Robin Conrad Speer shown with his book Saint Lazarus Day and Other Stories. (Submitted/Robin Conrad Speer)

By Angela Brown

Word of the Day

Local author Speer receiving praise for new book Saint Lazarus Day And Other Stories

Dec 7, 2020 | 4:45 PM

Battlefords resident Robin Conrad Speer is garnering words of praise from readers on Good Reads.com for his new book Saint Lazarus Day And Other Stories.

Speer received the award for the best author and writer for 2021 in the Battlefords Now Best of the Best [BOB] awards competition.

“I’ve been working on this collection for over a decade actually, chipping away at little stories I’ve heard along the way,” he said. “I kind of twist them into fiction, and have some fun with them.”

Speer describes himself as a “Literature nerd” all his life, going back to his days studying English at North Battleford Comprehensive High School many years ago.

His new book is comprised of 20 thoughtful and often humourous and offbeat tales, many inspired by the rural experience.

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“[It’s] certainly fictionalized but I think a lot of folks in the Battlefords reading it would know a lot of those characters, and know a lot of those places in some of the stories, in a fun unique take on them,” Speer said.

Saint Lazarus Day is Speer’s debut book, and he hopes to continue the craft. He said another project he is working on is writing a tragic-comic novel that he plans to continue developing in the next couple of years ahead.

When he is not focusing on his own writing projects, Speer is kept busy employed with the Government of Saskatchewan in Communications.

Saint Lazarus Day And Other Stories is available online as well as at numerous locations including at Empress Carpet One Floor and Home in North Battleford, and the North Battleford Public Library.

“I’d encourage people to give it a fresh read,” Speer said. “They are short, bite-sized stories; they are fun. Certainly, we are all having challenging times right now… I think it gives us an opportunity to read good books.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW