Postcards from the Wastelands

Rig Presented by Rising Tide Theatre

2012-01-20T12:42:00.000-08:00

Rig is a drama of misadventure and memory, a retelling of the loss of the Ocean Ranger, the maritime disaster that befell families and communities all over Newfoundland and Labrador. Opening in St. John's at the Basement Theatre on February 14, 2012, marking the 30th anniversary of the loss, Rig, an adaptation of Mike Heffernan's oral history of the Ocean Ranger, unfolds in the riveting and haunting voices of the families and co-workers, seamen and emergency responders,and industry executives and national journalists who found themselves on deck for the tragedy.

Venue

ACC St. John's Basement Theatre

Price

$20.00 Adults
$15.00 Seniors/Students

Tue Feb 14 2012 - 8:00 PM

Wed Feb 15 2012 - 8:00 PM

Thu Feb 16 2012 - 8:00 PM

Fri Feb 17 2012 - 8:00 PM

Sat Feb 18 2012 - 8:00 PM

Sun Feb 19 2012 - 8:00 PM

Reading: Words in Edgewise

2011-10-06T14:58:00.001-07:00

Next Thursday, I will be reading an excerpt from my forthcoming book The Other Side of Midnight: Taxi Cab Stories.

For more details, please see: Words in Edgewise.

The Other Side of Midnight: An Excerpt

2011-09-14T19:02:00.001-07:00

"A Hard Case: An Interview with Pat Francis, Taxi Driver" was published in the October 2010 issue of Our Times. Our times is available at most Chapters stores. You can also visit them here at Ourtimes.ca.

"For the most part, customers are pretty good. But there are about five percent that think the world owes them something." - Pat Francis.

Cabbie Conversations: An Interview on CBC'sThe St. John's Morning Show

2011-09-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Click the link to listen to an interview I did with The St. John's Morning Show's John Furlong: http://www.cbc.ca/thestjohnsmorningshow/episodes/2011/05/12/may-12-2011--cabbie-conversations/.

The Other Side of Midnight: A Preview

2011-09-14T18:27:00.001-07:00

The Other Side of Midnight: Taxi Cab Stories will explore the working lives of St. John's taxi drivers, as well as their thoughts and feelings about career and their clients. Every segment of our society utilizes their services, from the social elite to the social obsolete: businessmen, drug pushers, prostitutes and forlorn lovers. They are witnesses to the best and worst in all of us. They are trained listeners to troubled people, as well as cheerleaders and goodwill ambassadors. Individuals will emerge, as well as equally unique understandings of their working lives. Comical, absurd and often dramatic, many of their reminiscences will be of long hours and years on the job, their hopes and decayed dreams.

New Article: Riddle Fence #7

2011-04-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of Riddle Fence includes a new article, "The Culptit of Sorrow: Investigating the Murder of Dana Bradley." It's based on several interviews I conducted with former RCMP investigator Jack Lavers. In it he talks about the the nature of working homicide in a small town and the psychological trauma those cases often inflict on an investigator.

St. John's Presentation of Rig

2010-09-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Rising Tide Theatre presents (a dramatic reading) of Rig
Written by: Mike Heffernan
Adapted by: Joan Sullivan

On the night of February 15th, 1982, the Ocean Ranger, the rig they said they could never sink, toppled into the sea, creating one of the worst tragedies in Newfoundland’s history. There were no survivors. The whole province mourned. We were gripped in a sadness, an anger and a collective sense of pain. Mike Heffernan’s relative was on the rig that night. His book simply and eloquently, in the words of those affected most, captures the many facets of that terrible night and its aftermath. Joan Sullivan has edited his book with sensitivity and an eye to juxtaposition.
Basement Theatre

Sunday, October 3
Tickets: $16.00

Joan Sullivan Adapts Mike Heffernan’s Critically Acclaimed RIG

2010-06-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

Mike Heffernan, Salty Ink’s unofficial “Newfoundland Emerging Author of the Year,” released two books in 2009: he is was the man behind the great anthology Hard Ol’ Spot, featuring the likes of Michael Crummey and with a foreword by Kathleen Winter, in addition authouring Rig. If you haven’t yet heard of Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster, you should have. Hailed by Lisa Moore as “a powerful and important book,” and a recent nominee for the Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing, Rig is a stellar, well-crafted, sensitive, heart-wrenching oral history of the 1982 Ocean Ranger disaster — the worst maritime disaster since the Second World War. Heffernan approaches oral history masterfully, like the art form it is, with empathy, understanding, and professionalism. He is currently at work on a new oral history, sure to garner a great diversity of readers: The Other Side of Midnight: Taxi Cab Stories.

Writer, critic, editor, and playwright Joan Sullivan recently adapted Heffernan’s Rig, and Trinity’s very popular Rising Tide Theatre will be putting it off from July 3rd to September 11th. Salty Ink found the adaptation of Rig an interesting move, and certainly a great project. So I asked Joan about it.

Salty Ink: Adapting a work of non-fiction cannot be as straight forward as adapting a work of fiction. What were some of the challenges, and what about this book drew you to this challenge?

