WRITING
On co-authoring Toward Another Shore
A NOVEL-IN-STORIES BY ALEX TURNER AND LUCIAN CHILDS
Forthcoming Fall 2026 from Arsenal Pulp Press
After editing and expanding Toward Another Shore, the novel-in-stories written by my late husband—Canadian visual artist, author and educator, Alex Turner—I’m very happy to announce that the manuscript has been picked up by one of Canada’s top independent publishers, Arsenal Pulp Press. Much gratitude goes out to publisher Brian Lam and his team for believing in the book.
The novel begins in 1956 when fifteen-year-old Teddy—a lonely boy drawn to the water and woods surrounding his small town of Harrison Hot Springs—is overwhelmed by his feelings upon meeting the bad boy Wade. The narrative tracks the two friends’ rapturous early years ranging over the area’s mountains, their falling out after high school because of Teddy’s sexuality. Their separation, during which Teddy experiences love and loss in the surprisingly wild early ’60s gay Vancouver. The conclusion delves further into Teddy and Wade’s shared past, bringing the cycle of their friendship forward another revolution.
In addition to being a poignant tale of personal development, Toward Another Shore vividly describes small-town and family life in Alex’s beloved Upper Fraser Valley. It also offers insight into a little described moment in queer Canadian history—the decade prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots, when despite the era’s drive for civil rights Vancouver’s gay enclave continued to suffer discrimination and police harassment.
Alex generated a lot of material over the nearly two decades he laboured on the work. He had a natural dramatic sense that lent tension to each story. His language was poetic, humorous and exuberantly down to earth. But with only scant training in writing fiction, he didn’t always know how to shape this material. When I took on the project after his death, I found a few of the stories worked well. As for the rest, it was a bit like archaeology—requiring me to dig through draft after draft to find the shape he was driving toward and to sharpen its arc.
Fortunately, Alex was a huge pack rat. So, on the occasions where beats needed fleshing out or new scenes added, I was able to utilize text and incidents gleaned from his copious editorial notes, letters, journals and photographs from the period.
Given these many interventions, the resulting manuscript can now be more properly understood as a work of joint authorship. I am grateful beyond measure that he and I are still together, labouring these many years after his death to create something of meaning and beauty. Pleased that his personal journey, on which these stories are based, will now be more widely known. Delighted, as well, that we’ve rescued from oblivion this dynamic time and place.
Updated 8/25/25
