The Concrete Giant, by J.C. Kavanagh

 

The award-winning trilogy, The Twisted Climb
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It's heralded as one of the top attractions in Canada and identified as one of the seven modern wonders of the world. Built to service communication needs and later, the city's tourism industry, Toronto's CN Tower, (Canada's National Tower), took just three years to build at a cost of $63 million Canadian dollars. Construction began in February 1973 and continued through each Canadian season, opening in June 1976. The final height is a dizzying 553.3 metres (1,815.3 feet) which includes the broadcast antenna portion of 96.1 metres (315 feet).

Me proving once again that taking a 'selfie' involves very little of 'self.'

There are no specific, numbered floors until you get to approximately 1,100 feet. That's when you're on the first of eight floors, with the top floor at almost 1500 feet. On these levels you will find several observation areas, including the fear-factor-inducing Edgewalk. At this point, 356 metres (1,168 feet), you are in the open air, harnessed to a steel bar above, and free to 'walk the circle' of the tower. You'll also find the Top of Toronto restaurant, billed as the tallest restaurant in the world. Here, views of the city are not limited to where you're seated: the restaurant completes a full revolution every 72 minutes.

For thrill-seekers, strap yourself to the Edgewalk on top of the main pod.
(Photo by Sergiu Dumitriu @wikimedia.org)
Would you do this?

Futuristic, science-fiction like photo of the CN Tower main pod under construction, 1975.
Photo by Robert Taylor, (Bobolink) @wikimedia.org

The engineers who designed the CN Tower originally called for a super-crane to raise the communications antennae up to the top. However, when a Sikorsky helicopter from a civilian operator became available, the 36 antennae pieces were lifted and positioned during a period of three and a half weeks, saving over six months of construction time.

Skycrane helicopter 'Olga' lifting one of 36 antenna segments, March 1975. 
(Photo by WikiPedant @wikimedia.org)

CN Tower is the 3rd highest freestanding tower in the world.

For 32 years (1975 to 2005), Toronto's CN Tower was recognized as the tallest freestanding structure in the world. With dozens of towers/buildings/structures vying the for this prestigious honour, the Guinness Book of World Records re-defined the definitions of 'tower,' 'free-standing,' and 'building.' In 2009, China's Canton Tower took the top honour of freestanding tower at 604 metres or 1,982 feet. Two years later, Japan's Tokyo Skytree became the tallest tower at 634 metres or 2,081 feet.

How many times will lightning strike?

According to the CN Tower's website, pictured above, lightning strikes the tower approximately 75 times a year. The metal components of the antennae attract lightning, so the engineers incorporated multiple copper strips into the structure, running from the top of the tower to the bottom. Because copper conducts electricity so thoroughly, the electricity that's generated from the lightning is drawn down the copper strips to the grounding rods buried below the tower. As a result, lightning strikes are safely and effectively discharged into the ground.

Visiting the CN Tower is a 'must' for anyone travelling to Toronto. If heights aren't your thing, there's always something happening at the Scotiabank Arena, or the Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome) and Ripley's Aquarium which is at the Tower's base. All within walking distance!

Below are the many faces of the iconic CN Tower (Photo credit: J.C. Kavanagh)

Until next time, 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)
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
Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)
Instagram @authorjckavanagh

February New Releases by BWL Publishing Inc.

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1692 And All That...

 

Find my books here

I'm so happy that my new novel in the Canadian Mystery series with my co-author Jude Pittman is coming out next month! What do you think of the cover? I think this series is a fine way to learn more about Canadian history, province by province, while engaging in great stories and tacky mysteries to solve, along with resourceful amateur and professional detectives.

Our assignment was Newfoundland-- an island I've admired since seeing the enchanting musical "Come From Away." Since I'm a New Englander, a place with historic ties to Newfoundland in the colonial period, Jude and I decided to link the province's vibrant cod fishing trade to that of Salem, Massachusetts. And what was happening in 1692-93 Salem? You know it-- a witch hunt.

That got our creative juices flowing! 

Then of course, came research and lots of it. I have not set a novel this far back in time, so I thought I share some of our research that I found fascinating...

Did you know....

* That most witch hunts took place, not in the so called "Dark Ages" or medieval times, but in the period of the Renaissance?

*That there was a secret alliance between England and France that left Newfoundland's settlements vulnerable to attack during King William's War?

*That the delightful puffins of Newfoundland did not get their name until 1760? So in Spectral Evidence we needed Newfoundlanders to call them sea parrots!  

Puffin (Sea Parrot)

*That the First Peoples of Newfoundland, the Beothuk, were declared "extinct" by the 1820s, but their friends the Mi'kmaq disputed the claim. Genetic evidence have proven them right.

The Beothuk of Newfoundland

*That there are "easter eggs" in Spectral Evidence that fans of Star Trek might enjoy?

What??? Oh, yes, make it so!

 

Romantic Subplots are Fun

 

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I don't write romance novels, but most of my mystery and suspense books have romantic subplots. This shouldn't be surprising since I love Jane Austen's novels, which always centre on romance. A few years ago, while visiting my friend Barb in the UK, we went to Jane Austen's home in Chawton and dressed in costumes of the times. 