Joan Sullivan: I had been reading a lot of documentary theatre as part of some studies I’m engaged in at MUN (M. Phil program). I am really fascinated by works like “Talking to Terrorists” or “Stuff Happens” — these are also called “verbatim theatre,” as they are scripted/sculpted from interviews and research. When I read Rig, the voices were so powerful I knew it could work. My own challenge was to rearrange the words so the event unfolded chronologically. Mike Heffernan had done such a superb job with the interviews, they were already so crafted, so calibrated, that the play came together very quickly. In fact I feel in some ways as if it just passed through me, that I didn’t write anything at all.

~~~

And then I caught up with Mike himself.

Salty Ink: Tell us about the inspiration for the book, the process of collecting people’s stories and writing the book, and how great it must feel to have your first book adapted.

Mike Heffernan: I grew up with the Ocean Ranger disaster as part of my broader family history. My father’s cousins worked on the rig and in the Mobil office here in St. John’s. Ron Heffernan’s body was one of the twenty-two recovered. His story was kept alive by my mother. I wrote a short story about the rig, and realized there was next to nothing written on the disaster. I had studied oral history in university and my writing was going in that direction. I thought, Will anyone connected to the disaster even want to speak to me? I distinctly remember calling that first person and feeling a real sense of trepidation and anxiety. But I was lucky. I was only turned down twice during a process which lasted the better part of two years. Interviewees were open and honest and frank; most of the people I wanted to speak with, remarkably, still lived in St. John’s. It was emotionally exhausting. It weighed heavily on me to get the stories right, to be honest, while creating a work of creative non-fiction.

When I think back on my experiences, it’s as a participant. I sat in living rooms, kitchens, coffee shops and board rooms listening to people speak. Grief has a way of attaching itself to you, and I took those feelings home with me. They were often terribly upsetting. But to hear an actor speak those words will be something pretty special. I’ll be an observer this time. And theatre is a shared experience, not the sequestered experience of writing. I really don’t know how I’ll react.

I’m very grateful that Rising Tide Theatre picked up Joan Sullivan’s adaptation. Right from the start, I envisioned my book on the stage. I made some attempts with several other writers to create an adaptation, but with no experience in that area, felt doomed. That’s when Joan stepped.

Rig Debut: Rising Tide Theatre's Season in the Bight

2010-05-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Rig, July 11 - Sept 3
By Mike Heffernan / Adapted by Joan Sullivan

On the night of February 15th, 1982, the Ocean Ranger, the rig they said they could never sink, toppled into the sea, creating one of the worst tragedies in Newfoundland’s history. There were no survivors. The whole province mourned. We were gripped in a sadness, an anger and a collective sense of pain. His book simply and eloquently, in the words of those affected most, captures the many facets of that terrible night and its aftermath. Joan Sullivan has edited his book with sensitivity and an eye to juxtaposition.

Ticket Orders:

Trinity Box Office
Local Calls 464-3232
Toll Free 1-888-464-3377
Fax 1-709-464-2206
P.O Box 78, Trinity, T.B., NL, A0C 2S0
www.risingtidetheatre.com

Hard Ol Spot Review: Atlantic Books Today

2010-04-16T14:16:00.001-07:00

""Heffernan chose these stories well, there isn't a clunker among them. It's also a treat to discover new writers in the region, all skilled in the short story craft." - Sue Carter Flinn

Twelve Non-Fiction Books That Will Change the Way You View the World

2010-03-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

Voices from Chernobyl: An Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich

Hunting Humans: The Rise of the Modern Multiple Murderer by Elliot Leyton

Everything We Had: An oral History of the Vietnam War by Thirty-three American Soldiers Who Fought It by Al Santoli

Life With Billy by Brian Vallee

Unholy Orders: Tragedy at Mount Cashel by Michael Harris

The Blue Wall: Street Cops in Canada by Carsten Stroud

The Killing of Karen Silkwood: The Story Behind the Kerr-McGee Plutonium Case by Richard Rashke

Margin of Terror: A Reporter's Twenty-Year Odyssey Covering the Tragedies of the Air India Bombing by Salim Jiwa and Donald J. Hauka

All God's Children: The Bosket Family and teh American Tradition of Violence by Fox Butterfield

Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States by Helen Prejean

A Whale for the Killing by Farley Mowat

Burning Down the House: Fighting Fires and Losing Myself by Russell Wangersky

Everybody Knows: Daughter of American Finds Closure in Ocean Ranger Memorial Service

2010-03-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

MIKE HEFFERNAN
Special to The Telegram

For Michelle Donlon-Richburg, a South Carolinian who lost both her father and uncle in the Ocean Ranger disaster, attending the annual memorial service was like coming home. Each year, St. Pius X Parish commemorates the loss of the 84 men who died aboard the drill rig, which sank Feb. 15, 1982 during a severe weather storm 175 nautical miles east of St. John's. It was Canada's worst marine tragedy since the end of the Second World War and the annual memorial service is organized by a committee of students and faculty within Gonzaga High School. Five of the 56 Newfoundlanders who died in the disaster were alumni.

It is a solemn and quiet place for reflection and remembrance, a place where the families continue to come together to heal.

"I've always wanted to come here," Donlon-Richburg said after she reached St. John's. "Once I found out there was a monument, I told my mother that's where I wanted to go."

Thomas Donlan's body wasn't among the 22 recovered, leaving Donlon-Richburg wondering, searching to fill an emotional void. "We don't have a grave site. I tried to convince my mother to get a plaque to put in the cemetery with his name on it, but she kept saying he wasn't there. We have nowhere to go."

She remembers her father was a big man, kind and full of joy. People genuinely loved him. He often told her she was the smart one, special. "He was a good man," she said, "and sacrificed a lot for his family. I want people to know that."

Her father had decided to stay home from the rig that final trip to finish remodeling the kitchen, but changed his mind at the last minute. She often wonders what could have been.

The disaster received little attention in the United States, and Donlan's death was only a blurb on the local news. "No one there can relate, except for my family," she explained. "It's so different here. Everybody knows."

Many families, like Donlon's, didn't get the closure that comes with a funeral and burial. Twenty-eight years later, many of the connections and friendships born out of the disaster and the Ocean Ranger Families Foundation have faded. The memorial service and monument on Confederation Hill lets them know that the victims have not been forgotten. They are tangible links to the past. But for the families of the 15 Americans who perished, there was little communal support. After her uncle's funeral, Donlon-Richburg's extended family slowly drifted apart. She isn't quite sure why. "People grieve in different ways. But I don't think severing all ties was very healthy."

As a teenager, Donlon-Richburg struggled with coming to terms with her father's death, and it continued to haunt her into adulthood. "You can't get past it," she said. Her family was Catholic. Each week the children attended Sunday school. A statue of Mary sat on the family's front lawn. "I quit going to church. I had this terrible anger towards God," she explained.

Years later, deep-seated resentments lingered. "It kept us in the rut of grieving." At the dinner table, her father often talked about accidents and lifeboats which wouldn't lower. He said a company safety man had come out to the rig in January, but never checked anything. She was 12, the second of six children, and never understood the gravity of what her father was saying. "I'm his age now, and it makes me so mad. Why didn't they get those men off that rig?"

Two years ago, Donlon-Richburg contacted the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (CNLOPB). She spoke to public relations and was surprised by the response. "I told them the story, where I was from, that my dad and uncle were on the Ocean Ranger. They knew what I was talking about immediately."

"I don't know if this will make you feel better or not," Sean Kelly, manager of public relations, told her, "but I want you to know that there's not a soul here who doesn't care about what happened."

"I cried and cried and cried," she said. "He must've thought I was a crazy person. But I knew then my father hadn't been forgotten."

Until this year, it was impossible for her to make the trip. "I've been trying to get here for almost 30 years."

She said she had been searching for something: her father, answers, maybe.

"That's why I had to come here. My husband said, 'You're still not over it, Michelle.'"

On the 28th anniversary of Thomas Donlon's death, his daughter was there for the first time to hear his name read aloud with the other crewmen. She sat a few pews back, amongst the other families, and accepted a carnation on behalf of the school and the parish. "This has been the experience of my lifetime."

Later that day, she went to Signal Hill overlooking St. John's, to the ocean. She went to the memorial site where the eighty-four victims of the Ocean Ranger disaster are listed on a copper plate placed against a cedar wall. She traced her father's name on paper with chalk, for her family back in South Carolina. "He's here. I know that now," she said. "His memory is here. I've finally found closure."

Rig Shortlisted for Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing

2010-03-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

Of all the wonderful books produced by Atlantic Canadian authors and publishers, a considerable percentage are books of historical writing. To honour this characteristic of many of our region's best books, in 2009 the Atlantic Book Awards Society created the Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing and received an endowment from the Democracy 250 committee to fund the $2,000 annual prize.

This newly created book prize recognizes an author (or authors) who excels at illuminating the Atlantic region's vibrant history and acknowledges the work of the publisher who makes the book available.

Out Loud - Essays on Mental Illness, Stigma and Recovery

2010-02-17T07:12:00.000-08:00

My article "June, Forgotten" will be appearing in the upcoming book from Breakwater Books, Out Loud - Essays on Mental Illness, Stigma and Recovery.

From the publisher:

Out Loud is a collection of more than fifty essays by people affected by mental illness. There are essays by those who have experienced mental illness themselves, by family and friends, by community members, and by professionals who deal with mental illness. The voices here are ones of hope, pain, and honesty. The true meaning in this collection is found in the willingness of the essayists to step forward and share their experiences in hopes of lessening stigma and broadening the conversation about mental illness. Introduction by Ramona Dearing.

Remembering the Ocean Ranger Disaster

2010-02-14T13:46:00.000-08:00

Monday marks the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Ocean Ranger disaster. Of the eighty-four victims, fifty-six were Newfoundlanders.

Jim Dodd
Derek Escott
Cyril Greene
Derek Holden
Rick Sheppard
Frank Smit
Daniel Conway
Terrance Dwyer
Fred Harnum
Randy Noseworthy
John Pinhorn
Dennis Ryan
William Smith
Woodrow Warford
Tom Hatfield
Arthur Dagg
Kenneth Chafe
Gerald Clarke
Douglas Putt
Gary Crawford
Norman Halliday
Wayne Miller
Gord Mitchell
Perry Morrison
Greg Caines
Wayne Drake
Cliff Kuhl
Robert Wilson
David Chalmers
Robert Howell
Robert Fenez
Jack Jacobson
Robert Madden
George Augot
Nicholas Baldwin
Kenneth Blackmore
Thomas Blevins
David Boutcher
Wade Brinston
Paul Bursey
Norman Dawe
Thomas Donlon
Joseph Burry
Leon Droddy
William Dugas
Domenic Dyke
Andrew Evoy
Randell Ferguson
Ronald Foley
Melvin Freid
Carl Fry
George Grandy
Guy Garbeau
Regineld Gorum
Capt. Clarence Hauss
Ron Heffernan
Gregory Hickey
Robert Hicks
Albert Howell
Harold LeDrew
Robert LeDrew
Michael Maurice
Ralph Melendy
Ken O'Brien
Paschal Joesph O'Neill
George Palmer
Clyde Parsons
Donald Pieroway
