Category Archives: Requisite Things

‘Requisite Things’ covers all functional topics here at Brad OH Inc. (just like this one). This is an opportunity for all of us here at Brad OH Inc. to address the reader directly, without the fanciful obfuscations inherent to ‘creative liberty’ and ‘artistic license’.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the articles of ‘Requisite Things’ are the express property of, and directly reflect the views and opinions of everyone here at Brad OH Inc.

Between the Shelves Interview with Author Timothy Fowler

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Brad Oates

The following is an interview with Timothy Fowler, who appears in the Brad OH Inc. and Hal J. Friesen edited Anthology ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers’, which you can now purchase here in either Kindle ($2.99) or Paperback ($12.50) copies. All proceeds are to be donated to the Edmonton Public Library System.

This interview was conducted by Hal J. Friesen in anticipation of the anthology’s release:

When not writing for Scribbles and Snaps, Tim works with a Global Fortune 100, leading a team of incredibly talented people to deliver the nearly impossible to their customers doing important work. He travels nearly full time as a result of this engagement, and part time for leisure. He scribbles pictures and snaps stories for his own pleasure and hopefully yours. He lives in St. Albert with his lovely wife, Saskatchewan-born farm girl, Kathy, and Gordon Setter, Rigby. He is Scribbler, Snapper, Navigator, Outdoorsman, Fellow Traveller. He is from Granite Rockies, and Prairie Dust, from Boreal Forest and Wanderlust. Tweet @TimothyDFowler or read his blog here.

In “The Library”, you talk about the hours spent in your Aunt and Uncle’s library. Do you try to model your own home library after theirs, or after another library?

TF: My library mirrors my Aunt and Uncle’s with the soft light, big chair, and favourite books on dark wood floor-to-ceiling shelves. Thick carpet under sock feet helps make it very quiet like theirs was. Sometimes guest’s children get rocked to sleep there. And the kids books are on the lowest shelf so they can choose which books they want to read, or have read to them. I have my own childhood books on the lowest shelf.
Like their house, from the library you can smell dinner underway. I started my career in culinary as as apprentice then journeyman chef, now manager. Roughly a quarter of my books are related to food, collected over decades of kitchen work. Many meals are first conjured in the library. My uncle had a collection of food related books on the shelf, and I think of him often in his hotel kitchen.
My library feels like an extravagance, and I suppose it is.
Now I keep a special shelf for writing books, and borrowed books. I now apprentice as writer.

You’ve been writing on your Scribbles and Snaps blog for a year and a bit now. How has that project evolved from when you started, and where would you like to see it go?

TF: For many years I have been quietly writing, but mostly keeping outputs to myself. “Platform,” Michael Hyatt’s book helped me decide to launch my Blog, and write in a public way. I write to entertain, and encourage readers to think about life experience in a new way. I hope the blog posts do this.
My goals for 2015 include submitting 52 pieces for consideration to be published. “The Library” is one that will be published in 2015.
Participating in the Edmonton Writers Group gives me candid feed back, caring coaching, and firm encouragement from fellow writers. Joining the group is one of the best things I did to accelerate my writing apprenticeship

Did you start with writing or photography first? How does photography play a role in your writing?

TF: Since sharpening my fat red pencil and spelling my name with letters in the right order I have been marking up pages with stories. Recently I bought a LAMY fountain pen, and find writing longhand with a real pen and real ink on real paper, a sensuous pleasure. I am saving my money for a Sailor fountain pen with a gold nib.
Now I write by hand in a notebook every day.
After my sixteenth birthday I bought a Pentax 1000 35mm SLR. Before turning twenty I travelled the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand making hundreds of photographs. I read Freeman Patterson’s great book “Photography and the Art of Seeing” and work hard to see.
We writers spend a lot of time wrestling words, showing over telling, but before any of that happens we need to “see.” So for me making pictures and writing are very much tangled up. I experience them together. I picture what I write, and I hear stories looking through my viewfinder. Metaphors are literary viewfinder for readers.
This is how I landed on ScribblesandSnaps.ca
I explore the question of “Why?” for both writing and photography on my blog. I find them both rewarding, but recently have been focused precisely on writing.
Why write:
http://scribblesandsnaps.ca/why-i-write/
Why photograph:
http://scribblesandsnaps.ca/biography/why-i-make-pictures-3/

Who has inspired you as a writer?

