Moore, Ishbel (Lindsay) 1954- (Alexandra Duncan)

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MOORE, Ishbel (Lindsay) 1954- (Alexandra Duncan)

PERSONAL: Born December 13, 1954, in Glasgow, Scotland; daughter of James Turnbull (an automobile mechanic) and Ishbel MacLean (a nurse; maiden name, Lindsay) Turnbull; married Grant Buckoski, July 9, 1977 (divorced, 1984); married Michael Leigh Moore (a biomedical technician), July 25, 1986; children: Brad, Ishbel, Elizabeth. Ethnicity: "Scottish." Education: Studied English and music at the university level; earned medical transcriptionist certificate from Herzing Career College (Winnipeg, Canada). Hobbies and other interests: Golf, needlepoint, singing, horseback riding, gardening, walking the dog, reading, eating M & M's, caring for five fish, five finches, two cats, a dog, and two horses.

ADDRESSES: Home—1086 Peel St., St. Andrews, Manitoba RW1 3W5, Canada. E-mail—ilmoore@mb. sympatico.ca.

CAREER: Author. Speaker at schools, libraries, and workshops. Worked variously as a medical transcriptionist, piano teacher, playground supervisor, drug store clerk, and aide to students with disabilities.

MEMBER: Canadian Authors Association (Manitoba Branch president, 1995-97; vice president for Manitoba and Saskatchewan Branches, 1997-99, 2000-02; and president), Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers, Manitoba Writers Guild, Saskatchewan Writers Guild, Writers' Collective, Writers' Union of Canada, Lovers Knot (founding member), Penhandlers, Canadian Children's Book Centre, Children of the Quill (president and founding member), Blue Pencil Critiquing Service (founder).

AWARDS, HONORS: First prize, adult short fiction contest, Canadian Authors Association—Manitoba branch, 1993, 1994; first prize for fiction, Nell Anderson Competition, 1994, 1995; third prize, Canadian Authors Association Poetry Contest, 1995; named YM-YWCA Woman of Distinction, 1995; ten most notable books of Canadian fiction selection, 1995, for The Medal; second prize for nonfiction, Nell Anderson Competition, 1997; Kathleen Strange Memorial Award, Canadian Authors Association—Manitoba Branch, 1998, for distinguished service; Young Adult Book of the Year shortlist, Canadian Library Association, 1998, for Dolina May; McNally Robinson Books for Young People Award shortlist for Annilea; Ontario regional winner and finalist, Red Maple Award (Canada), 2001, for Daughter; second prize for fiction, Nell Anderson Competition, 2001; Alan Sangster Memorial Award, Canadian Authors Association, 2001, for dedicated voluntary service.

WRITINGS:

The Summer of the Hand, Roussan Publishers (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 1994.

The Medal, Roussan Publishers (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 1994.

Branch of Talking Teeth, Roussan Publishers (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 1995.

Xanthe's Pyramid, Roussan Publishers (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 1998.

Daughter, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

Annilea, Roussan Publishers (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 2000.

Kitchen Sink Concert, BeWrite Books (Bristol, England), 2002.

"dolina" trilogy

Dolina May, Roussan Publishers (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 1997.

Dolina's Grad, Roussan Publishers (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 1998.

Dolina's Decision, Roussan Publishers (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 2000.

other

Creator of "Music for Its Own Sake," a text for the Winnipeg Philharmonic's 75th anniversary, 1997, and author of Rock of Ages, an adult romance cowritten with Maureen Branningan under the pseudonym Alexandra Duncan, in print-on-demand format through Books for Pleasure (Canada). Dolina May was translated into German; Daughter has been translated into Norwegian and Swedish.

SIDELIGHTS: Children's author Ishbel Moore began putting her stories to paper at an early age. As a teenager, she started writing realistic short stories and what she supposed were historical romances, but, as she recalled at the Kids Can Press Web site, they were "so bad that my friend called them 'hysterical' romances." She studied English, music, and art at a university but quit college to get married. Later, she divorced and, needing a way to support herself and her son, pursued several other careers, including as a classroom aide, musician, and medical transcriptionist.

Finally, while working other jobs part-time, Moore returned to writing. She did not intend to become a writer of children's books, yet she found writing for young adults exciting, producing a handful of novels as well as the "Dolina" trilogy in six years. "I am addicted to writing, to the magic of the creation process, [to] the discipline of working through the story to the joy of publication," Moore wrote at the Manitoba Author Publication Web site. "I am inspired by billions of things, but primarily by little-known historical (and sometimes medical) facts."

Moore published her first juvenile novels, the time-travel adventures The Summer of the Hand and The Medal, and Branch of the Talking Teeth in quick succession in the mid-1990s. The last reflects Moore's childhood dream of becoming an archeologist and was partly inspired by the 1973 discovery of a 7,000-year old grave site on Labrador coast. This novel, set in prehistoric times, is organized around the curved stick to which six human teeth have been attached. Each tooth is a talisman and mnemonic device for the tribe's storyteller, Moonhead, who, as a castaway and newcomer to the tribe, tries to make a place for himself. As Helen Norrie explained in Canadian Materials, the tales Moonhead carries "emphasise the power stories have on our consciousness, which is the underlying theme of the novel."

