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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, O ct ob er 18 ,2 01 8 | 56 MacNeil Guitar Lessons MacNeil Guitar Lessons All levels Private and Beginners - Advanced sTePHeN MACNeIl Teaching all levels for over 20 years Beginner - Advanced All Styles,Technique &Theory Daytime & Evening Times Available ReGIsTRATION 1312 Speers Rd, Oakville 905-334-5092 www.mglessons.com CAll Us TODAY! ON NOW In celebration of our 25th anniversary we are giving you 25% off every Tuesday from September 11th to November 6. Dine in only. Discount applies to food only. Some restrictions apply. Ask your server for details. General $8.50 | Children & Seniors $6.50 | All seats Tues $5.00 171 Speers Road, Oakville (at Kerr St.) 905-338-6397 (MEWS) www.film.ca Halloween (2018) (18A) Fri: 10:45 AM, 2:40, 4:50, 7:15, 9:40 Sat - Thu: 2:40, 4:50, 7:15, 9:40 First Man (PG) Fri: 11:00 AM, 12:45, 3:40, 6:30, 9:30 Sat - Thu: 12:45, 3:40, 6:30, 9:30 Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (PG) Fri - Thu: 1:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9:45 A Star is Born (14A) Fri: 10:40 AM, 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 8:50 Sat - Thu: 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 8:50 Venom (14A) Fri: 1:30, 5:05, 7:30, 9:50, Sat & Sun: 12:40, 5:05, 7:30, 9:50 Mon & Tue: 1:30, 5:05, 7:30, 9:50 Wed: 1:30, 4:00, 9:50, Thu: 1:30, 5:05, 7:30, 9:50 Smallfoot (G) Sat & Sun: 12:30, 3:00 Film.CA CinemAS ShowTimeS For oCTober 19-25 2018 newThiSweek: hAlloween Thea Lim's facial ex- pression said it all: huge grin, hearty laugh and a look of disbelief. The Sheridan College professor had just made the short list of a much- coveted literary award with her debut novel, An Ocean of Minutes, which was published in June. The 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize jury an- nounced its short list earli- er this month. The five ti- tles were chosen from a long list of 12 books an- nounced in St. John's, N.L., in late September. Across the country, 104 titles were submitted in total. Scotiabank's Giller award - now in its 25th year - recognizes excellence in Canadian fiction. The win- ner will be announced on Nov. 19 and will take home $100,000, along with well- deserved bragging rights. Lim, 36, watched the short list announcement closely as one by one, the authors' names were re- vealed in alphabetical or- der; she figured if she were chosen, a last name with "L" would come early. "I was shocked more than anything else," said Lim, who's taught the new creative writing and pub- lishing program that start- ed at the Oakville college last year. "I was stunned; they went alphabetically (releasing the names that made the list) and by the time they got to number five, I was saying 'I'm not going to make it.'" She was number five, and she was - happily - wrong about her assump- tion. Here's the synopsis of her book, An Ocean of Minutes: America is in the grip of a deadly flu pandemic. When Frank catches the virus, his girlfriend Polly will do whatever it takes to save him, even if it means risking everything. She agrees to a radical plan. Time travel has been in- vented; if she signs up for a one-way trip into the fu- ture to work as a bonded la- bourer, the company will pay for the life-saving treatment Frank needs. They plan to eventually meet - 12 years in the fu- ture. Trouble is, she ends up 17 years ahead, on the one- way trip and she can't find him. When she started writ- ing her book, Lim said she was interested in how peo- ple deal with the end of life. "It's that 'what happens when everything ends' thought," she said. "We make friends, adopt pets, go about life as though we're unbothered by the eventuality of death. "How do we do this? What is the mechanism that makes us act like it's never going to end, when we know that it will?" A married mom to a two-year-old daughter, she said her book takes into ac- count not just loss but the passage of time. Lim was born in Cana- da, grew up in Singapore, returned to Canada at 19 and lived here until her mid 20s when she moved to Texas, where she went to school. She holds an MFA from the University of Houston. Her novella, The Same Woman, was released by Invisible Publishing in 2007. All five of the authors shortlisted are on a cross- country tour this week, called Between the Pages: An Evening With the Sco- tiabank Giller Prize final- ists, with stops in Calgary, Vancouver, Halifax and Ot- tawa. Lim's novel is up against: French Exit by Patrick deWitt; Songs for the Cold of Heart, by Eric SHERIDAN COLLEGE PROFESSOR MAKES GILLER SHORTLIST WITH DEBUT NOVEL Thia Lim is thrilled she was selected among those short-listed for Scotiabank's Giller award recognizing excellence in Canadian fiction. Thia Lim/Special JULIE SLACK jslack@metroland.com COMMUNITY WINNING AUTHOR WILL BE ANNOUNCED NOV. 19 - CASH PRIZE IS $100,000 See - page 57 SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM