preview by Kathleen Colburn

1912. Two people. One ocean. Ten days.

Michelle Baker has created a beautiful book that has caused me to consider these two simultaneous stories well after finishing the book.

Her own personal story has sparked my curiosity about the creative writing process as well. Baker started the project as a creative outlet to aid in her own healing, a process she explored through journal writing and poetry.

As the stories evolved and grew, Baker says at times they seemed to just write themselves. With the guidance of her writing coach, she eventually realized she had more than enough material for a book. As she began to explore relevance between the two stories, one story seemed to trigger the other and the project became this poetic “… portrait of love and loss.”

Baker says she has always been intrigued by the form of parallel stories. In The Canoe the two main characters, Bernie and Katherine never meet but their separate stories are told in such a way that the reader will easily understand how their lives connect even though they are an ocean apart. As I read, I was caught up in the emotions that are so vividly depicted on each page and how their separate lives are impacted by the Titanic disaster.

I love how there is so much to think about after reading Baker’s book. She has included at the back of the book, a list of 9 Topics for Discussion. One point of particular interest to Baker is the influence of our individual responses and how “… our lives are actually a collection of infinite parallel stories and that we are all impacting each other in every moment.”

All around the Asheville area we see bumper stickers pronouncing All One. I believe for humanity to suffer less, we have to choose, in every moment, to experience ourselves as us rather than “me” and “them.”

Baker believes that “Everything we experience contributes to our individual stories, which in turn contribute to the stories of our communities, of our culture and ultimately the story of what it is to be a human being on this planet.

“The Canoe reminds us that history is a collection of parallel and simultaneous stories – some remembered and some forgotten.”

Michelle Baker is an author, artist, playwright and contributor for Huffington Post. She works with individuals and conducts workshops on the business of writing, marketing for writers, and creative memoir writing. For more information visit www.thecanoebymichellebaker.com.

If You Go: Michelle Baker reading and booksigning, Saturday, November 15, 2014 at 7 p.m. Malaprop’s Bookstore & Cafe, 55 Haywood Street, downtown Asheville. For more details, please visit www.malaprops.com, or call (828) 254-6734.