Ray Robertson and Kathleen Winter win some Local Accolades

Ray Robertson and Kathleen Winter have received some nice local love from local Windsor monthly rags The Urbanite and The Independent.

In The Independent, Vanessa Shields, author of the recently released poetry collection I Am That Women (which we carry in the bookshop shop), praised Robertson's I Was There The Night He Died. Here's a taste:

Reading a Ray Robertson novel is an education - in stellar creative writing, in human emotion at its raw and honest best, in the underbelly of music, the part that connects us, and in holding up mirrors - between the best and worst parts of the characters as we journey with them because we want to...Therein lies the power of Robertson's writing abilities. His characters know themselves well-enough that readers can latch on, even if the knowing is that the character is a lost, heart-broken soul himself latching onto whatever he can in order to get up and face another day. It takes balls to write with such grace and honesty. 

The full review can be found in the September issue of the Independent, as can a wonderful piece titled "Bookshop Blossoms" about our 10th anniversary, eloquently written by local maverick and underground scene kingpin Bob Smith.

Meanwhile, in the September 10th-23rd issue of The Urbanite, Loren Mastracci showed some love to Kathleen Winter's The Freedom in American Songs, giving the new collection by the award-winning author of Annabel 4 out of 5 stars. She says:

The stories are densely packed with effective fictional anecdotes in the form of improbable dialogues or interesting encounters. They recount the bizarre yet cunning stories of several average individuals, who live their everyday life under Winter's unabridged lenses. 

 Thanks to Loren and Vanessa!