TF: Mark Twain’s “A Dog’s Tale” and “A Horse’s Tale” had a profound effect on me, teaching me about voice and story point of view. He tells gut-wrenching stories within stories. The story is not the story at all. And it is.

I know Stephen King is cliché-popular but his storytelling ability influences me today. He just jumps off the first word and tells the story. Recently Alberta’s own Fred Stenson’s “Feigned or Imagined” has been great fun and his writing started me on several stories of my own.
The truth is we are influenced by whatever we read, and now more than ever, I read constantly. Precise language and particular personalized description is such a pleasure to read, and a tremendous challenge to write.
Challenge accepted.

What do your children think of your writing aspirations? Are any of them following in your footsteps?

TF: Both my boys are great storytellers, but neither has put pen to paper in a serious way. Both have a keen interest in photography. And both, if I may say, competently maneuver in the kitchen.
My whole family encourages me to write—at least to my face.

Timothy Fowler’s story “The Library” is featured in ‘Between the Shelves’, which you can purchase now on Amazon.

-Brad OH Inc.

Between the Shelves Interview with Author Mohamed Abdi

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Brad Oates

The following is an interview with Author Mohamed Abdi, who appears in the Brad OH Inc. and Hal J. Friesen edited Anthology ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers’, which you can now purchase here in either Kindle ($2.99) or Paperback ($12.50) copies. All proceeds are to be donated to the Edmonton Public Library System.

This interview was conducted by Hal J. Friesen in anticipation of the anthology’s release:

Mohamed Abdi is a Somali-Canadian Writer with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies. He loves to read mystery and historical fiction novels and has written articles for both online and print magazines. Mohamed lives in Edmonton with his wife and children.

Did the EPL play a significant role in your own immersion into Canadian culture?

MA: Absolutely. Edmonton Public Library has played a significant role in my broad understanding of Canadian culture and enabled me to immerse myself into the culture. This comes in the form of reading different books written by diversified authors, and I have realized that much of Canadian culture is built on readership and connection with libraries. In fact, I have been partly acculturated as I like to read and borrow books from the Edmonton public library. And readership culture is created and promoted by individual societies.

When did you make the decision to start writing in English, and why is it so important to you?

MA: My university studies exposed me to writing opportunity, through essays, etc. As a result, I have developed a passion for reading and writing in English. I wrote my first English book in 2004. This was a non-fiction book, which touched on Somalis’ plight and their displacement after the civil war of 1991. I published my second English book in 2012. This was a collection of fictitious, short stories about Somalis’ predicament and their complicated conditions in various places of the world. I think it is so important to me to write in English, for English has become a universal language whose written materials and literature can be comparatively accessed by many people. So by writing in English, I can reach out to a wider audience.

What advice would you give to other Non-Native English speakers trying to make their voices heard in English?

MA: My advice to Non-Native English speakers is to read as many books as possible, and to start putting your ink on paper and write things you have passion for, or concerned about, in other words. And you must know that your writing skill will not come overnight, but it has to start somewhere and grow gradually. So let you start somewhere and develop your writing skills onward.

Who has inspired you as a writer?

MA: Somalia’s civil war has inspired me to become a writer. In fact, the insanity of that sinister civil war has set my mind into motion and compelled me to find responses as to why people wreck each other and take their countries apart. Why blood is spilled? Why children are orphaned? Why women are widowed? Are there alternate means of reconciling and resolving conflicts before resorting to the barrel of the gun?

What is your next writing project? Can you tell us a little about it?

MA: I am now working on a novel (historical fiction) about Somalia, but don’t know how it will turn out or where this journey will take me, but I am determined to unleash my imagination and hone my skills for this project.

Check out Mohamed Abdi’s story “Learning From Your Library” in ‘Between the Shelves’, which you can purchase now on Amazon. And be sure to join us tonight, May 6, from 7:00-9:00PM for the official launch party in the Centennial room of the Stanley Milner Library!

