Smith Edward Alex

Article by Francis Racine
Le Journal Cornwall
18 March, 2015

One can't help becoming quite emotional as author Edward Alex Smith recounts his story, for it is one of triumph but also of great sadness. The author, originally from Niagara-on-the-lake but now residing in Cornwall, has so far written two books, but admits he's already working on a much anticipated third one.

"I've been getting phone calls and Facebook messages about my next book," he said. "People really seem to like them." I even had a 96-year-old woman call me, saying her granddaughter had just finished reading The Beginning and that it had helped her.''

The soon to be trilogy follows a young teenaged Alex, who's bad habits started innocently enough. ''The main character is loosely based on me,'' explained the author. "Some things he goes through have happened to me. Others haven't. Throughout the novels, readers become quite attached to the character, which has led some of them to contact Smith directly. For even, he admits that his first work, simply entitled A little Existence, finished off in a cliffhanger way. "People have become hooked with the story; I've had some calling me, angry.'' When asked what was his biggest obstacle when writing the books, the 20-something author ponders for a moment before answering. "Other than writers block, I'd have to say the carbon dioxide chapter.''

The carbon dioxide chapter is inspired by an actual event that happened to the author. As he looks outside, where numerous cars are driving down Cornwall's busy Brookdale Avenue, he clears his throat before admitting that the incident was one of the hardest events he's ever had to face in his life. "I remember waking up, it was around noon,'' he said."I was curious as to why I hadn't been awoken to go to school. As I went upstairs, I remember vomiting intensely. That's by far one of the most painful thing I've ever felt. That's when the police kicked down our door and rushed me outside.''

Smith's house was full of carbon dioxide, courtesy of a defective furnace. Unfortunately, the author lost his stepfather in the incident. "I think I slept over 18 hours at the hospital,'' he explained."I had been wearing the same clothes for over a week and I smelled bad; I made my way back to my house and it was boarded up. I had to break in to go in my room. That's where I found that my bed was full of blood and other things. Turns out I had technically been dead for a while:'

When he tackled the subject in one of the chapters, he therefore had to relive every memory. "It was hard, very hard,'' he admitted. These days, the author is focusing on the last of the Little Experience novels. "That's when all the action will take place.'' he said smiling."It's all been building up to this.''