Sunday, 14 October 2018

The Miramichi Reader with James Fisher




Our guest this week is James Fisher of Miramichi, New Brunswick. 






Those of us that know James, know how much he loves to read. He also enjoys sharing his thoughts about the books he reads (both fiction and non-fiction) and is the owner of the splendid review website – The Miramichi Reader.

Visit his website here.
     


He is kind enough to participate in a 4Q Interview.




I was born in Kingston Ontario. After finishing high school there and loafing around at various jobs, I met the woman who is now my wife (of 31 years) who encouraged me to get a career. So I did. I am a Medical Radiation Technologist as well as an MRI Technologist. After living and working in Toronto for about twenty years we chose to move to the east coast to Miramichi where I work at the Miramichi Regional Hospital.






4Q: How did the Miramichi Reader begin James.



JF: It began at the lunch table at work one day, almost four years ago now. A fellow technologist and one of our radiologists were at the table and since we are all "friends" on Goodreads, it was suggested that I start a book review blog since they enjoyed reading the short reviews I would post at Goodreads. This was all the encouragement I needed since I had recently closed down my Microsoft Windows support blog I ran for many years. Windows had become more and more user-friendly over the years and I had no interest in the ins and outs of an operting system any longer. I always enjoyed reading book reviews and I thought that would be a great job: reading and writing about books! I have tried to focus on Atlantic Canadian authors and publishers, but I have strayed into Quebec (there's some great English-language translations of contemporary Quebec French novels coming out now) and Ontario.



4Q: On your website you’ve created The Very Best Book Awards. How did this come about and tell us briefly about this years winners.



JF: Initially, I created them as a tongue-in-cheek take-off on certain national book awards, which - while important to the industry - rarely, if ever acknowledge books from small press publishers or even self-published authors. There's no big-budget publicity department to get their books out into the wild, so to speak. I felt I could do my part for these authors and publishers by instituting my own little award.
This year's winners were fortunate: I actually had a little gift for them! A small Miramichi business that makes soap and candles generously supplied the award in the form of a small book with a bar of "Miramichi Sunrise" inside.
As for this year's winners, I had to narrow it down to three categories: Best Fiction, Best Non-Fiction and Best New Book (Fiction or Non-fiction). There were also "Notable Achievement" winners, one in each category.
The three main winners were: Catherine Graham for her novel (her first): Quarry, Melanie Grondin for Best First Book for her book on the life of stained glass artist Guido Nincheri, and Lorri Nielsen Glenn for her memoir Following the River (Best Non-Fiction).



4Q: Please share a childhood anecdote or memory.



JF: I suppose my best book-related memories are of my parents' instilling the love of reading in me. They would always be going to the library to get a book to read, but they only ever read in bed. Dad was for westerns, Mom for mysteries. I've always read, from Kindergarten on. In the public school I attended, they would take us to the library once a month, on a Friday, to hear the librarian read a story. The library, although just a small branch one, was a magical place.



4Q: How does The Miramichi Reader decide which books to review? Can you be contacted by authors to have their book reviewed?


JF: Sometimes I pick the books, other times the publishers will send books they want me to review. I have sought out small publishers and contacted them. They are always eager to have their books reviewed, I have found. The same with authors who contact me (via my Contact page). While I may not accept fiction books from time to time (due to a large TBR stack) I do encourage authors to at least contact me, even if I cannot get to their books in a timely manner. 




4Q: Any last thoughts you want to share?



JF: I am so thankful for the all the wonderful authors, publicists and publishers I have met over The Miramichi Reader's brief existence. They have been generous with their books, their time and their social media support. It makes it all worthwhile to hear an author or a small press publisher tell you how much they appreciate my reviews. It has also been encouraging to have some of my reviews quoted in print form, too.



As well as the website URL above, you can find James at these links;






Thank you James for being our guest this week.



The Miramichi Reader’s review of Wall of War - michireader.ca/2018/01/wall-of-war-drake-alexander/http://mira





101 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. My pleasure James. Glad to have you as this week's guest.

      Delete
  2. Hi Allan,
    thank you for posting and giving us a glimpse behind the scenes of the Miramichi Reader. I'm just starting to learn more and more about the different bloggers in the region/province. It's amazing what you and the others do to help authors and to expose local writing.
    Keep it going.

