I sulked for 30 minutes, thanked the wonderful people who supported me and worked with me, and then turned a new page. Literally, in this case, a new chapter. I realized I was free to try something completely different.

Ottawa was home, and became so again after a childhood and young adulthood of travel abroad and studying and working in other cities and countries. This exposure to, and ultimately affinity for, so many other places, cultures and ways of seeing the world was extremely formative for me. We are not all white, comfortable North Americans who think the world is us, wants to be us and revolves around us. We are actually the minority. Think bigger than what you know!

I have been writing in one way or another all my life. My mother will attest to that. Little home made books, school newspapers and yearbooks. A brief career as a journalist and editor. Then lots and lots of opinions pieces, letters to the editor, columns and articles. Three non-fiction books. Oh, and so many speeches, though I try not to write them out and read them. But fiction is new to me. Not, or course, as a reader, but as a writer. It is scary and exhilarating!

I was sitting under a tree in the south of France after a long bike ride and a good lunch, jotting down notes for a memoir-type book, when it came to me that this would be a great setting for the opening and closing of a novel. Tires on the gravel driveway in the dark of the night. A woman is lying awake in bed, reliving her life, and now startled by sound. "Who the heck is this, and why is she here?" It took off quickly from there. Though my writing was limited to bursts from 9:30pm - 11:30pm on weekdays and Sunday afternoons for the first two years. Then I lost an election, and won the time I needed.

It is so hard to break into the traditional publishing world. Plus, it is so easy to be and independent artist/creator. If the publishing houses are going to expect me to do most of my own promotion anyway, and take a large cut of sales, why not do it my self. I have always been an entrepreneur anyway. Take chances. Make mistakes. Get messy. Thanks Ms. Frizzle.

As I have watched the natural world (species, climate, oceans, forests) deteriorate over my life-time, and so many people either deny or refuse to face the reality and the urgency, or others look away out of fear or paralysis, I have been increasingly seized with the question of what does it take to get humans to care and to act. Why are we so bad at dealing with big, slow-moving problems? This is what is concerning me personally, and at the heart of the book. Can we make a difference? What happens to us when we try? My book is not a lecture (people hate it when a book is sold as fiction but is really just a diatribe) but the reader will learn a lot about behaviour, science, politics, religion and more. At its heart, though, Burning Souls is a story of courage and integrity in a time of social and ecological breakdown. Sound like the world we are living in?

You can make the world the way you want it to be. You can have your characters do things you would never dare to, but always wanted to; and conversely channel your shadow side through a villain or anti-hero.

Four young adults from different backgrounds and countries meet and by happenstance become fast friends while pursuing graduate studies at Cambridge University in the 90s. They head out to make their mark, and change the world. Simone the Canadian journalist, Jiro the Japanese lawyer, Sagan the black American climate scientist and Jenny the Malaysian engineer. Each will face increasing challenges and pushback as they try to bring about change, and they will rely on their friendship to help them through. The book starts and ends in 2025, when things have gone very badly. The reader will (I trust) want to know what happened and why, and what it means for us and the urgent choices facing us all in our “real” life.

I have a basic plot for a sequel (more psychological/spiritual). Spoiler alert: not everybody dies in Burning Souls! For certain, I will write more. I also have an outline for a shorter, autobiographical book I am calling “On the Bleeding Edge.” But I’d better sell a lot of this first book, or the pressure to hurry back out there and get a “paying job” will become too strong.

Trying to make a positive difference in the world while also looking for ways to celebrate the beauty and splendour of our natural world and the best of humanity. Each day do some savouring, so you remember why it is you are trying to be a saviour.

Cycling cross-country skiing, skating, being in the woods, live theatre, singing in a choir, being with family for as many of these as possible. Reading of course. And food: making and eating really good food, as sustainably as I can manage.