New book, new author

Abigail Massey at McAdam Station, Volume 4, is here!

With stories written by both Abigail's original author Mark Walma and McAdam, NB native Mary E. O'Keefe, accompanied by Lynn Walma's wonderful illustration, this new collection of children's stories set in the 1940s offers everything a young reader could want in a story book: humour, action, adventure, emotion, even a little bit of soul-searching for Abigail and her friends.

"I'm delighted that we are able to bring Mary E. O'Keefe and her delightful writing style into the public eye," Mark Walma said recently. "Mary grew up in McAdam, right across the street from the landmark train station, and her stories have a wonderfully fresh, innocent and heart-warming feel to them."

The new collection offers six new stories, featuring Abigail, her cousin Martha and their friends and colleagues who live and work at the historic railway station and hotel.

"There are a lot of familiar faces in the stories but also some new ones," Walma said, "including a new hotel maid who, well, let's just say she introduces challenges for Abigail and her friends."

Volume 4 will be launched at an event to be held on Sunday, November 8, 2015 at 1 p.m. at the McAdam Railway Station and Hotel. The event is free to the public and should be a fun time for all.

The Abigail Project Expands in Interesting Ways

The Abigail project team continues to work hard in preparation for the fall launch of Abigail Massey at McAdam Station, Volume 4, with six exciting new stories and six wonderful new illustrations.


"We're excited to report that Mary O'Keefe, a talented writer and McAdam native, has joined the team and contributed two really fantastic stories to this new collection," original Abigail author Mark Walma said recently.


"Mary brings a bright and upbeat tone to her stories and her indepth knowledge of the people and culture of the McAdam area really adds the ring of authenticity."


Walma said the fourth collection of historical stories for children set at the McAdam Station in the early 1940s involves the departure of one familiar character and the emergence of a new, potentially troubling character.


But the new Volume isn't the only project that is garnering the attention of the team: work is underway to convert the special Abigail novella, A McAdam Station Christmas, into a stage play and to adapt the short stories into scripts for a web series.


"We're looking to expand our Abigail's reach," author Mark Walma said recently, "to introduce her to new audiences both in live action and online formats."


Walma said that a draft play has already been created and he is working with established screen writer Nancy Lynch to shop the play to community theatres around New Brunswick. "Nancy is a very driven, talented person and we're lucky she's taken an interest in our project," Walma said.


Lynch is also the driving force behind the web-series idea, working with Walma to develop a "teaser trailer" for the proposed new online TV series that could be used to apply for grant funding from government arts institutions.


"I had never really heard of web series before Nancy brought it up," the author laughed, "but it sounds like a fun and exciting opportunity for us. Stated simply, a web series is like a mini television series that is made available to the public entirely online, through outlets like Youtube."


He pointed out that, with the publication of Volume 4, the project team will have a total of 18 Abigail stories that could be adapted into four-to-six minute web episodes.


"That's enough for a really strong start and, if the we get that far and attract an audience, we'll be able to seek out more funding, perhaps even sponsorships," Walma said.


"And, since the main goal of entire project is to support the restoration and preservation of the McAdam Railway Station and Hotel, anything we can do to increase the profile of the Station within New Brunswick and across the country will be well worth the effort!"

A fourth collection of Abigail stories gets the green light

With green lights coming in from all around, it looks like the planning stages of Abigail Massey at McAdam Station, Volume 4, are underway.

"We're planning another collection of short stories for children," Abigail creator and principal author Mark Walma said. "We kind of veered away from the short story format for last fall's A McAdam Station Christmas and that was a lot of fun but the short story is where Abigail and her friends really belong."

Walma said there are some new wrinkles in the works, however, including the recruitment of some new talent to the creative process.

"I've been talking to some extremely talented writers here in Fredericton who have expressed an interest in contributing stories to the next collection," he said. "Having new authorial voices in the books will help keep Abigail fresh and it will be very interesting for me, as the original Abigail author, to see what other writers do with my characters."

There are also plans to include a new artist in the team, a young artist with an exceptional gift, according to Walma. "My sister Lynn will still be heavily involved in the book, bringing both her artistic and her design talents to Volume 4, but we're also excited to see what a new artist will bring to the drawings that introduce each story."

The expectation is that Abigail, Volume 4, will be released early in the fall of 2015.

"The fun part, the creative part, begins now," Walma said.

CBC interview now on Youtube

We're pleased to announce that we have finally posted on Youtube author Mark Walma's third interview with Terry Seguin on CBC Fredericton's Information Morning program, which took place in mid-December of 2014.

Terry and the CBC crew have been very supportive of the Abigail project and of the McAdam Railway Station in general. He's a great interviewer: kind, intelligent and witty, tough when he wants to be and always prepared.

Without the fantastic interest and coverage of the New Brunswick media, the Abigail project would probably not have gotten off the ground.

U of T law alumni magazine features Abigail

The Abigail Project, the McAdam Railway Station and Hotel and author Mark Walma were all featured in this month's edition of Nexus, the alumni magazine for the University of Toronto Law School, Walma's alma mater.

The brief article was written by magazine editor Lucianna Ciccocioppo and accompanied by some a gorgeous photograph of Abigail author with the Station looming in the distance. This photo was taken by New Brunswick photographer Ahmed Dassouki.

We hope both Nexus and Mr. Dassouki are okay with us copying this photograph on our page as a way of drawing your attention to the article. Like the photo, Ms. Ciccocioppo's written piece does a wonderful job of capturing the essence of the McAdam Station story and bringing it to readers across the country.