Cairn Shadow Press, located in Bellingham, Washington, has three publications thus far, including two novels by Carolyn Dale — Sylvie’s Chance, an historical novel, and Second Rising, an eco-fiction novel set near Bellingham, Washington.
In Sylvie’s Chance, a French-Canadian woman from Illinois in the 1830s travels to Texas and later marries one of the first Texas Rangers. (Her family eventually settled in the Pacific Northwest — see synopsis and reviews at the left).
Sylvie’s Chance includes a bibliography of sources and a cast of characters (the story’s people, dates and places are fact-based — Dale has published related material for the Texas Historical Society).
“Carolyn Dale has written something really special here – intellectually rigorous historical fiction that defies easy description. What I find truly fascinating are the tempo, pace, and range of the story, with a cadence that captures the age without being quaint.” wrote Glen Larum, author of Waltz Against the Sky, Kirkus Best Indie Debut Novel, 2019.
The novel also features a map of Texas at the time (created by West Seattle artist Jan Koutsky) and a cover painting by Gerald McShane.
Second Rising, Dale’s novel published in March 2020 by Cairn Shadow Press, has received critical acclaim from Larum, who, in the February 2022 issue of Whatcom Watch, called it “definitely a candidate for any of the ‘Book of the Year’ award.” See a version of his review at Second Rising by Glen Larum.
Second Rising also grabbed the attention of arts writer Margaret Bikman, now a columnist for Cascadia Daily News, who praised the novel in Entertainment Weekly Northwest and published an extensive interview with Dale about it — see Bikman’s interview here.
In spite of a Covid-19 society, Second Rising keeps gaining traction, as members of book clubs in Austin, Texas, the Bay Area of California and six clubs in Washington have urged their members to read the novel (it is the chosen novel of a Bellingham book group for later in the year). In addition, independent praise for the novel has come from readers in Idaho, Montana and Colorado.
Second Rising can be purchased or ordered from Village Books, Barnes and Noble — or ordered from other independent bookstores or even on Amazon. Sylvie’s Chance is available at there, too, and an e-book version of Second Rising is now available as well.
The rise of Second Rising
Dale read from Second Rising to an enthusiastic audience at Village Books in historic Fairhaven on the south side of Bellingham, Wash., two days before the coronavirus shutdown. The novel was later also featured in a display at Village Books with the latest novel of Eowyn Ivey, who wrote The Snow Child. Ivey was a student of Dale’s at Western Washington University.
A new collection
In addition to Sylvie’s Chance and Second Rising, Cairn Shadow Press has publised a volume of poems by Tim Pilgrim, a Montana native and northwest poet,as well as publisher of CSP. It is titled Seduced by metaphor: Timothy Pilgrim collected published poems and can be ordered at Village Books or online.
The future
The press is in the planning stage for a collection of short-stories, with more novels and collections to follow, likely beginning in mid-2025.
CSP is not accepting submissions at this time, but please check back occasionally to see when this changes — and to see what’s new!
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Site updated December 2024