Let's be clear - I'm not yet a senior citizen, so what's with the 75 years?  Well, I am thrilled to finally get a book deal for one of my mystery novels, many of which were first drafted in the late 1980s - and this is one that was outlined by my grandmother (whose real, unique given name is my pen name) in 1947!! The following is an ON-based press release that's been going out this week, though I now live in NB.  Excited to be here as a member of the union!

An Oxford County-born author/playwright, graduate of Annandale High, Tillsonburg and Queen’s University, Kingston Julie Johnson (pen name J. Ivanel Johnson) has signed a book deal on Monday, Dec. 6 with Texas publisher BlackRose(Castroville) for a murder-mystery novel to be released in September 2022. The author’s paternal grandmother, Victoria Ivanel (Lipsit) Johnson of Straffordville, first outlined the plot and some of the characters nearly 75 years ago.

Johnson states,“Grandma was also a prolific writer but one who kept her work private, fearing the inevitable rejection letters. She supported my early writing years, giving me my first electric typewriter and encouraging me to publish even in my pre-teen years” (for Annick Press, Toronto).

However, as a death-bed promise to her grandmother in 1992, Johnson swore she would not only continue writing her own suspense thrillers set in the many mountainous areas of the world in which she’s lived and taught but that she would continue work on the one original manuscript of her grandmother’s which they both felt held the most promise. And now, exactly 30 years later, that promise will finally come to pass.

BlackRose Writing Acquisitions Editors, according to publisher Reagan Rothe, had the following to say about the novel, titled  “Just A STILL LIFE”:  “From the beginning this (manuscript) has a really good feel. The writing is excellent, the narrative flows smoothly from the start and it definitely has a cozy-mystery vibe…The pace picks up at the right time with the village bank robbery and then multiple murders… This one’s a keeper; it will definitely have an audience.”

 “I’m beyond excited to finally bring this project to its fruition,” says Johnson, who has also authored many short works of fiction and poetry published in a variety of literary journals in the U.K., U.S.A. and Canada. “Although Grandma had set the novel in a quaint village modeled on Straffordville, and set in the late 1940s when she began it, I’ve brought it forward to 1971 and it now takes place in the Upper River Valley of New Brunswick where I’ve lived since 2016.”  She goes on to say that the 220 pages of the original manuscript, and its hefty weight of rewritten drafts has crossed the Atlantic twice and the North American continent three times in her moves back and forth to Britain and Montana and then out to the Maritimes. Added to that trunk were her 7 other full manuscripts and 2 more of her grandmother’s. “Most of those moves were before they could all be kept online or on a flash drive in my pocket,” the author laughs.

As with all BlackRose (Castroville) books, readers will be able to purchase the novel next September in a variety of formats: paperback, eBook, and audiobook. J. Ivanel Johnson says she is happy to be in the company of other best-selling Canadian mystery authors published by the Texas group, a recognized publisher of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association (UK). This list includes award-winners  A.J. McCarthy (Quebec) and John Hunt (Ontario). Links to Johnson’s social media and author website may be found here: https://www.facebook.com/jivanel.johnson.5/