Reading some days run long is like taking a leisurely stroll along the aisles of a rural general store. The shelves are stocked with whimsy, humour, ire, reflection, tall tales, and passion. Some of the in-store specials feature rhyming poems that may bring to mind the thythms of Casey at the Bat or The Cremation of Sam McGee. Signs above the aisles will direct you to Cape Breton, Alaska, Lake Ontario's Quinte Island and aboard a Mediterranean cruise ship. Animals are welcome here so don't be surprised to meet a grizzly bear, fox and a crafty raven. And like any good general store, whatever you need, you'll find between the covers of Some Days Run Long. Bill Conall's novel The Promised Land: a novel of Cape Breton won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour in 2014. His earlier novel The Rock in the Water was short-listed for the same award. In the Has Been category, Bill Conall has a significant backlist. Present and former occupations include library assistant, long-haul trucker, salesman (cars, wine, trade show exhibits, commercial printing, encyclopedia, signage) road musician, printer, fork lift operator, bartender, recording artist, and writer. Bill lives on the back side of Murrary Mountain in Cape Breton with artist Rosemary McLean. Not completely 'back-to-the-land' but close, they grow vegetables, harvest wild things from the forest and cut their own firewood.