My former life (pre-Narrative Communications) had me exploring numerous career paths. After graduating from McGill, I took several courses in publishing and editing and wound up as a freelance book publicist for about a year. I have always been drawn to books – and I have considered myself a writer since the age of 12 when I started writing short stories and poetry. There is something about the written word that captures my attention and stirs my heart, so you can imagine my excitement when I met Leslie Hall Pinder, a talented writer and former lawyer who focused her career on working with First Nations people. Leslie was looking for some help in building a brand and website for her fiction and found me through mutual friends.
When I first sat down with Leslie at her home near Granville Island I was instantly intrigued and engaged not only by her story, but the stories of her characters and her deep understanding of the importance of mythology. Leslie’s first novel, Under the House, was shortlisted for a Governor General’s Award for Fiction and was reviewed by Margaret Atwood who wrote “A haunting first novel by a writer of great talent and sensitivity. It treats a difficult theme with humanity and admirable complexity”. Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite authors so this stamp of approval was as good as it gets in my book!
Leslie’s latest novel, Bring Me One of Everything, was released in February and has received critical acclaim. It explores Leslie’s own deep-rooted connection to the First Nations people as well as the British quest to capture and preserve Haida artifacts. This novel draws you in and sends you on a journey of self-discovery as you contemplate the human desire to take what is not ours.
When I started working with Leslie, we explored a lot of the themes in her writing and we kept coming back to the fact that all of her work explores what lies just beneath the surface. Her work unearths secrets, reveals truths and explores new ways of seeing of the world. She mentioned that she loves to capture people’s attention, using a hook to draw them in and then letting them sink deeper into the world she has created. Her brand was already ready starting to unfold. Working with my designer, we set out to create a logo and a website that expanded on these ideas and invited the reader to experience who Leslie Hall Pinder really is. Leslie loves being near the water; she has a summer home on a small island outside of Vancouver and spends lots of time boating and fishing. With her brand, we wanted to create a connection to the themes in her books as well as the life of the author. We launched her brand and website in April 2012.
I met Leslie one night when Megan took me to a talk that Leslie was giving about her book. Her book sounds fascinating, and the idea of seeing the “other” in such a warm and clear way is very enticing. I am eager to read Under the House.