my heart the most, it would be the John Muir Trail. Or perhaps the Camino de Santiago, our “first born.” Or…
For me, the Camino de Santiago was an ideal introduction to long-distance walking. It has a great infrastructure, a welcoming culture, and allows flexibility in daily distances. It is the granddaddy of European trails and we met people who became lifelong friends. But it is not for everyone. If you are a strong hiker with backpacking experience and prefer a quieter, less traveled experience in a more remote location, then the John Muir Trail may be for you.
14. What are your three deserted island books?
Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse. The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz.
15. Keeping to some of the hiking theme going on in these questions, let’s talk GEAR! Specifically shoes/boots and backpack. Knowing that shoes especially are a very personal thing, what do you suggest for both? Do you have a favourite shoe or backpack?
I just bought my fourth pair of Altra Olympus trail runners and will wear them on both European treks this spring. They are lightweight, wide-toed, and breathe well. (But I don’t advise that you test them by getting your nose anywhere near my socks at the end of a day.) I get a size 12, at least a half-size larger than I normally wear
16. Can you tell us something you’ve read recently that’s really made an impact on you…either good or bad?
The Unteachables, by Gordon Korman. It reminded me to avoid assuming why a person behaves the way they do, because I really have no idea until I give them a chance. Everyone who has ever been a student or teacher, or both, should read this book.
17. What sound grates on you more than any other?
Loud music or a barking dog on a trail or in a campground.
18. How would you like to die?
In my sleep, after some wine and a nice dinner with Sue. I tell friends I would rather die on the trail than in my rocking chair.19. What sound brings you deep joy?
A favorite playlist on my AirPods, while walking in Lithia Park in my hometown of Ashland, Oregon.
20. What is your motto?
Speak impeccably. Don’t take things personally. Never assume. Always do your best. (From the book The Four Agreements, see Number 14.)
Such fantastic answers! I really loved reading these replies. What struck me the most is how aligned some of his answers are with how I would respond. I almost fell off my chair when he mentioned Gordon Korman. This is an author who visited my school library to talk about his new book WHO IS BUGS POTTER? back in 1980. I don’t even understand mathematically how Gordon Korman was writing books in 1980 when I was in school when today he is 61, not even three years older than me. But I digress. I thoroughly enjoyed Reg’s answers to these questions. If you want more of Reg’s words, I highly recommend you pick up one or two or three of his books!
Congratulations on the Orange Banner! Reg’s latest is a Hot New Release!

Congratulations on your latest book, Reg! I’m really loving it and I can feel myself adding the John Muir Trail to my ever-growing bucketlist as I read. Thanks so much for being sport enough to answer all these questions. Good luck on the Via Francigena in April! I look forward to hearing about the adventures you will have on that famous route!