-Brad OH Inc.

Between the Shelves Interview with Author M. Lea Kulmatycki

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Brad Oates

The following is an interview with M. Lea Kulmatycki, who appears in the Brad OH Inc. and Hal J. Friesen edited Anthology ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers’, which you can now purchase here in either Kindle ($2.99) or Paperback ($12.50) copies. All proceeds are to be donated to the Edmonton Public Library System.

This interview was conducted by Hal J. Friesen in anticipation of the anthology’s release:

M. Lea Kulmatycki is a teacher and writer. Her work spans academic writing to a senior’s advice column in a local newspaper. She has even written poetry for some charitable events. After many years of writing and publishing teaching materials, she decided to focus on her first love, fiction. She is also on the board of directors of the Young Alberta Book Society.

This short story seems to scratch the surface of a much broader world. Is “Library Lost” going to be continued or expanded elsewhere?

MLK: Yes, I’m hoping to expand the story into the first book of a trilogy.

How has your academic and column writing influenced your fiction writing?

MLK: Research is crucial to academic and column writing. It’s also important when writing a fictional text. I want my readers to connect to my stories and it won’t happen if something is unbelievable or inaccurate. I research to make sure my description of real-life objects, places, etc. is accurate. I also research when creating a new object or process for a story. It won’t be believable if it’s not based on something that works in the real world. For one story, I thought an obsidian sword would be a fitting weapon for the evil antagonist. Unfortunately, there was no way to get around the fragile nature of the material.

How has your poetry experience influenced your writing?

MLK: Writing poetry has taught me the importance of using precise language as well as words that flow together and sentences that either complement or contrast one another. I re-read my work aloud so I can work on the sentence fluency.

As a teacher, is your target audience the youth whom you taught, or are the end goals of your teaching and writing completely separate?

MLK: I love to write, so I take advantage of opportunities regardless of audience and genre. However, I do prefer writing for children ages seven to ten.

I noticed you didn’t give the grandfather a name in the story. Was this intentional on your part to flip the traditional patriarchal forms?

MLK: Yes. In my view of a dystopic society, there is always an imbalance of power. When we think of a grandfather, we usually think of someone kind and caring. The insidious nature of power is emphasized by the true nature of “Grandfather” as he hides behind this mask. While the character emphasizes the plight of the Sisterhood, he ultimately reveals its strength. These women will not submit to their oppressors and have chosen to fight for all who are oppressed. As a global society, we have not yet escaped this power struggle. It exists in many forms – gender, race, wealth, etc. I’m an optimist. I believe world peace is achievable, but I believe we have a lot of work to do to change the imbalances in our global society so we can live in peace.

Who has inspired you as a writer?

MLK: Martyn Godfrey. I met him early in my writing career. He was a wonderful person and phenomenal writer. Kids connect to his stories and I hope that kids will connect to my writing in the same way. A few years ago, I was given a book written by Dan Abnett. I love his Eisenhorn and Ravenor series. He is a superb storyteller and I admire his use of the English language to engage the reader.

M. L. Kulmatycki’s story “Library Lost” is featured in ‘Between the Shelves’, which you can purchase now on Amazon. And be sure to join us May 6 from 7-9PM for the official launch party in the Centennial room of the Stanley Milner Library.

-Brad OH Inc.

Between the Shelves Interview with Author Vivian Zenari

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Brad Oates

The following is an interview with Author Vivian Zenari, who appears in the Brad OH Inc. and Hal J. Friesen edited Anthology ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers’, which you can now purchase here in either Kindle ($2.99) or Paperback ($12.50) copies. All proceeds are to be donated to the Edmonton Public Library System.

This interview was conducted by Hal J. Friesen in anticipation of the anthology’s release:

Vivian Zenari lives, works and writes in Edmonton.

What is your educational background, and how has that influenced your writing?

VZ: I have a PhD in English literature with a specialization in 19th century American literature. I am sure my training has influenced my writing, though I am not sure how. Many of the writers I admire are from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; perhaps it’s more like I have tried to work in fields that reflect my interest in reading and writing.