Willie Powell
Gerald Power
Donald Rathbun
William Smith
Ted Staplton
Benjamin Kent Thompson
Craig Tilley
Gerald Vaughn
Michael Watkin
Robert Winsor
Stephen Winsor
Robert Arsenault
Darryl Reid
Greg Tiller

The Telegram: Review of Rig

2010-01-20T18:28:00.000-08:00

Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster
By Mike Heffernan
Creative Publishers
$19.95; 204 pages

By Robin McGrath

“Painfully sharp to the senses, deeply moving,” is how my dictionary defines “poignant,” and poignant is the word that came to mind when I read the last page and closed the cover of “Rig,” Mike Heffernan’s sensitive and sympathetic oral history of the Ocean Ranger disaster.

Every Newfoundlander has a story about the Ocean Ranger. I was living in Ontario in 1982, and I remember numbly thinking, as I ran down the list of the dead published in the Globe and Mail, that this is how my grandparents must have felt after Beaumont Hamel—the unreality of so many familiar names, the disbelief that this could have happened.

I read “Rig” in one sitting, spellbound by the varied accounts of co-workers, family members, journalists, and clergy. That night, I slept badly, haunted by dreams of the lost men. It’s been over twenty-five years, but the Ocean Ranger still has the power to conjure up a host of unresolved feelings: not just grief, but also loss of innocence, resentment of economic circumstances, and that curious Newfoundland nationalism that has survived our relinquishment of nationhood.

Oral histories are not nearly so easy to write as most people think. First of all, getting a good interview is a far more delicate matter than it seems, even when both parties are willing. Secondly, there is a tremendous amount of work involved—it take approximately ten hours to properly transcribe one hour of tape, and most of that will be unusable. Lastly, the editorial process is as difficult an art form as writing from scratch. You have to find and recognize the poetry, not just create it yourself.

Heffernan discovered the difficulties of oral history early—his first interviewee bailed on him and he began to wonder if even after twenty-five years, the memories were still too fresh and painful for the book he was proposing to write. Fortunately, he persisted and eventually gathered fifty interviews, from which he selected thirty five extracts of about five pages each.

Every one of Heffernan’s informants brings a unique perspective to the Ocean Ranger story, yet there’s something in each of them that we can all relate to. The wife of a search and rescue pilot begins her monologue with a description of a phone ringing in “the raw hours of the morning.” One of the lasting effects of the stress of his job on her is what she calls “a gentle form of battle fatigue.” Phrases like that really stick in your head.

“Rig” isn’t about facts, although clearly Heffernan has done the groundwork, read the Royal Commission’s findings and watched all the news reports. “Rig” is about the emotion that swept over everybody in the province in the weeks and years that followed the loss of the Ranger. It’s about the moment of panic when a young wife finds herself broke and alone with three or four kids, it’s about a brief glimpse of a familiar face under a tarp, a wedding band on a dead hand, it’s about all those searing, sharp, painful moments that follow disaster.

Lisa Moore calls “Rig” a “powerful and important book.” In the publishing industry, this is known as a “puff,” inflated praise to print on the cover. However, this is no puff—it is a serious and considered assessment of one of the best books I’ve read from this province in some time. Don’t let the sadness of the subject matter stop you buying “Rig.” It is a deeply satisfying read.

Chronicle Herald Review of Hard Ol' Spot: An Anthology of Atlantic Canadian Fiction

2009-12-21T17:59:00.000-08:00

Hard Ol’ Spot — An Anthology of Atlantic Canadian Fiction selected by Mike Heffernan (Killick Press, $19.95)

Selecting short stories for an anthology is a challenge. The content, the varying styles of the authors, it all must somehow "hang together" — make a whole. Mike Heffernan has walked this fine line well, and his new anthology, Hard Ol’ Spot, brings together a collection of stories that represents the best of Atlantic authors. Darren Whalen gives each story "a visual signature," his illustrations heading each story, sketching their essence.

These are stories about growing up and learning the hard way, about taking stands, and the Ocean Ranger. There is a quality to these stories that is uniquely Atlantic Canadian. They tell of the harshness of living in outport Newfoundland. They talk of resilience, and joy and dying, and throughout them, the Atlantic Ocean roars and simmers.

In six short pages, At Sea tells of a sailor suffering the deep misery of seasickness in raging seas. Don Roy somehow holds out hope, that a lifetime of poor choices and missed opportunities may still be redeemed.

Michael Crummey’s ability to place his readers inside his stories is remarkable. The Night Watchman tells of a company man, hired to walk the streets of Black Rock, to keep his employers informed of happenings in the night. And of Ellen, "although it’s only in (his) head that she’s part of the story at all."

But it is Winnie in Gerard Collin’s Hold Out who speaks loudest by saying very little at all. The town is beyond dying, and residents are being offered $50,000 to leave. Only trouble is, it’s all or nothing. And Winnie won’t leave her home and her memories behind.

A good anthology is a cause for excitement among lovers of short stories and Hard Ol’ Spot — An Anthology of Atlantic Canadian Fiction is no exception. Heffernan’s collection showcases Atlantic short fiction at its best.

Geist Magazine Review of Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster

2009-12-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

The book that popped into my mind last Sunday when I heard Rex Murphy announce Cross Country Checkup’s Christmas List of Good Reading was Lisa Moore’s February—a laugh-and-cry story about the widow of one of the men who went down on the Ocean Ranger and the most memorable book I read this year. Of course I didn’t phone in — who’s got time to sit on the end of a phone, get interrupted by Rex Murphy a couple of times during the call, and then be restricted to only one book? I would have had to try my darndest to slip in a mention of Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster by Mike Heffernan, which is the perfect companion to Moore’s novel. Heffernan has collected stories from friends, relations and workmates of the 84 men who died when the “unsinkable” oil drilling rig tipped over and sank in the North Atlantic in 1982. The stories are framed as monologues (as in “A Monologue on Things Not Looking Good,” “A Monologue About Getting a Break,” “A Monologue About Some Stuff Not Being True,” and “A Monologue About Looking and Looking and Looking”) and the distance of 25-odd years between the event and this collection means that the storytellers are able to contemplate the lasting effects of losing their sons, brothers, husbands, lovers or friends in an accident that could have been prevented, or at least mitigated, if everyone had not been chasing the almighty dollar. I couldn’t put it down.

Hard Ol' Spot Launch

2009-11-16T08:53:00.001-08:00

Word on the Street Reading

2009-09-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

The Word On The Street is a national celebration of literacy and the written word. On one extraordinary Sunday each September, in communities coast to coast, the public is invited to participate in hundreds of author events, presentations and workshops and to browse a marketplace that boasts the best selection of Canadian books and magazines you'll find anywhere. There is always plenty to see and do at Canada's largest book and magazine festival, and best of all, The Word On The Street and all of its events are FREE!

http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/

As part of the festival's disasters panel, I will be reading from Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster at 1:30PM. Robert Chaulk, author of Atlantic: The White Star Line's First Disaster, will be joining me.

Reading at 24 Hour Art Marathon

2009-08-16T11:14:00.001-07:00

This year it is 24 performances + 1 for our 25 years! Buskers, dance, music, spoken word, poetry, performance art, circus arts and more… and over 100 artists creating works open to the public for 24 hours!

I will be reading between 430-5PM.

Atlantic Author's Day Signing

2009-07-08T09:55:00.001-07:00

Saturday, July 11 is Atlantic Author Day. Visit your local bookstore for signings and events. Authors will be signing books all over Atlantic Canada. Check your local bookstore for details.

For more details please see the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association: http://www.atlanticpublishers.ca/

As part of Atlantic Authors Day, I will be signing copies of Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster at Chapters from 2-4PM.

CBC Radio: The Next Chapter

2009-06-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

Shelagh speaks with Lisa Moore about February, a novel set in the aftermath of the Ocean Ranger oil-rig tragedy off the coast of Newfoundland.

Also, Mike Heffernan speaks about his nonfiction book Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster.

In the second part of the show, Next Chapter producer Tom Howell reports back to Shelagh on the experience of reading Canadian poetry all season long, and the three Canadian nominees for this year's Griffin Prize talk about their work and ideas: that's A.F. Moritz, Jeramy Dodds, and Kevin Connolly.

http://www.cbc.ca/thenextchapter/

Halifax Reading

2009-06-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

Mike Heffernan offers a unique look at the sinking of the Ocean Ranger. This is a moving collection of first-hand accounts from former rig workers, victims’ families and rescue crew.

Thursday, June 11/7:00 pm

Alderney Gate Public Library
60 Alderney Drive
Dartmouth B2Y 4P8

Rig Launch: Speech

2009-05-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

Here's an excerpt from the speech I gave at the Rig launch which was followed up by a reading of the prologue, the story of the family mentioned below.

Just as the process was winding down, I received a call from a lady whose husband, a roughneck, had died in the disaster. She knew I was collecting stories but wanted to be able to commit to an interview before she contacted me. Her name was Cynthia. Immediately, what struck me was her love and concern for the wellbeing of her two children. “There were a lot of them who grew up without a father,” she said. “That’s the greatest tragedy of all.” For me, her story personified the shock and deep sense of loss which fractured the narratives of dozens of families. But unlike so many others, the brothers, the sisters, the wives and the parents, the young children of those eighty-four men weren’t robbed of what they had but of a future they could now never have.

CBC's The National: Sea of Grief

2009-03-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

Tragedy Stirs Memories of Rig Sinking

2009-03-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

Inquiry into 84 deaths off Newfoundland in '82 urged rescue chopper be kept near drilling site

Kenyon Wallace
STAFF REPORTER

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. – In the wake of last week's deadly helicopter crash, the echoes of another devastating tragedy to hit this sea-hardened province – the 1982 sinking of the Ocean Ranger offshore drilling rig – painfully reverberate.

"When I heard about the crash, it really brought me back to the Ocean Ranger," said Dave Russell, who was on the second-last helicopter to leave the doomed Grand Banks rig. "I sort of choked up and filled up. It was my crew that went down. I had changed crews just before she sank. I knew them all."

On the night of Feb. 14, 1982, the Ocean Ranger was drilling an exploration well for Mobil Oil in stormy seas about 270 kilometres east of St. John's. Crews reported waves as high as 19 metres and 190- km/h winds. Shortly after 7 p.m., radio conversations coming from the rig indicated it had suffered a broken porthole window and that water was inside the ballast control room. Soon after, crews noted the ballast control panel valves were opening and closing by themselves.

Just after midnight, the Ocean Ranger sent out a mayday and reported a severe list to the port side. The crew decided to abandon the rig in lifeboats, but by the time rescuers reached the scene at about 2:30 in the morning, those who managed to escape had succumbed to hypothermia and drowned.

