D&M Publishers

Beyond the Page

The Ice Pilots have almost landed! Inspired to capture the maverick crew who run Buffalo Airways up in Yellowknife in a full-length book, Mike Vlessides spent some serious time up in the Northwest Territories getting to know Joe & Mikey McBryan, flying in World War 2-era fighter planes and surviving life in the cold wilderness. What he discovered was that there will always be fodder enough for season after season of their hit reality television show, also called The Ice Pilots. Also fodder enough for a dramatic series called Arctic Air which debuts on CBC Television January 10th (with the screenplay written by our own Ian Weir!). For a sneak-peek of what Mike experienced up there, check out our Q&A. And watch for the book early in 2012.

Author Spotlight

It's been one heck of a year for Charlotte Gill. These things are hard to predict in publishing but we always knew her book on the somewhat wacky (some would say downright crazy) subculture of treeplanters would get the attention it deserves. Eating Dirt, which offers up a slice of tree-planting life in all of its soggy, gritty exuberance, has found a crowd among many. Shortlisted for prize after prize and chosen as a top book of the year by the Globe & Mail, the Vancouver Sun, Quill & Quire, Amazon and iTunes, to name a few, it's been embraced by both the literary circles and the hardcore planting tribe. See what people are saying about it here, or head over to Charlotte's website where you can read the first chapter and see what all the fuss is about.