When asked what she likes most about writing for children, Moore replied at the Kids Can Press Web site, "Kids' books are fun, even when they deal with sad stuff." She continued, "Kids will go on crazy adventures without asking any questions. Kids demand energy and movement in their books, and that makes writing them an exciting challenge. Also in teen books I get the opportunity to explore the wild and wonderful hormonal years of zits, boyfriends, and coming of age all over again." For example, in Xanthe's Pyramid, Moore depicts one week in the life of sixteen-year-old Xanthe, who is grounded by her parents when they discover that she is infatuated with Colton, whom they have decided is the "wrong kind" of boy. As a Quill & Quire reviewer noted, the "increasingly adept and confident" Moore "skillfully rendered" Xanthe's emotions as Colton's behavior becomes more and more erratic.

In similar fashion, Moore delves into the mind of her Dolina character, which she enjoyed so much that she wrote a trilogy about her in a little over three years:Dolina May, Dolina's Grad, and Dolina's Decision. In the debut, readers meet seventeen-year-old Dolina, who suddenly finds herself stranded in rural Manitoba after an argument in the car with her abusive boyfriend, Mitch. Then when the feisty, independent young woman seeks help at a farmhouse, she is surprised by what she encounters there. In the second novel, Dolina is back at home with her divorced mother, but she has graduation, romance, and the identity of her absentee father on her mind. Finally, in the third volume, Dolina meets her father and must make some important decisions about her life. Like the author, several reviewers offered warm words for the character of Dolina. Sally M. Tibbetts, in a review of Dolina's Decision for Kliatt, called Dolina a "wonderful character," while a Quill and Quire critic poetically described Dolina, in a review of Dolina May, as a "herione who has been force-bloomed from a sodden and prickly weed to a quite splendid dandelion."

Moore mined her store of medical knowledge to write the novels Daughter and Annilea. As she explained to Kids Can Press, "After I get an idea, I glean information from the Internet or books, other people's stories, medical files. Then I sit and read, read, read, until one magical day the story 'sets' itself in my brain, even if I don't realize it." In Daughter, fourteen-year-old Sylvie finds her divorcée mother acting stranger and stranger. Finally, the teenager must seek help to cope with her mother, who in her forties is diagnosed with an early onset case of Alzheimer's disease. Several reviewers commented on Moore's characterizations. In the opinion of Kathleen Isaacs of School Library Journal, Moore's description of the mother "grips readers in horrified fascination," and in Reading Time, a critic called the characters "strongly established" and liable to elicit empathy from readers. Moreover, a Kirkus Reviews contributor particularly praised the "often heart-stopping" confusion from which Sylvie initially suffers, dubbing Moore's overall portrayal of Sylvie "fairly convincing." For its "solid theme, believable situations, and realistic young characters," Booklist's Roger Leslie recommended Daughter as a "good selection."

While the general reading public is likely unaware that Alzheimer's disease can affect the middle-aged and not just the elderly, the topic of Moore's other "medical" novel, Annilea is even more obscure. In this novel, the fourteen-year-old hockey-playing protagonist strives to overcome the repercussions of Moebius syndrome, a congenital defect in which some facial muscles are missing. At the end of each of her "medical" novels, Moore provides information on research and support groups for people affected by the ailment in question.

Moore believes in the value of peer-support groups for authors and in addition to working with the existing Canadian societies, has started several critique groups of her own, including the Blue Pencil Critiquing Service geared to aiding isolated writers. For her dedication, Moore's peers recognized her in 2001 by awarding her the Alan Sangster Memorial Award for dedicated voluntary service to the national Canadian Authors Association.

When not on the road promoting her novels and writing in general, Moore works at her computer in her Winnipeg home. After enough thought, "Away I go into my own little world until the story is done," she told Kids Can Press. "My family always knows when that is happening. For instance, [when] I'm eating at the table with them but I'm not really there."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, November 15, 1999, Roger Leslie, review of Daughter, p. 614.

Books in Canada, February, 2000, review of Daughter, pp. 36-37.

Canadian Children's Literature, summer, 1996, review of Summer of the Hand, pp. 89-93; spring, 2001, review of Daughter, p. 143.

Canadian Materials, October, 1994, review of Summer of the Hand, p. 180; June 16, 1995, Helen Norrie, review of Branch of the Talking Teeth.

Childhood Education, spring, 2002, Elsa Geskus and Jeanie Burnett, review of Daughter, p. 174.

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 1999, review of Daughter, p. 1582.

Kliatt, September, 2001, Sally M. Tibbetts, review of Dolina's Decision, p. 19.

NeWest Review, April-May, 1998, review of Dolina May, p. 31.

Prairie Fire, fall, 1998, review of Xanthe's Pyramid, pp. 127-128, review of Dolina May, p. 157.

Quill and Quire, April, 1997, review of Dolina May, p. 38; May, 1998, review of Xanthe's Pyramid, p. 34; September, 1999, review of Daughter, p. 71.

Reading Time, November, 2002, Jo Goodman, review of Daughter, p. 35.

Resource Links, June, 1996, review of Branch of the Talking Teeth, pp. 231-232; April, 1999, review of Dolina's Grad, pp. 25-26; December, 1999, review of Daughter, pp. 28-29; October, 2000, review of Dolina's Decision, p. 29; June, 2001, Krista Johansen, review of Annilea, p. 10.

School Library Journal, November, 1999, Kathleen Isaacs, review of Daughter, p. 161; August, 2001, Angela J. Reynolds, review of Dolina's Decision, p. 186.

Times Educational Supplement, September 14, 2001, Linda Newbery, p. 9.