The purest water in the world, by J.C. Kavanagh

 

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It's purer than a 16,000-year-old ice core from the Canadian Arctic. And, it's free.

So, how pure is this water?

Well, it's so pure that it's being used as a world-wide benchmark for water purity. 

"This is not great water. This is not excellent water. This water is absolutely unique. This is a miracle of nature." So says Dr. William Shotyk, Chair of Agriculture and the Environment at the University of Alberta. He's been studying the artesian wells in Elmvale - a small town in the aptly named Springwater Township in Ontario, Canada - for over 30 years. The wells are part of the Alliston Aquifer - a deep, underground water source located across Central Ontario. For thousands of years, the lands were inhabited by the Indigenous Wendat Nation in an area called "Ekhiondastsaan," meaning "the land that exudes water."

Photo credit to the Elmvale Groundwater Observatory report by Dr. William Shotyk

For years, scientists believed that the cleanest, purest water was found only in ancient ice cores of the Arctic. That is, until Dr. Shotyk and his research team examined the artesian well water at a farm in Elmvale. He discovered that the well water's lead concentration was five times lower than Arctic core samples. "It's mind-boggling."

To back up his 30-year research and data, Dr. Shotyk said, "The most common water quality indicators include nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate, chloride, organic contaminants like pesticides and herbicides from farming, and trace elements. These nutrients (in test samples) have been consistently below the limit of detection. Chloride is less than one part per million [ppm]. The definition of pristine groundwater is less than five ppm." An international water expert said "less than one ppm is impossible - I've never seen such clean water anywhere."

To reinforce his findings, Dr. Shotyk reported that the presence of trace elements measured one part per trillion [ppt] in the Elmvale artesian well, compared to five ppt of lead in the cleanest core samples of ancient arctic ice.

The purest water samples are found in artesian wells in Elmvale, Ontario. At this particular kiosk,
the public are encouraged to bring a jug (or 20) and fill as much as your vehicle can carry.
And yes, it's free!

I am fascinated by Dr. Shotyk's research. We often take for granted our fresh water sources. They seem to be infinite...

• Did you know that Canada has almost seven per cent of the world's renewable, internal freshwater? According to Google, Canada is ranked third, behind Brazil (13 per cent) and Russia (10 per cent). The U.S.A. is ranked fourth, at 6.6 per cent.

As regular readers know, I love being on the water - whether I'm sailing, swimming or listening to the waves splash on the shore. It's definitely one of my happy places. However, in The Twisted Climb series, the water adventures are definitely not a happy place for Jayden, Connor and Max. 

Stay tuned for my upcoming novel, The Deepest Divide. Yes, there will be water adventures of the creepiest kind ;)

Stay safe and remember to tell the ones you love that you love them.

J.C. Kavanagh, author of
The Twisted Climb - A Bright Darkness (Book 3) Best YA Book FINALIST at Critters Readers Poll 2022
AND
The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2) voted BEST Young Adult Book 2018, Critters Readers Poll and Best YA Book FINALIST at The Word Guild, Canada
AND
The Twisted Climb,
voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers Poll
Voted Best Local Author, Simcoe County, Ontario, 2021
Novels for teens, young adults and adults young-at-heart
Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh 
www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh
Instagram @authorjckavanagh
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Ghost Hunting

 

Find more about me here

Spooky season is upon us!  How do you like your ghosts? Via the classic storytellers like Shakespeare, Dickens, Oscar Wilde? Maybe you like cinematic varieties. Like romantic Patrick Swayzy in GHOST...

Or the tricky twists and turns of The Sixth Sense...

Maybe comedic ghost hunting is your vibe?

or nostalgia for family and baseball?

I remember being fascinated by ghosts from a time before I understood what they were. I badgered my older sister to Help me understand TV's series Topper (which started as a novel, then 1937 movie). Why did the charming young couple keep disappearing? And why was only the stuffy old fellow able to see them? My sister was VERY patient with me and my endless questions.

Little did I know that those charming and carefree ghosts would come back in memory to inspire me in the story I'm writing now about three young ghosts who play matchmakers for the young man who tends their memorial. It's called "The Keeper of the Cross" and it's part of our tribute to the paranormal history of Newfoundland, The Ghosts of Bell Island. Due out in 2027. We hope you enjoy it.

Happy Spooky Season, dear readers, no matter what shape your ghosts take!

 

 

A Tale of Two Writing Conventions by Susan Calder

                                         Please click this link for book and author information

In August, I spent a weekend at When Words Collide Festival for Readers and Writers in Calgary, my hometown. This year marked the festival's 15th anniversary, and I've attended each year from the start. I love the energy, the learning, and the fun of catching up with people I only see once a year. 

About 900 writers and readers gathered at the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel for panels, presentations and special events. They chatted and networked in the hallways and merchants' room. I sat on three panels, two of them related to short stories and the third about historical research and its application to stories. I learned a lot from the discussion with fellow panelists and from the other panels and talks I attended.        

A full room for our panel on crime short stories titled "50 Ways to Kill Your Lover."  

Despite the word "festival" in its name, WWC is really a convention like Bouchercon World Mystery Convention which arrives in Calgary nine days from now. I'll be there and look forward to experiencing the similarities and differences between the two festival/conventions.  