By 3:13 a.m., the Ocean Ranger was gone. All 84 crew died. Only 22 bodies were recovered.

A two-year inquiry into the disaster found the Ocean Ranger had design and construction flaws and that workers on the rig were not equipped with adequate safety training or survival suits.

Russell, who worked as a roustabout on the rig, said the families of the 17 people killed when a Sikorsky S-92 ditched into the North Atlantic last week can expect to feel a variety of emotions in the coming weeks and months.

"They're going to go through the gamut of anger, depression, sadness, anxiety and everything to do with dealing with a sudden passing of a loved one and not knowing the reasons why they're gone."

The painstaking effort to collect the remains of the helicopter at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean took a major step forward yesterday with the recovery of the aircraft's "black box," a device expected to unlock the mystery behind the sudden crash of Cougar Flight 491.

The chopper's flight data and cockpit voice recorder were retrieved intact from the wreckage by an offshore supply ship and sent to Ottawa for analysis by the Transportation Safety Board.

Hours after the Atlantic Osprey vessel brought the final seven bodies of the 17 victims to port yesterday, it departed for the crash site and crews shifted their attention to determining what caused the crash.

Mike Heffernan, a St. John's writer whose cousin went down with the Ocean Ranger, told the Star Thursday's crash is a reminder of the risks facing those who make their living at sea.

"When the Hibernia oil field was discovered in 1979, there was so much hope and promise. Newfoundland had the largest unemployment rate per capita in the country, so getting a job on the Ocean Ranger was really the proverbial gold mine," he said. "When it sank, all of that hope and promise was dashed."

Questions about the time it took rescue choppers to reach the crash site last week have already been raised. At the time of the crash, three Cormorant helicopters usually stationed in Gander, Nfld., were being used in search-and-rescue training exercises near Sydney, N.S. By the time the first Cormorant arrived at the crash site, nearly two hours had passed since the distress call from the pilot was received.

Maj. Denis McGuire of the Joint Search and Rescue Centre told reporters last week he thinks the rescue choppers could have arrived an hour earlier if they had been stationed in Gander. And some Newfoundlanders want the military aircraft transferred permanently to St. John's to beef up search-and-rescue capabilities.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said yesterday it's not the right time to debate whether the helicopters should be moved. With a memorial service for the crash victims set for today in St. John's, those issues will have to wait, MacKay said in Shearwater, N.S.

The Royal Commission on the Ocean Ranger Marine Disaster recommended a full-time search-and- rescue-dedicated helicopter provided by either government or industry be stationed "at the airport nearest to ongoing offshore drilling operations, and that it be readily available with a trained crew able to perform all aspects of the rescue."

Former chief justice Alex Hickman, chair of the inquiry, said he wonders if there should have been at least one Cormorant left in Gander to deal with emergencies.

Search and Rescue: Royal Commissions's Recommendations

2009-03-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

There’s been a lot of talk about SAR (Search and Rescue) capabilities in the province, and a lot of misinformation. The Royal Commission recommended that there be twenty-four hour search and rescue capabilities ready to assist the Hibernia field. However, the main thrust of its recommendations was pointed towards SAREC (Search and Rescue Emergency Centre) and industry’s response and the upgrading of their equipment.

50. That the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax and the Search and Rescue Emergency Centre in St. John’s have available all relevant information with respect to offshore drilling operations on the continental shelf within their respective zones of responsibility that might be required in the event of a marine casualty.

53. That as a matter of urgent priority Canada complete its SARCUP program to upgrade existing SAR helicopters and obtain others capable of longer ranges with endurance for rescue missions offshore.

56. That there be required a full-time search and rescue dedicated helicopter, provided by either government or industry, fully equipped to search and rescue standards, stationed at the airport nearest to ongoing offshore drilling operations, and that it be readily available with a trained crew able to perform all aspects of rescue.

It Might Not Be the Ocean Ranger Disaster, But It Sure Feels Like 1982 All Over Again

2009-03-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Having spent so much time immersed in the tragedy of the Ocean Ranger disaster, I know something of what the families, friends and coworkers of the men and woman who were aboard the Cougar Sikorsky S-92 helicopter are going through and what lies ahead.

My heart goes out to them.

Rig Book Launch

2009-02-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

Bianca’s, 171 Water Street
Time: 7-9
Date: Thursday, March 12
Cash Bar. Refreshments served. Books available.

Rig Signings

2009-02-20T05:55:00.000-08:00

I will be signing copies of Rig at the following locations:

Saturday, February 21, 2-4PM @ Coles, Avalon Mall
Sunday, February 22, 2-4PM @ Costco, Stavanger Drive

Out of the Fog Interview

2009-02-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

February 15th marks the 27th anniversary of the sinking of the Ocean Ranger. The semi-submersible drill rig sank while drilling an exploration well in the Grand Banks area taking its entire crew of 84 men.

On February 19th join Paddy Daly and his guests Susan Dodd, Professor at Kings College and Mike Heffernan, author of "Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster", as they discuss the circumstances that lead to the tragedy, the measures taken since to prevent such a disaster from happening again and their personal stories of losing a loved one on that terrible night.

Rig Excerpts: CBC's The Morning Show Podcasts

2009-02-18T16:39:00.000-08:00

Sunday, February 15th marks the 27th anniversary of the sinking of the oil rig Ocean Ranger. We bring you readings from a new book that presents powerful and poignant memories from family, friends, and co-workers of some of the 84 men who died. Mike Heffernan calls his book "Rig: An Oral History Of The Ocean Ranger Disaster."

John Crowe was a crane operator who worked for ODECO. It owned the Ocean Ranger drill rig. http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/nlstjohnmorn_20090213_12172.mp3.

Gary Wall was a wireline operator for Schlumberger. It was one of the companies that had workers on the rig. He got an unscheduled helicopter trip off the Ranger after a small fire damaged his family home. http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/nlstjohnmorn_20090213_12173.mp3.

Cynthia lost her husband on the Ocean Ranger. http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/nlstjohnmorn_20090213_12174.mp3.

Wanda Frampton tended bar at the Chalet Lodge where a lot of the Ocean Ranger workers hung out. http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/nlstjohnmorn_20090213_12175.mp3.

Lloyd Major worked as a medic and standby radio operator with the rig's owners, ODECO. He knew everyone on the Ocean Ranger... so it became his job to help identify some of the bodies that were eventually recovered from the sea. http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/nlstjohnmorn_20090213_12177.mp3.

Oscar Heaney was a wireline operator with Schlumberger. It was one of the companies that had workers on the Ranger. http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/nlstjohnmorn_20090213_12178.mp3.

NL Radio Noon Podcast

2009-02-16T08:50:00.001-08:00

An interview with NL Radio Noon host Ramona Dearing. Included is a reading of Dave Russell's chapter "The Most Dangerous Part of the Rig" by the CBC's Dave Murphy.

http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/nlradionoon_20090213_11967.mp3

Book Signings

2009-02-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

I will be signing copies of Rig at the following locations:

Friday, February 6, 7-9PM @ Coles, Village Mall
Saturday, February 7, 2-4PM @ Chapters, Kenmount Road

Saturday, February 14, 330-530PM @ Coles, Avalon Mall
Sunday, February 15, 2-4PM @ Costco, Stavanger Drive

Ocean Ranger Voices

2009-01-23T04:33:00.000-08:00

TERRY ROBERTS
The Telegram

A new oral history of the Ocean Ranger disaster is based on interviews with those closely involved. This was a working class, blue-collar disaster,' says the author. I wanted those people to speak.'

A book that exposes the human and emotional costs of the 1982 Ocean Ranger disaster - and sent its young author on a heart-rending journey - will be in stores early next month.

"Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster," is not a history book. It doesn't seek to shine a new light on why the rig toppled and sank. It's about memory and raw emotion, and about informing a new generation about the indelible mark the disaster has left on our collective psyche, says author Mike Heffernan.

"It's a snapshot of people's lives, and what they went through because of the sinking of the Ocean Ranger," says Heffernan, 30, a resident of St. John's.

"Rig" is published by Creative Book Publishing, and is Heffernan's first non-fiction book. It's been two years in the making, and came about because of Heffernan's family connection to the Ocean Ranger. His father's first cousin, Ron Heffernan, died in the disaster, and his body was one of only 22 recovered.

"I wanted to know who he was. When Ron Heffernan died it didn't impact me in any way, but over time his death had a major influence on the direction I took my life," the author says.

Each chapter is based on an interview he did with either a rig worker, family member of a victim, emergency responder, priest, government official or news reporter. There are 36 in all. From those interviews, Heffernan wrote what he calls self-contained narratives, similar to a short story of roughly 2,000 words each.

In the days leading up to the 25th anniversary of the event, in February 2007, Heffernan wrote a short story about the disaster. After that, he became consumed by the incident and decided to do more.

"I didn't do this to sell books. I did this because I had to do it," he says.

Don't expect new revelations about the design and construction flaws that contributed to the sinking, or first-time accounts about the lack of proper safety training, survival suits and equipment. That's all been probed and highly publicized.

Instead, Heffernan wanted to put a human face on the tragedy, and sought to accomplish that by talking with people like Gary Wall, a wireline operator who left the Ocean Ranger the day before it sank.

"I got the 'why me?' syndrome," Walls says in a chapter called The 85th Man.

"I thought, 'Why wasn't I out there? How come I was so lucky and no one else was?' I still thank God every day for being alive."

There are heart-wrenching stories about wives who had their lives turned upside down, about children who became orphans, about mothers who fought for answers and justice, and former crewmembers who hated the working conditions, quietly living in fear for their safety, but carrying on because of the high wages.

Some spoke of being hired "off the street" without any formal training or experience, while others expressed disdain for the arrogance displayed by some of the Americans onboard the rig.

"They thought they were well over our heads," crane operator John Crowe stated.

Those who took part in futile rescue efforts also remain haunted by the images they witnessed.

"As we got closer, we started to come upon sparkles in the water. The realization then hit us that those were lifejackets and men floating just below the surface - dead," said Patrick Fahey, second mate aboard the Nordertor, a supply vessel on standby duty at another rig in the area that night.

Heffernan's research included nearly 50 interviews, but only those from the "working class" made it into the book.

"This was a working class, blue-collar disaster. I wanted those people to speak. I didn't wan the elites. I didn't want the (then-energy minister) Tom Marshalls and Alex Hickmans, the guy who headed the royal commission. They were the elites and I didn't want them in there. I wanted to speak to the emotional cost of this disaster to the community," he says.

