HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2017-01-11, Page 1112 Signal Star • Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Spreading hope, peace through literature
Darryl Coote
Editor
If there is one message
that W. Paul Elgie hopes
readers take away from his
new novella "His Sandals," it
is to have hope for the future.
And it is hard for one to
not walk away from the book
without noticing this inten-
tion as the story chronicles
the journey of Jesus Christ's
sandals from the hands of
one ancient historical figure
to the next, and with the
holder being changed for
having come into contact the
humble foot ware.
From his Goderich living
room, the retired F.E Madill
Secondary School teacher -
cum -author said he was
inspired to write narrative
following a trip to Sulpice,
France, specifically to a 12th
century abbey.
"So I walk into it and the
roof was missing and the
grass floor, one wall at the
back, one wall with a door
that has been frozen over for
a couple of centuries, and a
small alter at the front and
the big alter beside it and a
small alter over here. And I
knelt down and I prayed and
it all came to me," he said.
That was three years ago.
W. Paul Elgie poses with his second book and first historical fiction novella "His Sandals" in late 2016.
And since then he has spent
his mornings researching
and writing, editing and
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researching and with a little
bit more writing thrown in
for good measure.
The book's creation wasn't
simple, though, he said, and
it might not have come to
completion if he didn't have
the support of his wife, Mari-
lyn EIgie.
"Many times you get frus-
trated and you think, 'ah it's
too difficult.' And then I
prayed and I got help and
then I would continue. And I
also have a wonderful wife,
Marilyn, who inspired me
and sort of kicked me in the
pants when I got down," he
said.
Though it is his second
published book, it is his first
tale of fiction so it wasn't as
easy as his rookie effort
"Choices: Love, Give, Serve."
He compared the writing of
the story to a journey and
that you travel a great dis-
tance in writing it but even-
tually you come to a place in
the narrative where you real-
ise you still have more dis-
tance than you realised to
go.
And being a book heavily
influenced by history
required that he do a lot of
research.
"I had to do a lot of
research. Research after
research," he said into topics
such as the Circus Maximus,
ancient slavery practices and
even into love and marriage
customs.
"Thank heaven there's
Google," he said.
The 80 -year-old said, what
he learned from writing the
book is "it takes a lot of time,
a lot of concentration and
hard work. A lot of hard
work, believe me. It's over
and over and over again. You
edit it and you edit it and you
IDar it Coote/Editor
edit it and you edit."
However, it's all worth it in
'the end;he said, if readers
not only enjoy the book but
take from it his theme of
helping people.
"I totally believe ... if eve-
ryone helped everybody else
there wouldn't be any wars,
and that's my theme. It's
from the `Bible, " he said.
"His Sandals" was pub-
lished by Christian book
publishers Word Alive Press
in late 2016 and is available
in Goderich at Fincher's and
Radiant Life Christian
Bookstore.
FOR �_ i Mme,
120 Huckins Street, Goderich
PHONE: 52.4-2614 FAX: 524-9175
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