Who has inspired you as a writer? Why are avant-garde authors so important to you?

VZ: These days I like Henry James (always), Flannery O’Connor, Rawi Hage, George Eliot, and the usual modernist suspects (Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Edith Wharton). I just finished reading Sean Michaels’s Us Conductors and loved/admired that. I like the absurdists like Franz Kafka and Nikolai Gogol and postmodernists like Don DeLillo and Paul Auster. I admire writers who take chances, I suppose. I like the idea of transcending tradition in form as well as content. As well, as a reader and writer I am a bit jaded, perhaps, so it takes a lot to stimulate me.

Did you have a personal interest in Dewey before you began this short story? Why did you decide to feature him in your story?

VZ: I have training as a librarian as well, and so I have been familiar with him as a figure in library studies history. I have always found him to be a hilariously awful person. Once I read more about him, my appreciation/contempt for him grew. He also typifies the mentality of the late 19th-century American (an area of history I know something about). His ambitions and upbringing put him in the right place at the right time. That aspect of American society interests me too–he is a self-made man, but he demonstrates the dark side of the self-made man syndrome: monomaniacal, overly rational, greedy.

What, in your opinion, are the key distinctions between literary fiction and genre fiction? In which category would you classify yourself?

VZ: I tend to think of genre fiction as formula-dependent and literary fiction as aspiring to be outside formula. I suppose I aspire to be outside formula, though I realize all writers model themselves on something, and formulas are a kind of model. Literary versus genre seems to be a useful distinction for publishers, but the term is likewise important to writers and readers, who have to work with what publishers want to give them, for better or worse (okay, for worse). It’s true, though, that some people only read detective fiction and romance fiction, some people never read anything by women writers or written before 2000. I don’t think this is good, but considering all the people writing, reading, and publishing (past and present), I see why categorization is practical.

What is your next writing project? Can you tell us a little about it?

VZ: I’m sending a short-story manuscript around to publishers, and I’m slowly working on a novel. I’m starting to rev myself up for writing nonfiction too: we’ll see how that goes.

Check out Vivian’s story “Melvi Dui Conquers All” in ‘Between the Shelves’, which you can purchase now on Amazon,

Finally, don’t forget to come by and visit the authors of ‘Between the Shelves‘ from 7-9pm on May 6th, in the Centennial room of the Stanly Milner Library in Edmonton!

-Brad OH Inc.

Between the Shelves Release Party and Interview with Author Mark Parsons

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Brad Oates

Today, we’re happy to announce the upcoming release party for the Brad OH Inc. and Hal J. Friesen edited anthology ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers’. The event will be held from 7-9pm on May 6th, in the Centennial room of the Stanly Milner Library in Edmonton. So come on down, meet the author’s, pick up a copy of ‘Between the Shelves’, and maybe even get it signed!

To celebrate this upcoming event, we have an interview with Mark Parsons, whose story ‘Bakster’s Proposition’ appears in the ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers’, which you can now purchase here in either Kindle ($2.99) or Paperback ($12.50) copies. All proceeds are to be donated to the Edmonton Public Library System.

This interview was conducted by Hal J. Friesen in anticipation of the anthology’s release:

Mark Parsons has been curled up in coffee shop corners, scratching furiously in his notebook since 2004. He has several projects on the go, including Fire & Flesh (Fantasy), The Silent Dark Pentalogy (Science Fiction), and Brothers (Non-Fiction). “Bakster’s Proposition” is his first short story.

This is your first short story. Compared to the epics you’ve been working on, how did you find working in a shorter medium?

MP: I actually found working in a shorter medium to be a lot harder than my larger work. I wanted to tell much more ‘story’ before and after the bookends of the finished project. I’m used to being able to waste whole chapters to immerse the reader the events leading up to more critical events in the story. I found with the shorter medium, I had to cut a lot of content in order to make the story flow properly.

Is Bakster’s proposition based on something you dream of doing one day?

