The Devil Spinners
by Margit Hesthammar

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Meet The Devil Spinners: edge-dwellers, poets and lovable scoundrels who bluster, blunder and bellow their way to redemption—or not—between stops at Crawley's Pub. Each faces a moment of life-bafflement, brief or prolonged, that finds resolution through a shift in perception, an unexpected intervention, a kind word, or in one case, an insect. The stories are set on the B.C. coast in an indeterminate era when screens, though present, have not yet dominated every public place. At Crawley's, live conversation rules and a haphazard harmony prevails as bartender Gabe and her co-workers serve a ragtag assortment of neighbourhood regulars. Over the course of fifteen stories, we find Mike the lawyer advising Sam the towboat man on his faulty DUI charge, Haley the musician describing to Gabe how a detour in his travels led to lessons in devil spinning, the mad Professor Weibel refereeing the Great Debate over the ethics of Dutch the Greek, and the hapless Fredrik being bullied by a beetle. At a table against the wall, Beets the poet ruminates on the tyrannies of self-awareness, while down the road, ex-server Erin hatches a wicked plot for severing ties with Edward... According to Haley, everyone is a devil spinner, though not every formula is freeing: "Sometimes we spin to make the needle skip, sometimes we spin for the comfort of the groove." Whether they favour the skips or the grooves, readers who appreciate a novel twist in a well-spun yarn, liberally laced with humour and heart, will find congenial company in The Devil Spinners.

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Margit Hesthammar was born in North Vancouver and has lived on the B.C. coast all her life. The Devil Spinners is her third book. An earlier version of the story Big Spiders was published by The New York Times in 2013 and the first edition of Crows was published by Negative Capability in 1984. Other publications include The Stump Gump, a children's book originally conceived by her mother (FriesenPress, 2021), and Choosing Work Before Work Chooses You (non-fiction, Write Room Press, 2013). Twenty years in the hospitality industry provided Hesthammar with a ringside seat for people-watching. Serving the public was educational, entertaining and for her, the perfect complement to the writing life. It also led to many enduring friendships. When work-related injuries interfered with serving, she dusted off her English degree and began a second career in adult education, most recently leading corporate workshops on clear, jargon-free business writing. Margit and her husband divide their time between Vancouver and Gabriola Island.

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Contributors

Author

Margit Hesthammar

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