Ask the Author: Genevieve Graham
Answered Questions (20)
Genevieve Graham
Thank you, Ella! I have a soft spot for Danny Baker. I'm so glad you enjoyed the story! Congratulations on your music studies. Getting my Bach of Music in Performance was a true labour of love, but I do remember the labour as well as the love! I can't tell you how it all fits together, though. I left music for a couple of reasons decades before I became a writer, and I didn't fall into this amazing career until I was in my forties. So I can't tell you how to do both simultaneously, but I can tell you that the same passion/instinct/rush of emotions or whatever you experience during a certain moment of a symphony or sonata is the same one I feel when I sink into a moving part of my stories. It's definitely linked. Trust your gut for both is my best suggestion.
Genevieve Graham
Hi Nancy! I never saw anything about swastika clubs in NB, but they definitely suffered during the Depression along with the rest of the country! Here’s a quick search from the NB Archives:
New Brunswick Experiences the Depression
This desperation was certainly true in northern New Brunswick where the primary industries - fishing and lumbering - had been hard hit. Hundreds of New Brunswick workers lost their source of livelihood in the early 1930s. In Gloucester County, lumber mills closed and pulp mills reduced production. The Bathurst Power and Paper Company, for example, sent dozens of workers home due to decreasing demands. Likewise, the fishing industry failed after 1929. Not only did catches decrease, but prices paid to fishermen fell, causing a crisis in the industry. This general economic decline continued during the first half of the new decade. By 1932, an estimated 8,000 New Brunswickers were out of work.
With working men unemployed there was no money to pay off loans, taxes, or creditors. Without an employment insurance programme, unemployed workers were unable to pay basic living expenses. Consequently, families were forced to move in with friends or relatives to survive. In Gloucester County, no fewer than 1,100 families were homeless, penniless, and unemployed during the early 1930s. In some instances, as many as four families could be found crowded together in a single-family dwelling. A number of people left the county, some for Québec, where reportedly there were more opportunities. Those who remained struggled to secure basic necessities, adequate food and proper clothing for New Brunswick winters.
At the same time, an increase in population created a demand for vacant land, but none was available except crown lands. In the 1930s, Gloucester ranked third to St. John and Westmorland as the most populous county in the province. The needs of Gloucester County families were known to Dr. W. H. Coffyn, the member of the Legislative Assembly for Bathurst, and the local municipal council, but limited funds made it impossible to relieve all the suffering. In 1932, for example, only 50 per cent of the council's municipal taxes were paid. Adding this sum to previous years' shortfalls resulted in a high total deficit, thereby limiting the council's ability to act.
Generally, after 1932 direct relief was offered to the most desperate families, primarily in the winter months. Yet, the programme still fell far short of providing for basic needs. In 1932, however, plans were afoot to offer families on the verge of starvation a possible way out of their miserable circumstances by returning to the land, and Father J.-A. Allard would take the lead in the project.
New Brunswick Experiences the Depression
This desperation was certainly true in northern New Brunswick where the primary industries - fishing and lumbering - had been hard hit. Hundreds of New Brunswick workers lost their source of livelihood in the early 1930s. In Gloucester County, lumber mills closed and pulp mills reduced production. The Bathurst Power and Paper Company, for example, sent dozens of workers home due to decreasing demands. Likewise, the fishing industry failed after 1929. Not only did catches decrease, but prices paid to fishermen fell, causing a crisis in the industry. This general economic decline continued during the first half of the new decade. By 1932, an estimated 8,000 New Brunswickers were out of work.
With working men unemployed there was no money to pay off loans, taxes, or creditors. Without an employment insurance programme, unemployed workers were unable to pay basic living expenses. Consequently, families were forced to move in with friends or relatives to survive. In Gloucester County, no fewer than 1,100 families were homeless, penniless, and unemployed during the early 1930s. In some instances, as many as four families could be found crowded together in a single-family dwelling. A number of people left the county, some for Québec, where reportedly there were more opportunities. Those who remained struggled to secure basic necessities, adequate food and proper clothing for New Brunswick winters.
At the same time, an increase in population created a demand for vacant land, but none was available except crown lands. In the 1930s, Gloucester ranked third to St. John and Westmorland as the most populous county in the province. The needs of Gloucester County families were known to Dr. W. H. Coffyn, the member of the Legislative Assembly for Bathurst, and the local municipal council, but limited funds made it impossible to relieve all the suffering. In 1932, for example, only 50 per cent of the council's municipal taxes were paid. Adding this sum to previous years' shortfalls resulted in a high total deficit, thereby limiting the council's ability to act.