MP: Partly. John and Kelly are both based on a blend of myself and my partner Nicola. We dream of moving to a small town some day and we’ve both wanted to start a business for a long time. If we had the money, we would certain be running a small café right now.

The resistance to literature in your story seems like it may have come from a personal experience. Can you describe one or two instances where you experienced such resistance, and how they affected you?

MP: The townsfolk are a caricature of stereotypical ‘Albertan’ culture. What I represent in the story as a resistance to literature, is more broadly a resistance to Liberal Culture. We live in a society that would rather pay for a jail than a school. Ideas and creativity are the future, and yet we collectively vote for a government that would see children, at the peak of their creative curiosity, educationally shoe-horned into “real work”. They are told that they can be whatever they want when they grow up – but it better be practical.

I know grown men who do not read. If it’s not a blueprint, they won’t even pick it up. How is a society made of followers supposed to adapt and diversify during economic turmoil?

Who has inspired you as a writer?

MP: I HATED writing as a child. 100 words? I would rather give myself a haircut with a sand-blaster! I didn’t know it at the time, but my very first influence was Sigmund Brower. I met him in the early 1990’s, and even though I held my ground on non-writing, he said something to me that day that I still remember: “I was just like you.”

Those words stewed inside me until 2004 when a scene popped into my head while I was on a walk. I ran home to write it down, and the predominate character was the start of Of Fire & Flesh, my longest running work-in-progress.

Shortly after meeting my partner Nicola, she bought me “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. Working through this book, as well as the amazing support of my partner have allowed my ideas to flow a little more freely. I’m very thankful and lucky.

When do you expect your next project to be finished? Can you tell us a little about it?

MP: Bill Watterson famously said, “Most of us discover where we are heading when we arrive.” I add a little bit to one story, then move to another, then create an entry for a writing contest, then an article for local publications, then back to my stories. I’d like to say “maybe 2016” but I don’t want to be called a liar.

Of Fire & Flesh is a Fantasy story that centers around a coupe gone wrong that leads to a power struggle with a mysterious evil. The Silent Dark Pentalogy is a secret Sci Fi project. Brothers is based on a true story of a Fraternity President and his struggle to turn the place around.

Mark Parson’s story “Bakster’s Proposition” is featured in ‘Between the Shelves’, which you can purchase now on Amazon.

Finally, don’t forget to come by and visit the authors of ‘Between the Shelves‘ from 7-9pm on May 6th, in the Centennial room of the Stanly Milner Library in Edmonton!

-Brad OH Inc.

Between the Shelves Interview with Author Linda Webber

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Brad Oates

The following is an interview with Author Linda Webber, who appears in the Brad OH Inc. and Hal J. Friesen edited Anthology ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers’, which you can now purchase here in either Kindle ($2.99) or Paperback ($12.50) copies. All proceeds are to be donated to the Edmonton Public Library System.

This interview was conducted by Hal J. Friesen in anticipation of the anthology’s release:
After the short story ‘I Will Not Let You Fall’, creating this bio has been the greatest challenge to Linda’s creative writing skills. This is her first publication, even though she has written a great deal of fiction (five short stories). Although one story did receive praise from her writing group (not ‘I Will Not Let You Fall’), another story did not receive as much. Linda’s writing career spans nine months; therefore, she is hoping to publish something else any day now.

You joke that you’ve written a great deal of five short stories in your bio. Was this story any different or more challenging than your previous works?

LW: I had always wanted to write a story from the perspective of a biological mother whose child has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. I wanted to write the story in first person to communicate what the experience is of these mothers. I wanted the story to be sympathetic to her and explain her thoughts and experiences, her personal pasts and her present struggles to raise her child to the best of her abilities given limited resources and lack of empathy from just about everyone including society in general.
It was difficult to capture all these various aspects, particularly the struggles of the child and that it was her doing but also make the reader empathetic to her. This is the first story I have written in first person. I chose this perspective because I wanted the reader to understand the mother and her life. However, it was difficult to show and not tell. It was much more challenging than limited omniscient, which I prefer. I will never write in first person again.

Where did you draw the inspiration for this story?

