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Bill Schnarr for High Level Council

High Level Deserves Answers.

Good government starts with good communication.

Residents deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent, how decisions are made, and what their municipal government is doing on their behalf.

My name is Bill Schnarr, and I’m running for High Level Town Council because I believe transparency and accountability should be the foundation of local government, not something residents have to fight for.

I don’t have all the answers, but I’m willing to ask the questions. And I know where to look.

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My Experience

I’ve spent much of my professional life asking questions, finding information, and explaining complicated issues in ways people can understand.

As a journalist and newspaper editor, I learned the importance of asking difficult questions, checking facts, and holding public institutions accountable. I won 10 newswriting awards for my efforts.

As a municipal communications professional, I learned how local government operates, how decisions move through administration and Council, and how those decisions affect residents.

I’ve worked on public information campaigns, emergency communications, community engagement, municipal websites, public notices, and communications surrounding major projects and services.

That experience gives me a perspective on municipal government that I believe would be valuable at the Council table.

I understand the importance of good administration. I also understand that Council’s responsibility is to provide oversight, establish priorities, and represent the people who elected them.

These are very different but equally important jobs.

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A Little About Me

I’ve called High Level home since 2018. I love it here.

I originally came here to take over as editor of the Echo Pioneer, bringing with me years of award-winning experience in journalism, writing, and communications. With that job, I developed a strong commitment to freedom of speech, and a belief that transparency is a cornerstone of any functioning democracy.

When the Chuckegg Creek wildfire disrupted life across our region in 2019, I found myself among those whose employment was affected. Like many people in our community, I had to figure out what came next.

That led me to opportunities with the Fort Vermilion School Division and the Town of High Level. In 2021, I joined the Town full time as its Communications Coordinator.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to tell High Level’s stories, celebrate its successes, help residents navigate difficult situations, and explain the decisions that affect our community.

I’ve worked with municipal staff, elected officials, local organizations, businesses, and residents.

I’ve seen what happens when people have the information they need, and I’ve seen the frustration that grows when they don’t.

That experience has shaped what I believe municipal government should be.

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Why I’m Running

High Level residents deserve a municipal government that operates as openly as possible.

When I began working for the Town, I wanted Town Hall to be a glass house. Not literally, of course, but an organization where residents could see what was happening and understand why. Unless legally bound, any and all information should be available to the public in a timely manner.

I still believe in that principle.

Over the past several years, I’ve become increasingly concerned about the amount of information being shared with residents, significant changes in senior administration, the growing reliance on outside consultants, and the progress and costs of major municipal projects.

There may be perfectly reasonable explanations for many of these things. But residents should not have to guess what those explanations are.

When projects are delayed, we should know why.

When costs change, we should know how much.

When leadership changes, residents should know who is responsible for running their municipality.

And when Council makes decisions, the public should be able to understand the reasoning behind them, while respecting legitimate legal and privacy obligations.

That’s the kind of local government I want to help build. That is the kind of local government YOU deserve.

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What I Want to Accomplish

A More Transparent Town Hall

I want residents to have better access to clear, timely, and meaningful information about municipal decisions, spending, projects, and priorities.

Council should be willing to explain not only what it decides, but why.

Greater Accountability for Public Spending

Every tax dollar matters.

I want to see clear reporting on major projects, consultant and contractor costs, changes to approved budgets, and the results taxpayers are receiving for their investment. And I want that provided to the public in easily understood messaging.

Spending money is easy. Demonstrating value takes work.

Stronger Oversight of Municipal Administration

High Level has experienced significant turnover in senior administrative positions.

I want to understand the reasons behind that turnover, its financial and operational impacts, and what can be done to support stable, effective municipal administration.

Council needs to provide meaningful oversight while respecting the professional responsibilities of municipal employees. Local residents need to know who is running things and why.

Better Planning and Project Delivery

Whether we’re talking about our pool, arena, roads, infrastructure, or future recreation facilities, residents deserve realistic plans, clear budgets, and regular progress updates.

When something goes wrong, the response shouldn’t be silence.

It should be an explanation and a plan to move forward.

A Council That Listens

Residents should feel comfortable asking questions, raising concerns, and disagreeing with their elected representatives.

You shouldn’t need to know somebody at Town Hall to get information about your municipal government.

