In SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR, events 100 years ago have embroiled Jussi Mantere and the Solbakken family in fighting for the White army. Jussi and his father have had artillery training. Ivor Solbakken, known as Rabbit, has been separated from his brother Karl, who is in the infantry--a foot soldier, in the thick of the action. Rabbit is ostensibly learning to be a cook. The White infantry is joined by artillery in fighting near Vilppula, as Red forces p

Fun announcement! SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR will soon be available at Fireweed. Fireweed, at 182 S. Algoma Street, is one of Thunder Bay's top destinations for anything made by local artists. Also, more copies of SILENCES are available in Cole's at InterCity Mall; they're still in stock at the Thunder Bay Museum. And as always, feel free to order online! #1918FinnishCivilWar #100yearsago #HistoricalNovel #ThunderBay #FinnishCivilWar #Silences

At his website, author Roy Blomstrom considers the Finnish Civil War, snow, gloves, and conscription. As the divisions between Red sympathizers and White sympathizers becomes more plain, White leaders must consider where their fighting force will come from. Some will volunteer. Some, however, won't: conscription will be required. #1918FinnishCivilWar #100yearsago #HistoricalNovel #PortArthur #Canada #Ontario #Finland #ThunderBay #FinnishCivilWar #Silences

Roy Blomstrom, author of SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR, has a new website! It's www.royblomstrom.ca. (Left, he's painting a just-repaired woodshed, a project from several summers ago.) There, you can find information about him, about SILENCES, and about his other writing. We're also at work on a Reader's Guide to SILENCES that points to some basic resources about the Finnish Civil War. Stay tuned! #1918FinnishCivilWar #HistoricalNovel #PortArthur #Canada #On

We're now into that part of 2018 that marks the 100th anniversary of events in the Finnish Civil War. One hundred years ago, Mannerheim had been made Supreme Commander of the White Guards. In SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR, 100 years ago yesterday, Jussi Mantere's mother was shot by armed men on horseback wearing red armbands. Was the war itself inevitable 100 years ago? Possibly--probably--maybe. Certainly something changed for Jussi that day, regardless of

Local writer and reviewer Michael Sobota spent time this holiday season with SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR, and wrote a review for the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal. An excerpt: "One of the gifts in his writing is a wry, dry sense of humour. Another is his ability to capture the voice of differently aged characters, both in how they speak and how they listen, which accurately differentiates their emotional ages. Above all other themes, Blomstrom explores the

We're so pleased that copies of SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR and CRADLE OF THE DEEP: MEMOIR OF A LAKE SUPERIOR COTTAGE are available locally. Check them out at the Thunder Bay Museum and at the Intercity Mall location of Coles. And here's a giant THANK YOU to Thunder Bay for your support of local writers and writing. More about that support later! #1918FinnishCivilWar #LakeSuperior #Memoir #CradleoftheDeep #HistoricalNovel #PortArthur #Canada #Ontario #Finl

The good news is that we're low on our own physical copies of SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR. Thank you, Thunder Bay, for your kind support of Roy's first novel! The OTHER good news is that this is a great opportunity for us to correct a few of the omissions and errors that we didn't catch earlier, before we order more to have on hand. It takes a little time for all the behind-the-scenes machinations to occur, so if you're interested in the LATEST AND GREATES

What "winter people" like to say: "It's a dry cold." "You get used to it." "Wear layers." "Any climate is tolerable if you have the right clothing." But a century ago, many of the materials in cold-weather gear hadn't yet been invented. Most regular folks had to make do with layers and layers of itchy wool. When the thermometer dips to -35C, it's a stretch to call a walk outdoors with friends "pleasant." Imagine running, hiding, fighting a war when you're cold all the time. W

Sunday afternoon, friends and readers and writers and various Scandihooligans gathered to launch SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR, by Roy Blomstrom. At the event, Roy talked about his reasons for writing this novel. Look for more of his "about this novel" thoughts in the coming year. For now, just know that it started with a question to his father about fighting in a war, and his mother's warning to not ask him about it. Here's the conclusion: If my father were

Just in time for the centenary of Finland's independence, we're releasing SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR, by Roy Blomstrom. Watch this space for official launch details and availability info. Meanwhile... Labour Day, 1955. Near a creek in Port Arthur, Ontario, a man’s body hangs at the end of a rope. The story of the body, and its missing shoe, begins in Finland, decades earlier and an ocean away. In January, 1918, civil war breaks out in Finland. Jussi Mante