Latitude 46 Publishing launches 5 new books

This past week, a Sudbury-based publishing company celebrated the launch of five newbooks.

Latitude 46 Publishing focuses on northern Ontario authors and stories. CBC Morning North host Markus Schwabe sat down with each author.

A Matter of Willby Rod Carley

North Bay director, playwright, actor and author Rod Carley saidthe main character Will Crosswell is a composite of many people he's met in his life.

The novel tells the story of Crosswell's time at acting school in the 1970s. Carley said Crosswell is "like a wolf in wolf's clothing."

"He goes from one theatrical mishap to one other relationship mishap, a series of mishaps over and over again," he said.

"Finally, his fiance dumps him and he's forced to take a job on the bottom rung of the great chain of being he's a telemarketer. And all that goes bust."

Crosswell eventually hits rock bottom and ends up in AA Carley said. After that, the story takes a twist when Crosswell meets an unconventional minister and eventually enrols in divinity school.

Wolf Manby Suzanne Charron

In the early 1920s, a man named Joe Laflamme moved to Gogama, Ont. to transport lumber.

He was born in Quebec and had lost many of his sled dogs. While out trapping, Laflamme caught a wolf and decided to create his new pack.

"He went about not only working with his wolves as he was a showman, he also showed off his wolves," author Suzanne Charron said.

"He did carnivals and sportsman shows."

Charron extensively researched Laflamme and eventually wrote about him. This is the second edition of her book.

Wazzatby Roger Nash

In the 1970s, Canadian poet Al Purdy once told Sudbury's Roger Nash that good poetry should surprise the reader.

"What I'm trying to do when I'm writing is identify my own sense of 'wazzat' of wonder of the world around me, in Sudbury in particular," Nashsaid.

Nash's latest novel is a collection of verbal snapshots of experiences peoplecan have in Sudbury.

"About what it is like to cross a frozen lake at 40 below," he said. "Poems about gulls shifting in huge conferences from lake to lake, amongst our 300 lakes to have their important meetings which I assume gulls have."

This is Nash's 19th book.

River of Fire: Conflict and Survival Along the Seal Riverby Hap Wilson

What's it like to be a river guide on one of Canada's most dangerous whitewater rivers? Hap Wilson's book recounts his experience as a guide on the Manitoba river.

"There were several wildfires burning in northern Manitoba," he said. "After a few days, we ended up confronting a fire the size of Prince Edward Island."

The crew had to avoid the fire which was jumping back and forth across the river. Wilson saidthey also had to wrap wet bandanas on their faces to be able to breathe.

The trip was extra challenging Wilson said, as one person on it wasmildlysociopathic, and was putting the group in danger. The person lead the group into a life-threatening situation while navigating the boat.

"I had to make a decision whether or not to take this person's life because of the situation we were in,"Wilsonsaid.

"Having been faced with that ultimatum, you know, you can't shake those things off."

Wilson wouldn't tell CBC News what happened, but saidhe explains it in his book.

Surviving Stutthof: My father's memories behind the Death Gateby Liisa Kovala

Growing up, Liisa Kovala knew her father had experiencedsomething during World War II, but said she didn't really understand what had happened until she got older.

She eventually learned about her father's time in Stutthof, a concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Kovala saidit took a long time for her father to open up, but he eventually told her harrowing details of grueling work, starvation diets and abuse.

"There's so many times when I thought 'how could he have survived any of this?'" Kovalasaid. "There's so many moments where he just shouldn't have survived."