I want to be approachable, accessible, and willing to listen, including when someone disagrees with me. And I want Council and Administration to do the same.

What You Can Expect From Me

I’m not going to promise that I can solve every problem facing High Level.

One councillor cannot make decisions alone, and good government requires people working together.

What I can promise is that I will come prepared, do my homework, ask questions, and make decisions based on the best information available.

I won’t pretend to know something I don’t. I won’t confuse asking questions with finding fault.

And I won’t assume that because something has always been done a certain way, it must be the best way to do it.

I believe residents are capable of making up their own minds when they’re given the facts.

I believe criticism can make an organization stronger. And I believe that public service can’t happen without you, the residents of High Level.

High Level Deserves Answers

I came to High Level as a journalist, and I’ve spent much of my career helping people understand the issues that affect their lives.

Now I’m asking for the opportunity to put that experience to work as a member of Town Council.

I want a municipal government that communicates openly, spends responsibly, plans carefully, and remembers who it works for.

High Level deserves answers.

I’m Bill Schnarr, and I’m asking for your vote on November 16.

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Starship Librarians reviewed in the Ottawa Review of Books

Starship Librarians, edited by JR Campbell and Shannon Allen, recently received a glowing review in the Ottawa Review of Books.
Overall, the reviewer, Robert Runte, an awesome guy who I first met when he was working as an editor for 5 Rivers Publishing had this to say about the review:

Overall, Starship Librarians is a first-rate collection with some standout stories. I’m willing to bet at least some of these turn up again in ‘best-of-year’ collections. Kudos to editors Allan and Campbell. I hope we can look forward to more themed anthologies from them.

Mr. Runte was kind enough to go through the stories and provide comments on most of them. It’s always awesome when someone takes the time to get into that level of detail. Here is what he had to say about my story, “The Revolution will Not Be Fertilized”:

In contrast, “The Revolution Will Not Be Fertilized”, follows a group of guerilla gardeners led by a rebel librarian. I dreaded reading this one! First, it’s written in the second person, which rarely works. Second, it’s by horror writer, J. W. Schnarr. Schnarr is one of the gentlest people I’ve ever met, but his writing . . … Years after first discovering his stories, I’m still trying to excise a couple of the nightmares he’s given me. So, throughout this story, I found myself reluctant to turn the next page as things got progressively darker. But . . . it’s wonderful! Inspired. A rare example of the perfect use of second person, and a truly unique take on resistance to dystopia.

You really couldn’t ask for a better review, could you?

Please read the full review here.

You can pick up a copy of Starship Librarians on Amazon!

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Grandecon 2025 in the books

Last weekend my girl and I went down to Grande Prairie for our first Grandecon and what a great time!

The format of the event is great, and there was a ton of stuff to check out. I spent way too much money. Sold some books and met some awesome people, so it was all well worth it. I haven’t had a convention table in a few years. It was so good to get back to it. I’ve really missed hanging out at these events. Selling books online is fun I guess, but there is nothing like being able to meet people directly to talk to them about what you love and what you have done. If you haven’t done that, I suggest you do so!

The table we had was at the back of Artist’s Alley, so I was surrounded by my people all weekend. As always, I made sure to stop by and grab books from every other writer there – gotta support the troops, right? There were some really interesting stories there. I may have to hand some of these over to my daughter to write reviews for them on her blog, https://mutatedlibrary.wordpress.com/. If you haven’t seen it, you should check it out. And if you have a book coming out that you think would fit the site, by all means, reach out to her!

It was the first Grandecon for both my girlfriend and myself.

I was halfway to GP when I realized I had forgotten a box of books I was bringing – The Astronaut Always Rings Twice (Tyche Books) and Negative Spaces 2: A Return to Survival Horror (Dark Peninsula Press). I have one or maybe 2 more local events scheduled for this year, and then we will start looking at next year’s schedule. I have a couple more places I’d like to add. I’ll have those books and everything else I had at Grandecon at my next event – The High Level Night Market! It’s an awesome local market that takes place October 4 in the park behind the Town building, and the stalls are all decorated with lights. It is by far the most Ray Bradbury Autumnesque thing you have ever experienced, and if you haven’t been, it’s well worth the visit.

