Volume One
Short stories by Ashleigh Rajala, Bretton Loney, Bridget Canning, Nellie P. Strowbridge, A. C. Diamanti, Eva S. David, Catherine A. MacKenzie, Manon Boudreau, Phil Yeats, Marion Iberg and Alexander E. Birkbeck
Quarter Castle Chronicles Volume One showcases 13 short stories by 12 Canadian authors. They take place in settings across the country, both in the present and the past. From the rugged coast of Newfoundland to the streets of Vancouver, we are flung to far off places like Romania and Swaffham Prior. The authors spin tales of life, survival, death and the realm beyond.
Quarter Castle Chronicles Volume One showcases the winning entries to Quarter Castle Publishing’s first short story writing contest. It also shares ten other entries in the contest worthy of being published.
Genre: Fiction-Short Stories-Mixture of Contemporary and History
Published: September 30, 2015
Available Formats
Paperback (ISBN: 978-1-927625-21-7; 135 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 inches) is available at
eBook (ISBN: 978-1-927625-22-4; 34,900 words) is available at
Meet the Authors
Birkbeck, Alexander E.
Alex Birkbeck trained as an analytical Industrial chemist at the Institute of Advanced Technology, Bradford, England. He worked for nine years at the Water Pollution Research Laboratory, Ministry of Environment in Stevenage, then emigrated to British Columbia in 1967 to work at BC Research as an environmental scientist consultant.
Alex has authored/coauthored some thirty odd technical papers pertaining to water supply and waste-water treatment, two patents. He served on the Board of directors and as executive of the Board of the Water Environment Federation 1989/91. Retired in 1997, he started writing life and fiction stories at the McKee House Seniors Centre in Ladner.
Boudreau, Manon
Manon was born and raised in Petit-Rocher, NB, a small town that borders the ocean. Some of her work is self-published and some published by traditional publishers. She enjoys writing children’s books and short stories. Lover of anything chocolate with a penchant for red wine, she loves writing and creating, especially for children.
Bretton Loney
Bretton Loney is a short story writer whose work has been published in three other short story anthologies, most recently Roseway Publishing’s Everything is So Political. His work has appeared in literary journals in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 2013 his short story Tommy’s Mother was one of 12 stories shortlisted for the Writers’ Union of Canada’s 20th annual Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers. This fall Bretton will release his first non-fiction book, Rebel With A Cause: The Doc Nikaido Story, a biography of the late Alberta physician Dr. Harry Nikaido. Bretton lives in Halifax, N.S. Website: http://www.brettonloney.com.
Canning, Bridget
Bridget Canning’s short stories, photos and poetry have been published in Galleon Magazine, Landwash, and Paragon Journal. This year, she was a winner in the short fiction category with the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Competition, and the manuscript for her novel, Impulse, received an honourable mention with the Atlantic Writing Competition. Recently, she was selected to apprentice with the Writers Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Mentorship Program. She lives in St. John’s, NL, with a loving boyfriend and an unpredictable cat.
David, Eva S.
Eva S. David is a freelance writer who lives and works in Toronto.
Diamanti, A. C.
A.C. Diamanti is a Canadian writer who writes from Woodbridge, Ontario. He has had stories and poems published in a number of magazines and journals including Whetstone, Storyteller, The Antigonish Review and The White Wall Review. Recently, his poetry appeared in an anthology entitled “MESS the hospital anthology” published by Tightrope Press and can be viewed online in the Feathertale Review at feathertale.com.
Iberg, Marion
Marion Iberg lives in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. “Officially” retired, Marion is a mother of three and grandmother of four. Ten years as an elementary school teacher, over thirty years as a dairy farmer and life experiences generate ideas for her recent hobby—writing. Several of Marion’s short stories and a poem have been published in magazines and anthologies.
MacKenzie, Catherine A.
Catherine A. MacKenzie escapes from her mundane world by writing poems and short fiction most women can relate to. Although she writes all genres, she enjoys veering toward the dark and situations men would not appreciate reading about.
Cathy has been published in print and online publications. She has self-published several short story collections, books of poetry and children’s picture books, available on Amazon and Smashwords.
Cathy also edits, formats, and publishes other authors’ works under her imprint, MacKenzie Publishing.
She lives with her husband in Fall River, Nova Scotia. The couple winters in Ajijic, Mexico, where her works have appeared in local publications. Her amazing, gorgeous grandchildren provide her much joy and inspiration.
Visit Cathy’s website: www.writingwicket.wordpress.com
Rajala, Ashleigh
Ashleigh Rajala has lived previous incarnations as bookseller, filmmaker, zinester and wayward traveller. Her recent publication credits include WomenArts Quarterly, Crab Fat Literary Magazine, Redwing and Room. She lives in New Westminster (with her husband and a very fluffy cat) and blogs (alone and often with whisky) at sandpaperblues.wordpress.com.
Strowbridge, Nellie P.
Nellie P. Strowbridge makes her home in Pasadena, Newfoundland’s crown of the Humber Valley. She is published across North America and Europe: essays, poetry and short stories in numerous anthologies, and is a many times award winner.
She is the author of Widdershins, Shadows of the Heart, Doors Held Ajar (tri-author with Isabel Brown and Peggy Krachun), Dancing on Ochre Sands (short-listed for the Newfoundland and Labrador E. J, Pratt Award, and Relit Long List 2005), Far from Home Dr Grenfell’s Little Orphan (a bestseller, short-listed for the Newfoundland & Labrador Historic and History Award 2006), The Gift of Christmas, The Newfoundland Tongue, Catherine Snow, Maiden from the Sea, and Ghost of the Southern Cross.
Among other things, she is working on a sequel to Catherine Snow. Learn more: nelliestrowbridge.com; @zyxpalmer; linkedin; Facebook.
Yeats, Phil
Phil Yeats is a retired scientist experimenting with creative writing. He lives with his wife of forty years in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has a keen interest in environmental science and dabbled in yachting and golf before turning to fiction. He is the author of seven published short stories and one poem. Several of these were written using the pen name Alan Kemister to keep a minimal degree of separation between his real science and the fictional variants in the stories. Phil is interested in both science fiction/dystopia and mystery genres. He is currently working on a mystery novel about a detective in a fictional town on Nova Scotia’s South Shore. More information about his writing projects is available at alkemi47.blogspot.com.
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