Mayse, Susan 1948-

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MAYSE, Susan 1948-

PERSONAL: Born 1948, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

ADDRESSES: Office—20033-9769 5th St., Sidney, British Columbia V8L 5C9, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Independent writer, editor, and consultant.

AWARDS, HONORS: First runner-up for Arthur Ellis Award for first novel, Crime Writers of Canada, 1988, for Merlin's Web; Arthur Ellis Award for best true crime, Crime Writers of Canada, and Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction, both 1990, both for Ginger: The Life and Death of Albert Goodwin; shortlisted, Georgette Heyer Award for Historical Fiction in England, for Awen.

WRITINGS:

Merlin's Web (novel), BeechTree/Morrow (New York, NY), 1987.

Ginger: The Life and Death of Albert Goodwin (also see below), Harbour Publishing (Medeira Park, British Columbia, Canada), 1990.

The Big One: An Earthquake Survival Guide, Lone Pine Publishing (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 1992.

Yours in Revolt (play), produced in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 1995.

Awen (novel), Eastern Washington University Press (Cheney, WA), 1997.

Short stories and other writings published in periodicals, including Malahat Review, Space Illustrated, and On Spec.

TELEVISION SCRIPTS

Arrivals, CBC Morningside, 1983.

Deep Seams, CBC Morningside, 1986.

Jade Spirit, CBC Vanishing Point, 1988.

The Shooting of Ginger Goodwin (based on Ginger), CBC Ideas, 1989.

SIDELIGHTS: Canadian author and editor Susan Mayse is the author of works in several genres, including novels, nonfiction, short stories, poetry, television scripts, articles, and plays. Her novels Merlin's Web and Awen evince her interest in Wales, while several of her other works demonstrate her knowledge of British Columbia, past and present. Mayse is also the owner of her own editorial company, Tidewater Communications.

In 1987 Mayse made her debut as novelist with Merlin's Web, a political thriller set in modern Wales that incorporates background material about Welsh culture and history. The plot concerns a group of Welsh nationalists who kidnap the heir to the British throne and hold him for ransom. The ruthless English response forces the terrorists to flee to Wales, where they are tracked down by a sympathetic, Welsh-speaking BBC newsman. The heir is then rescued by Special Air Services. Library Journal contributor Ann Donovan praised the book's focus on the Welsh national movement, while noting that its "kaleidoscopic approach" impacts its effectiveness as a narrative. Merlin's Web, which was the first runner-up for the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for a first novel, is "a good, workmanlike, British-style thriller with welcome new scenery," noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor.

A decade later Mayse served up her second novel, Awen, which was inspired by the ancient poetry cycle Canu Heledd and focuses on political tensions in the contested border region—the mountains and valleys of North Wales and the rivers of Western England—during the eighth century. Readers follow the poet Cynfarch as he pursues his quest for reinstatement as the first bard of the royal court of Powys and later as the leader of his people. Battles, kidnappings, pursuits, and assassinations abound during this struggle of Welsh kings both to rule their own land and protect it from their English neighbors. As Mayse explained in the Victoria, British Columbia Times-Colonist, her goal in writing Awen was based on her "sense of really wanting to counterbalance the official history, the mainstream history. It's an issue of fairness and not just serving the dominant culture." Thus Mayse views the work as a hybrid of scholarly, historic, and fiction writing.

Mayse's extensive research was evident to Globe and Mail contributor Susan Grimbly, who remarked on the novel's complexity: "The book was a challenge. The major romantic historical figures … are so glamorous and come with such good advance PR…. The kings and courtiers of early Wales … are relatively minor figures, and it is trickier to make them come alive." In spite of this challenge, Grimbly declared Awen "a heroic feat of imagination." "Mayse presents a stirring story of ancient intrigue and the inevitable clash of personal ambitions, dynamic cultures and Welsh-English history, threaded through the entire gamut of human emotions backdropped with spectacular events," praised a Midwest Book Review contributor, calling Awen "a superb historical novel."

Mayse is also adept at writing nonfiction, producing articles as well as how-to books such as The Big One: An Earthquake Survival Guide, and the award-winning biography Ginger: The Life and Death of Albert Goodwin. The latter tells the story of a Yorkshire miner who immigrated to Canada in 1906 and became a key figure in the country's labor movement. Goodwin participated in the Vancouver Island coal strike from 1912 to 1914 and later became a union organizer. He was shot to death by Canadian police while trying to avoid conscription into the military during World War I. In her book Mayse sketches Goodwin's life and examines the theory that he was the object of a government-sponsored assassination. In the Canadian Historical Review, Mark Leier debated Mayse's interpretation of early-twentieth-century Canadian politics and class issues, deciding that the writer "is at her best when reflecting on life in company towns." Although a Books in Canada reviewer wished more details of Goodwin's life were available, he acknowledged that Mayse effectively organizes the available material and presents it in an engaging manner. Mayse's radio script on the same subject, The Shooting of Ginger Goodwin, aired on CBC Ideas in 1989.