WWC is multi-genre, while Bouchercon is devoted to crime writing. B'con is a larger event. It spans five days vs. three days for WWC. Close to 1,500 people are expected to attend Calgary B'Con, which draws an international crowd. It takes place in different cities every year, usually in the United States. WWC is a Calgary event. Most registrants come from the local area, although people increasingly travel here from other Canadian provinces and beyond. B'con is a fan convention at heart. WWC offers more for writers than for readers. 

Popular WWC speaker, retired Calgary Detective Dave Sweet (middle), engages both writers and readers with his stories of police work. He'll be a Special Guest at Calgary Bouchercon.  

The Calgary B'con schedule is packed with offerings that interest me such as panels on historical writing and interviews with the eight author Guests of Honour: Louise Penny, Kathy Reichs, Abir Mukherjee, Mark Greaney, Jennifer Hillier, Vicki Delany, Kevin Sands, and P. J. Vernon. Posthumous Fan GoH Steele Currey was chosen for his long-time support of crime writing. Sadly, Steele died in November 2024. A special exhibit of his mystery, espionage, and thriller book collection donated to the University of Calgary will be displayed at the convention. 

I'll be on two B'con panels, one about the enduring appeal of traditional mystery stories and the other about the benefits for writers of conventions, festivals, book clubs, and critique groups. I've had experience with all of these things, and five of my six novels are traditional whodunit mysteries. It's been interesting to plan these panels with colleagues from Britain, the USA, and other parts of Canada. 

My fellow BWL author, Bonny Beswick, nabbed a twenty-minute spotlight talk on a topic relevant to Canadians: "Writing when it's so cold the ink in our pen freezes." She's generously invited the other attending BWL authors to join her. I'm especially eager to chat with Bonny and BWL writers donalee Moulton, Joan Donaldson-Yarmey, and David A. Poulsen at the convention.

Crime Writers of Canada will also feature me and four other writers in a media spot about Western Canadian writing. We all have short stories in the Sisters in Crime - Canada West anthology Crime Wave 4: Home Sweet Homicide, which will be launched at Bouchercon. 

I have a second short story published in the upcoming Murder Most Alberta Anthology, and I might read from the story at the twenty-minute spotlight for that book.  

Evenings at B'con will be for fun: Cozies and Cocktails Wednesday night. Thursday's Opening Ceremonies will include a White Hat Ceremony, Calgary's traditional welcome to visitors. 

At the WWC 2026 Opening Ceremonies, Special Guests received a received a warm Calgary welcome with gifts of white cowboy hats. 

Other evenings will offer a live auction, the 2026 Bouchercon Anthology signing, a pub trivia night, several awards ceremonies, and Author Bingo with free food at the Underrepresented Authors Reception.

Sunday's Closing Ceremonies will cap the five-day happenings with a Guest of Honour panel moderated by BWL author Dave Poulsen.  

When it's all over, I expect to be exhausted but pumped to dive into my writing.    

Fall Colours and Feedback – Barbara Wackerle Baker

 

 https://books2read.com/b/Summer-of-Lies

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Happy fall. Happy bright colours. Happy thoughts of snow flurries starting soon. Yup, lots to be happy about.

Feedback on Book 4 of Jillian’s escapades trickles in. The good news is - no one hates it…yet. And there is no bad news…yet. Just areas to improve the story and, of course, editing misses. My editing misses. 

 

A few embarrassing notes I have to mention (consider it airing dirty laundry):

• How is it possible that I used ‘nod’ 124 times in 169 pages? WTH? And ‘smile’ 98 times. Hold on, it doesn’t stop there. I ‘wave’ 77 times. Thank goodness I only ‘inhaled’ 25 times. Trust me, you will never see me nod, wave or smile again. I will continue to inhale though. WORD read the novel to me numerous times. I never heard the repetitiveness. Certainly, never saw it.

• Now don’t get me started on my haphazard use of commas. I’m hopeless. But I try hard.

• Ditto with Canadian versus American spelling.

• And the typos that Spell Check didn’t squiggle underneath to get my attention because they are words – just the wrong words (sitings should be sightings, there’s should be theirs). Good grief. 

There are also comments about pacing, additional scene breaks required to smooth transitions and the need to tie chaos together for continuity and growth. Easy fixes that don’t make me want to throw my laptop out a window.

These helpful, wonderful folk found it all and I’m grateful to have them on my side. But darn it all, I’m a bit anal about perfection. Obviously, I need to ramp that trait up…a lot.

The overall positive feedback makes it easier to get outside and enjoy fall without feeling guilty about not chaining myself to the keyboard and hammering out another version. I’m thankful for that because the colours are stunning. Reflections…ditto. I’d say it’s my favourite time of year, but I have three other seasons vying for the same spot.

Once the rest of the critiques slide into my inbox, the edits will happen, chaos will be managed, and the comma issues…I’m not even sure what to say will happen to those unruly rascals. 

   

Until then you’ll find me on the trails snapping pictures. Unlike my overuse of nod, wave, smile and inhale, I have unlimited bytes for pictures. And I’ll be on paths where those dang words can’t follow me. 

 

Baker, Barbara - BWL Publishing Inc. (bookswelove.net)

Barbara Baker Author Page Facebook 

 

Summer of Lies by Barbara Baker — BWL Publishing

What About Me? by Barbara Baker — BWL Publishing

Jillian of Banff XO — BWL Publishing

Scotland 2026 by Naguib Kerba

 Scotland 2026 — Naguib Sami Kerba Photography