A New Summer Read-Aloud For You

“Are there whales in this lake?”

Zoe can’t wait to sail on Cowichan Lake, but she doesn’t know what to think of her younger brother Jackson's question. If it wasn’t a whale that he saw, what was it? Zoe and Jackson’s summer adventure at Grandpa’s waterfront house leads to new friends, a mythical island and something in the lake much stranger than a whale. 

Purchase at Amazon or Brewberry Books in Lake Cowichan

Thirty days hath September,

April, June and November…

Last fall, I joined Novel in November (or NovNov), a challenge from ProWritingAid to write the first draft of a 50,000-word novel in the thirty days of November. Each day, I wrote one chapter of around 1700 words, plus the glossary. As a writer, I am a “pantser” (one who writes by the seat of his pants) more than a “plotter” (one who outlines his plot before writing), so I began with a vague idea and discovered the story as I wrote. Its path may surprise you as much as it surprised me.

I set the novel in the Cowichan Lake area, where we live ten months of the year in a house by the shore. As I sat writing in my chair by the three large windows, I could see all the places I was describing. I often paddleboard around Goat Island and back in the warmer months, or sail my 4.8 metre Bombardier Invitation, tacking my way up the lake to the area near Stin’qua Island.

Except there is no Stin’qua Island.

All other geographical features in the book are real, save that one. The only feature you will find there is a shallow spot where the deep turquoise of the lake turns a beautiful cyan. Those who know me will often find themselves thinking, “This sounds familiar!” as they read. But if you hope to spot yourself in this book, you will face disappointment. No character represents any single person known to me—again with one exception, and he is mentioned only in passing.