At first, Heffernan was uncertain that people would want to dredge up the past. But he was pleasantly surprised.

"People were very receptive. They wanted to talk," he said.

In addition to interviews, Heffernan immersed himself in news coverage from the period. Eventually, it took an emotional toll.

"Grief has a way of attaching itself to people. As I went along and I was watching documentaries on the Ocean Ranger, I'd start to cry. I'd ask myself, why am I crying?"

He said the most difficult interview was with his second cousin, Elaine, Ron Heffernan's sister. They were living together at the time of the tragedy, and Elaine, a single mother, was devastated by her brother's death.

The experience has strengthened the bond between Heffernan and his five-year-old daughter, Anja.

"I think about the emotions my daughter would feel if I was stolen from her, because these guys were stolen from their families," he says.

Early Praise for Rig

2008-11-25T09:31:00.000-08:00

"Rig is a moving elegy for the 84 men who died on the Ocean Ranger and an indictment of the horrendous labour conditions that made the disaster inevitable. It is a very powerful and important book."
– Lisa Moore, author of Alligator and Open

Cover For Rig

2008-10-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

Here's the cover for my upcoming non-fiction book, Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster. Design by Darren Whalen; photo by former Evening Telegram photographer Dick Green.

Riddle Fence #2: Launch Party

2008-10-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

Join us for the launch of our second issue with readings by contributors, free food, and more fun than the average human being can stomach.

Where? The Ship Pub, Solomon’s Lane, St. John’s, Newfoundland

When? October 6, 2008 at 8PM

Why? Because, in fifteen years, when asked what you were doing during the launch of RF #2, it would be terribly sad to have to admit you were darning your socks in the night when there was nobody there

Read Exceprts from Rig

2008-07-09T14:56:00.001-07:00

Excerpts from Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster will appear in the next issues of NL Quarterly and Riddle Fence, entitled "Madhouse" and "The Longest Week."

http://www.newfoundlandquarterly.ca/

http://riddlefence.com/

Ferryland Lighthouse Reading Series

2008-06-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

2008 Ferryland Lighthouse Readings Series: Presented in partnership by Lighthouse Picnics and the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Ferryland Lighthouse Readings Series is a self-sustaining project that presents readings each June, July, and August. This year the series features:

Stan Dragland and Monica Kidd on Sunday, June 29
Paul Butler and Mike Heffernan on Sunday, July 13
Bernice Morgan and Sara Tilley on Sunday, August 31

All three readings events begin at 6 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include dinner, dessert, and readings (and most likely whales!). Tickets are reserved by calling (709) 363-7456.

VOCM News: Ocean Ranger Disaster Being Remembered

2008-02-14T06:49:00.001-08:00

Twenty six years ago this week, what one author calls the cadillac of ocean based oil rigs , sank in the Atlantic Ocean. Mike Heffernan, who lost a family member in the tragedy, is working on "Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster. Heffernan wants to bring to his generation's mind the impact the sinking of the Ocean Ranger had on the community. Gonzaga High School will hold the 26th. Anniversary Ocean Ranger Memorial Service at St. Pius the Tenth Church at 10:45 Friday morning. Heffernan says attending that Memorial Service is very important. He says anyone who can should attend the service or pause for a moment to remember the cost of prosperity to the community.

Remembering the Ranger: Forthcoming Book Shares Oral History of Offshore Disaster

2008-02-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

The Telegram, February 7, 2008.

By Danette Dooley

As the 26^th anniversary of the Ocean Ranger disaster approaches, a Newfoundland author who is writing a book on the rig is asking anyone directly involved or affected by the disaster to get in touch.

Mike Heffernan’s book, Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster, will be published in 2009 by Creative Book Publishers and will tell victims’ stories and examine how such events affect society.

“People my age have no concept of the impact that it had and most only know that it was a rig on the Grand Band that went down,” said the 30-year-old.

Heffernan was only four or five when what was often called “the world’s mightiest drilling rig” sank on the Grand Banks on Feb. 14, 1982, and 84 men lost their lives.

Among the victims was the man Heffernan called “Uncle Ron” – his dad’s first cousin, Ron Heffernan.

While Mike Heffernan was too young to remember the day of the disaster, the photo of a capsized lifeboat that he’s chosen for the book’s cover speaks volumes.

“I remember my father telling me that when he saw that on the news we knew it was the end. We knew Uncle Ron wasn’t coming back and that all the other guys were all dead, too,” he said.

As a graduate student at Memorial University, Heffernan studied oral history and became interested in telling the story of the Ocean Ranger.

His book includes diaries and letters written by victims and interviews with people from the Petroleum Directorate, Search and Rescue, Mobil Oil and others associated with the disaster.

The rig was under contract to Mobil Oil Canada when it sank.

“A lot of people with Mobil were from St. John’s even though they’re a company from the mainland,” Heffernan said. “A lot of them had friends on that rig.”

Heffernan thinks of the disaster as the death of a dream.

“In 1979, Hibernia was discovered and money was being spent,” he said. “We put all our hopes and dreams on this big Cadillac of rigs for getting us out of the hole. Then it went down.”

Heffernan’s book also includes photos from family collections that have never been published.

“I have some photos of that night form one of the supply ships,” he said. “You can see the name of the ship and this massive wall of black.”

The black was the massive waves that pounded the rig and caused it to sink.

He’s interested in hearing from victims’ families, men who worked on the Ranger, crews of the supply vessels, search and rescue, employees of Mobil and the New Orleans-based ODECO, clergy government officials and health-care professionals.

“It was such a dark week after Valentine’s Day and people should remember what the cost of prosperity is. Particularly, for these families, the cost was too high.”

Heffernan can be contacted by email at mike.heffernan@nf.sympatico.ca or by phone at 738-8083.

CBC Radio Interview

2008-01-31T12:43:00.000-08:00

I was recently interviewed by Ted Blades, host of CBC's daily program On The Go. We talked about my book on the Ocean Ranger disaster, the various stories I'm documenting and how I came to tackle the subject.

It airs Friday at 6:15. Check it out: http://www.cbc.ca/onthego/index.html.

On The Go has now been on the air for 30 years, bringing Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans stories from every nook, cranny and cove in the province.

Join us for a lively package of news, weather, interviews, mini-documentaries and the best in local music. We're on the air weekdays between 4:00 and 5:30 p.m. (NT) (half hour earlier in most of Labrador).

Ocean Ranger Article: The Current

2007-11-30T11:03:00.000-08:00

Local Author Plunges into Ocean Ranger Story, The Current V. 9, Issue 16

By Karla Hayward

http://www.currentmag.ca/issue.pdf

When it happened, there was an enormous amount of press dedicated to the tragedy of the Ocean Ranger. The shock and sadness felt by all Newfoundlanders was hard to express, try as we might. Then, it petered off, as all stories do. Not exactly forgotten, but certainly pushed to the rear of most minds and decidedly old news for the media.

For the families of those lost, however, the Ocean Ranger can never be anything but forefront and foremost of mind.

Mike Heffernan, a local researcher and editor, has begun the lengthy process of documenting personal stories. In fact, his cousin, Ron Heffernan, was one of 22 bodies that were found of the 84 men lost, 56 of which were Newfoundlanders. “Although I was only five at the time, I grew up with the story,” says Heffernan. “Unlike many people my age, knew what the Ocean Ranger was and what it meant to us.”

Like many big projects, Heffernan seemed fated to tackle this one at this time. The 25^th Anniversary of the Ranger disaster just passed in February of 2007. His time spent studying oral history as a grad student at MUN pointed him in the direction from which to tackle the story. “It’s really a linear narrative of industrial disaster told from the perspective of memory – living memory.” And says, “It touches on the catastrophe, the events that unfolded, the inquest into the events and then how people have remembered it and the impact it has had on their lives.”

“It’s going to start to slip from living memory soon and the public aren’t going to care as much,” he continues. “And the Government certainly doesn’t care. When you’re getting billions from offshore oil development the last thing you want to talk about is an offshore disaster.”

But many want to talk, like former rig workers, victim’s families, guys who worked on the supply ships servicing the rigs, media who covered the story and various officials. Heffernan says what has surprised him most is how fresh the memories remain, “It shocks me how deep the pain runs. Losing a father. A wife losing her husband. The things guys saw offshore. It doesn’t surprise me, but it shocks me. It was like the Wild West out there in the early 80’s.”

Asked if he’s encountered much bitterness in his interviews, Heffernan says, “There is certainly a lot of lingering resentment towards the Government and what went down because in many ways, the Government was complicit in what happened because they passed the buck on offshore safety, continue to, and the Ranger sank on their watch.”

But, he points out, the overlying theme of the work is the cost. “The cost of what we have now… Downtown is completely rejuvenated. Money is just flowing in. And the cost was 84 men and no one wants to talk about that. This book is about cost. About what we take for granted.”

Heffernan intends to call it simply Rig and publish with Creative in February 2009.He is still in the research stage of the work and invites anyone who has a personal connection to the Ocean Ranger disaster to contact him at mike.heffernan@nf.sympatico.ca.

Horror Book of Lists: Military Horror

2007-11-09T11:54:00.000-08:00

I was asked by the editor of the upcoming Horror Book of Lists to contribute a "Military Horror List." Here it is:

Blue Devil Island by Stephen Mark Rainey

Panzer Spirit by Tom Townsend

A Dark and Deadly Valley Edited by Mike Heffernan

Baltimore: Or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola

'48 by James Herbert

Nightboat by Robert McCammon

The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin

The Keep by F. Paul Wilson

Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons

Exorcising Angels by Tim Lebbon and Simon Clark

A Dark Day Has Dawned on the East Coast

2007-10-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here’s is the unofficial line-up for the fully-illustrated all-Atlantic Canadian anthology I’m editing, Hard Ol’ Spot. There may be some organizational changes but these are the thirteen stories I’m running with.

There’s some dark stuff here—a warped vision of the East Coast from some of our most talented writers.

Break, Break, Break by Gerard Collins

Drive-Thru by Elizabeth Blanchard

The Chain Around My Neck by Leslie Vryenhoek

Eminent Domain by Michelle Butler Hallett

A Hole Full of Nothing by Steve Vernon

Night Divides the Day by Lee D. Thompson

Homecoming by Keith Collier

Sky by JoAnne Soper-Cook

Lure Cove Remains by Gavin Simms

The Nightwatchman by Michael Crummey

An Apology by Ramona Dearing

At Sea by Don Roy

Adrift by Bev Vincent

Deep Mining the Soul, or It's Hard to Tell the Truth

2007-09-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

Storytellers Unplugged is a group of thirty horror authors, editors, booksellers, and publishing professionals who want to share our love of writing and "behind the scenes" tips with readers who are also interested in the magic of writing. Bev Vincent, a friend and regular contributor to my books, is one of those professionals and his latest entry is on deep mining the soul... and working with yours truly.

Check it out: http://www.storytellersunplugged.com/

Respect and Requiem by Nish Collins