Generally, after 1932 direct relief was offered to the most desperate families, primarily in the winter months. Yet, the programme still fell far short of providing for basic needs. In 1932, however, plans were afoot to offer families on the verge of starvation a possible way out of their miserable circumstances by returning to the land, and Father J.-A. Allard would take the lead in the project.
Genevieve Graham
Hi Lori. It wasn't a Canadian law, but it's a very strong religious 'law' that has been around for centuries, I believe. I have read that even now it can be difficult for a non-Jewish person to marry into a Jewish family. And given that religion played a much bigger role in society back then, the idea of 'living in sin' would be very difficult for people to accept. I left the end of the book up to your imagination, but in my mind, after everything Molly and Max have been through - and the role their families played in all that - an exception might be considered.
Genevieve Graham
Thanks, Linda! Sorry for the delay. I never seem to see these notifications from Goodreads. My next book, "Bluebird" will be out in April 2022 and it's already listed, so I hope you'll add it to your list!
Genevieve Graham
Hi Kathleen! So far I am available on April 21 - would you mind emailing me at mail@GenevieveGraham.com for specifics? Thanks!
Genevieve Graham
Ha! Excellent question! :) Thank you so much, Cathy. I love what I do, and it means so much to know that my stories reach people's minds and hearts. Stay tuned for more and more and more Canadian Historical Fiction - our country is full of stories!
Genevieve Graham
Hi Christina! Thank you for writing. As of right now, my books are only in English, but I hope to have them translated to French sometime in the future. Fingers crossed!
Genevieve Graham
So many things! And it's all about breathing life back into Canadian History.
First, I can't wait to share "Come From Away" in April 2018 - it's the companion novel to "Tides of Honour", so the same Baker family but twenty years later, during WW2. I'm looking forward to sharing more Nova Scotia history and charm.
At the moment I'm working on my biggest book to date, and it goes back to 1897 in Western Canada. The world-famous Mounties are a fairly new organization (called the NWMP then - the North-West Mounted Police) and they are tasked with doing some incredible things during the greatest gold strike in the world's history: the Klondike Gold Rush. The story will follow a young Mountie from his original post to the peak of the Chilkoot Pass, to the "Paris of the North", Dawson City. Then he will head down the Crowsnest Pass to a little town called "Frank" ...
First, I can't wait to share "Come From Away" in April 2018 - it's the companion novel to "Tides of Honour", so the same Baker family but twenty years later, during WW2. I'm looking forward to sharing more Nova Scotia history and charm.
At the moment I'm working on my biggest book to date, and it goes back to 1897 in Western Canada. The world-famous Mounties are a fairly new organization (called the NWMP then - the North-West Mounted Police) and they are tasked with doing some incredible things during the greatest gold strike in the world's history: the Klondike Gold Rush. The story will follow a young Mountie from his original post to the peak of the Chilkoot Pass, to the "Paris of the North", Dawson City. Then he will head down the Crowsnest Pass to a little town called "Frank" ...
Genevieve Graham
Normally I do a fair amount of research when I come up with character names, checking the census for the year/country/region they were born, etc, but I'm sorry to say that Pierre's name came out of thin air. At the time I was actually reading up on Ponzi schemes and had hoped to include him in that type of scandal, but those began a decade or so later. He was an interesting character—in my head, anyway. In the beginning I saw him as a wealthy, womanizing con, but he didn't have too ugly a heart. But he sure didn't like having a "nobody" like Danny upsetting any of his plans, and things escalated.
Genevieve Graham
Hi Cathy!
What a wonderful compliment! I know exactly what you mean. Historical Fiction can be so exciting, so compelling. Canadian history in particular is full of incredible stories that aren't being told, so that has become my focus: to breathe life back into Canadian History by writing stories of love, adventure, and truths.
I'm not sure if Amelie and Connor will tell me more of their story or not (I never know what I'm going to write about until something grabs me!) but I know there will be many more stories coming which I hope will be just as compelling. I hope you'll check out "Tides of Honour" if you haven't already, and the companion to that, "Come From Away" when it's out in April 2018. I'm working on a story set in Canada's West now, and I can tell you that you won't be disappointed with those two characters. They are fascinating to me!
Thank you so much for writing to me!
- Genevieve
What a wonderful compliment! I know exactly what you mean. Historical Fiction can be so exciting, so compelling. Canadian history in particular is full of incredible stories that aren't being told, so that has become my focus: to breathe life back into Canadian History by writing stories of love, adventure, and truths.
I'm not sure if Amelie and Connor will tell me more of their story or not (I never know what I'm going to write about until something grabs me!) but I know there will be many more stories coming which I hope will be just as compelling. I hope you'll check out "Tides of Honour" if you haven't already, and the companion to that, "Come From Away" when it's out in April 2018. I'm working on a story set in Canada's West now, and I can tell you that you won't be disappointed with those two characters. They are fascinating to me!
