Enter the literary worlds of Frank Talaber.
Frank Talaber is a traditional and self-published author who has lived in Chilliwack, BC for the last twenty years. He has over one hundred and twenty short stories, sixty blog posts, twenty live interviews and fifteen novels published.
Frank has been nominated in The Culture Diversity Awards last year for his involvement in promoting First Nations Traditions, Legends and Beliefs in his three-book series, Stillwaters Runs Deep. Another, The Lure, finished a quarter finalist in 2018 Screen Craft Cinematic Book Competition. Made top 36% of 106,000 Projects and top 24% of manuscripts entered. He was also nominated as a Top Writer in the 2026 Chillie Awards and the novel he edited for Raymond Maher has made the Finals of the 2026 Chillie Awards.
His novel, The Joining, was a top three finalist of the Canadian Book Awards. Raven’s Lament semi-finalist of the Chapters Novel Contest and Runner up in the New Zealand Writers Contest. His short story, Sylvia’s Suncatchers, was voted #1 by the readers in a anthology of over three hundred entries. One of his newest short stories, Were-Lovers Of The Ethereal, won second place in New Canadian Magazine’s Spooky Tales Contest in 2025 and in 2026 Undying Love, Won First Place in the Spooky Tales Contest. He also just won Tigerpetal Press Mid Summer’s Moments Contest, with four short stories.
People who have read Frank’s books describe him as a natural storyteller who writes like his soul is on fire and his pencil is his voice crying out.
Ghosts of Hauntings Past (Released November 2026)
What if you have lived several lifetimes only this time you are transported to another world and how does your soulmate ever find you?
People think they only live one lifetime, and that was Autumn’s way of thinking before a chance meeting in a corner store changed her life for ever. But not just that life; it changed her down to the very core of her soul with the realisation that she had led many lives before on Earth, the only constant being finding her Anam Cara. Her soulmate.
Transformed into a powerful swordswoman living on a completely different planet from Earth, Autumn, now known as Lyra, is being hunted down by a coven of evil witches. But it is not just Lyra and her race that are being hunted; these witches are hell bent on the annihilation of all the strange and different races that inhabit this bizarre new world.
Only, one thought nags at Lyra over and over; how will her Anam Cara find her this time?
Reviews
“As a lifelong fan of epic fantasy adventures, I was honored to have the opportunity to read an ‘early access’ version of The Ghosts of Hauntings Past. Frank Talaber weaves an exciting narrative that combines the best of the wittiness of stories such as The Princess Bride, the epic romance of Arwen and Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings series, and the unflinching violence seen in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. With a wide cast of characters from all walks of the realm – and beyond – the adventure takes us across our world and others and ultimately weaves these threads together for the climatic, epic final battle against the forces of evil. The integration of Celtic mythology and folklore enriched the story and grounded the fantastical elements. If you are a fan of fantasy, of the power of love, and the power of vengeful women with big muscles and even bigger swords: this is the story for you!” Courtney Ross
This is a bold, imaginative, unconventional fantasy adventure. Its greatest strength is that it does not feel like a typical fantasy story. The combination of mythology, spirituality, reincarnation, romance, adventure, and supernatural action gives it a personality of its own.
The concept of Anam Cara (soulmates) and love transcending lifetimes is another element I found especially beautiful. The connections between Lyra and Summer and Eriu and Whelding give the manuscript something deeper than a traditional fantasy adventure. The idea that souls can continue searching for one another across lifetimes and even across worlds is one of the most memorable themes of the book.
Most importantly, the manuscript has a clear sense of heart. Beneath the creatures, battles, magic, and different worlds is a story about finding one’s purpose, protecting those we love, making unexpected friendships, and discovering that some connections may be stronger than death itself. Rakhi Verma
Autumn’s Summer
A collaboration between Frank And Jenny Talaber
Great loves come and go,
profound ones mark your soul,
in ways that take the rest of your lifetime to comprehend.