2007-08-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

O sea, or merciless sea,
relentless harvester of souls.
O baffling paradox of nature!
Alluring, clam, you give a buoyancy to life.
From capelin spawn to mammoth whale
You give sustenance;
food, oils, chemicals, you yield to those who harvest,
though with reluctance, history reveals.
You challenge men, and they in turn respond to you,
but collusion with chill-biting winds, or moving ice,
bestir in you a vengeance uncontrolled
against which man, nor product, cannot cope.
Is this your role, life in one form to give,
another take?
In constant movement there is joy as you perform,
of many visual delights we take our fill,
yet instantly you turn that joy to sorrow deep,
be it just one, a group, or hundreds at a time,
your appetite you whet in strange, impulsive ways.
O sea, majestic sea in awe we stand
The "Ocean Ranger" you onslaught could not withstand
A better life and threat of death go hand in hand.
God bless and strengthen all the grieved in Newfoundland.

(Originally published in The Daily News, February 17, 1982.)

Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster

2007-07-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading, watching archival footage, making some notes.

This will surely be an emotionally draining evening, the first of several dozen interviews I’m conducting, and an important one in my career and my life. But there’s no real way to prepare to listen to someone tell me about the death of eighty-four men.

One of my earliest memories is of the Ocean Ranger, that so-called unsinkable beast that went down off the coast of St. John’s in February 1982. My father’s cousin, Ron Heffernan, was killed, his body amongst the few recovered. My grandmother called my mother that morning to tell her the news. The house was very quite, still, but I could hear her speaking in a frantic tone in the upstairs bedroom.

I never met Ron, but in the last year I’ve somehow come to begin to know him as a person and not just a name and a part of my family’s history, someone mentioned in anecdotes.

And this is the whole point of my research, to know the men and their stories and to share them. I want to give the sinking of the Ocean Ranger, which is slowing slipping out of our memory, life.

But I have reservations, and to be honest, I’m a little scared. Oral history is not new to me—I studied war crimes as a graduate student—but this is close enough to touch. Often the past is an ugly thing and people simply don’t want to relive it—it has the potential for serious damage.

On the other hand, I’m doing something that needs getting done: giving the dead a voice.

With offshore oil booming in Newfoundland, we need to be reminded of the cost, how much sorrow has been offered up already.

For My Father: My Own Collected Memories

2007-05-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

I think all creative people, especially those prone to spilling their guts via the written word, are hardwired to their personal past. If we weren’t we’d have zilcho to say, because writing is about taking all that you know, done, think you could’ve been, mistakes you’ve made, moments of pure bliss and moments of pure shit, and slipping them into another’s shoes, molding them into a million different little, or big, scenarios. Because our experiences are all shared, aren’t they? There’s not much you’ve gone through, relatively speaking, that I haven’t or will, and vise versa.

Some of my memories are a little shitty (life wouldn’t be fun if they weren’t, and who’d learn from anything if your life was one big Febreeze-dream, anyhow?) but most are good, and some pretty damn great.

And I can dig deep. Probably deeper than most. I have flashes of memories of things that happened before I started grade school, a few even before that.

Some of my earliest are of finding my father’s Armed Forces uniform in the closest, his badges in a small cardboard box in his top dresser drawer. I can almost still smell them, too: a hint of English Leather or Old Spice, and a slight musty smell, something like damp books dried by the heater.

Simple memories. But precious to me now.

A boy can build his old man up to mythical proportions. And I used to figure, in my wildly simplistic daydreams, I’d go into the army, do what he did. But I became too way-out-there on the fringe for most people. That’s probably why I became a military historian: loved the pomp and gallantry, the wonderful cast of characters, the plot, fascinated by humanities urge towards unrelenting violence, but just couldn’t see myself getting involved with that sort of crowd, or worse, killed, or maimed in some nonsense war that I couldn’t pretend to care for in a place I couldn't pronounce.

So, yeah, my father has a hell’va lot to do with who I became and what I’ve done. I’m not sure he knows that.

That’s why I dedicated A Dark and Deadly Valley to him. Simply: FOR MY FATHER. To let him know.

If my mother is responsible for the writer in me, with her wonderful folk stories that continue to amuse and charm, then my father is equally to blame for making me a historian.

Thanks, Dad.

BOOK SIGNING

2007-05-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

I will be signing copies of both Exposed! and A Dark and Deadly Valley at Downtown Comics- Sat, May 19.

Mike H.

A DARK AND DEADLY VALLEY HAS SHIPPED

2007-04-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

Silverthought Press has just announced the A DARK AND DEADLY VALLEY has shipped.

Here's the release:

“DDV has now shipped to all customers--domestic orders by USPS Priority on Wednesday and international orders Thursday. Contributor and review copies will soon follow. Those of you who ordered through Shocklines will have to wait for remarque and distribution from there. Thanks to everyone who's bought a copy so far.”

Mike H.

About the Ocean Ranger...

2007-04-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

Last night at the Hava Java I read from my new story, "Half to the Land, Half to the Sea." It's about a tough time in the province's history, the sinking of the Ocean Ranger, which went down on February 15, 1982.

My father's cousin, Ron, was on the rig and his body was one of only a handful recovered from the icy Atlantic. I dedicated it to him.

THERE'S A STORM BREWING

2007-03-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

Here’s the illustration were using as the center-piece for HARD TICKET PRESS. Darren Whalen, cover artist for DARK AND DEADLY VALLEY, as well as interior artist for AIM FOR THE HEAD, created the piece. He’s the other half of HARD TICKET.

The illustration is of St. John’s sometime between 1892-97.

Mike H.
www.mikeheffernan.net

SWEATING UNDER INTERRORGATION

2007-03-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

The Official Newsletter of the HWA

Volume 18 / Issue 80 / March 2007

Interview with Mike Heffernan

JG Faherty

Born and raised in the historic harbor city of St. John's, Newfoundland, the oldest city in North America, Mike Heffernan has been poking his nose around in the darker side of the human condition for as long as he can remember. He pinpoints his baptism in blood to his childhood, when his cousin subjected him to an almost daily dose of horror movies.

Mike later cut his teeth on such nastiness as Barker, Skipp and Spector, Romero, and King. Writing since his adolescence, he put his creative endeavors on hold to study German history, but soon came back to horror with a mean vengeance. It's been full-tilt-boogie for some time now, and it seems to be panning out for him, as a writer, editor, and soon-to-be publisher.

Recently, Mike graciously took some time to discuss horror, writing, and publishing with me.

JGF: Mike, nice to talk to you. How are you doing?

MH: Good; thanks for asking.

JGF: Okay, first question. You mention in your bio that your interest in horror started in your childhood. Now, anyone who's visited your Web site or MySpace blog would quickly catch on that you've got a particular interest in zombies. How did that come about?

MH: My cousin's to blame, or thank, depending on your perspective. I'm not sure he even knows.

My first horror film was RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. That alone probably made some dark mark on my psyche, left me scarred, but it was the fact that my uncle lived adjacent the local cemetery that made it really stick--you could literally spit on headstones from his front porch. Watching BASED ON TRUE EVENTS roll across the screen and then cutting across the graveyard during first frost traumatized me (anyone who lives near a graveyard knows that during first frost most of the older plots COLLAPSE!!!).

Strangely enough, the local convenience store carried just about every zombie film available in Canada at the time, everything from RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD to Euro-trash classics like ZOMBIE LAKE.

But DAWN OF THE DEAD was the watershed moment for me as a writer. It spoke to me in ways that other films hadn't: horror isn't just about simple scares, but it can relate important messages, too.

JGF: What are some of the trends you've seen in the horror industry, specifically in publishing and book sales, since you've gotten involved as a writer and editor?

MH: The 1980s are long gone. So are the publishers and so are the book sales.

Do we need another star writer, like a Stephen King or a Peter Straub, who's an innovator with mass appeal? Maybe. Are Brian Keene and Joe Hill those guys? Maybe. But what scares me is the industry burning itself out again. There's a whole new generation of talent that've come along we can ill afford to lose.

Sure, there aren't the same number of publishers and pro-markets for writers to publish their work, but we're no longer in the lull of the last decade, either; horror is really on an upswing.

And we're moving in the right direction. We have to continue being resourceful in our approach to publishing.

It's all about marketing, and knowing your audience. With all the various niches out there--Lovecraftian horror, zombies, and Bizaro, for instance--smaller markets have opened up to fill the need and have cemented themselves as viable businesses. They're the ones on the cutting edge, making POD and hybrid models respectable and sustainable.

JGF: As a follow-up question, how do you see these trends impacting what you want to do with your new publishing venture, Hard Ticket Press?

MH: I don't see them affecting my own company per se. We're a traditional publisher, printing through a local outfit.

But in terms of how we market to the horror community, sure, there are some similarities to other small presses. We're filling a niche: dark fiction which has a distinct provincial flavor and Atlantic Canadian perspective. With Hard Ticket Press, our target audience is Atlantic Canada, but we hope that through an aggressive online marketing campaign, we can reach out to the horror community. And with our horror imprint, Black Harbor Books, we're not looking for themes or sub-genres, just great fiction.

JGF: What made you decide to start a small press, especially knowing how hard it is for any small market press these days? And what do you, as the publisher, intend to do different?

MH: It was the right time, both financially and artistically.

The provincial government has realized that sustaining a healthy publishing industry is a necessary component of the tourism and heritage sector, which our economy relies heavily upon, and is now offering major financial support.

Newfoundland is a hotbed of great fiction. Writers like Ken Harvey, Lisa Moore, and Michael Crummey are leading the way, and a whole new crowd is coming along to continue that trend. For such a small city, St. John's is bursting at the seams with talent, as is Halifax.

Strangely enough, there isn't a publisher focusing on dark fiction. With our distinct culture and geography, you'd think otherwise.

JGF: Having been on both the business end of things and the creative end, as a writer and editor, what advantages do you feel this dual background gives you in terms of running a publishing company?

MH: Editing is a juggling act, just like a business. On the one hand you have your vision, and on the other you have to work with the dozen or more authors you've brought aboard by molding their stories without losing their own voice in the mix. My method is to gather around me a group of authors I enjoy and respect and to then stick with them. It's kind of like a marriage, where you get to know one another's habits.

Being a writer myself, I identify with the difficulties they face in trying to meet deadlines and editorial demands. I've got a stack of rejection letters just like them, in spades. I want my contributors to feel like we're in it together, that we're not pulling on opposite ends of the rope. But I'm clear in what I want; there's no confusion.

I intend to bring that mentality to Hard Ticket Press. Our number-one priority is to sell books, of course, but to also get the best work from of my authors as possible, to offer an avenue for cutting-edge talent.

JGF: You've edited two anthologies; Aim for the Head and A Dark and Deadly Valley, both of which are coming out in 2007. You're also involved in a 'shared-world' anthology, Nation of Ash. What made you decide to do those, and how did you come up with the themes?

MH: When I put Aim for the Head together, zombie sub-culture had exploded--in many ways, it had become mainstream. The Rising and City of the Dead were selling like hotcakes and there were more zombie films in wide-release than ever. There were even publishers and magazines popping up that were solely dedicated to zombie fiction.

But not since Skipp and Spector's seminal Books of the Dead had there been a zombie anthology. A few cropped up during the interim while I was editing Aim for the Head and shopping it around, but nothing like the omnibus-style book I was after.

Like horror, history has been with me for as long as I can remember. They run parallel lines in my life. It was only a matter of time before they converged.

A Dark and Deadly Valley, at first glance, looks like pulp weird war tales, but once you read the first few stories and then delve deeper you realize it's about man's propensity towards violence and how we, as a society and culture, remember the Second World War. Historians have been grappling with these issues for decades. Horror writers have far fewer restraints, if any, and I wanted to know what they could do with shock and suspense and personal point of view, which direction they'd take those themes.

The threat of nuclear war has reared its ugly head again. North Korea and Iran are front-page news, and it's only a matter of time before China makes some sort of stand.

I wanted to tap into common fears and anxieties of the Cold War by asking what are the consequences. The best post-nuke fiction are character studies like Alas, Babylon, Malevil, and The Beach. I'm taking a similar approach by having my contributors write on people from all walks of life, talk about their daily struggles and how the war has impacted them and their families, their communities. It'll be grim, about as grim as a mushroom cloud looming over the horizon.

JGF: Tell us a little about Hard Ticket Press. What kind of books do you intend to publish? Are you looking for anything specific?

MH: Hard Ticket Press will publish exclusively Atlantic Canadian, and particularly Newfoundland, dark fiction. But with our horror imprint, Dark Harbor Books, we'll have an open door policy to all writers with some professional credits under their belt.

Our initial run will see the release of a debut novel and an anthology, as well as a single authored collection.

We're looking for fiction that transcends genre, that's subversive and has something to say. I'm after character studies which take their time in telling their story, that aren't too concerned about tropes and plot twists. Novels on violence, crime, and poverty are sure to pique my interest.

JGF: You're pretty active on the boards, as well as having your own blogs. Do you think the threads have become too focused on self-promotion by the writers, or are they a necessary tool these days?

MH: They're an invaluable and inexpensive marketing tool. Every writer who is serious about his craft has at least a blog, homepage, or message board. You simply can't survive in today's small press publishing industry if you don't communicate.

Publishers rely heavily upon their authors marketing their own work; some submission guidelines require authors to include a marketing strategy. They don't have the funds for full-page advertisements and book tours. Posting hyper-links and blurb reviews on places like Shocklines sell copies. At the very least, posting on a semi-regular basis gets you noticed, generates interest in your work.

JGF: A final question on the threads, which relates to my own column in this newsletter. Do you think that some people spend too much time on the boards?

MH: They're certainly addictive, and I'm guilty of checking them at least a few times a day.

But I stay away from those threads that don't directly relate to writing or promotion. You notice some politically charged threads go on for weeks, receive thousands of hits. The passion some people put into those replies would be better focused on their writing, I think.

JGF: You've also written a collection of short stories that's coming out soon, Exposed. What's that going to be about? Any theme?

MH: Theme? Control: the political, the personal, the emotional. There are the detention camps and dictatorships you might expect, even a "Running Man"-type game show where celebs are hunted down and tortured on national television. But there are more subtle references, like a clerk in a convenience store, a young couple trying to make a go of it in a basement apartment--ordinary people struggling against the weight of the world.

Originally, I had about twenty tales but realized upon re-reading them that this theme was glaringly obvious in about ten, so I stuck with those. It's the angry young man syndrome at work in most of them. There's straight horror, some borderline sf, but they're all very dark and pessimistic and take cues from Ketchum and Orwell.

John Everson was gracious enough to handle the introduction, and I received some wonderful feedback from B.H. Fingerman, Jeremy Robert Johnson, and Mike Arnzen.

JGF: Let's talk book marketing. What do you think are the best ways for a writer or editor to market a book?

MH: Even for very small publishers, ARCs are a must; the more you have available to toss to the wolves the better. Reviews in magazines like Fangoria and Rue Morgue can introduce potentially thousands of genre fans to literature they might not otherwise look for or have interest in. And they're very cost-effective, as are blurb reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, for instance. And nothing looks better than a juicy blurb from a respected review magazine or genre vet smack dab, front and centre on your book.

But once again, the Internet is the best avenue to market your work. It's very cost minimal, but it requires your constant attention. However, electronic newsletters, contests, and chats are becoming increasingly popular and can generate quite a bit of interest for a writer and publisher running up to publication.

But I've always felt that above everything else, quality work and solid graphic design sells itself.

JGF: How do you feel about the situation many writers find themselves in today--so desperate to get into print after years of writing that they resort to non-paying magazines or POD book publishing.

MH: At some point, every author works just for copy. It's part of the racket, a stepping stone. You just have to find quality publications with talented editors behind them.

I have no problem with POD publishing. It's just another method of printing books. A lot of respected publishers use that particular technology, or have gone to a hybrid model. What does trouble me are the large number of vanity presses masking themselves as respectable publishers, raping desperate authors for printing costs. It's a troubling trend.

JGF: If you could change anything about the publishing and book sales industries, what would it be?

MH: As an industry, we desperately need another mass-market publisher similar to Leisure, which is putting a lot of time and energy into genre publications. It just seems to me that many horror novelists are fighting over the same patch of grass, particularly the first-timers.

JGF: Do you feel the quality of writing and editing has increased or decreased over the past 15-20 years?

MH: The quality of horror fiction has been a constant. But the drought of the '90s really stifled the amount of creative output, and invariably that had a severe impact on developing young writers.

But there's a phenomenal amount of talent in horror literature right now. And the small press is really pushing on all cylinders, providing avenues for up and coming talent, as well as the seasoned veterans.

In terms of editing, the International Horror Guild may have been way out in left field when they declined to nominate any anthologies last year, but I do agree with their general assessment that the art of editing, and the quality of some recent anthologies, is severely lacking. There are too many collectors of fiction right now, as opposed to editors. And there's a big difference.

JGF: Any last thoughts or advice for new writers out there who are trying to market their books?

MH: Ready for the clichés?

Be original; find your own distinct voice and read voraciously. Look within your own experiences, community, and culture for inspiration, not the latest horror flick you've seen. Horror writing is about conveying ideas and interesting characters, not just survival storylines and torture plots.

And when you submit your work, act like a professional and you'll be treated like a professional. Take criticism as a constructive tool--editors aren't there to spite you, but to help.

Ten Quick Questions

1. Who are your 3 favorite authors?

MH: Russell Banks, Clive Barker, and Jack Ketchum

2. What are your 3 favorite movies?

MH: DAWN OF THE DEAD, CHOPPER, and ROAD WARRIOR

3. What are your biggest pet peeves?

MH: Unformatted manuscripts, cups left in the coffee holder, and procrastinators.

4. What kind of zombies do you like the best?

MH: All kinds, as long as they're interesting. But no one does it better than Romero.

5. What would you like to see done in the horror genre that hasn't been done before (or at least not done often)?

MH: DAWN OF THE DEAD is the CITIZEN KANE of zombie films. As a fan, I'd like to see the same for horror literature: the Dracula of zombie fiction, which transcends the genre and outlasts all the trends.

6. How many books do you have in your personal collection?

MH: Never bothered to count 'em. But there's two large shelves stacked three deep with fiction, then a closet full of boxes jammed with German history.

7. Name the one book you think every horror fan should read.

MH: The Town that Forgot How to Breathe by Kenneth J. Harvey

8. Who are the Top five up-and-coming writers, in your opinion?

MH: Jeremy Robert Johnson, Cody Goodfellow, Matthew Warner, Stephen Romano, Fran Friel

9. What are three things about Mike Heffernan that nobody knows?

MH: I hate needles, I have a tattoo on a big toe, and I have an alter ego, Rocco.

10. Is there anything different between Canadian horror and American?

MH: There certainly is with East Coast Canadian horror, at least. Geography plays a major role; it's a constant force looming in the background.

For more information on Mike's upcoming books, or Hard Ticket Press, visit him at http://www.mikeheffernan.net, or check him out on MySpace, at myspace.com/mikeheffernan.

HORROR AT THE HEART OF MANIPULATION

2007-02-24T07:53:00.000-08:00

“The truth is discoverable, but the facts will be so dishonestly set forth in almost any newspaper that the ordinary reader can be forgiven either for swallowing lies or failing to form an opinion.”
-- George Orwell

Zero Day is quickly creeping up. That’s when the proverbial bombs will drop.

And it’s my duty to warn you, to get you off the streets and into the book stores.

I’ve tried to expose my knowledge, like an awful payload, through the people’s microphone, the newspaper.

Has it all been for naught? Maybe. There are moles everywhere, agents of the government, keen on stifling my message, shutting down my operation.

But I should’ve seen the signs, heard the soft rumblings of the not-so-distant war drums.

Case in point: THE MUSE. A student newspaper, on the surface they stand for liberalism and democratic ideals. HA!!! That’s just a front, a thin veneer. You don’t have to look to deep to find the decay.

They’re slaves to the fascists, I say, manipulating messages to keep you, the masses, lulled.

It’s insidious, the way in which they spin. They just don’t tear it all down with one swing of the wrecking ball, they plant doubt in the foundations.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at the rot they’ve got going on here: http://www.themuse.ca/view.php?aid=39986.

John Skip. Barry Ward.

Who are these people?

Horror in Print.

Code-words to let loose their assassins on me?

Thank the good lord the electronic highway has no roadblocks, that I can take off the filters and give you the unmitigated truth.

Mike H.