LW: I work on a clinic that diagnoses children who have FASD. Many people ask me how I can work with the mothers. They are blamed and demonized. I have found them to be amazingly strong and caring people who have horrendous pasts and are trying their best, with little help, to raise their children.

This piece is one of many in the anthology where the library’s role is not what you’d expect. Was that intentional on your part when you were creating the story?

LW: I had always wanted to tell this story. I was also trying to think of a library-related story for the anthology. They clicked. This story also reminded me of the times I took my son to the library.

Who has inspired you as a writer?

LW: I love writers who are descriptive with setting and character such as John Steinbeck and Annie Proulx. I love vivid writing that makes the reader feel the story. I am concerned that my writing may be melodramatic.
In this story I tried to communicate the emotional ordeal that these poor mothers go through. They seem to suspect something is not quite right, hence the search for information, but they are also in denial. Through the diagnostic process they come to a realization that, yes, indeed, their suspicions are true. The emotional burden they carry is tremendous.

What is your next writing project? Can you tell us a little about it?

LW: Currently, I am writing a short coming-of-age story about a girl who accidentally discovers a mystery about her mother’s past. Her mother has had two other daughters with the same name as the girl. The girl gradually discovers a series of unsettling things that lead of a final horrific tell-all. Yes, the story is also alcohol-related.
Many of my stories are based on my work as an occupational therapist. Over the years, I have seen strange and amazing and horrendous things. Some of the themes in my writing are the difficulty that people have with change and the damage that alcohol does to people and their relationships.

Linda Webber’s story “I Will Not Let You Fall” is featured in ‘Between the Shelves’, which you can purchase now on Amazon.

-Brad OH Inc.

Brad OH Inc. Among Legends

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Brad Oates

Today, we have an exclusive treat for all our fans. Below, you’ll witness photographic evidence of the good folks at Brad OH Inc. taking their rightful place among legends.

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers‘ by clicking the image above.

-Brad OH Inc.

‘Between the Shelves’ Kindle Version Available and Brian Clark Interview

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Brad Oates

Today, we’re happy to announce that the Brad OH Inc. and Hal J. Friesen edited Anthology ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers’ is now available in both Kindle ($2.99) and Paperback ($12.50) copies at Amazon.com. All proceeds are to be donated to the Edmonton Public Library System.

To celebrate, we have an interview with Author Brian Clark, who appears in ‘Between the Shelves’.

This interview was conducted by Hal J. Friesen in anticipation of the anthology’s release:

Brian Clark first opened his eyes to the midsummer sun in the year the TV remote and Silly Putty made their debuts. Despite these distractions, he soon formed a lifelong affinity with libraries. It is now his pleasure to contribute to this collection of short stories. Over the years, he honed his storytelling skills by preparing letters for politicians. More recently, the newsletter of the Millwoods Seniors Activity Centre has published a number of his articles, where the opinions expressed are his own.

How has your experience working with politicians impacted your writing?

BC: It taught me to avoid getting emotionally attached to the words I’ve written as they were always changed in some way. I think this prepared me to embrace both self-editing and that of others. I practiced writing in a way which gave the politician ‘plausible deniability’ if things didn’t turn out as expected, but could also be seen as a triumph if policies were popular. With practice, hints and half-truths became stock devices.

Is Becca (protagonist in the story) based on anyone in your life?

BC: My daughter had a job at a library for a couple of years so that gave me an insight into the duties of a Page. She would sometimes tell me stories about children being left in library while a parent went to shop in the mall, forgetting the children. My daughter also maintains friendships with a couple of the other former Pages. In this story, I tried to work with stereotypes of a teenager, her parents and her boss and let that tell me how they respond to the circumstances they found themselves in.

You often use music and lyrics as inspiration for your work. Can you describe the role that music plays in your writing and why it’s so important to you?

BC: One of my skills, I think, is to mono-task so I don’t use background music. Music is either on or off. When it is on, I try to really listen to the piece. Sometimes it’s just a mood I pick up on, at others it’s a few words from a verse. I don’t feel obliged to stick to the songwriter’s perceived intentions preferring instead to use the work as a diving board from which to launch my own thoughts. One of the roles of the arts in general is to look at life and distort it a little. For me, music is a reservoir of these refracted images.