What if you were given up for adoption NOT because your mother didn’t want you, but because she was trying to protect you from a curse?
A mysterious package is delivered by Richard’s solicitors one year after his wife Autumn’s death. What he expected to find, he didn’t know, but he would never have guessed in a million years what was about to unfold.
A beautiful leather-bound diary written in his wife’s hand contains many secrets; that his lonely empty-nester wife’s life changed profoundly after a purely-by-chance meeting in, of all places, a normal, mundane, corner grocery store. She embarks on a voyage of discovery with the spiritualist, Summer, to find new meaning to her life, that, once commenced, transports her to realms and dimensions she never knew existed.
He also learns of a heart-breaking secret she kept from him until after her death.
Reviews
Run, don’t walk to your nearest bookseller
and pick up a copy of Felicity Talisman’s Autumn’s Summer.
I didn’t know what to expect from the
book, but I was immediately drawn into the world the author has created.
It has everything a reader could want,
real characters in a fantasy world while bridging the gap between fantasy and
reality.
Great job by this Canadian author!
JG
Well, I gotta tell you, I rarely read novels due to the fact that, I’ve read non-fiction my whole life. I enjoyed Autumn’s Summer very much and this is the first novel that took me on an interesting Journey. This is also the first novel that has ever put me into tears at the very end of the book. Fantastic job in triggering some emotions that I can relate to.
The way Autumn kept a journal and a story you wrote was fun and had a hold on me. Touched on a few different emotions and I really enjoyed it.
Make that twice, my eyes are filled with tears and I’m trying to finish the last 3 pages, F##k man!
Mikail Maillet
I thought I’d have a quick peek at Autumn’s Summer and then finish the book I was currently reading! I was entranced and spellbound from that moment, my current read neglected! Couldn’t put it down, read it in one day. Yes, the love scenes were intense, passion blossoms in many forms! I enjoyed this immensely!
Shelley Walsh
Shuttered Seductions
A collaboration between Frank And Jenny Talaber
She only wanted Not to fall in love with him. He only wanted to steal her company.
Roy only wanted to seduce Julia-Rae and convince her to sell him her company. Julia-Rae wanted to shut him out of her heart like every other man that ever got close. Only what do you do when you fall in madly in love with the enemy and the enemy with you?
Will the dark secrets they hold tear them apart or bring them closer together?
A madman cuts down a rare tree in protest of logging, releasing something he didn’t intend to. Reporter Brooke Grant investigates the story, finds the love of his life, only to lose her to said being. Enlisting the aid of a deranged shaman he has to save his love and stop the world from being changed forever. Based on a true story.
A contemporary literary romance novel mixed with a suspense-filled mystery thriller. The writer combines magical realism and paranormal urban fantasy on a profound spiritual level unlike any novel you have ever, or will ever, read. Based on a true story, this beautifully written and compelling page-turner will keep you on the edge-of-your-seat to its gripping, unexpected ending.
Reviews
Probably The Best Review I Got To Date!!!
You’re a bastard!! I purchased Raven’s Lament from you. I don’t like your genre or your style of writing. All this woo woo stuff and moving underground through the root systems, it’s not for me, I thought. Until I read the first chapter and couldn’t put it down. I had to keep reading to find out how you would bring the story together. The other night I’m reading this book for three bloody hours thinking, man I gotta get up and go to work. Then I bought another four books! You bastard! I met you at another event last week and bought another four books. Now, I can’t wait for your next books to come out. You have hooked me! Did I mention you’re a bastard?!
Barry Harris
Raven’s Lament, Stillwaters Runs Deep: Book One
It may only be a book to some, but to me it is a beautiful piece of artistry that I have the privilege of enjoying.
Greta Olsson
I read “Raven’s Lament” a while ago. I recall getting lost in the story of the natural and the spiritual world of trees. Set in Haida Gwaii, the story has a great pace and is engaging all the way.