Thank you so much for writing to me!
- Genevieve
Genevieve Graham
I fall in love with my own characters every time I write a book, but outside my own creations I have to say that Claire and Jamie from "Outlander" won my heart before any of my characters ever introduced themselves to me. I love their compatibility despite so many obvious differences. I love their mutual respect and admiration, the way they still need each other in every aspect. I love the way—after decades (centuries!) together, including a lot of arguments along with the romance—their love remains the most important part of their lives.
Genevieve Graham
Oh! Sure! So I can post that it's Canadian Historicql Fiction and share the link but not that I'm the author? Will that work?
Genevieve Graham
Hi Tasha-Lynn. Thanks so much for seeking me out! Sadly, only the first two are in trade paperback. :( All three are in mass market, if that helps!
Genevieve Graham
Hi Krystal
Yeah, I couldn't just leave them like that, could I? I decided to look at the Baker family 25 years later, during WW2 - check out "Come From Away"! :)
I'm so glad you loved it. Please tell your friends!
- Genevieve
Yeah, I couldn't just leave them like that, could I? I decided to look at the Baker family 25 years later, during WW2 - check out "Come From Away"! :)
I'm so glad you loved it. Please tell your friends!
- Genevieve
Genevieve Graham
Hi Anna! I'm so glad you enjoyed their stories! The final book in the series isn't yet written (but it's in the works!); however, the third book, "Somewhere to Dream" is out. I'd love to hear what you think of it.
I have also recently published a very different historical fiction you might enjoy called "Tides of Honour".
Thanks for getting in touch!
I have also recently published a very different historical fiction you might enjoy called "Tides of Honour".
Thanks for getting in touch!
Genevieve Graham
I was initially inspired to write by reading other books. I read the "Outlander" series seven times, finding fascinating new things in the books every time, whether it was in the writing or the history or the characters themselves. I wanted to know if I could do it, since I'd never even considered being an author, and once I started I just couldn't stop. It's an amazing experience, and I'm so glad I took a chance and tried something new!
Genevieve Graham
When I moved to Nova Scotia from Alberta, I had no idea about the Halifax Explosion. The first time I saw a video (CBC "Shattered City) I thought it was fiction! Then I discovered more people died in that one moment (about 1500) than all the Halifax County men and women in WWI. How could I not know about this? EVERYone in Canada should know! So I started writing about Danny Baker, a small town fisherman, who heads off to war with adventure in his heart and returns home a changed man. But the Halifax Explosion wasn't the only story. Many people survived the Great War and the Explosion then discovered those were only the beginning of their battles. PTSD (which was called "shellshock" and even "moral weakness" back then) was a whole new battlefield. In the meantime, the rest of the world was going through major changes, including the roles of women in society. I didn't want to focus on just one thing, since that time in history was so full of fascinating change, so I researched it all. Enjoy!
Genevieve Graham
#1: Be open to advice - but follow your heart. When I get suggestions from my agent or editor, my initial reaction is to bristle, but after a few seconds of rational thought I realize they're most likely right. On the other hand, I've seen too many aspiring writers swayed by the erroneous suggestions of other aspiring writers, often leading to disjointed, uncomfortable books. Use your head ... and your heart.
#2: Keep practicing. I wrote my first book in six months ... then I took the next three years to learn how to REALLY write a book.
#3: Learn to delete, but never completely delete. Put those deleted sections in a separate file for use in the future. I believe everyone writes something for a reason, and you might be able to use it in a future book.
#2: Keep practicing. I wrote my first book in six months ... then I took the next three years to learn how to REALLY write a book.
#3: Learn to delete, but never completely delete. Put those deleted sections in a separate file for use in the future. I believe everyone writes something for a reason, and you might be able to use it in a future book.
Genevieve Graham
I love being a writer for so, so many reasons!
Is it wrong that my first response is that I get to wear my pyjamas to work?
Being able to follow and express the story is more of an honour than a job to me. I feel so fortunate to be able to be a part of the adventures.
And then there are the readers. What a fantastic opportunity to reach out and touch people you never knew were out there.
Is it wrong that my first response is that I get to wear my pyjamas to work?
Being able to follow and express the story is more of an honour than a job to me. I feel so fortunate to be able to be a part of the adventures.
And then there are the readers. What a fantastic opportunity to reach out and touch people you never knew were out there.
Genevieve Graham
Writer's block happens to me when I try to force the story or the characters to do something they don't want to do! When it hits me, I'll move on to another scene which is more clear in my mind, and I'll let it lead me. Sometimes I take a couple of days off writing altogether, breathe in the fresh air, then sit down with a new mindset.
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