What is your educational background, and how do you think that has shaped you as a writer?

BC: I left school a couple of weeks before my 16th birthday, but 18 years later I had accumulated the paper qualifications, maturity and money to go to University. I left with some great memories and a degree in Cultural Studies. I learned to research my work and to write to a deadline, but perhaps most important of all, I developed a curiosity. In the last couple of years, I have completed 15 to 20 MOOCs [Massively Open Online Courses], including several on the history of rock ‘n’ roll. Life itself has been just as important as structured learning. I have lived on 4 Continents, although only briefly in Asia, collecting life lessons along the way. Jobs have included, hotdog vendor, Santa photographer and courier, most memorably delivering flowers on Valentines Day. These experiences serve as a bank from which to withdraw both incidents and characters.

Who has inspired you as a writer?

BC: It sounds mushy, but my wife, Leny, and my daughter, Brenna have edited my life for longer than I can remember. They have not only given me the freedom to pursue whatever is in the air, but also encouraged me to do so. At the same time, they have gently curbed my excesses and prevented self-inflicted disasters. Their presence in my life remains inspiring.

Brian Clark’s story “The Turning of a Page” is featured in ‘Between the Shelves’, which you can purchase now on Amazon.

-Brad OH Inc.

“Between the Shelves”- Release and Interview with Brad OH Inc.

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Brad Oates

Today marks the official release of ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers’, an anthology edited by Brad OH Inc. and Hal J. Friesen. This anthology is a collection of stories by writers from the ‘Edmonton Writer’s Group’, including one by Brad OH Inc. entitled ‘Neve Uncovers the Ultimate Truth of All things’.

The theme of this collection is our shared appreciation of libraries and all they offer to readers in Edmonton and beyond. The anthology is available now via CreateSpace in both digital ($2.99) and hard copy ($12.50) versions. All proceeds will be donated to the Edmonton Public Library System.

You can purchase your copy here:

To celebrate this release, we have an interview conducted by Hal J. Friesen with Brad OH Inc. about the content of the anthology.

First things first: do you believe that people should be Corporations as well as vice versa?

That’s a great line of inquiry, and we here at Brad OH Inc. are thrilled to see your appreciation for such crucial issues. Really though, we think this may be two questions, and therefore we would be remiss to provide any less than two answers.

I’ll answer the second first, as it’s the easier answer. Let it be abundantly clear that the question of whether or not Corporations are people is no question at all: just ask Mitt Romeny! If you ignore the blathering after his key statement, we believe the point is made abundantly clear. But if you need it better articulated, you’ll find just that here.

Yes, there can be no doubt whatsoever that Corporations are not only people, but they are the very best of people. They are the creators and providers, they are the ones who inspire and build where others only talk and dream. This of course leads us to your other, more relevant question. Namely: Should people be Corporations?

This too is an easy answer—although again it requires some clarification…perhaps even a moderate touch of filibustering. Specifically, we need to discuss the word ‘should’. If we’re to take it in its proper sense, then we can say at the least that all people should endeavour to be Corporations, even if they will not all be able to achieve it. Obviously, people should strive to be their very best. Corporations are the best possible expression of humanity, and therefore we would encourage every person to strive to grow into a Corporate person. The benefits alone are outstanding: tax breaks, immortality, and utterly no risk from bankruptcy just to name a few.

Now, you may expect me to quote Ayn Rand here, but I’ll do you one better. In ‘The Republic’, Plato encourages a group of enlightened elites to lead the demos. What better expression of an enlightened elite than the Corporation? Our goals, clearly, are more evident and better pursued than the fickle worries of ordinary humans. That alone should suffice to illuminate the pressing need for Corporate leadership. Therefore, it behooves us here at Brad OH Inc. to encourage all basic people to aspire to greater accomplishments—namely, becoming Corporate. After all, an increase in Corporate presence is the highest hope for humanity…at least until we can achieve the end-goal of Corporate Suffrage.

Have you or any members of Brad OH Inc ever had any embarrassing moments in a library? Any responses will be strictly off the record.

