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Retired Sheridan professor pens first Victorian novel by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene Burlington on Saturday (March 2). The former Oakville resident who will be returning from Toronto to live in the Bronte area this spring, describes the 340-page paperback novel as a fast-paced story set in Victorian England in the 1800s that centres on Cordelia Tilley, a Jewish woman who marries the wealthiest man in the West Country of England. She said Cordelia's an outsider caught in the struggle of life's expectations. "Cordelia, for all sorts of reasons -- religion, marriage and class -- is excluded from English society," said Wayne, a former editor at Quill & Quire and editorial director at McClelland & Stewart Publishers. "In a way, it turns her into a hard person." She said she hopes readers will enjoy being immersed in the story. "What I want people to take away is think about it twice when treating someone who's an outsider," she said. Wayne, who is also known for launching Sheridan's Journalism for International Writers program, is currently about 100 pages into writing her second book. She said it's a spy novel set in Canada in the 1940s. The Cook's Temptation is available at Sheridan College Bookstore, 1430 Trafalgar Rd. in Oakville, A Different Drummer Books, 513 Locust St. in Burlington, and online by visiting www.mosaic-press.com or www.amazon.ca. 9 | Wednesday, March 12, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Joyce Wayne has put pen to paper for most of her career, but never as an author until recently. The retired Sheridan College professor, who still teaches journalism, communications and literary studies at the Trafalgar Campus on a part-time basis, said there never seemed to be the right time or moment to write a novel, even though it was always something she wanted to do. Busy juggling her career she not- ed how she finally took the plunge after coming back from a trip she took more than five years ago to Devon, England. Inspired by a tombstone inscription of a woman by the name of Cordelia she happened to see while passing by a cemetery, Wayne, 62, said, "I was so taken by it, I came back to Oakville and wrote the novel." The result is her first novel, The Cook's Temptation, which was published by Oakville-based Mosaic Press last month. A book launch was held early in February at Sheridan and A Different Drummer Books in Oakville Improv celebrates anniversary at QEPCCC The Oakville Improv Theatre Company is celebrating its anniversary this Friday (March 14) at Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre (QEPCCC) with another edition of Theatresports. The event, which begins at 8 p.m. at the 2302 Bridge Rd. centre, features two improv teams pitted against one another in front of a voting audience that will decide which team can make them laugh harder. Special guests include Jan Caruana, a Canadian Comedy Award winner, Carmine Lucarelli, who does improv with Second City in Toronto, AJ Vaage, who stars in YTV's That's So Weird and Alastair Forbes, a Second City alumni. Oakville Improv Board of Directors president Gary Pearson, who won a Canadian Screen Award for best writing (CBC's This Hour has 22 Minutes), will also share the stage. Oakville Improv is celebrating its second anniversary since changing its name from Bad Dog Theatre Company. Cake will be served and tickets cost $5. For more information, visit www. facebook.com/OakvilleImprov. Retired Sheridan College professor Joyce Wayne is the author of The Cook's Temptation.| photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or www.facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) I M P R E S S I O N S O F O A K V I L L E Joshua Creek Heritage Art Centre launched its first juried exhibition Impressions of Oakville Sunday (March 2) with a reception to meet the artists and jurors. The show features 23 pieces in varied mediums at the pioneer barn and gallery, just off of Burnhamthorpe and Trafalgar roads. It runs until April 6 and explores what makes Oakville unique while showcasing the works of Oakville's own artists. Pictured at far left is Mary Lennox Hourd admiring one of the paintings. At right, artist Judy Finch poses with her work. | photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or www. facebook.com/HaltonPhotog)