The Port Moody Public Library created the White Pines Local Author Collection to highlight and support local authors, poets, and illustrators from our community. We launched the collection in May 2019 with 12 inaugural authors.
Now, with over 100 authors represented, the collection has grown to house even more creative and diverse submissions from members of our community. You can browse our White Pines Collection online to place holds on items, or in person at the Library under the green White Pines sign.
S.C. Harding
S.C. grew up surrounded by different and ever-changing artforms. Her mother was an elementary school music teacher and librarian. Her father was a skilled painter and sketch artist. Her sister loved all things pop, hip, and trending. S.C. had no choice but to draw, sing, and dance alongside the most influential people in her life. And when she wanted to escape to find her own rhythm and make her own art, she would write. Her writing stems from an amalgamation of the dynamic characters in her life, whether life-long or fleeting.
What If.
Part One follows Daisy; twenty-one and newly single, hoping a European cruise with her parents will be the perfect way to forget her cheating ex-boyfriend. She plans to put romance on the backburner, unwind, and see the world. Instead, she meets the handsome, sarcastic, and ever confident Lucca. Torn between her insecurities and their magnetic infatuation, she tries to go with the flow, making friends with a colourful cast of other cruisegoers and exploring the wonders of Europe at each port. However, when the cruise comes to an end, Daisy and Lucca find themselves in a mind field of uncertainty and doubt as they reluctantly say ‘goodbye.’
Part Two switches to Lucca’s perspective and the effects of their romantic fling once he’s faced with the real world. It tracks the fallout of their love torn relationship years into the future as regret continues to quietly haunt him. By chance, they found one another on that cruise ship, and perhaps chance will let them meet again. Will years of “what if” grant them a second chance at love or give them the strength to let go of the fantasy forever?
What inspires S.C. to write?
For S.C., it’s honestly everything. She believes that everyone and everything can be a muse if you let it.
What challenges does S.C. face while writing?
The biggest challenge for S.C. has been relating to her younger characters as she’s grown up. Nothing really prepares you for reading something that you wrote over a decade ago, and no longer being able to identify with their thoughts and beliefs, their undying optimism and romanticism. It’s very cool, being able to read back versions of yourself, but it can be kind of…jarring.
What is one thing S.C. wants readers to know about her book?
This is S.C.’s first attempt at writing a “real” full-length novel. It was written over the span of eight years and was something she wanted to knock off the bucket list.
Martin Mayer
Martin Mayer is a Burnaby-based concert pianist, composer, and recording artist with thirty years of international performance experience. Known as "Canada's Prince of Piano," his career launched with a historic sixteen-city sold-out tour across China — the largest of any international artist in the country's modern era — broadcast to millions on Chinese national television. He has built a reputation for neoclassical compositions that blend cinematic depth with personal storytelling. The Solo Piano Collection brings together the finest sixteen piano pieces of Mayer's career, meticulously notated to reflect both his compositional intent and his own artistry in performance. It is the companion piece to his album of the same name.
Find out more about Martin at http://www.martinmayermusic.com, on Facebook at /iammartinmayer, on Instagram at @iammartinmayer, and on YouTube at /martinmayermusic
The Solo Piano Collection
If you're looking for neoclassical piano music that goes beyond the notes, The Solo Piano Collection offers a deeply personal and emotional experience. This collection features sixteen original piano pieces, each with a unique story that reflects the composer’s personal journey.
Acclaimed Canadian pianist and composer Martin Mayer takes you behind the scenes of his creative process. From the poignant tribute to his mother in Heart of an Angel to the majestic Olympic-inspired The Torch, Mayer’s compositions capture the essence of neoclassical piano—weaving together memories, places, and life’s pivotal moments. Drawing inspiration from global events, intimate relationships, and breathtaking locations like Prague and the Amalfi Coast, each piece invites you to experience the emotions and stories that inspired them.
Borrow The Solo Piano Collection from the Library.
What inspired Martin to put together The Solo Piano Collection?
When Martin was on his last concert tour overseas, after the show, fans would come up and ask him to sign their Mozart, Beethoven, Yanni, or Richard Clayderman piano books. His agent said to him, “Wouldn’t it be great if on the next tour they could have you sign a Martin Mayer piano book?" So that was the genesis of the idea behind The Solo Piano Collection.
What have Martin’s biggest challenges been while writing?
The challenging part about writing this book was selecting only sixteen pieces from a thirty-year career. Martin wanted The Solo Piano Collection to reflect his best work, and sometimes there would be pieces he loved individually, but they didn’t flow with the overall book or album. But that’s ok, because this is Martin’s first book: plenty more to write!
What is one thing Martin wants readers to know about his book?
