LAKEVIEW: Jaron, the main character in Cynthia d’Entremont’s fiction novel Unlocked, longs for the day he can finally leave the garbage heaps in the make believe town of Leviathon.
Along Jaron’s search for freedom is a dream pieced together from faded memories and the auspicious key he wears around his neck.
However, when Jaron and fellow characters Devora and Benjamin finally escape, Jaron is faced with only more hurdles in the form of treachery and betrayal. That’s when Jaron begins to search for answers about the Ancient Way, but instead finds himself coming face to face with an unthinkable possibility: the choice to kill.
“They’re not sure why they’re in a garbage dump,” said d’Entremont, who lives in Lakeview. “They’re not sure why they have to raise themselves. Basically, it goes downhill from there for them. While the main character is trying to find his family and he’s trying to find a place that he can call home. That’s the essential theme throughout the book.”
She said the world the characters in the novel face is similar to the one we’re living in, but she didn’t plan it that way. She just wrote as the words flowed from her head to herpen, and then paper.
“They know they'll get what is called a leaving day when they're 15,” d’Entremont said. “They're not allowed to become friends with anyone. It’s a strange arrangement, but that is all they know.”
D’Entremont admitted the book does have some mature themes, and people can see evidence of how dark the book is by its cover that shows a key going into the lock of a door that has light shining through it.
“It definitely will be on the discretion of parents of younger readers if they read it or not,” she said. “It’s a good versus evil book that has characters there to do harm and characters there to do good.”
She said Jaron discovers things aren’t as they appear as he explores the world.
“The rules he thought he was supposed to follow could actually cause more harm than good,” she said.
The first draft of the book was completed in 2006, but it wasn’t until late 2009 that she got word it would be published. That was the result of winning a contest through Word Alive Press, which awarded the winner the right to have their work published by the Winnipeg, Man. company.
For d’Entremont, getting her first-ever book published has been a long journey. Despite being rejected seven times by previous publishers, she remained determined to see the manuscript for Unlocked turned into a novel. That finally came to fruition. The author, known for many non-fiction pieces and a short-story in A Maritime Christmas from Nimbus in 2008, launched the Word Alive Press-published piece April 10 in the Great Hall at Dalhousie University. It’s a fantasy book tailored to those who are 15-years-old and up.
Another strange occurrence for the novel was the start time of its launch, which was 2:22 p.m. It was done at such an odd time because 222 had such an influence on decisions made around the Word Alive Press-published novel. The book also ended up being 222 pages in length.
“I had sort of seen the number 222 a lot,” she explained. “Someone had a fine and it was $222: The power went out and the coffeemaker clock flashed 2:22: I’d see a license plate and it would say 222.”
She told a friend she was seeing the number 222 quite often, sometimes once or even a couple times a day.
“It was really kind of strange,” she said. “I kind of laughed and said I should open up my market guide and see what’s on page 222.”
What are the odds that the market guide, which is hundreds of pages in length, would hold the key to d’Entremont’s future? Considering only 10 pages in the book refer to Canadian publishers, the chances were slim, she thought.
Not so fast.
“I opened it up and on page 222 it was the Canadian section,” she said. “At the bottom of the page was a publisher I had forgotten when I sent it everywhere else that I was going to send it to, so I thought okay I’ll send it off to them.”
She then had to wait about eight months before receiving a large critique informing her the publisher couldn’t take the novel. However, the editors did have some suggestions for her.
“They said if I was willing to work on the manuscript again and send it back, they would be willing to look at it again,” she said.
She did that and during that time went on a trip to Ottawa with her husband and a friend, who she told the 222 story to.
“He looked at me a bit puzzled thinking I’m making it up, and, just as I was telling him, a vehicle went by with 222 on it,” d’Entremont said.
Originally the idea behind Unlocked was for it to be a picture book. However, d’Entremont quickly learned her idea was bigger than a picture book.
“I was looking at the palm-size figurine I have of a father and a child holding a loaf of bread I had bought in Poland,” she said. “It looked like that might be all they own. I kind of left it at different places in my room.”
Then, in 2006, she was looking at the figurine and thought she’d really like to do a story about being homeless and began brainstorming for Unlocked.
After doing some research on what she could do for a picture book, she began to write, and the voice she adopted was that of a young adult.
“I thought I could write something that would be for a younger audience, but then this character emerged and the story poured out,” she explained. “It was very clear to me fairly soon it wasn’t a story for young viewers, but instead was going to be in a different genre and that it wasn’t going to be a picture book, but a novel. That’s where I got the idea.”
Even the place the book was launched had a connection to the story. In Unlocked, there is a place called the Great Hall, so when d’Entremont learned there was a Great Hall at Dalhousie, she knew the spot was right.
“When Jaron goes to a castle, they go into the Great Hall for a ball,” she said. “At the time I wrote that and had it in there, I didn’t realize there was one locally. When we looked for a spot to host the launch, I thought that would be a great idea.”
D’Entremont is currently working on a sequel to Unlocked, as well as a few other pieces that have yet to be completed. Asked when people might be able to expect the sequel to be on bookshelves, she had a simple response.
“Good question,” d’Entremont replied. “This is a series of three books. The second book is in progress. I don’t have a release date for it yet, but I am working on it.”
D’Entremont has won two awards in the past for her non-fiction writing, being honoured with the Joyce Barkhouse Writing for Children Award and a Nova Scotia Talent Trust Scholarship in Literary Arts.
Unlocked is available at most bookstores throughout Atlantic Canada, including Chapters-Indigo and online at d’Entremont’s website http://www.cynthiadentremont.ca, via Paypal. That book comes with an autograph from the author.
phealey@enfieldweeklypress.com