Au World Features Heather Doherty

Going After A Goal

Alumna Heather Doherty's first novel, Goody Bledsoe, was reviewed by The Globe and Mail and included in its spring fiction books section (April 14, 2007). She lives in Fredericton, N.B., where she is working on other novels.

I signed up for my first AU course in 2001 and, depending on life's demands, studied both part- and full-time until I earned my BA (English, with distinction) in 2005.

I have two sons, the youngest of

whom is severely autistic, so my life is pretty busy, but I was ready to return to studies and finish the degree I'd started so many years before. That had been a desire of mine for a very long time. I really felt it was time for me to go after this goal.

That's where AU came in.

The course selection was terrific, and most importantly for me, I was able to take the courses I wanted when I wanted, and apply myself to those studies at my own pace. I didn't have to fit myself around a set schedule, and the classroom was where I made it. AU fit around me.

I actually didn't start out as an English major. Initially, I was studying psychology, but I enjoyed the English courses so much and was starting to really look toward my heart's desire of writing more and more seriously that a switch in majors made sense.

AU worked with my life.

The courses that I enjoyed most of all were the writing courses, but also Women in Literature and Literature of Work really held my interest. Both of those courses provided amazing reading material. Some of the best books I have ever read, I read while studying with AU.

I am a fan of AU. It was a very real option for me in my very busy and complicated world! Being a mom is demanding. Being a mom of a severely autistic child has its very real and very unique challenges. AU worked with my life to allow me to obtain my degree.


http://au.world.athabascau.ca/200707/htdocs/student_success.php

Prairiefire Reviews Goody Bledsoe

Goody Bledsoe is Heather Doherty's first novel, but it shows the skill of a practised writer.

- Donna Gamache, Prairiefire, a Canadian Magazine of New Writing

http://www.prairiefire.ca/reviews/doherty_bledsoe.html

Globe and Mail Reviews Goody Bledsoe

The Globe and Mail included Goody Bledsoe in it's 'Spring Fiction'
books insert with a review by Jim Bartley !!!

In the review, Mr. Bartley writes:

"The characters grow in complexity. Each wound or (rare) joy of
the heart increases the fascination."

Jim Bartley, The Globe and Mail, Saturday, April 14, 2007

The full review can be found at the following link:

http://tinyurl.com/2knpkz

Kind Words For Goody Bledsoe

"The storytelling is not trendy but traditional, even universal.
It is not dissimilar to the works of David Adams Richards, and
like them, the story is an engaging and a moving one."

- reviewed by TISH PACEY

The Daily Gleaner, Fredericton, March 17, 2007

Goody Bledsoe Reading April 19 at Nashwaaksis Public Library

On Thursday, April 19th at 7pm, I will be reading from Goody
Bledsoe at the Nashwaaksis Public Library. Hope to see you there.

Chapters Signing Postponed

My Goody Bledsoe signing scheduled for this Saturday, March 17, at Chapters in Fredericton is being postponed due to logistical glitches. I will post the new date when it is set. Hope to see you then.

March 17 Signing at Chapters Fredericton

On March 17 from 2-4 I will be signing copies of Goody Bledsoe at Chapters in the Regent Mall in Fredericton. Hope to see you there!

Goody Bledsoe Signing at Westminster Books

On January 18, 2007, Westminster Books on King Street
in Fredericton hosted a launch for my first novel, Goody
Bledsoe. What a great time! (thanks to Harold Doherty for
these pics!)

Greetings

I'm pleased to announce the publication of my first novel, Goody
Bledsoe, published by Oberon Press in Ottawa in October of 2006.

Goody Bledsoe is the story of a young girl who is sent as an orphan to live with her aunt and uncle on a farm in rural New Brunswick. Heather Doherty says of it: “This is a story of survival, of choosing to survive in spite of the darkness, in order to find the light that lies beyond.” In another mood she says: “Goody Bledsoe is a novel of daring, daring to see what lies within, even when that knowledge hurts like hell.”

This is what David Adams Richards has to say about the book: “Heather Doherty has written an exceptionally moving and brilliant first novel, a startlingly permanent novel that must be read.” Heather Doherty was born in 1964 and grew up in New Brunswick, where she still lives with her husband and two sons. As this is written she’s working in the local library and writing her second novel.

8.5 by 5.5 by 158 pages, cover by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

http://www.oberonpress.ca/titles.pl