Happy Canada Day, summer's here!

 Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canucks! As Catherine noted yesterday (the actual Canada Day), summer has finally arrived. Up here in Canada, it has come with a vengeance. Wildfires, extraordinary heat waves, wild thunderstorms, and at least in my little corner of paradise in Ontario cottage country, an early and unprecedented invasion of bugs. The bane of cottage summer is not the blackly nor the mosquito, although both are irritating, but the deerfly and its larger, even more voracious cousin, the horsefly. But after this long, cold dark winter, it's a small price to pay for the joys of warmth, sun, swimming, kayaking, and dining on the deck.

A perfect evening

These past six months have been stressful in other ways. There are wars, political chaos, destructive tariffs, threats of annexation, and up in Canada here, an unexpected change of government, bringing with it both excitement and uncertainty. I have been far too glued to the news, starting each day wondering what horrors await. It has not been good for getting anything done, especially writing. But in the past ten days, I turned a page. I am spending most of it up at my cottage and mostly unplugged due to lack of wifi access. No more checking the news and wondering whether World War III has started. It's long, languid days in my Muskoka chair on the dock, reading, writing, swimming, watching the baby loons, ducks, otters, herons and other wildlife play in the lake. Therapy for a worried soul.

No room for my manuscript

I do my best writing in the summer during these unplugged days, sitting in my favourite chair on my dock. I am  working on the first draft of the latest Inspector Green novel, and since I write longhand, I don't get distracted by news and social media, etc. The only drawback to this method is the inability to research on the internet as I write, as Shelley described in her post, but it's a small price to pay for the pleasure. I also find it helps me stay in the story rather than breaking the momentum to look things up. The fact-checking can wait until later. 

Writer at work

Besides writing, I am doing more reading. I have always read a lot of Canadian books, partly to support my fellow Canucks but also because I like finding the hidden gems behind the big American and British blockbusters that take up most of the space in bookstores and media. So far this month I have read Finding Flora by Elinor Florence, where I met a caring and determined young woman braving the challenges of pioneer prairie life, and The Cost of  a Hostage by my friend Iona Whishaw, where I reunited with the warm and likeable cast in post-war rural British Columbia. Both were delightful and compelling. Next up is Home Fires Burn, by my friend Anthony Bidulka. I've enjoyed all Tony's books and expect to be charmed again.

All these books tackle quintessentially Canadian themes and settings. I usually like gritty, hard-edged stories, but after the turmoil of recent months, I am enjoying these gentler tales.