When Martin was studying piano in his youth, he often found a disconnect between what he heard on the album versus what he saw in the sheet music. What makes The Solo Piano Collection unique is that Martin wanted the notated music to reflect exactly what he plays, and how he plays it – a true artistic blueprint of his original neoclassical music. If you take the sheet music and listen to the album, you can learn to play the music exactly as Martin does.
Joseph D’Aquisto
Joseph was born in New York and moved to Asheville, North Carolina, when he was seven, where he spent most of his childhood. He moved to Canada in 2012. A dedicated traveler, Joseph finds inspiration in international affairs, film, pop culture, photography, and the unique atmospheres of the cities he explores, often while walking their streets or relaxing in coffee shops.
Joseph holds an impressive academic portfolio, including a Master of Arts in International Relations, a Master of Arts in Linguistics, a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics & Russian, and an Associate of Applied Science in Information Systems.
You can find out more about Joseph from his website at https://josephdaquisto.com/ , on Instagram at @daquistojoe, and on Facebook: Joseph Paul D’Aquisto
Unleash the Fury: A Storm of Vengeance on Eastern Sands
At sixty-nine, John Sandes is a retired Seattle cop and troubled soul searching for peace in the tropical climate of Sri Lanka. Instead, he finds himself in a nightmare. He comes across a rotten town ruled by two rival criminal organizations, and a chance encounter makes John witness an unspeakable crime, which awakens a slew of emotions, past ghosts, and demons alike, igniting a rage inside him.
As bullets fly and alliances shift, John races against time, not just to save innocent lives, but to hold on to what’s left of his own.
Borrow Unleash The Fury from the Library.
What inspired Joseph to become a writer?
From a young age, Joseph had a desire to write and tell stories. He used to make his own comic strips when he was seven or eight. In 2006, he spent several months writing a detective story. It took years for him to finally decide to publish it because he didn’t know how to go about it. Joseph also had a fear of 'What if no one likes it?' Finally, in 2021, he published it, and things just kind of took off from there. You have to take the plunge and get it out there. Write for yourself, regardless of what others may think of your work.
What have Joseph's biggest challenges been while writing?
The biggest challenge is taking the time to put your thoughts on paper or in a document. Thoughts constantly flow through the mind. Many people tell Joseph they have ideas for a book but never have time to write. When you are working on a book, there are days when you feel tired and not at your best. Joseph’s advice is to write something down, get your basic ideas out, and then you can always fix it up later. He thinks the biggest difference between the many people who dream of writing a book and those who actually complete one is that the latter find a way to write even on days they don’t feel like it.
What is one thing Joseph wants readers to know about his book?
Many of the things that happen to Joseph’s main character are based on real experiences. He used his late father as a blueprint. At first, it was hard not to think of his character and his father as one and the same. But eventually, the character evolved into his own persona. While the main plots are fictitious, the characters' backstories are very real.
William R. Marshall
William (Bill) Marshall has lived in over thirty different locations across Canada, and has witnessed, and indeed lived, all kinds of different lifestyles from across the nation. His professional life involved designing, writing, and editing publications in association with distinct communities—neighbourhood associations, wildlife rescuers, post-secondary students, people with disabilities, folk singers, a boating organization, and everything in between. In addition to this work, Marshall has been the Healthy Communities Coordinator for Coquitlam, BC and also acted as the president of a strata council. He lives in Port Coquitlam with his wife of fifty-five years.
You can find pictures of all the houses William talks about in his book and the many ways of finding your copy of the book at https://www.framedbyourhouses.ca/
Framed By Our Houses: Sunny, Rainy, and Snowy Sketches of Canadian Living
What’s it like being the only Anglophones settling into the rural Beauce region south of Québec City, where no one keeps a lock on their door? What kind of struggles does one encounter as a young adult living in communal housing in Peterborough, Ontario in the era of love, peace, and rock and roll? How does it feel to eke out a rugged living in a remote cabin in Brighton Beach, BC, without any experience of that lifestyle?
Author William R. Marshall can tell you the answers, since these are all lives he’s lived. Full of warmth, heart, and a delightful sense of humour, Framed by Our Houses is a gorgeous collection of stories of Marshall’s time spent in different houses across Canada, from farm to sea to city. Recounting stories of his life living in, staying in, and visiting these houses across the nation—and across the span of his life—Marshall paints a charming portrait of Canadian life, touching on all manner of rites and rituals of childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and aging as he does, as well as gesturing to wider issues of settler-Indigenous relations, immigration, and the increasing loss of community roots in the modern world.
Borrow Framed By Our Houses from the Library.
What inspired William to become a writer?
William has been a writer since his university days, and he often came upon situations and people whose stories needed to be told. How? A newspaper story, a brochure, an article for a journal, a photo essay or perhaps written in a song.
What have William’s biggest challenges been while writing?
Deadlines were always helpful in shorter pieces that William wrote. In writing this book, setting his own deadlines and finding the time were the challenges he had to overcome.
