4 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 Instructor publishes new novel Langara teacher’s second novel is here six years after his first book debuted BY DAVID LA RIVIERE Langara criminal justice instructor and part-time criminal lawyer Christo- pher Nowlin published his second mur- der mystery novel this January. Nowlin teaches criminology at post- secondary institutions across the Low- er Mainland and has been an instruc- tor at Langara on and off for eight years. He started casually writing detective stories in law school but only recently decided to get serious about the craft. Nowlin published his first novel, To See The Sky, with Granville Island Pub- lishing in 2008, and then began work on a second book. Tough Tiddlywinks, published un- der A Picture’s Worth Press, is an illus- trated murder-mystery novel set in Vancouver during the 2008 recession. It follows a wide cast of characters from activist cyclists to a struggling model as they deal with the ailing economy and the murder of local real estate ty- coon Don Dickerson. The novel took four years to com- plete with Nowlin spending an entire year painting approximately 100 origi- nal illustrations for the book. Nowlin wanted his book to be a hy- brid between a graphic novel and a tra- ditionally illustrated adult novel. “My art tends to be surrealistic, it’s the style of art I like to create,” Nowlin said. “With my novel, Tough Tiddly- winks, I got the idea of adding another layer to it that’s kind of woven into it nicely. It’s not like a one-genre thing like a graphic novel, but it’s a story with this visual layer.” Nowlin began to paint while teach- ing law in England at Newcastle-under- Lyme. Nowlin balances criminal law work and his teaching career, along with writing. Teaching can be difficult, Now- lin says, but he enjoys the challenge and it helps that he usually gets along well with his students. Student Jacqueline Woo said she finds Nowlin approachable. “Thave gone to see him during office hours before and he sat down with me for about an hour going over questions with me,” she said. “It is so difficult to find professors who genuinely care for students and see them as a priority among other life commitments.” YOUGy wh) WINAS ; DAVID LA RIVIERE photo Langara instructor Christopher Nowlin with his latest book. EDITOR NADIM ROBERTS ntertainment ” . == i a —————— el SUBMITTED photo Langara documentary production grad Joella Cabalu on location filming Nigel Wakita as he demonstrates his skills on a unicycle. Student doc screening at fest A grad from Langara’s documentary production program will be screening her documentary at the upcoming Just Film Festival BY EDMOND LU Joella Cabalu, a recent graduate of Langara’s documentary film produc- tion program, will be screening her short film The Gran Nigel as a part of the Langara Student Film Festival in March. The student film festival is held in conjunction with the Just Film Festival, also being held on campus on the same weekend. It features documentary short films created by students of the documentary program at Langara. The Gran Nigel is a three-minute short film recounting the story of Nigel Wakita, a performer and instructor at the Vancouver Circus School. He de- cided to participate in the GranFondo, a 122-kilometre bicycle race from Van- couver to Whistler, entirely on a unicy- cle. Originally made as a part of an as- signment designed to practice stu- dents’ interviewing skills, Cabalu said she wanted to challenge herself to in- terview a complete stranger to better prepare herself for the reality of docu- mentary filmmaking. “Out there in the real world, ’'m go- ing to have to approach people who don’t know me and convince them that my idea or my project is worthy of their involvement,” Cabalu said. Upon hearing about Wakita’s planned feat during a radio interview while half-asleep, she was inspired to track him down and document his jour- ney. Cabalu wasn’t always so excited about the prospect of filmmaking. De- spite a strong passion for film since she was young, she was convinced that she lacked the personality to be a filmmak- er. In March 2012, Cabalu attended the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival, and watched the feature- length documentary made by Toshimi Ono, also a graduate of Langara’s docu- mentary production program. Ono was “reserved and had a quiet power about her” and dispelled many beliefs Cabalu held about the industry. After a restructuring at her work, Cabalu thought hard about her pas- sions in life and decided to apply to the documentary program the following year. “Life is too short,” said Cabalu. “You should do something you are happy do- ing, that you’re passionate about.” The Langara Student Film Festival will take place on Sunday, March 2 and will feature a total of five films made by students. 66 Life is too short. You should do something you are happy do- ing, that yow’re passionate about JOELLA CABALU Local country singer is on her way up to the top Newcomer Madeline Merlo plays to an adoring crowd at her first big show in Abbotsford on Feb. 22 BY ASHLEY LEGASSIC Local country singer Madeline Mer- lo rocked Abbotsford audiences at her first major concert when she opened for Canadian country singer Dean Bro- dy on Feb. 22. The 20-year-old Maple Ridge native stomped on stage in her brown cowboy boots and performed in front of a packed house at the Abbotsford Enter- tainment and Sports Centre. Merlo, who has been singing since she was six years old, had her dreams come true last month when Vancou- ver’s country station JRfm played her first single, Sinking Like a Stone. The multi-talented singer excels at playing the guitar, which she learned by ear two years ago, and plays the har- monica. Merlo showed no signs of nerves and opened with the unreleased, upbeat single Surrender, which put the audi- ence in a feel-good mood for the rest of her set. When Merlo sang her tearjerker If We Weren’t Meant to Last, she con- nected with the audience on a personal level. The lyrics, she said, reminded her of a friend who had passed away. The country-loving crowd appreci- ated her love for Johnny Cash. “Anyone who knows me knows I love Mr. Johnny Cash. If I ever had the chance to meet him I’m sure him and I would’ve been best friends,” Merlo said. Surprisingly, Merlo took a turn from country when she covered Imagine Dragons’ Radioactive and put her own spin on it. Sinking Like a Stone is now available on iTunes, and her extended playlist will be available this coming spring. 7] oto Merlo got her big break on the radio just last month.