Sadiq Somjee\
Raven’s Lament, Stillwaters Runs Deep: Book One
“After being stranded twenty kilometers from the nearest road at the tip of Rose Spit, Haida Gwaii, and having to push Frank’s spanking new SUV a few kilometers along the beach before the tide came in and we ran out of booze, my first reaction on being asked to write a back cover blurb was, ‘over my dead body.’ Some people will do anything to get an endorsement.”
Susan Musgrave/Cargo of Orchids/Given
Easy to follow and immerse oneself into this well-told story. The pace unfolds so naturally, I forgot that I was reading – which is essential to achieving this result. Loved the narrative voice that brought Characters to life through vivid descriptions and unforced dialogue. Time and place are masterfully captured through poetic and beautiful imagery. The writing style is wonderful, a celebration of words, both visual and imaginative. This story has depth, the themes are heartfelt and lingered long after I finished reading it. The pulse of energy – otherworldly, Raven’s Lament is a classic in waiting with dream-like narration. I loved every inch of it.
Molly Harrison, WiBA Coordination/WHISTLER INDEPENDENT BOOK AWARDS
What if there was a bar where spirits hung out and used your inebriated body until you sobered up?
Ben Carlton, a reporter visits a bar where he wakes up in a strange part of town and begins having nightmares of being chased on his Harley by bikers. Only he has never ridden a motorcycle. Enter Carol Ainsworth, her and Ben begin investigating the death of Vancouver’s mayor in Stanley Park and become romantically involved. The Mayor’s wife and child are missing, no clues, until a mysterious Shaman shows up in town looking for a Succubus being that has been released from a centuries-long imprisonment in Stanley Park. So begins Carol’s first detective case that takes her to realms she never knew existed.
Set in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
YouTube Link to Film video pitch https://youtu.be/pa_-l2WejjA
PS. Turn on the Volume
Reviews
The Lure, Stillwaters Runs Deep, Book Two;
I started reading your Opus and thought I would give you my cent and half:
The first thing that jumps here is the style. Is a moment by moment perception where every moment is a dangling act promising the next to have the same urgency….
….. and that you deliver.
The jewel of the narrative however is on several fronts:
The time and care you take in setting up place. How you carefully use words as utensils so as not only to describe….
…..but to set up atmosphere…
The character descriptions shine through their specificity, the use of “he does this…he does that” to paint a character’s emotional map is something many writers aspire to, few know how to get it done right…..
…..you deliver
Finally, there is a dialogue, from time to time it misses a note here and there, but in most instances it moves the plot, arching the narrative
Some of my favorites:
“like Harleys in heat”
“like a thief caught in the headlights” is usually “like a deer”
“Like squat walrus dreaming…..”
“Egg Fu Yung” I have never seen this which is why I liked it. If wanted to read about things I have already seen, I would take the subway…lol
“moon ghosting”
“darkened with tint”
“Ben closed his eyes….this characterization in ch 3 is one of your best….wildly idiosyncratic, specifically concrete. Leaving a clear emotional map in the reader’s mind
Overall, wonderful
David
The Lure, Stillwaters Runs Deep, Book Two;
I want the author to take me to their world. I love the adrenaline rush I get from reading a book that scares the crap out of me. You know, the ones that have you screaming to the characters in your head or out loud. It tells me that the author did his or her job by getting me emotionally involved. I give up on books if I don’t feel something. This book isn’t one of those.
April Wolfgong
Your book, The Lure, was a rollercoaster ride thorough my emotions which, when I got off, left me stunned and breathless. Your portrayal of sociopaths and the criminal mind in the pursuit of the sexually willing was so disturbing I had nightmares and had to set the novel aside for days. But the writing was so compelling I had to finish it, and I’m glad I persevered. I literally cheered “go get them!” when Charlie used his protectors to deal rather uniquely with the antagonists.
Carol G.
Brilliant! The most craziest lore I’ve ever read and awesomeness pure! Spellbound from page one, can’t wait to read more of his pen.
Pille
Stillwaters Runs Deep, Book Two: The Lure
It’s the second book in a series!
The choice of vocabulary is superb and stimulates the brain. Characters are well built, each having its own unique viewpoint in the story.
Although I am only 3 chapters into it, I’m hooked. I read it every chance I can get, I’ll only read the book if I can fully submerge myself into its pages.
Ray Reichelt
The Lure, Stillwaters Runs Deep: Book Two
Damn Frank — this writing is as tactile as a 1955 T-Bird. Very nice descriptions, good dialogue, a thinking man’s book but one that can be read entirely for pleasure. Good work.
Michael Arkin, Judicial Indiscretion
How angry would a mythical god be if he found himself awakening inside a mortal? After a strange and inexplicable death inside a jail, an intriguing and extraordinary shaman detects great unrest in the world, and breaks his way into the jail to investigate. He enlists Detective Carol Ainsworth to assist as an undercover prison officer who, rather strangely, also finds herself tasked with bringing to justice the murderer of a gentle forest being’s mother.
The Awakening, Stillwaters Run Deep: Book Three
I just finished The Awakening and laughed out loud several times. Charlie is an incredible character. Looking forward to
reading more of your novels.
Love your books and stories!! You are fabulous!!!—
Great story weaver and a mechanic. What could be better? A big fan.
Ingrid S. 🙂
The Awakening, Stillwaters Runs Deep: Book Three
Just when I was beginning to wonder where the next great Canadian story teller would emerge from, Frank Talaber has written a modern crime mystery with a twist. In “The Awakening” Talaber weaves the richness of Canada’s west coast aboriginal spirituality into the science of modern forensics. CSI comes to Haida Gwaii as the shaman and the detective conduct an investigation that will take them and the reader on a journey to a place where murder, redemption and ancient mysticism intersect.
Michael G de Jong, QC, Minister of Finance, Government House Leader, Province of British Columbia
(2020 Finalist In The Canadian Book Club Awards)
Welcome to Victoria in Beautiful British Columbia, the most haunted city in North America, and to Detective Carol Ainsworth’s first day undercover at the very grand old lady, The Fairmont Empress Hotel. Ready to deal with the two Italian families flying in for a wedding to unite them, she did not bargain for the ghosts, the FBI agent or the ancient curses that come along too. Add to that the very wonderful and mysterious psychic lady claiming you’ve invited her, the young boys disappearing, and the weird things happening to the unfortunates looking for their next fix trapped alongside spirits in the sewers. Carol soon finds her first undercover assignment way more challenging than she could have imagined.
The one saving grace was the great Empress High Tea that Agnes introduced her to and the fabulous scones that are to die for. Literally.
Review
I hate you! My wife, who is off on medical leave, won’t get out of the bathroom. Can’t put your book down. LOL. Bruce W.
Ainsworth Chronicles Book Two: The Mystery of Ms. Teak
Agnes at her craziest best. Only what secret does she have to hide from herself and the one she thought dead? How does one psychic stop another from hunting her down, especially when the other hires the services of a mystical being long thought perished! As for Carol, she has her hands full with pissed-off Russians, the reborn builder of much of Victorian Victoria (yes, the Sir Francis Rattenbury), a young girl claiming to be our aforementioned psychic, there’s something very wrong with Nathan, her nephew that they saved from death, and to top it all, there’s one secret that Agnes possesses that she can’t reveal to anyone, including herself.
But in traditional English fashion High Tea is of course still being served.
Reviews of this novel
Fasten your seatbelt as Frank Talaber takes you on a multi-dimensional trek through time where history comes alive to reveal buried secrets and tortured souls. From the stately tea salons of old Victoria to the haunting desolation of British Columbia’s rugged West coast waters, The Mystery of Ms. Teak will both entertain and invite you to confront the demons that live within us all.
Michael deJong
Do not read this book! Seriously, do not read this book – unless you are prepared to deal with a rift on your personal timeline. You will find that this book causes you to postpone activities that you would otherwise be doing.
