I was born in Beaverlodge, Alberta.
I’ve never been there, but they tell me it’s nice. Well, I mean I left when I was
two and moved Edmonton, Alberta. Okay, let’s make this clear, my parents left
and I was taken with them. I wanted to stay behind, but the powers that be wouldn’t
hear of it. The only thing I know about the town is that my older sister, Judy,
is buried there. She had pneumonia when she was two and died. My mom told me
that when I was two I also got pneumonia and was deathly ill. She got on her knees
one night and prayed, “Dear God, let him live and I’ll take as many kids as you
can give me.”
My favorite playground as I grew up
was the Beverly waste oil pit and dump, before it was covered over and turned
into the golf course. I dread to think of all of those thousands of tons of oil
when they come seeping into the river someday. Man, the stuff we used to find
in that dump. A storehouse of wonder for young boys. I bet there’s a lot great
great great grandparent seagulls that still to this day tell the youngsters of
all the grand feasts they used to have there and now all they get to snack on
are inedible white balls.
I’ve
been asked what makes me so determined to never give up. One of the most
profound things that ever happened to me was when I was about fourteen or so,
my second father died of cancer. He was the heart throb of my mom’s life. She
never remarried and as far as I remember only ever went on one or two dates after.
She tried to commit suicide, shortly after his death, she couldn’t continue
living life without him. At that age I would have been the dad of six younger
siblings.
I
made it my resolve to never give up. After 398 rejections I finally got my
first novel published and this spring I’ve got the fourth being released.
The
motto of this story is I never, never eat pink Smarties. I’ve got all the pink
Smarties, I’ve never ate on my desk. Well, it’s only one, but I was more of a M-and-M
fan most of my life. And it’s actually a brown Smartie spray painted pink. But
there’s no website devoted to brown ones so I painted it pink one day. Don’t
believe me go to this website.
You think if people wanted to get
married over pink ones and worship them, then you just can’t go eating them
willy-nilly. So, I’ve got another book
to write, but before I go my intentions are to lay that pink Smartie on my
sister’s gravesite in Beaverlodge one day and say “hi, saved something special
for you.” I think she’d like that.
Sincerely
Frank Talaber
Frank Talaber’s Writing
Style? He usually responds with: Mix Dan Millman (Way of The Peaceful Warrior)
with Charles De Lint (Moonheart) and throw in a mad scattering of Tom Robbins
(Even Cowgirls Get The Blues).
PS: He’s better looking than Stephen King (Carrie, The Stand, It, The Shining) and his romantic stuff will have you gasping quicker than Robert James Waller (Bridges Of Madison County).
PS: He’s better looking than Stephen King (Carrie, The Stand, It, The Shining) and his romantic stuff will have you gasping quicker than Robert James Waller (Bridges Of Madison County).
Or as is often said: You
don’t have to be mad to be a writer, but it sure helps.
Writer by soul. Words born within.
Karma the seed. Paper the medium.
Pen the muse. Novels the fire.
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Coming in February 2017, Thunderbird's Wake
A
penitentiary is a dangerous place and into the world of the criminal enters a
saint. Well, bearing rattles and guardian beasts, the native born find him a
saint. To the rest he's more nuts than a squirrels winter stash. There's a god
asleep, awakening. Humans that seek justice and a sprite that needs justice
from humanity.
So what makes you want to break into
one? You can ask Charlie, but he ain't telling. And if he did you wouldn't
believe it in a dozen lifetimes. Come enter, the madness this spring
Endorsements for the upcoming Book
There are many aspects true to First
Nation’s beliefs. For example the transformation of animals and anomalies
within our realm. Frank Talaber’s writing is clear and concise, leaving no grey
areas. But his true talent as a writer is not only a sense of time, history and
capturing First Nation’s humor, but going from the real to the surreal and the supernatural.
A gift he plies very well.
Tom Patterson
Nuu-Cha-Nulth Artist and Master
Carver
Just when I was beginning to wonder
where the next great Canadian story teller would emerge from, Frank Talaber has
written a modern crime mystery with a twist. In “Thunderbird’s Wake” Talaber
weaves the richness of Canada’s west coast aboriginal spirituality into the
science of modern forensics. CSI comes to Haida Gwaii as the shaman and the
detective conduct an investigation that will take them and the reader on a
journey to a place where murder, redemption and ancient mysticism intersect.
Michael G de Jong, QC
Minister of Finance, Government House
Leader,
Province of British Columbia
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