What is one thing William wants readers to know about his book?
The book is very accessible because we can all relate to the idea of the importance of 'place' and 'home' in our lives and can learn from the author's observations of how very different those experiences can be and how to deal with them.
Kaitlyn Johnson
Kaitlyn Johnson is a Canadian author based out of the Greater Vancouver Area. She has over a decade of writing experience, and in that time, has published six novels, including Seven Oaks, a five-book series, and one stand-alone novel, The Time it Takes.
Kaitlyn lives in a modest apartment with her two cats (one ghost, one on this plane of existence), and when she isn't writing, she spends her time traveling, planning her next vacation, or general hobby collecting.
Find out more about Kaitlyn on her website at https://www.kaitlyn-johnson.com/ or on Instagram at @kaitlyn.e.johnson
Seven Oaks Series
Seven Oaks is a coming-of-age series following Kimberly Clay, a newly enrolled university student. Soon after moving back to her idyllic hometown, Kim finds that not all is as it seems; her father, long believed to have left town, begins reappearing in fleeting ways; her declining mental health is becoming too much for her to bear on her own; memories of a girl she remembers all too well, and another she doesn't, brew to the surface.
On top of it all, students are being murdered around town, and the more Kim tries to figure out what's going on, the more questions she has, as something about the murders seems almost...paranormal. Unfortunately for Kim, she may know more about it than she initially thinks.
Join Kim on her first year of university, filled with friendships, mysteries, girlhood, anxiety, romance, secrets, and all the other things that come with becoming an adult.
Borrow the Seven Oaks Series from the Library.
The Time it Takes
Raleigh Carlisle has been interested in the extraterrestrial ever since she can remember. However, after a brief encounter with the unidentified, she wakes up to find that the world she once knew is long in the past. Now, armed with only a foreign book, Raleigh must find a way to navigate her new world and find her old memories. Can she figure out what happened during her absence and pick up the pieces? Or will she be constantly plagued by those forgotten moments?
Borrow The Time it Takes from the Library.
What inspired Kaitlyn to become a writer?
Saying that writing means a lot to Kaitlyn is an understatement. She’s been writing since she was in middle school, and the only reason she started was because all her friends were doing it! Kaitlyn lucked her way into it, and she's been writing ever since.
In all of Kaitlyn’s novels, past, current, and future, it's been very important to her to create a cast of characters who are realistic and imperfect; those who struggle with mental health, body image, past trauma, who don't fit into the impossible mold of what society often tells us a person should be. The world can feel overwhelming and disconnected at times, but seeing art created by another living, breathing creature, seeing someone put themselves into canvas, or a film, or a book, is one of the most beautiful ways to connect to others. Kaitlyn is so thankful that she not only gets to connect to the art of others, but that she can find connection to others with her own art as well.
What have Kaitlyn's biggest challenges been while writing?
The most challenging part of writing for Kaitlyn doesn't even have to do with the writing. She has an extremely difficult time motivating herself to open up her laptop and work on one of her novels, despite writing literally being her favourite hobby. Kaitlyn often has a hard time beginning any hobbies or doing things she enjoys, but once she gets herself settled and gets a few minutes into a project, she gets in the zone.
Another challenging part is reviewing her past writing. Kaitlyn finds herself constantly wanting to edit the things she’s written in the past, which is especially frustrating when it's an entire novel she wrote five years ago, and left in a random folder on her desktop. It's not feasible to rewrite the entire novel, and editing can be a pain, and so Kaitlyn has to view it through a lens of every one of her books being a snapshot of where she was in her life at that point. Her writing will always change as she continues to find her author's voice over and over again, and so viewing her writing from five, ten, or fifteen years ago, becomes like flipping through a photo album. You can't change a picture that was taken, but you can appreciate and learn from it as it was.
What is one thing Kaitlyn wants readers to know about her books?
Kaitlyn wants readers to know that these books are written from the heart. She writes for the love of it, for the love of art, expression, and connection. Most (if not all) of her major characters, no matter the book, struggle with mental health, as this is such a prevalent part of her, and many other people's lives.
Kaitlyn’s books also feature strong female leads. This doesn't mean they don't have or want romantic partners, but the romantic partner is never their primary motivation. She strives to write woman as competent and complex, with real friendships that are just as important as potential romantic relationships. She wholeheartedly believes that every type of relationship, be it familial, friendly, or romantic, has the same inherent value as the other, and that's one very integral part of her stories. Kaitlyn sometimes found it very difficult to find novels to read with a female protagonist who was not solely motivated by the lure of romance, and so she decided to write some.
About the White Pines Local Author Collection
The Port Moody Public Library created the White Pines Local Author Collection to highlight and support local authors, poets, and illustrators from our community. We launched the collection in May 2019 with 12 inaugural authors. Learn more about this collection and how you can become a White Pines Local Author.
