Arnold James Isbister

I am a First Nations Native of western Canada and was a Maximum Security Officer of a Federal Forensic Psych Centre. I am also a visual artist where I learned to tell a story and along with my cultural upbringing where Elders telling stories was the norm, consequently, I began to write. You might say it was in my 'blood' to tell stories. My Dad was also Chief and witness to some of these anecdotes within the novel.

I hope readers will gather an insight to both my world on a Reservation with it's history, beliefs and Spirituality; the other is a strange world where abnormal becomes normal. I take real characters and incidents from both worlds to weave my story into a quilt of many stars or in Cree - 'Ahtahkakoop', meaning a blanket of many stars. My culture and my home are in Ahtahkakoop, the name of my Reserve that is depicted in the novel titled "Stirbugs & Screws". This title is prison slang for "Crazy Inmates & Guards".

I hope you enjoy my writing.