You will be transported into a world of history and mystery, crime and grime, Spirits and other worldly time travel, with the delectable Detective Carol Ainsworth.
An amazing tale, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Paddy Kopieczek
I hate you, I can’t put this book down. Every page gets more interesting, suspicious, wondering what is going to happen next. I sit down to only read one more chapter but end up having to read two more, because I need to know what happened in the past. Each chapter keeps you wanting more and now I hate it even more since I can’t get to it before Long weekend coming up.
I just read the last six chapters, clinging to every word, every sentence thinking I know what is going to happen next. Oh no, you take me in a completely different direction. Great book.
Sandy Strebe
I’ve read and reread his previous series, Stillwaters Run Deep, several times. Frank’s writing is original and compelling. You run into characters and situations totally unexpected. Keeps you on the edge of your seat and your heart.
Greta Olsson
The Ainsworth Chronicles, Book Three: Into The Dark Side
What if all the thousands of drug related deaths each year are not drug overdoses?
This dark and gritty psychological paranormal thriller explores the depths of human despair and darkness as Carol Ainsworth tracks and is tracked by a cunning serial killer disguising murders as drug deaths. Along side her psychic Ms. Teak and her former shamanic ally, Charlie Stillwaters, face off against the enigmatic Martin Crowe aka Raven, as the team confronts a vigilante who is also targeting drug dealers while supernatural forces watch from the shadows.
Reviews
If you are expecting Harry Potter, read JK Rowling. However, if you are expecting Shaman and mysticism and spirit animals mixed up with Hercule Poirot, then Frank Talaber is who you should read.
This is a stand-alone novel that draws on characters introduced in the other Ainsworth Chronicles books. The plot twists neatly and different situations are woven into a dramatic finale.
What a great read!
Paddy K.
I just finished your book. I am floored! Your thought processes are way beyond my skills. But you did it again. I read your book while taking a bath, water was getting cold and my body was like a prune, but I had to finish it. You got me hooked and I couldn’t put it down.
Sandy Strebe
“In the thick undergrowth the thump of padded feet echo to a full bloated moon as it cries out to the dark. Whisps of cold misting breath disturbs the stillness.”
And with these few lines, Frank Talaber has me hooked again. All my favourite characters are back. While Carol Ainsworth, must solve a mystery of who is killing women and making it look like drug overdoses. The reading was so easy and riveting. I had to keep reading just to find out how the mystery gets solved. Oh, and Robin Hood??
Damn you, you’re still a bastard, Frank!
Barry Harris
Short Story Anthology Volume One: What I’d say to Buddha If I Met Him In The Pub
(Includes Sylvia’s Sun-catchers, voted #1 by the readers in Rejected Manuscripts Anthology, with over 300 entries)
What if a holidaying alien popped into your head? Literally?
Ever think what might happen if you’re elected to tear down an old church and find a living person inside? Your mom brings home a sad-looking pooch; it changes your life and becomes your best friend. A new girlfriend takes you to a bar where spirits are waiting for you to get drunk enough to allow them to take over your body. Clearing out old trinkets, you discover wartime field glasses with an embroidered heart encased inside a silver locket. What if humanity discovered the serum to live forever?
Would that be a good thing?
Short Story Anthology Volume Two: What I’d say to Einstein
Why is Frank Talaber called Canada’s Foremost Off Beat Author? Read on…
Two stories of being bewitched by a mystical witch and figuring out how to out-trick her. You hope.
Another about secrets your mother didn’t ever want to reveal, until you found the photograph.
Hitchhiking west coast shaman style. Say what?
What if you worked in the post office and began to read enticing postcards?
Memories of a love so great, it still haunts you. How about a man who takes drug-addled lives and works to save them in his own non-woke way?
What if you climbed Mount Everest and ran into a Yeti?
…and so many more to entice you into the bizarre creative mind of Frank Talaber.