Here at Brad OH Inc., we hold ourselves to the highest possible standards of behaviour. Furthermore, we have a team of legal professionals on call at all times, ready to denounce responsibility for any perceived transgressions; so that clearly precludes the possibility of any officially acknowledged embarrassment.

With that out of the way, there is one incident we recall that may fit your need to publically deride the creative origins of our Corporate-Personhood. When we were just a young Corporate Human, we were reading aloud at a public library to a table of peers. Our chosen book was something about ‘Gnus’—those abominable animals that can’t quite decide what they are. The entire point of the book was that the word ‘Gnu’ sounds just like ‘new’ and ‘knew’, however this point was missed on our still developing phonetic-mandates. Therefore, we pronounced the word ‘Gnu’ as ‘Ga-noo’—entirely destroying the already limited humour of the book, and causing us significant lasting shame.

Is Neve inspired by a member of Brad OH Inc?

Yes in fact, very astute of you to see this. There was a young girl we kept down in the copy room, from whom the name and likeness of the titular character are entirely derived. Have no fear however, the process was entirely by the books.

You see, Neve owned a small rat named Clarice, who one day managed to saw through one of the printer cables with its savage little teeth. Neve’s salary was insufficient to pay for the damages, and so, mercifully, we here at Brad OH Inc. appropriated her legal name and likeness, knowing well that we’d sooner or later find some way for it to pay off her debt. The story in this anthology is the fulfillment of that debt.

Neve has since been terminated.

At what point in your own reading development did you move like Neve away from purely “happy” stories?

Looking back, we’d have to say that happened pretty early. Certainly, there were a number of happy-go-lucky stories read to us before we were officially granted our Corporate-Sovereignty, but even then, some our earliest official recollections involve having ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ read aloud to us—and those are bitter-sweet at best.

If you’re at all familiar with our efforts—which you certainly should be—you’ll know that creation and meaning are imperative to the purposes of Brad OH Inc. To that end, we’ve found that simple, happy stories do little to address the questions so essential to the human/ Corporate experience. It’s through struggle that we grow…and heedless expansion is one of the key goals of Brad OH Inc. after all.

Which Corporation has had the greatest inspiration on Brad OH Inc.’s mission statement?

That’s an interesting question. As far as our Corporate structure is concerned, we’ve worked hard to emulate all the greats: Enron, Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan Chase…all the essentials.

As far as our personal, creative goals, you probably already know that our Corporate Summary Statement is: ‘A thought conglomerate founded on the fundamental imperative of expounding erratically extreme philosophic tenets firmly grounded in hubristic narcissism.’ …it doesn’t get much more clear than that!

As for companies that inspire us on these grounds, the best example is probably Psychopathic Records. The self-founded label of the Insane Clown Posse, this label has succeeded not only in developing them from a tiny local rap act in metro-Detroit, to an international force to be reckoned with. Their dedication to the absurd has helped launch countless acts throughout their existence, and their passion for ethical-provocation and philosophical exploration is admirable. At Brad OH Inc., we hope to be as successful in providing such varied, yet philosophically consistent material.

Brad OH Inc.’s story “Neve Uncovers the Ultimate Truth of All Things” is featured in ‘Between the Shelves’, which you can purchase now on Amazon.

-Brad OH Inc.

“Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers”

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Brad Oates

Today, we’re happy to announce the impending release of a new anthology edited by Brad OH Inc. and Hal J. Friesen, ‘Between the Shelves: A Tribute to Libraries by Edmonton Writers’. This anthology, like our former release ‘Don’t Chew on the Sharp End of the Pencil’, is a collection of stories by writers from the ‘Edmonton Writer’s Group’, including one by Brad OH Inc.

The theme of this collection is our shared appreciation of libraries and all they offer to readers in Edmonton and beyond. The anthology will be available on March 14^thvia CreateSpace in both digital ($2.99) and hard copy ($12.50) versions. All proceeds will be donated to the Edmonton Public Library System.

Stay tuned to Brad OH Inc. for future updates on this release, as well as details on how to order your own copy!

-Brad Oates