Summer 2007 Issue
of Prairie Books Now
Living Up to the Promise
Daher a prolific writer
By Gordon Morosh
In April, Winnipeg writer Anita Daher was awarded the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer.
"Of the four of us nominated, I had my favourite to win-and it wasn't me," says Daher. "My socks were blown off completely and absolutely and into a million little bits when my name was called. Beyond astonishment, I felt so honoured-and a little scared."
Promising indeed. This spring, Daher launched two books, a novel, Racing for Diamonds, and the young adult psychological thriller Spider's Song.
The two books feature teenage girls as protagonists-girls who must triumph over fear and adversity.
Racing for Diamonds is the story of Jaz, a new member of the Junior Canadian Rangers. Her divorced parents argue a lot, and Jaz hopes if she wins a dog-mushing derby they will be so proud of her they will stop arguing. On the derby trail all of Jaz's newfound skills, her will to survive, and her ability to get along with her partner, Colly, are put to a life-and-death test.
Spider's Song introduces us to AJ, a very lonely and angry girl, and her blog has become her main source of contact with the world. To the online world, AJ reveals her innermost hurts-the emotional absence of her mother, a father her abandoned her, and the constant moving she and her mother do. Recently she's begun to cut herself-a powerful habit and source of shame she is trying to overcome.
It was a conjunction of the stars-and her agent's good work-that enabled Daher to publish the books nearly simultaneously.
"Though I would like to do more," she explains, "I have learned I am only capable of obsessively throwing myself into one book project at a time. That said, I often have other projects in mind, and give my subconscious free rein to mull them over until I can get to them."
Daher has four books to her credit, including two spawned from an early career in aviation. Puffin wants another psychological thriller from her, and Racing for Diamonds is the first of what may become a series from Orca featuring the Junior Canadian Rangers.
Apparently, a career in writing fits her well, and Daher is already beyond the description of "promising." Two Foot Punch, a young-adult sports novel, is due out this fall, and her thriller is already started with a draft due to be finished at summer's end.
"With the help of my agent, I am developing another project that looks very promising. I have the first few chapters ready for that one, and a plan, and will work on it this fall. After that, perhaps a sequel to Racing for Diamonds. There are so many stories-and, knock on wood-the time to write them down."
Gordon Morash is a writer and editor based in Sherwood Park, Alberta, where
he shares lfe and limb with his wife, Peggy, and two terriers, Dylan the Welsh,
and Monterra Regan (or Reggie) the nine-week-old Airedale.