    Steve

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words Steve. Glad you visited. We are al in the same boat and can use whatever exposure we can get. Glad to have James here as well. He's a very cool guy.

      Delete
  3. My developer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
    I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses.

    But he's tryiong none the less. I've been using WordPress on various websites for about
    a year and am anxious about switching to another platform.
    I have heard great things about blogengine.net.

    Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it?
    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment. Not sure how to help you with that. Good luck.

      Delete
  4. Unquestionably imagine that that you stated. Your favourite reason seemed to be at the net the
    easiest factor to keep in mind of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed whilst folks consider issues that they just do not understand about.
    You managed to hit the nail upon the top as neatly as outlined out the entire thing with no need side effect , people can take a signal.
    Will probably be again to get more. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment.

      Delete
  5. I just like the valuable info you provide for your articles.
    I will bookmark your weblog and take a look at once more here
    regularly. I am slightly sure I will learn plenty of new stuff proper right here!
    Good luck for the next!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment.

      Delete
  6. Thank you for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment.

    ReplyDelete
  7. To follow up on the update of this issue on your web page and would want to let you know how much I
    prized the time you took to generate this handy post.
    In the post, you actually spoke on how to definitely handle
    this concern with all convenience. It would be my own pleasure to collect some more tips from your site and come up to offer other folks what I have
    benefited from you. I appreciate your usual good effort.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. Have a great day.

      Delete
  8. Hi there, I want to subscribe for this website to take most
    up-to-date updates, thus where can i do it please assist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting and for leaving a comment. Please go to the top left sidebar and you can subscribe to the Scribbler.

      Delete
  9. Some truly interesting details you have written.Helped me a lot, just what I was searching for
    :D.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I adore meeting useful info, this post has got me even more info!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I enjoy your writing style really loving this site.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I dugg some of you post as I thought they were extremely helpful very helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey There. I discovered your blog using msn. This is a really
    well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to learn more of your useful info.
    Thanks for the post. I will definitely return.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment.

      Delete
  15. Good - I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your site.
    I had no trouble navigating through all tabs and related information ended up being truly easy to do to access.
    I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all.

    Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or something,
    web site theme . a tones way for your customer to communicate.
    Nice task.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment.

      Delete
  16. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great post over again. I am looking forward for more updates:
    )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment.

      Delete

  18. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hola! I've been following your site for a long time now
    and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give
    you a shout out from Huffman Texas! Just wanted to mention keep up the
    good job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello in Huffman! Thanks so much for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment. Hope you'll be back.

      Delete
  20. Unquestionably consider that which you said. Your favorite reason seemed to be at the internet the simplest thing to have in mind of.
    I say to you, I definitely get annoyed whilst folks
    consider issues that they just don't know about. You managed to hit the
    nail upon the highest as neatly as defined out the entire thing
    without having side-effects , other folks could take a signal.

    Will probably be again to get more. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment. Hope you'll be back.

      Delete
  21. Thanks for visiting. Not sure about plugins but use a strong password and change it often. That's the best bet against hackers.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Very nice layout and good subject matter, very little
    else we require :D.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thank you for the nice comment and for visiting the Scribbler.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Thank you for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I really value your work, Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks to my father who informed me on the topic of this web site, this webpage is genuinely amazing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the nice comment and send a thank you to your father. Glad you stopped in for a visit.

      Delete
  27. I'm really inspired with your writing abilities as smartly as with the layout to your weblog.
    Is this a paid theme or did you customize it your self?

    Anyway keep up the nice high quality writing, it's uncommon to peer a nice blog like this one today..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting and the nice comment. This is a free site and I did the design. Blogger.com

      Delete
  28. Thank you stopping by and leaving a nice comment.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thank you stopping by and leaving a nice comment.

    ReplyDelete
  30. You really make it seem really easy together with your presentation but I to find this topic to be actually something
    which I think I would by no means understand. It seems too complex and very wide for me.

    I am having a look ahead in your subsequent put up, I will try to get the grasp of it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment. Hope you'll be back again.

      Delete
  31. Great beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your website,
    how can i subscribe for a blog website? The account aided me a acceptable deal.
    I had been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear idea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment. Go to Blogger.com and it's free. Hope you'll be back again.

      Delete
  32. You are a very bright individual!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and for leaving a comment. Glad you enjoyed the content.

