Ashley Christian is owner of WorkEvolved on Main Street in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

Through the day, the WorkEvolved shared office space in downtown Liverpool is a pretty sedate place, with people holding meetings or working on computers.

But on Friday afternoon, it will be the site of some haunting, hilarious and harrowing tales. Four Queens County authors will be reading from their various works, starting at 4 p.m.

Vernon Oickle, Bryn Pottie, Laura Keating and Scott Miller will be part of Local Voices: An Evening of Reading.

WorkEvolved owner Ashley Christian said she was inspired by a recent visit to Rocky Harbour, NL, as part of a course she’s taking on community development.

“And while I was there, I was so impressed by how that community opens up their privately owned spaces for community use. And it just got me thinking, what can I do differently here at WorkEvolved?” Christian, who is also president of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview.

“And I would love for folks of Liverpool and beyond to start to feel like this is a space that they can use, and it’s not just a corporate office space. 
So that was the inspiration behind trying to kind of change the perception of WorkEvolved. And as a big reader myself, I thought, ‘What better place to start?’”

Christian bought WorkEvolved in June, though she’s used it for office space herself since it opened in 2020. 

She said she wanted to get something together as part of Christmas on the Mersey, which kicks off on Friday.

“So what you can expect is an opportunity to mingle with fellow book lovers, hopefully in a more intimate setting. And we’re going to have each of the four authors spend the first hour reading something that’s meaningful to them. 

“And then the second hour will be casual conversation, light Q&A with the authors, and an opportunity to speak to them individually, to purchase their books and have a few little snacks and treats.”

The four authors represent an eclectic range of voices. 

Oickle is a prolific and award-winning fiction and non-fiction writer known for his ghost stories. Pottie has received raves for his debut farce, The Great Lunenburglary. Horror writer Keating has gotten notice for her short stories and novella, while Miller’s dystopian cyberpunk debut won the Indies Today award for best sci-fi action/adventure.

Christian says this is only the first of more community events she hopes to organize at WorkEvolved.

“I’m trying to think of things that we’re missing here in Queens County. And what can I bring in that adds value to the community? So I think that a self-defence course would be great. 
I also know that we have some amazing amateur chefs in the area. I would love to be able to help folks to share their passion for cooking, and maybe offer some sort of community dinner.”

Local Voices will be held at WorkEvolved at 154 Main St. in Liverpool, from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28. It’s a free event.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Liverpool author Vernon Oickle is getting ready for the release of his newest collection of ghost stories this fall. (Rick Conrad)

It’s a perfect night to tell a ghost story.

As the fog rolls in from the Atlantic Ocean at White Point Beach Resort on Nova Scotia’s South Shore, Liverpool author Vernon Oickle is in his element.

About a dozen people have turned out for his regular Thursday night ghost storytelling event at White Point. And while he usually tells his tales around a fire outside the lodge near the beach, his indoor audience on this night is nonetheless engaged as he recounts stories of spectres and restless spirits.

Oickle has crafted a reputation as a Nova Scotia authority on ghost stories and folklore, with books like Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia, Strange Nova Scotia, and Where Evil Dwells.

“Having been born and raised here in rural Nova Scotia, I’ve heard all this stuff, ghost stories and legends and superstitions,” he says.

“My family, particularly my mother’s side of the family, was extremely superstitious. And so I was raised in that environment and have been exposed to that and embrace that.”

He’s been collecting stories of the supernatural for decades, since publishing his first collection, Ghost Stories of the Maritimes, in 2001.

“There are stories told to me by other people who have had these experiences, and they’re quite popular. People love it. And, you know, particularly the children, when I do ghost stories at White Point, there’s a lot of children that participate.

“And it’s just a fun thing.”

But mining the spookier corners of Nova Scotia and the Maritimes isn’t the only thing that inspires Oickle, who began his writing career as a journalist at newspapers in Liverpool and Bridgewater. Other titles under his belt include the best-selling Blue Nosers’ Book of Slang, Grandma’s Home Remedies, the Outstanding Outhouse Bathroom Reader series, and various photo and trivia books. Still, the lure of a scary tale keeps drawing him back.

Early this fall, he’ll add to his assembly of alarming accounts with his 47th book, Even More Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia.

“It’s kind of become my thing, right? The year before we did Forerunners of Nova Scotia, which was all on forerunners. … And then last year, we did Grandma’s Home Remedies. All in that Maritime folklore tradition vein of things. So it’s been fun for me. I love it.”

While much of Oickle’s oeuvre is non-fiction, he’s also a celebrated mystery author.

In 2024, he added the International Impact Book Award to his collection of accolades, which also includes the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

He was honoured in the mystery/thriller-historical mystery category for the seventh in his Crow series of novels, Seven Crows a Secret Yet to be Told. Nine books have been published so far in the series, which is a play on the nursery rhyme that begins with One Crow Sorrow and ends with Thirteen Crows Beware It’s the Devil Himself.

The most recent, Nine Crows for a Kiss, continues the deadly intrigue gripping Oickle’s hometown of Liverpool. He says switching from non-fiction to fiction can be difficult, but it’s rewarding.

“I think most fiction writers would tell you it’s probably the hardest of the two, because you know you have to create worlds and events and characters that are believable. But it’s also quite freeing, quite liberating in that you can create your own world, your own environment, your own town if you want to. I’ve been invested in these stories, these people for a long time. And they’re like family to me now.”

Oickle says that after almost 50 books, he still loves telling other people’s stories and creating his own.

“I just enjoy it. And I consider myself very fortunate to be able to do it on a full-time basis, because a lot of people who want to be writers just financially can’t. But I’m in the position now, you know, I’m almost 64. And I have a very supportive spouse (Nancy) who supports and travels with me.

“But if you want to be a writer, you have to write. And if you want to be a photographer, you take pictures, or a sculptor sculpts, painters paint, right? Even if it’s a sentence a day or a paragraph. You know, I tell myself every day when I get up, y, OK you’ve got to move the story along. My advice to anybody who is seriously thinking about wanting to be a writer, just write.”

That persistence has paid off for Oickle throughout his career. He’s working on finishing his Crow series of novels, while coming up with new stories to tell and continuing his regular column in Saltscapes magazine.

“I have another piece of fiction that I’ve been mulling around for a couple years that I’d like to tackle once I get the Crow books off my agenda. So I hope to put pen to paper to that in the next year or two. And, you know, as far as other projects, I have a couple of other things that I’ve been delving into over the years. One’s historical, sort of a profile, biography type of thing.

“So, there’s plenty of material out there, you just have to be willing to put yourself into it and put in the time and the research to make it happen.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below