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This Much Is True
Is it okay to tell a lie? Lisa Simms thinks so. Lisa leaves her small town and moves to the big city to find work and her letters home tell of an ordered life and success at work. The reality, however, is rather different. From crazy days at work, to disappointing love affairs, from dealing with death to discovering love, Lisa takes the reader on a ride of laughter and tears as the fiction of each letter dissolves into the roller coaster of life. this much is true is a romp through the 1980s, about a fish out of water struggling to find her place in the world all while sheltering her parents from the truth. Visit Tina's Website, www.tinachaulk.com, for more information on the author and her works.
296 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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About the author
Tina Chaulk
2 books3 followersLife started in the center of St. John’s, Newfoundland for Tina. Happy in her corner of the world, she later moved with her parents to the burgeoning suburb (now a city) of Mount Pearl until her family moved “around the bay” to Aspen Cove when Tina was seven. She is grateful to have grown up in a close-knit, rural community with her parents and brother (but don’t tell him she said that). It was there that she met her high school sweetheart, Vince Chaulk, from nearby Ladle Cove.
Upon graduating from Rockwood High school, Tina moved, with her boyfriend Vince, back to the place of her birth to attend Memorial University of Newfoundland. There, she slept late, missed classes and generally took her education for granted until she finally flunked out, took a series of service jobs, wised up and finally returned to MUN to study hard and complete a BA in Religious Studies. (When asked if this means she is religious, she answers “if I studied Geology would you think I am a rock?”)
Tina then went on to work at Talbot House, a detoxification center which later moved and became known as the Recovery Center. She worked there for eight years until she decided to return to MUN once again and follow her geeky love of computers to complete a Post-baccalaureate Diploma in Information Technologies. She landed a work term, then full-time job with the university in the Department of Computing and Communications.
Tina and Vince bought a home in Chamberlains, Conception Bay South, in 1992. In 2002, the two finally married in a small ceremony in St. John’s after being together for only 21 years. Always sure of her great procrastination abilities, Tina feels this marriage is the greatest proof of them. Then in 2003, eight days before their first anniversary, Tina and Vince changed their lives by welcoming a bouncing baby boy, Samuel (Sam), to the family. In March of 2008, little Benjamin (Ben) completed their family.
Through all the years, Tina wrote, starting with stories of alien abduction from about nine years old, pounded out on her father’s old manual typewriter. All the stories started, as Snoopy’s do, with “It was a dark and stormy night”. Much writing followed and Tina had written three novels before trying to get published. In 2004, desperate to find some way to stay home with her young son when her maternity leave was up, she attended a Pitch to the Publisher event at the Word on the Rock book festival in St. John’s. Despite a fear of public speaking, she stood in front of four publishers and the public gathered there and pitched her book, then titled Away. Publishers seemed interested and Tina revised and completed the manuscript and sent it off to two publishers. Jesperson Publishing soon offered her a contract and the book underwent two title changes to become this much is true.
In the meantime, Tina did not return to work at MUN. She divides her time hanging out with her sons, writing, doing a little freelance work, blogging, and wondering how much money she could have now if she had gone back to work. She won a 2007 Provincial Arts and Letters Award in the Short Fiction category for her short story “Divided by Three”. Tina is currently working on three more novels, including one that she received two grants from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council to work on, tentatively titled A Few Kinds of Wrong.
Upon graduating from Rockwood High school, Tina moved, with her boyfriend Vince, back to the place of her birth to attend Memorial University of Newfoundland. There, she slept late, missed classes and generally took her education for granted until she finally flunked out, took a series of service jobs, wised up and finally returned to MUN to study hard and complete a BA in Religious Studies. (When asked if this means she is religious, she answers “if I studied Geology would you think I am a rock?”)
Tina then went on to work at Talbot House, a detoxification center which later moved and became known as the Recovery Center. She worked there for eight years until she decided to return to MUN once again and follow her geeky love of computers to complete a Post-baccalaureate Diploma in Information Technologies. She landed a work term, then full-time job with the university in the Department of Computing and Communications.
Tina and Vince bought a home in Chamberlains, Conception Bay South, in 1992. In 2002, the two finally married in a small ceremony in St. John’s after being together for only 21 years. Always sure of her great procrastination abilities, Tina feels this marriage is the greatest proof of them. Then in 2003, eight days before their first anniversary, Tina and Vince changed their lives by welcoming a bouncing baby boy, Samuel (Sam), to the family. In March of 2008, little Benjamin (Ben) completed their family.
Through all the years, Tina wrote, starting with stories of alien abduction from about nine years old, pounded out on her father’s old manual typewriter. All the stories started, as Snoopy’s do, with “It was a dark and stormy night”. Much writing followed and Tina had written three novels before trying to get published. In 2004, desperate to find some way to stay home with her young son when her maternity leave was up, she attended a Pitch to the Publisher event at the Word on the Rock book festival in St. John’s. Despite a fear of public speaking, she stood in front of four publishers and the public gathered there and pitched her book, then titled Away. Publishers seemed interested and Tina revised and completed the manuscript and sent it off to two publishers. Jesperson Publishing soon offered her a contract and the book underwent two title changes to become this much is true.
In the meantime, Tina did not return to work at MUN. She divides her time hanging out with her sons, writing, doing a little freelance work, blogging, and wondering how much money she could have now if she had gone back to work. She won a 2007 Provincial Arts and Letters Award in the Short Fiction category for her short story “Divided by Three”. Tina is currently working on three more novels, including one that she received two grants from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council to work on, tentatively titled A Few Kinds of Wrong.
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