R. Murrey Haist has been described as a “Renaissance Man".
Airbrush artist, painter, poet, photographer, pyrography artist, author and a registered member of the Canada Council for the Arts — there’s not much in the field of creativity that he hasn’t tried and mastered.
He’s an award-winning pyrographer, creating stunning burned-wood images of Canadian wildlife that have been seen and purchased around the world.
His poetry has been published in books and magazines, his photographs and paintings are featured at the Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives and the Innisfil Studio Tour.
And he has used his own artwork to create bookmarks to donate to the Innisfil ideaLAB & Library, and even a line of tote bags, apparel, greeting cards and notebooks.
He was also a feature on HGTV for his television show on airbrush techniques.
He was commissioned and the highlight at the Vancouver EXPO 86 for his airbrushed Kenworth tractor and Fruehauf trailer. The trailer was completely covered with scenes of Canada from coast to coast and the truck completely covered with scenes of Toronto.
With all of that under his belt, he has also branched out to write fiction, and recently published the first two books in a mystery trilogy: "Tuoyawon".
The story is simple: Chrissy is on the run, leaving behind her loving family and her life as an accountant, after becoming entangled with the ‘boy next door’ and his financial schemes.
Realizing that she was blinded to reality and the impact of her own actions, she struggles to determine the right thing to do – only to find herself mired deeper in a nightmare.
The books end with a twist, reminiscent of The Twilight Zone.
Haist admits he has always been a fan of The Twilight Zone, a television series that originally ran in the 1960s, and the idea that a book should end with a twist that catches a reader off-guard.
In part, it’s a reflection of how he writes. “You know the end, the message that has to be there, and you write the roadway to reach that end,” he said. “You like to put in a few bumps and detours, without taking it off-track.”
With its life lessons, positive message, and eerie, unsettling sense of menace, Tuoyawon has now been picked up by Peel Region District school board, as a recommended work of Young Adult fiction – but, Haist said, “It’s really about me and my life, things I have learned in my life.”
Haist has studied psychology. “To make things flow in a positive manner, you have to live in a positive manner,” he said, which is just one of the underlying messages in the book.
"Tuoyawon" (book one) is short enough and gripping enough to be finished at one sitting, although Haist admitted that as his first book, there are passages that he would change if he was writing it now. “I tend to become wordy, which I don’t mind, because I feel that’s a way to explain things,” he said, but his writing is now more assured, more polished.
In the second book in the trilogy, "Escape from Tuoyawon", he has become a “more mature writer” and a stronger wordsmith, he said, and the twist at the end is even more shocking.
"Tuoyawon", published by Christian Faith Publishing in the United States, and "Escape from Tuoyawon" published in Canada by FriesenPress are available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, and Walmart.com. "Beyond Tuoyawon" is nearing completion and will be published, as soon as the final edit is completed.
Beyond Tuoyawon, wraps up this trilogy storyline with “another huge twist.”
“It’s been fun. I can’t believe how much fun I’m having editing this book,” Haist said.
He not only wrote the books, he designed the cover art, and prepared his own video trailer for Tuoyawon, when he was dissatisfied with what his publisher had created.
“I don’t know where any of that comes from,” he admitted. Haist found himself able to draw and create from an early age, holding a mental image and using that interior vision as a template for his work.
Writing is different. He keeps a pen by the bedside, for those 3 a.m. moments of inspiration – and, he says, “I do it for me.”
Haist has been busy working on the third and final book in this mystery series, "Beyond Tuoyawon", which wraps up the storyline with "another huge twist",
And once it’s completed and published, what next?
“I can’t answer that until I finish this next book,” Haist said. “One project at a time, then a door will open to something else…. I don’t know what that is!”
It may be poetry, it may be a song – Haist is a fan of Gordon Lightfoot’s story-telling kind of ballads – but whatever it is, he said, “The important thing is to leave a positive impact, whether it be with my art, my poetry, my writing.”