      Delete
  33. I was looking through some of your content on this site and
    I think this web site is very informative!
    Retain posting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and for leaving a comment. Glad you enjoyed the content.

      Delete
  34. We wish to thank you just as before for the wonderful
    ideas you gave Jeremy when preparing a post-graduate research
    plus, most importantly, pertaining to providing the
    many ideas in a single blog post. If we had been aware of your web page a
    year ago, we would have been rescued from the unnecessary measures we were participating in. Thank you very much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the visit and for leaving a comment. Hope you'll be back.

      Delete
  35. I have been browsing online greater than three hours
    nowadays, but I never discovered any interesting article like yours.
    It's pretty value enough for me. Personally, if all webmasters and bloggers
    made excellent content material as you probably did, the net might be a lot more useful than ever before.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the visit and for leaving a comment. Hope you'll be back.

      Delete
  36. Thank you for visiting the Scribbler and for leaving a comment. No problems so far. Try blogger.com. It's free. Please drop by again.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Informativo , totalmente que eu precisava .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obrigado por visitar e deixar um comentário agradável.

      Delete
  38. Hi, I check your new stuff like every week. Your writing
    style is awesome, keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Thanks for visiting and leaving a nice comment. Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  40. This is the right website for anybody who would like to understand this topic.

    You understand a whole lot its almost hard to argue with
    you (not that I really will need to...HaHa). You certainly put a
    brand new spin on a subject that's been discussed for years.
    Great stuff, just wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to visit the Scribbler and for leaving a comment.

      Delete
  41. Hey there, You have performed an excellent job. I'll certainly digg it and personally recommend to my
    friends. I'm sure they will be benefited from this web
    site.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to visit the Scribbler and for leaving a comment, and for telling your friends.

      Delete
  42. Thank you for taking the time to visit the Scribbler and for leaving a comment. Hope you'll be back.

    ReplyDelete
  43. magnificent issues altogether, you just won a logo new reader.
    What may you recommend in regards to your publish that you just
    made a few days ago? Any sure?

    ReplyDelete
  44. Thanks you for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I do not even know how I ended up right here, but I believed this post was once good.
    I don't understand who you might be but certainly you're going to a famous blogger if you are not already.
    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment. Hope you'll be back.

      Delete
  46. I don't know whether it's just me or if perhaps everyone else experiencing issues
    with your blog. It appears as if some of the text in your posts are running
    off the screen. Can somebody else please provide feedback
    and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This may be a problem with
    my web browser because I've had this happen before. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and leaving a comment. I hear that comment sometimes and all is good on my end. It might be your browser. Hope you'll be back.

      Delete
  47. Thank you for the comment and for visiting the Scribbler.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Good blog you've got here.. It?s hard to find quality writing like yours these days.
    I honestly appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by the Scribbler and for leaving a comment.

      Delete
  49. I like the valuable info you supply for your articles.
    I'll bookmark your blog and take a look at once more here regularly.
    I am slightly certain I will be told lots of new stuff proper right here!

    Good luck for the following!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by the Scribbler and for leaving a comment.

      Delete
  50. You got a very superb website, Gladiolus I noticed it through yahoo.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I use blogger.com and designed it myself. Free & Easy.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Hi there! I'm at work browsing your blog from my new iphone 3gs!
    Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to
    all your posts! Keep up the excellent work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and for leaving a comment. Glad you like it.

      Delete
  54. you are in point of fact a good webmaster. The site loading velocity is incredible.
    It sort of feels that you are doing any distinctive trick.

    Furthermore, The contents are masterwork. you have done a great job in this
    matter!

    ReplyDelete
  55. This text is priceless. Where can I find out more?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. Glad you like it. Go to - https://miramichireader.ca/

      Delete
  56. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. Glad you like it.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Fabulous, what a web site it is! This website gives valuable information to us,
    keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Thanks for stopping by. Glad you like it.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Hi! I've been following your web site for a
    long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from New Caney Texas!
    Just wanted to mention keep up the great job!

    ReplyDelete
  60. Hello there in Texas. Thank you for visiting the Scribbler and for leaving a comment.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Hello, of course this article is in fact good and I have
    learned lot of things from it regarding blogging. thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting the Scribbler and for leaving a comment

      Delete
  62. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the nice comment and for visiting the Scribbler.

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.