SeymourHamilton.com<\/a><\/p>\nSeymour and I were metaphorical shipmates aboard Tom Grundner’s Fireship Press and I value the editorial insight he gave me on a project of mine — Water Ghosts<\/em> (2015).\u00a0 I’m pleased to recommend his books and his services and I’d like to share some of his interesting life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
When did you start writing?<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen I was 9, I created a magazine. It was called The Animals Weekly News, and was published in four copies, once.\u00a0 Actually, it was only three copies, because I couldn\u2019t push hard enough with my pencil for the third sheet of carbon paper to print through.\u00a0 That was 68 years ago.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nSo you had an early start as a writer…\u00a0 <\/strong>How did you get into editing? What was your first editorial job?<\/strong><\/p>\nOn the Queen\u2019s Journal (the student paper at Queen\u2019s University, Kingston, Ontario) in 1962, where I was Features and Literary Editor.\u00a0 If you count marking essays as a form of editing, I did a lot of that over many years of teaching first year English, plus a few senior courses.\u00a0 When I taught in the Graduate Department of Communication Studies, editing was both a part of my daily work, and also a sideline, outside the university that led to more than 20 years of editing and writing for more than 50 federal and provincial departments of government and industry.<\/p>\n
What is your connection with the sea?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy first voyage was when I was four, in 1946, when my father, my mother and I sailed on a steamer from England to Mauritius.\u00a0 I remember when we reached Capet Town in South Africa, Table Mountain was \u201cspreading the tablecloth\u201d which is what they call it when cloud sweeps across this well-named mountain.\u00a0 My father, who was a Lt.Cmdr in the Royal Navy and also a Master Mariner, taught me to sail a dingy, as he had learned from his father, who had the same qualifications.\u00a0 My father read me The Rime of the Ancient Mariner when I was five.\u00a0 I thought it was autobiography.\u00a0 A year or so later, I started reading the Swallows and Amazons books by Arthur Ransome, which led naturally by way of Stevenson\u2019s Treasure Island to Conrad, Henty, and Slocum.<\/p>\n
My direct experience with the sea and ships has been brief, but intensive. When I was 19, I was in the Canadian Navy Reserve, serving on a frigate as a cadet.\u00a0 We chased a Russian trawler that turned out to be a Russian submarine that turned around and left Canadian waters, leaving us to go on our way on a cruise to Bermuda and Puerto Rico.\u00a0 An accident to my back later that summer took me out of the Navy. In the 70s, I crewed on a friend\u2019s 50-foot traditional Nova Scotian schooner on a trip across the mouth of the St. Lawrence to Grey River and Fortune, Newfoundland and a visit to Saint Pierre et Miquelon, the anomalous French-owned islands off the south coast of Newfoundland. \u00a0 A few months later, the skipper gave me command of his schooner for a long weekend of coasting near Halifax, from which the ship and everyone aboard returned safely.\u00a0 Some of the incidents on these trips found their way (somewhat hyped) into my writing; notably, the tiny community of Gray River (47\u00b0\u00a035\u2032\u00a020.57\u2033\u00a0N, 57\u00b0\u00a06\u2032\u00a014.23\u2033\u00a0W), which was the genesis of The Astreya Trilogy.<\/p>\n
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Seymour, your nautical experience comes through in your Astreya Trilogy<\/em>, giving it a ring of authenticity. I love the way you develop your characters, your rich settings and the language you employ. <\/strong>What else would you say makes your writing stand out?<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s written for the ear and the eye.\u00a0 I try to follow Conrad\u2019s dictum: \u201cI want to make you see.\u201d I read all my books out loud.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the hardest thing for you about being an editor?<\/strong><\/p>\nLosing arguments.\u00a0 Allowing authors to make their own decisions about what is right for them.<\/p>\n
The most rewarding thing?<\/strong><\/p>\nTo know that the book is better for having had my invisible presence in the making of it.<\/p>\n
What is your favorite type of work to edit?<\/strong><\/p>\nBooks in which the author is deeply involved and committed \u2014 as opposed to authors who only want a shoeshine and shampoo on a marketable pig.<\/p>\n
What other projects are you passionate about?<\/strong><\/p>\nFamily. Dogs. My own writing.<\/p>\n
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What advice do you have for young writers and editors?<\/strong><\/p>\nGet started right now.\u00a0 Don\u2019t wait.\u00a0 Listen to suggestions and criticism from writers and editors you trust, provided they have read your work with care.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be over-critical of yourself.\u00a0 Read in your genre, but don\u2019t be limited to it: read classics, \u201cdifficult\u201d books, books that make you think outside your own experience. Travel both in and outside your country.\u00a0 Listen to people talking.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your biggest strength as a writer?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As an editor?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy biggest writing strength is that I\u2019ve done a lot of writing, which is also a weakness in that it\u2019s made me a very slow writer \u2014 which was not the case years ago when I could knock off many pages a day.<\/p>\n
My biggest editing strength is that I\u2019ve made a lot of mistakes, and no longer get upset when I see someone else making them.<\/p>\n
That’s refreshing!<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lindacollison.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Laughing-Princess-Copy-150x150.jpg\")
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Your ideal vacation would be\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nAboard a schooner.\u00a0 Soon.\u00a0 Before the arthritis gets any worse.<\/p>\n
What else would you like to tell me about yourself, your work?<\/strong><\/p>\nI live in the village of Chelsea, Quebec, just north of Ottawa, Canada.\u00a0 In the winter, I can see houses around mine, in the summer, I\u2019m enclosed by trees.\u00a0 There are cross country ski trails close by that I\u2019ve skied for nearly 25 years.\u00a0 The Gatineau River widens enough for a small sailing club in which I used to be a member until the boats somehow did things faster than I could keep up with.\u00a0 Strange.\u00a0 I remember being able to \u2026\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nThank you Seymour, it’s been a pleasure. Fair winds and may our ships cross again.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nSeymourHamilton.com<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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