Jane Austen had the romance formula down pat - keep the lovers in conflict and separated through the story until the end, when they realize they are right for each other. Their conflict and separation can be caused by external problems (family objections, war, geography) and/or internal flaws.  

In my first novel, A Deadly Fall, my heroine/sleuth Paula struggles with both types of problems. She falls for a man who is a suspect and she's committed to a boyfriend (two external impediments). Internally, she's burned from her recent divorce. As the story progresses, Paula learns she must take risks to find love again. 

In book # 4 of the series, Paula and her current boyfriend are stranded on different continents due to the COVID-19 world shutdown. Their separation challenges their relationship. But the novel's greater romantic subplot belongs to Detective Mike Vincelli, a secondary narrator. Mike is attracted to a coworker, but his fear of failure and reluctance to shake up his comfortable life conflict with his desire to make their involvement personal.

Typically the romantic subplot reflects the protagonist's personal journey in stories that are primarily about other things--finding the treasure, defeating an enemy army, solving a murder. While navigating romantic entanglements, heroes and heroines learn the lessons they need to resolve their problems.    

My current mystery-novel-in-progress, A Killer Whisky, has two romantic subplots. The main one features my two story narrators, Katharine, who witnesses a suspicious death, and Bertram, the detective investigating the case. The story is set in 1918, during the last days of WWI. Katharine's loyalty to her husband fighting in France clashes with her attraction to the attentive detective. Bertram's obstacles are largely internal--he can't move past the deaths of his wife and son. Through the story events, Katharine and Bertram must discover what they want in life and from each other after the war is over.  

A Killer Whisky's second romantic subplot involves two suspects, who are non-viewpoint narrators. Their romance fuels the murder investigation plotline. I find their relationship fun and am curious to see how their romantic subplot works out.

Or doesn't work out.  

When romance is merely a subplot, it doesn't have to follow the romance novel tradition of bringing the lovers together in the end. Actually, my impression is that romance novels today don't require this either. I can't think of book example that breaks the rule but a successful romantic comedy movie springs to mind ** spoiler alert ** My Best Friend's Wedding.

Whatever your current real-life romantic journey -- Happy Valentine's Day! 

 

         Me in Puerto Vallarta with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Their grand romance had numerous ups and downs that captured the world's imagination.  

             

Winter Walking by Karla Stover

 

 FIND KARLA'S BOOKS HERE

By the Same Author:

A Line to Murder

Murder: When One Isn't Enough

Wynter's Way

Parlor Girls

 

 

The roast is in the oven, the potatoes are peeled, and the dog and I are hiking in the woods. Winter-woods walking is different from summer hiking. For one thing, it’s easier to see the dead leaves, twigs, plant stalks, and animal droppings which nature is gradually turning into rich, forest compost. Unexpectedly I spot a lone oak leaf carried by the wind clear from the other end of the county where they’re native. However, mostly our trail is covered with maple leaves, many still retaining their color. As a child, I ironed maple leaves with wax paper to help them retain their beauty. Four years ago, University of Washington scientists got a grant to check the possibility of tapping big leaf maples here for syrup. Two good reasons to love them. Watch out Vermont.

After drying up in summer heat, moss has returned, thanks to recent rain. Moss has been used for everything from surgical dressings by World War 1 doctors, to diapers by Native Americans. It’s a lovely contrast to gray-green bits of fallen lichen. I’m worried, though, because where I walk, moss is losing a competition to a ground cover I’ve been unable to identify.

The dog chases a squirrel into a cluster of Oregon Grape. Both the Indians and the pioneers used it for medicine, food, and dye. But where we’re walking, there’s more salal than Oregon grape. Salal has sticky berries which, when very young, I used to put on my earlobes. The Indians were more practical, turning the berries into cakes, or drying them to treat indigestion, colic and diarrhea, and respiratory diseases such as colds or tuberculosis. I’ve had salal berry pie; it’s very dense. Not to ignore the Oregon grape, though. It also had its uses, mainly to fight parasites and viruses.

The woods have lots of green, my favorite color. Sword ferns snuggle against Douglas firs which the Salish Indians used to ward off ghosts. When we bought our house, there was a copse of all these natives but it lacked two types of trees: cedars, which I brought in, and madrona which are notoriously difficult to propagate. My family had a number of elderly Indian friends who told me their women used madrona’s orange berries to make necklaces and various decorations. I recently learned that once dried, the berries have hooked barbs which latch onto animals for migration. How cool is that? Along our forest trail, the madrona’s peely-ochre trunks stand out among the green.

Eventually, my dog and I break out of the trees and into a clearing where we pass a spread of the ground cover, kinnikinnick. Before tobacco became the go-to plant for Old World smokers, they sought out the nearest patch of kinnikinnick, a word that actually means “smoking mixture. Some articles I’ve read claim it’s becoming endangered. And my hike is endangered, too. Sadly, the sight of it means our walk in the woods is over. So, back to the kitchen I go.