(The good people at THE MUSE gave me the opportunity to pimp my upcoming books, as well as HARD TICKET PRESS, in their latest issue. And I offer my deepest thanks! But I should’ve known there’d be a problem when the “interview” turned into a bloody interrogation and they declined to let me view a galley before it went to print. All I wanted was to fact check, make sure I never got misquoted. Of course, that was exactly what happened. The article is littered with the stuff, simple stuff, too. I hope they read this entry and learn from their mistakes; if they don’t, it’ll become something like luggage.)

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ATLANTIC CANADIAN ANTHOLOGY

2007-02-21T09:25:00.000-08:00

Atlantic Canadian writers are invited to submit original works of short fiction between 3-6,000 words for inclusion in the debut anthology from HARD TICKET PRESS. Reprints will only be considered from established professionals. Contributors are invited to tackle dark and grim subject matter set within the cultural and geographical confines of Eastern Canada.

Payment: five cents per-word.

Deadline: August, 2007.

No genre or supernatural fiction will be considered. Please query first and include bio and publishing credits in the body of your email.

Mike Heffernan
Editor, HARD TICKET PRESS
mike.heffernan@nf.sympatico.ca

I'VE BEEN EX/PRESSED!

2007-02-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

Mike Heffernan says there is no real professional horror community in St. John's. There are big attractions such as the Haunted Hike and the Harbour Haunt, he surmises, but what about books?

The isolation, the geography, the climate, the history, and our economy are all representative of the horror genre, he says.

The closest thing to horror by Newfoundland authors that he has read are Kenneth Harvey's The Town That Forgot how to Breath and The Celtic Cross by Douglas Gosse, "who tried to grab onto the reigns of the '90s vampire movement."

By 2008, Heffernan hopes to change that.

A fan first and foremost, Heffernan has been seriously writing and editing horror for about three years. He has decided to open his own publishing house, which he has named Hard Ticket Press.

"I intend to attack the norms in the industry. There's no house that fosters young brave talent... I'd like to get a community of writers going."

Heffernan wants Hard Ticket Press to be a running business within the publishing industry. In three years, he envisions a fulltime operation. Heffernan hopes his experience and his name outside of Newfoundland in the horror genre will transfer to the local scene.

There's a place for the gore and brutality of typical horror, but Heffernan thinks horror "is at its best when it's subversive and not reactionary."

Horror, he continues, "takes the blinders and filters off, which normally keep us from saying what needs to be said. We address the damage. It doesn't have to be rough and raw. We can also be sensitive. We talk about man as an animal. We are savage and greedy, but we can show love regardless of the mess we've gotten ourselves into."

Currently, Heffernan is preparing to launch three new books, including his own collection, Exposed, which addresses the theme of control.

A Dark and Deadly Valley is an anthology of horror and dark fantasy with a WWII theme on violence. It discusses how our memory of the war impacts society today.

Aim for the Head, due October 2007, is a zombie omnibus for which he was lucky enough to get a classic Stephen King story.

Nation of Ash, which will be released within the next year, is a shared world anthology about nuclear war that builds on the Cold War subgenre and includes themes of terror, fear, and anxiety. It finally asks the reader, what is the consequence?

Heffernan has some recognizable Atlantic talent supporting Hard Ticket Press. Dan Aker, Michelle Butler-Hallett, and Barry Wood are some of the people he's solicited. It seems the horror genre in St. John's may not be left solely to the aforementioned mainstays. Though underground, horror may not be for long. It may take us by surprise one day, rise up and begin to walk among us.

By Kerri Cull

www.theexpress.ca

WWW.MIKEHEFFERNAN.NET GOES LIVE!

2006-12-22T08:23:00.000-08:00

The bodies are counted, stacked, the rubble pilled and burned.

Through the wreckage and the fallout, something dark looms in the distance. Something large, which threatens to wipe us all out.

www.mikeheffernan.net

Like an A-Bomb, my homepage has dropped. Cover your ears and stab out your eyes, folks, because the dark electronic genius of Deena Warner has devised another death cocktail for the senses.

But enough with the hyperbole.

This is an exciting time for me. Two of my books are dropping next month, another in October, and with my homepage going live, I can finally say, uncategorically, I’M HERE!!! Not that I’ve gone anywhere, because I’ve been “here” working my ass off for the last few years, choosing writing and editing over work and family and, occasionally, my tenuous sanity, trying to etch out some kind of niche. And if I could zip back in time for a moment, which I can but I’ve decide that it’s in the best interest of world peace and the space/time continuum not to, and tell teenager-Mike where I am today, I’d still be cleaning the stains out of my shorts with a shovel and scrub-brush. I suppose I can count that as meaning success, in some small form.

And there are so many people to thank for their continual and unyielding support. I could grocery list them all (I jog, but I’d still need my lungs at full working capacity to pull it off, and even then it would be a miraculous, call Ridley’s feat) but a quickie seems more appropriate here: Lesley and Darren, for putting up with me; Paul and Dave, for taking chances on young talent; my contributors and colleagues, I’m nothing without you.

I’m known to occasionally bite, but please don’t let that stop you from dropping by.

Mike H.

EXPOSED! PRE-ORDERS

2006-12-11T19:08:00.000-08:00

Exposed! by Mike Heffernan
Introduction by John Everson
Cover art by Darren Whalen
Publisher: Silverthought Press
ISBN-10: 0-9774110-9-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-9774110-9-2
~220 pages

http://www.silverthought.com/preexposed.html

http://shocklines.stores.yahoo.net/exstbmihebpa.html

expose, v.t. (F. exposer) To deprive of concealment; to discover; to lay open to public inspection, or bring to public notice.

Hope and promise are drowned in the black flood-waters of New Orleans and the churning concrete of expansion. The underclass is force-fed to the grinding machines of progress. Youth are slashed to ribbons by poverty.

Autocratic governments sell addiction to the masses to numb them into complacency. Shopping sprees and material excess are the new cults. Reality television microwave brains into plastic-left-on-the-heater mush.

Liberation is a price only a few are willing to pay.

Here, in these pages, the smog had cleared just a bit, we’re cut wide open like a vivisection and our dirty insides are on display.

Table of Contents:

Horror at the Oppressive Heart of Liberation: An Introduction by John Everson.
Exposed
Hard as Rock
Home is Where the Heart Is
Cold Deck
Stains of Life
Beneath Ground
Open 24/7
Starved to Death
Dancers in the Dark
The Last Highwayman

"EXPOSED! shines a harsh light on the myriad horrors of modern society and reports back from the fearful frontlines with wicked wit and paranoid power. From the murky waters of New Orleans to the scarred psyches of our own image-obsessed existence, EXPOSED! is the last headline we get to read before reality comes tumbling down." -- Jeremy Robert Johnson, author of EXTINCTION JOURNALS and ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE.

"With EXPOSED!, Mike Heffernan delivers a heady mélange of Swiftian satire blended with the outré oddness of Caro and Jeunet’s cinematic outings. EXPOSED! imagines a world where even Z-grade celebrities are hunted down for crimes of narcissism, the elderly and insane are processed like psychedelic chattel, and labor conflicts are worse than ever. Must-read stuff for the post-apocalyptic set." -- B.H. Fingerman, author of RECESS PIECES and BOTTOMFEEDER.

“Among the ‘writers to watch’ in the realm of strange storytelling. Interrogates the hazy borderland between the human and the inhumane… A crafty form of social commentary.” -- Michael A. Arnzen, author of PLAY DEAD and GRAVE MARKINGS.

The Black Wave Washes Ashore

2006-11-23T18:37:00.000-08:00

Just to get you salivating, here’s Alex McVey’s killer illustration for Brian Keene’s DARK AND DEADLY VALLEY tale, “The Black Wave.”

Haunting stuff, indeed!

Mike H.

Shocklines Weekly Bestsellers List

2006-11-18T04:48:00.000-08:00

DARK AND DEADLY VALLEY has made Shocklines "Advance Best Sellers List" for the second straight week! Coming second to only JF Gonzalez and Dean Koontz is some kind of accomplishment.

Advance Order Bestsellers for week of November 14th:
1) When the Darkness Falls: Stories by J. F. Gonzalez
2) Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
3) A Dark and Deadly Valley: A World War II Horror Anthology edited by Mike Heffernan with art by Alex McVey, and contributions from Shockliners T.M Wright, Steve Vernon, Jeremy Robert Johnson, Scott Nicholson, Elizabeth Massie, Harry Shannon, Brian Keene, Brian Hodge, John Everson, Bev Vincent, Weston Ochse, Cody Goodfellow, Rick Hautala, Mort Castle, and Gary A. Braunbeck
4) The Christmas Thingy by F. Paul Wilson
5) Blue Devil Island by Stephen Mark Rainey
6) Crimewave #9: Transgressions including work by Shockliner Scott Nicholson
7) The Memory Tree: A Novel by John R. Little with art by Alex McVey and an intro by Kealan Patrick Burke
8) Dead Souls by Michael Laimo
9) Fools Rush In: A Sam McCain Mystery by Ed Gorman
10) Evermore edited by Stephen Mark Rainey and James Robert Smith including work by Shockliners Tom Piccirilli, Steve Rasnic Tem, Gary Fry, Kealan Patrick Burke, Trey Barker, Tom Monteleone & Rick Hautala.

Historical Fiction and Horror

2006-11-12T17:40:00.002-08:00

Although we are over sixty years removed from the war, it is still one of our most controversial topics, particularly in terms of our struggle with truth and our reconciliation with the past. In Germany, where history is an intrinsic part of the social fabric, it is called Vergangenheitsbewältigung. For contemporary historians, this is constant, and in their attempt to discuss western society’s capacity to commit violence on a massive scale, historical fiction is an invaluable tool.

Horror is on the fringe of modern literature, and as we take more and more risks at peeling back our society’s dark secrets and hidden truths, it’s clear that we have far more to offer than simple scares. Whereas straight history is specifically concerned with facts, and at times mired in political prejudice (David Irving is the most obvious culprit), horror writers do not have the same allegiances; our loyalties are to the genre and to ourselves, to the truth, however disconcerting and unpopular that might be. And with far fewer restraints, we can illuminate the past with a fresh light, puts meat on its bones and makes it come alive through suspense and personal point of view.

Dark and Deadly Pre-Orders

2006-11-12T17:33:00.000-08:00

Silverthought Press has announced the release of my upcoming WW2 horror anthology, DARK AND DEADLY VALLEY. This collection of twenty harrowing tales features all new horror fiction from acclaimed writers Mort Castle, Brian Keene, Rick Hautala, Brian Hodge, and many others.

A DARK AND DEADLY VALLEY will be released in January 2007 in a limited edition of 500 copies. For a limited time, Silverthought is offering pre-order sales of DDV for $34.99 with free shipping. Orders will ship to pre-release customers in January 2007.

www.silverthought.com/preddv.html

http://shocklines.stores.yahoo.net/daanddevabwo.html

Cover art by Darren Whalen
Illustrated by Alex McVey

Table of Contents: “When Killing Each Other Isn’t Quite Enough” an Introduction by John Skipp
"After Dunkirk" by T.M Wright
"The Coventry Boy" by Graham Joyce
"The Honor Guard" by Paul Finch
"In the Dark and the Deep" by Steve Vernon
"Simple Equations" by Jeremy Robert Johnson
"The Night is an Ally" by Scott Nicholson
"Come Unto Me" by Elizabeth Massie
"And the Worm Shall Feed" by Harry Shannon
"At Angels Sixteen" by Larry Santoro
"The Black Wave" by Brian Keene
"And They Will Come in the Hour of Our Greatest Need" by Brian Hodge
"The Devil's Platoon" by John Everson
"Sturm und Drang" by Bev Vincent
"Hiroshima Falling" by Weston Ochse
"Doorway to the Sky" by Cody Goodfellow
"A Judgment Call for Judgment Day" by Scott Edelman
"Blossoms in the Wind" by Rick Hautala
"The Gypsy Camp" by Mort Castle
"Warbirds" by David J. Schow
"But Somewhere I Shall Wake" by Gary A. Braunbeck