Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Canada. My hometown, Westville, was a declining coal-mining town though I didn't realise it at the time. Small towns feature in my writing, along with more rural areas - rivers, hills, back roads. I couldn't imagine writing a story set in a city yet. When I consider childhood backstories, winter activities predominate - snow forts, pond-hockey, jumping from buildings into large snow banks. I've now lived out of Nova Scotia for almost half my life, but I still feel very much a Nova Scotian boy.
When did you first start writing?
I enjoyed writing at school and experimented with short stories in Junior High school. I kept journals even through university but wrote much more in them once I moved overseas to New Zealand. I've periodically developed short stories for my own enjoyment or for teaching. I've always wanted to write novels but have only recently been able to accomplish this.
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