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He found a publisher almost by chance. when he was doing a search on the lntemet and came across an editor whose name was the same as his. "I sent him an e-mail explaining what I was doing. He wrote back and asked where I was from," recalled Mr. Marrr it turned out they were both from the same home town. Mr. Marr was born in Edinburgh. Scotland in 1959 and moved to Canada in l974. His powerful first novel. Magpies and Sunsets. is a riveting tale of a Scottish immigrant drawn back into an unsettling and mysterious past, and the author's ability to reproduce faithfully the dialect and atmosphere of his childhood is remarkable, at times taking the reader from nostalgia to laughter in a single paragraph. "I came to Canada when l was M, which is a terrible age to move down the street. never mind to another country." he said. Thirty years on. he has long since settled happily into his adopted home. but the pull of his formative years has provided him with a wealth of inspiration for writing Although Magpies and Sunsets is his first fullâ€" Iength book. he has done a lot of short story writing and the novel itself grew from a work of short fiction "The place where you were born forms your identity very early.” observed Stouffville author Neil Alexander Marr. APRIL 2004 Siren song of Scotland inspires Stouffville author [)fi. 9y Kate Gilderdale $toufMlle This Month ' “imam NAURU Mr. Man will be a guest at Whitchurch-Stouffville Library on March 30 at 7:30 pm., when he will read "An inspired and thought-provoking book. Magpies tells about the primal cultural force inside all of us, the siren song that picks you up and cam‘es you on a strange and compelling ioumey home where perhaps you might find peace. or perhaps you might go down trying. I saw myself in this book, I lost myself in this book. and l was sorry to come to the final pages I will be looking for his next one." "Ex-pat Scots will find themselves drawn back in time and far away with James. our not-quite so well-adjusted as he'd like to think protagonist. Like any man. and in particular any Scotsman, lames believes he has successfully repressed his past, but fate intervenes and compels him to confront his origins. As he travels back to the land of his birth. his sad and secret past life rolls back in living colour. Magpies and Sunsets came out in Oct. 2003 and was enthusiastically received by the critics. It is available at a number of independent bookstores in Canada and the UK, and can be ordered online from Amazonca. A reviewer on the Amazon website writes of his reaction to the book: and the editor suggested he should send a sample chapter of the book to his publishing house in the UK.. which subsequently offered him a contract. OPTOMETRISI excerpts from his novel. To register for this free event. call 905-642-7323. At Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library on March 30, Neil Alexander Marr will read excerpts from his first novel, Magpies and Sunsets, which was published in Oct. 2003. WH ITCH HIS MONTH