Mary Soderstrom
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marysoderstrom.bsky.social
Mary Soderstrom
@marysoderstrom.bsky.social
Montreal-based writer of non-fiction and fiction. Last book: Against the Seas: Saving Civilizations from Rising Waters (Dundurn Press, 2023) Next book: Thanks to the Memories: How Remembering Can Get Us through the Next 75 Years (Dundurn Press, 2026)
@booktastersauthors.bsky.social
News that was worth waiting for: The Last Bridge, my 20th book and seventh novel, will be published in May 2027 by Dundurn. Yay!
September 14, 2025 at 3:18 PM
It finally came, the Summer Queen's Quarterly with my story Ketamine. And this is only the beginning: shortly I'll be able to post news about the novel in which this story has its roots. The old gal still has a yarn or two in her!
July 23, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Started the big edit of my next book. Always a little stressful to learn what the editor thinks. Good questions asked: must get to work answering them. (The book will come out in March 2026)
July 15, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Had some hellp making the bed this morning from Evvie AKA Evlampia Siberian Glory, the newest member of the family. She's a Siberian cat, supposedly hypoallergenic (so far so good) and very sweet. First animal since the long-lamented Calie departed 15 years ago.
July 8, 2025 at 5:59 PM
To spjr tourism-at-home and to encourage visitors to choose Canada, Canadian National Parks, historic sites and some museums will be free from June 20 to September 2. Compare that with the Trump trolls in the US who are cutting support for national parks there. parks.canada.ca/voyage-trave...
June 16, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Paul Krugman today on what is happening in Los Angeles:
"This is the moment. Everything is on the line, right now."
For more of today's Substack, google "This Is Not a Drill
American democracy is on the line right now"
June 12, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Suddenly we have roses! Hadn't even noticed the buds, but a couple of warm days after a stretch of cool weather seemed to have triggered this burst of colour.
June 7, 2025 at 9:02 PM
So Trump is banning people from 12 countries from entering the US because he doesn't want terrorists and citing the tragedy in Colorado last week. Anyone notice that Egypt is not among the 12, even though the suspect is supposedly of Egyptian origin?
Just sayin'
June 5, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Wrote about this community several years ago in my book Against the Seas: Saving Civilizations from Rising Waters. Thing have only gotten worse. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
One Seattle neighborhood braces for climate change, rising waters
A flood in 2022 signaled how bad things can get in an urban neighborhood staring down even more sea level rise in the decades to come.
www.seattletimes.com
June 1, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Located in an abbey that dates from the 12th century, the Suzanne-Martinet library in Laon, France, houses not only manuscripts and documents relating to local history, but also a section for younger readers that you get to by climbing this elegant staircase. #libraries #france
May 29, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Back from 10 days in France. Among the memories, this plaque in honour of Jewish girls swept up by Nazies in July 1944. May 8 is a holiday in France marking the end of World War II in Europe, and the city decorates plaques like this.
May 13, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Just a word before the wind changes: this has been the first election in about 40 years that I haven't been much involved, always on the left wing. Glad the Libs won, even though I wish the NDP had done better. Bless Alexandre Boulerice, now the only NDP MP in the east of Canada.
April 29, 2025 at 6:08 PM
The Dept. of forgetting Monica Hesse writes in the Washington Post that Trump and his minions have revamped the government website dealing with the pandemic."Taking over the past is a point of no return. It’s not that we can’t get back to who we once were. It’s that we won’t even remember it."
April 28, 2025 at 12:08 AM
The Dept. of forgetting Monica Hesse writes in the Washington Post that Trump and his minions have revamped the government website dealing with the pandemic."Taking over the past is a point of no return. It’s not that we can’t get back to who we once were. It’s that we won’t even remember it."
April 28, 2025 at 12:07 AM
The Dept. of forgetting Monica Hesse writes in the Washington Post that Trump and his minions have revamped the government website dealing with the pandemic."Taking over the past is a point of no return. It’s not that we can’t get back to who we once were. It’s that we won’t even remember it."
April 28, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Even the Survivalist fringe is getting the message: Trump's policies are a recipe for disaster. Let's hope this cry from his base will get through to him.... #Trump #China #recession #tariffs
April 22, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Bravo!
April 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Went for a walk in the Mount Royal Cemetery this morning. Signs of spring included robins singing, racoons courting, and earthworms wiggling around on the pavement. And there was this big puddle where two pairs of mallard ducks were checking out the amenities.
April 6, 2025 at 4:14 PM
More Trumpian mind control: 381 books that were removed from the U.S. Naval Academy’s Library on the Annapolis, Md., campus this week because their subject matter was seen as being related to so-called diversity, equity and inclusion topics. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/u... #censorship #bookbanning
These Are the 381 Books Removed From the Naval Academy Library
Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and books on the Holocaust were among the works removed in response to an order from the office of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
www.nytimes.com
April 6, 2025 at 2:17 PM
More Trumpian mind control: 381 books that were removed from the U.S. Naval Academy’s Nimitz Library on the Annapolis, Md., campus this week because their subject matter was seen as being related to so-called diversity, equity and inclusion topics. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/u... #bookbanning
These Are the 381 Books Removed From the Naval Academy Library
Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and books on the Holocaust were among the works removed in response to an order from the office of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
www.nytimes.com
April 6, 2025 at 2:16 PM
NY Times: "President Trump’s team is selectively stripping away the public record, reconstructing his preferred vision of America ... something foundational is also at risk: Americans’ ability to access and evaluate their past, and with it, their already shaky trust in facts."
April 5, 2025 at 3:26 PM
The Hudson's Bay Company, founded in 1670 and still going today, is in the middle of legal proceedings that may see it disappear, including archives which include the original charter, signed by King Charles II, the first page of which is seen here. To be continued, even if HBC doesn't
April 4, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Looks pretty sad, doesn't it ?

But that's what happens when the ice finally melts. Spring (maybe) is on its way.
March 30, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Pleased to announce that Queen's Quarterly will publish my short story (working title Ketamine) in its Summer 2025 issue. It's been 12 years since they've bought one of my stories, and it's good to be back!
March 27, 2025 at 3:29 PM
A bad day for libraries in general, and for the neutrality of information in general: U.S. blocks Canadian access to iconic Stanstead border-straddling library, local officials say.
#archives #libraries #canadavsusa Check out Ben Shingler's story on the CBC website
March 21, 2025 at 1:17 PM