Hopefully we’ll see some of you out there. I’ll be sharing a table with my daughter, who crochet’s stars and paints all kinds of amazing things. Can’t wait!

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Breakfast with Stephen Graham Jones

Stephen Graham Jones walked us through 23 things he has learned about writing during a keynote breakfast this morning at When Words Collide in Calgary, AB.

wwc2025 #horror #horrorcommunity #stephengrahamjones

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Hymn of the Hollow God

Hymn of the Hollow God – Book III of the Amberblight Quintet – is now live in digital format on the Dungeon Master’s Guild.

The adventure picks up a short time after The Hexen Temple. Ellarion and Lirael, the elves the elves on opposite sides of the race to the Temple, partners in life and in death – have both disappeared, taking the Heartspire seed with them.

It is known they have headed into Maralenth Fen – the great swamp north of Riverrock. Reports from rangers scouting the area say the swamp has come under the spell of an amber malady, and creatures horrific and unknown are now found in the deep parts of the region. It is the home to ancient elven ruins, the place where the Heartspire Tree once grew and spread its magic from.

Following the elves into the swamps is no small feat. It will take courage, and it will take the help of the dwarves and elves working together in an uneasy alliance. But what horrors lie in wait at the centre of the swamp, the forgotten Vael’shara, elven centre of Heartspire worship?

Here is the teaser text for the module:

The crypt is behind them.
The artifact is no longer safe.
And deep in the swamp, voices have started singing again.

Ellarion and Lirael have vanished, carrying the unstable Heartspire with them. To Vael’shara, the Sanctum of the First Root.

Pursuing them through the drowned temple and amber-laced ruins, something stirs beneath the muck and stone. Dreams bloom in unnatural patterns. The trees lean too closely. Reflections twitch when no one moves.

At the heart of it all, a pool of golden resin, perfectly still. And a song, as old as the stones, yet new as birth. Calling to you. Singing of doom.

Check it out at the Dungeon Master’s Guild.

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The Hexen Temple

The Hexen Temple, the second adventure in the Amberblight Quintet, is now live on Amazon – for those of you who prefer paper over pixels (like myself). If you are just getting caught up, here is where we sit at the beginning of The Hexen Temple:

An ancient Elven artifact has been discovered beneath the long deserted Dwarven outpost known as Rockshield. The artifact, once buried at the base of a great magical tree, unleashed a horrific blight upon the region when activated, and it was only the actions of a brave adventuring company that stopped the blight from spreading across the realm.

Now, the artifact is seemingly deactivated, but it has a strange habit of drawing in anyone near it with whispered promises of power, wealth, and potential.

The Elves are coming to reclaim the artifact for themselves, while the local dwarves have other ideas. On the eve of the arrival of two elven envoys, a group of Rockshield dwarves steal the artifact, determined not to let it fall into elven hands.

Enspelled by its power, they attack and kidnap the residents of a hunting village before retreating into a Dwarven crypt nearby, determined to reactivate the artifact and gain the wealth, and power the artifact has promised.

The elves are determined not to let this happen. They alone know what the artifact is, and what it is capable of, but they are not telling anyone.

All that is known is the artifact is important enough for the elves to be willing to die in service of retrieving it. And they are also willing to kill…

So that is the story. But you may be asking yourself, what do you actually do?

In The Hexen Temple, your players will be part of the discussions between the envoys and get a chance to decide for themselves which of the two competing groups of elves they join to reclaim the object. They will race into the mountains, trying to beat the competing elves to the site of the Hexen Temple, and then face off against dwarves, Skarnid mutations, and the competing elves who are now determined to claim the artifact at any cost. The adventure culminates in a battle between the horrific secret at the heart of the Hexen Temple, the dwarves, the Skarnid mutations, the competing elves, and the players themselves.

And you know, since this is book 2 of 5, you know it’s only going to get more dangerous from here on out…

Check out The Hexen Temple in print on Amazon.ca:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0FH3Y57JC

or on Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FH3Y57JC

And for those of you who prefer pixels, it’s been available on the Dungeon Master’s Guild site for a few months now:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/519379/The-Hexen-Temple–Book-II-of-the-Amberblight-Quintet

Hope you enjoy it! And watch out for “The Hymn of the Hollow God” – Book III of the Amberblight Quintet – coming out on digital at the Dungeon Master’s Guild later this month!