I’m a strong believer in using what I know when writing my
books. I’ve been surprised many times by authors who write about business or
sports or other pursuits but don’t seem to have the background knowledge needed
to make the scenes convincing or even accurate.
When I was a child, my family moved to the North Peace River
area of British Columbia. We lived on a homestead, which meant a small
hand-built log cabin with no power or running water. The school in the village went
to grade eight, so after that it was home schooling. I was thirteen and my
younger sister nine, when I was designated to walk her the mile and a half to
the bus stop to get her to class, and meet her again in the afternoon.
One morning, I had seen her onto the school bus, and turned
to walk home. Our dog, Captain, was a wayward beast and had come with us, but
soon ran off chasing rabbits, yipping through the trees on a fruitless quest.
Walking down the road, I called him. Soon, I heard him coming, his cries
getting louder as he approached. He bounded up the snowbank on the side of the
road, and down onto the roadway. But he didn’t stop, running flat out across
the road and up the bank on the other side, out of sight through the trees.
I soon saw why. Two large timber wolves leaped out of the
bush to the top of the snowbank and paused when they saw me. I froze. We stared
at each other. I thought—I’m going to die now. I ran at them, waving my arms wide
to appear as large and intimidating as possible, yelling as loud as I could.
They jumped down the bank, loped across the road, up the other bank and into
the forest after Captain.
I truly believed we’d never see our dog again. He had been
running flat out, yet these wild creatures did a leisurely lope that was at
least as fast. Our dog returned home around noon. He was exhausted and slept in
front of the stove for the rest of the day.
When writing False
Confession, I had a real urge to include scenes from those days. It isn’t
often I write about the Canadian north, the blizzards and days of snow and
cold. But here was my chance. So although the book is set in Victoria, British
Columbia, the characters take a trip to the northern part of the province. Here
is an excerpt—
False Confession excerpt --
Surprisingly the wind was dying down but the
snow continued to fall in a dense curtain all around him. After tying an orange
warning tag to the truck bumper, he headed back down the road.
When he got to the driveway turn off, he spied a set of
prints in the snow superimposed over his own. They looked like impressions made
by a very large dog, which seemed unlikely. Dogs didn’t roam far from home in
this type of weather, and these paw marks were remarkably far apart, indicating
a long reach.
His gaze sharpened as he peered through the thick fall of
snow. The tracks led straight down the drive toward the cabin. As he got
closer, he saw movement ahead of him and stopped where he stood as his gut
clenched. A tall, mottled grey shape paced sinuously past the front door of the
cabin and turned toward the woodpile. A thick ruff around its neck and nose to
the ground, the wolf moved with purpose as it explored their tracks in the
snow.
Alex froze. What should
he do now? Was he in danger? Was the animal hungry enough to consider him
dinner? He waited, anxious, as the wolf changed direction and patrolled
back toward the front door. Glory had better not choose that moment to open the
door and look out, because who knew what her reaction would be, or what would
happen then.
He moved forward a dozen feet, heart hammering in his chest,
as the wolf raised its head and stared directly at him. They both remained
immobile. Then the wolf turned and trotted noiselessly behind the woodpile and
into the woods.
Alex ploughed his way steadily toward the cabin door through
the heavy snowfall, keeping an eye on the spot where the wolf had disappeared.
The light was dull as night approached, and he needed to get inside.
Lungs labouring, he reached the door and stepped through,
slamming it behind him and throwing the latch. He paused to catch his breath
and allow his heart rate to slow.
Better not tell Glory about that
encounter. She was already nervous as hell about their precarious situation.
Back
blurb—False Confession
Did Glory fall for the
wrong man, or is someone lying?
Music teacher Glory has given up on men, with good reason.
Then she meets the handsome lead guitar player in the band she has just joined.
Alex, body builder and construction foreman, is determinedly
single because he’s given up on women. But that’s before he meets the keyboard
player who just joined his brother’s rock band. Suddenly his interest is
revived and he goes on a crusade to gain Glory’s attention.
But when Alex disappears and the police claim they have a
confession giving damning evidence against him, Glory has to make a decision.
Can she trust the man she’s fallen for, or has she been fooled into believing a
lie?
Website – www.sylviegrayson.com
Email – sylviegraysonauthor@gmail.com