New author Mark J. Cannon was born in rural Manitoba and raised in a little pulp-and-paper-mill town in the northernmost tip of New Brunswick. He spent his teen years writing poems and spinning stories, and he credits the isolation and the lack of entertainment options in his home town with sparking his imagination. To earn a living, Mark worked construction for thirty years, during which time he travelled across Canada from coast to coast several times, with breathtaking scenes painting the way. Now unable to work construction due to the physical demands of the job, Mark has turned back to writing as one turns to an old friend, with affection and curiosity about where the daily discipline of writing will lead him next. It was the support of family and friends that inspired him to finish and publish his first novel, Able Hands.

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