Short Story Anthology Volume Three:
What I’d Say To Agatha Christie If I Met Her At The Knitting Circle
Many of these stories have some bizarre twists and reasons for being written. Which as many people have said to me, ‘I have no idea how you sleep at night and come up with such bizarre ideas and unexpected twists’. To be truly honest, I get many of my best story lines from people I meet. As I’ve often said, ‘You can’t write the stuff that some people have lived’. As a writer I always ask this question after hearing a great bizarre story. Like the title proclaims What If!
A couple of more literary, profound stories from my younger days. Another about meeting something much more than a wolf.
What if Nasa decided to send someone to Mars with multiple personalities in order to cut down on the number of people needed.
I get to star on a TV show. Yes, really!! Just ask the doctor, ‘what you ask?’ The proper question is ‘Who’.
Some of my published non-fiction stories and so much more.
And you’ll find I do answer the question, What I’d Say To Agatha Christie If I Met Her At The Knitting Circle.
In a normal relationship a man gets married and has the time of his life on a memorable honeymoon in Hawaii. A small dilemma begins for Roger Harrison when normality ceases existing with the discovery of metallic alien metal planted in his body.
Roger is thrust onto a path he never dreamed his life would ever take as one of the chosen few to start something that philosophers and spiritualists have discussed for centuries; the Ascension of humanity.
Only this isn’t how the human race’s next level of evolution was supposed to happen, and nor did Roger think he was the guy that would pull it off.
Toss in a guardian angel, alien hunters and a sixty-thousand-year-old Atlantean, and Roger soon begins to realize his life’s perfection ends with the understanding that memories are the illusion to which reality is draped and all is rarely as it seems in the journeys of a soul’s growth. Especially when he doesn’t even know how to spell chakra, let alone deal with having to master the seven levels in order to attain ascension.
Nor can time, as he knows it, be measured in heartbeats or lifespans and a heavy price must be exacted in order to stand in the gateway between memory and knowing, reality and illusion.
Especially when that effort means stopping those who would doom humanity’s next phase of evolution.
Some Recent Reviews
And for those who are curious all of my covers are done by Milblart a company out of the Ukraine
Have read one third of Ascension Book One. As always, I am amazed at the word choice and ideas. Laughed out loud twice, (cringed many times). No doubt I love your amazing way of making a new thought world. Cheers. Always a fan. Looking forward to the rest of the book!
Ingrid Siltala-Mort
Seeds Of Ascension’s, Book Two: Gateways
What if your guardian angel is real and actually an alien who is stranded on earth and needs you to save her life and the ascension of humanity?
As Rogers troubles mount Theodore steps in to help him with his guardian angel, Sherida, as they go to the land of the Dogon in order to retrieve an ancient device.
One meant to empower the Khufu pyramid of Egypt and send Sherida back to her home-world before she is hunted down like the rest of the Pleiadean agents on earth.
When Roger returns home, he is stalked by the same aliens that threaten the ascension of humanity as Roger struggles to pass the testing program involving the learning of the chakras and opening the gateways to start the ascension process.
What’s a Lady Got to Do to Fulfil Her Life by Felicity Talisman
Leanne Benson is a successful real estate agent in LA who abruptly loses both her father and her beloved husband on the same day. Reeling from these losses and drawn to the memory of her late mother, who gave up her ambition to be a painter to raise a family, Leanne embarks on a journey of discovery that will take her up to the Oregon Coast, into the enchanting Banff National Park in Canada, and ultimately to a better understanding of who she is and who she is capable of being.
Talisman here shows genuine descriptive prowess, making Leanne’s journey memorable with cleverly wrought scenes filled with humor and, yes, steamy encounters with a variety of lovers—all handled with aplomb and the sure hand of a talented writer. If you are looking for an erotic, ultimately inspiring trip into the majesty that is nature and human experience, this is the one for you.
Brian Anderson Yule Tide, A Christmas Mystery
