EYE OF THE OCEAN
Eye of the Ocean was the name of Vasil’s summer home, located in Purcell’s Cove, Nova Scotia -- the house where the author lived during her formative childhood years.
As part of her tribute to Vasil, Landry is donating all of her proceeds from book sales to the HEART Society of Nova Scotia (Hants East Assisting Refugees Team). HEART is the charitable organization that helped bring the Barho family to Nova Scotia from Syria. Tragically, their seven children died in a Spryfield house fire in 2019.
The book is a heartfelt tribute to the Barho family and the many first responders and volunteers who have helped them. HEART is also assisting Ukrainian refugees. Purchases of Eye of the Ocean help fund HEART’s work and this urgent humanitarian cause.
SILVER LININGS
In Silver Linings, Janice Landry asks, "What are you the most grateful for?" to fifteen inspiring Canadians from five provinces and two esteemed guests from the United States. One of seventeen is Dr. Robert Emmons, considered to be the world's pre-eminent expert in the study of gratitude.
Gratitude and resiliency are key cornerstones in the field of mental health. Science-based evidence, discussed by Dr. Emmons and others, underlines the importance of developing and practicing gratitude.
Let's face it: it's easy to be grateful when things are running smoothly. The people in Silver Linings have discovered that gifts may actually emerge from life's toughest challenges.
Landry's own gratitude practice was shaken to its core when both her mother and a close friend died within weeks of one another while she was writing Silver Linings.
THE SIXTY SECOND STORY
Janice`s first book available for purchase in Canada, is an homage to her late father, Capt. Basil (Baz) Landry, M.B., who served for 31 years with the former Halifax Fire Department.
Landry and his peers rescued an eight-week-old infant boy from a horrific Halifax house fire in 1978. Landry entered the home`s second-floor after scaling a trellis and going hand-over-fist across the gutter system. He made a dangerous and nearly physically impossible entry, hanging from the gutter, swinging himself up and into the baby`s smoked-filled, pitch-black bedroom, without wearing any breathing apparatus.
His daughter`s tribute book begins with the nine firefighters who died as a result of the Halifax Explosion, the 100th anniversary of which is December 2017.
THE PRICE WE PAY
In an unexpected turn of events, during the media promotion for The Sixty Second Story, the author was contacted, via social media, by the very person who accidentally caused the 1978 fire in which her father and the baby almost died.
In an exclusive interview, six months in the making, Janice spoke for two hours in an emotion-filled, face-to-face conversation with the man and his wife. He was then a young child playing with matches.
The Price We Pay has the theme of decision-making running throughout its pages. Readers will be able to relate, in some way, to the many stories about good and bad decisions within the work.
THE LEGACY LETTERS
There are 15 legacy letters inside the book. In her on-going research about trauma and its effects, the author has interviewed more than one dozen people, from six Canadian provinces, who have experienced a wide-range of traumatic experiences, across multiple professions. Some are first responders, emergency personnel and former members of the military.
The letters are poignant, personal and powerful. The opportunity to write them was offered by Janice as a way of helping the book’s participants regain a sliver of the control they may have lost while dealing with intense trauma, both on and off the job.
WHERE EVIL DWELLS
Ever the journalist, the story, Mother, which is clearly fantastical, is actually a mix of fiction and non-fiction, like the anthology. Mother is primarily set at historic York Redoubt, an aging fort on the edge of Halifax, near the mouth of Halifax Harbour. Mother is a bizarre tale, similar to those featured on the popular 1960’s television series The Twilight Zone. The author has created it to honour a special person who continues to have enormous influence on Janice’s writing. Read Mother to find out who that is and how this twisted story ends.
THE NOVA SCOTIA
BOOK OF FATHERS
The first anthology Janice was asked to be part of is a work of creative non-fiction edited by Lesley Choyce and Julia Swan, who also contributed chapters. The book is published by Pottersfield Press. It launched during June 2017, near Father’s Day.
“In this poignant, often funny, and heartfelt collection, Nova Scotia authors and artists put to the page their thoughts and emotions about their fathers, who raised, inspired, loved, and taught them…”
Janice’s tribute to her late father, an essay, is called One Tiny Tomato; How Small Remembrances Become Significant.
MY NOVA SCOTIA HOME
Janice Landry’s chapter in the My Nova Scotia Home anthology explains her deep love of the Atlantic Ocean, which began during her childhood growing up in Purcell’s Cove, Nova Scotia. Janice also discusses her time spent in Port Bickerton, along the province’s Eastern Shore, during the summer of 2017. The author spent two weeks as the artist-in-residence at the Port Bickerton lightkeeper’s cottage. Landry’s chapter also includes interviews with lighthouse volunteers and community residents who explore the rich and sometimes spooky history of the Port Bickerton lighthouse, and its majestic and rugged grounds.
FROM THE GROUND UP
In her inaugural work of creative non-fiction, Janice was commissioned by Canadian Order of Canada recipient, Mr. Wadih Fares, Consul of Lebanon to the Maritimes, to research and write a hard cover coffee table style biography as a gift for his family and wider Lebanese community.
The work details Fares’ life as a youth in war-torn Lebanon, his emigration to Canada, his many philanthropic works and his rise to becoming one of the most influential business people in Canada. Mr. Fares is among the largest developers on the East Coast.