Marie Gage's Blog

I want to tell you about a special song called Bluebell … but first some background.

Every year on the first weekend in March, for the past 16 years, the Haliburton County Folk Society has brought musicians together for Winter Folk Camp.  There are 6 amazing stream leaders,  who are also incredible Canadian musicians, providing 3 days of musical instruction in a variety of streams related to enhancing the participants’ musical acumen—whether it be related to vocals, instrumental technique, genre, or performance  (etc). The weekend also includes evening concerts by the instructors, song circles, and jam sessions all of which are enhanced by a beautiful natural setting and amazing food. The bottom line is that the weekend is inspiring and a lot of fun! Note: If you are inspired to attend, get on the email list because the spots sell out fast when they are released for purchase. This year, it was just 36 hours before all streams were full.

This year, one of the six instructors was Shane Pendergast from Prince Edward Island. He comes from a long lineage of storytellers and musicians in the true Maritime tradition of song. I attended the Sunday night concert featuring 3 of the 6 instructors, including Shane. He chose to play his song “Bluebell”…

I was very taken by the words and melody, and thought my readers might appreciate hearing the song. So, I’ve posted the link to the YouTube recording below. If the novel ever gets picked up for a movie or a limited series (wouldn’t that be wonderful!), this would be the perfect theme song. I can see Rod, who loved to sing (albeit he was not a professional), singing it to Pearl in the Bluebell Woods. Have a listen and let me know what you think by hitting reply to this message or adding a comment to the blog. I also decided that a movie script would have to change Pearl’s nickname to Bluebell.

And … if you happen to know someone who produces movies or does limited series productions, maybe you can give them a nudge in the right direction.

Be sure to check out Shane’s other songs

The post For Lovers of Promise of the Bluebell Woods OR Lovers of Bluebells!! first appeared on Author Marie Gage.

I live in the northern hemisphere where spring is just around the corner. It’s been a difficult winter with lots of the white fluffy stuff falling from the sky. I love looking out the windows of my home at the snow-covered ground, but I don’t like shovelling it or walking or driving on the slushy slippery roads it creates.

This morning when I came downstairs for the first time around 7 a.m. I was greeted by the image of a solitary deer, framed by our picture window, meandering along the shoreline of the lake, just beyond the front of our home. I wasn’t fast enough to get a picture before it became partially hidden by the wooded area to the left of our path to the lake. It’s not as if I don’t see deer on almost a daily basis somewhere in my travels, but I never tire of watching them.

We used to have a group of three deer who would wander down to the lake through our neighbour’s property and then cut through the bush in front of our home before moving on to the property of our other neighbours. I have a love-hate relationship with these three. They are so interesting to watch, but they love to eat my Hostas in the summer, thereby ruining the appearance of the gardens I work hard to create.

I stand silently at the window, watching for the other two to appear. There is no sign of them. It saddens my heart to think that something has happened, something has separated these three. It makes me wonder whether it was one of our three frequent visitors that was taken down on the ice last week, providing food for the local wolf pack. It’s the way of nature, one might say the cycle of life, but it’s still hard to accept.

On a cheerier note, today, it is plus 6 degrees Celsius and sunny. There are chirping birds, getting ready to nest and chipmunks and squirrels chasing each other around the snow-covered lawn. I have hope that spring is almost here, making it easier to spend more time outdoors enjoying nature.

I hope that wherever you are in the world today, you have a chance to get out amongst the wildlife and trees, to experience the calming effects of nature. It’s a therapeutic way to contend with the unsettling international events. Be safe, dear reader!

The Next Novel: Finding Theresa

I’m working steadily on the next novel. The working title is Finding Theresa. It is about a 15-year-old girl who learns she is adopted. This sends her into a tailspin and causes her to search for who she really is. If you have any insights into the issue of adoption, I’m always happy to collect different viewpoints and experiences. Respond to this email and let me know what you think.

I’m also contemplating posting a continuation of Annie’s story from the Promise of the Bluebell Woods. Would you like to read the story in installments on my blog? Let me know so I can decide whether to publish it this way, or not.

Happy spring … or for those down under…autumn! Enjoy this sunset picture!

Sunset over Horseshoe Lake

 

Marie.

The post A Touch of Spring! first appeared on Author Marie Gage.

I’m sitting in my loft office, overlooking the frozen wetland behind my property as I write this note. It’s been a brutally cold week to ten days but today the temperature has risen to minus 6 … celsius … almost balmy!

I thought today I would do something a bit different and recommend another author’s book: a book that touched me deeply. And no, she’s not a friend, not even someone I’ve met. Just another author of historical fiction whose work I appreciate.

One of the greatest strengths of Kristin Harmel’s novel, The Sweetness of Forgetting, is its emotional sincerity. I love Harmel’s writing, but this one touched me more deeply than any of her others, and if I’m being honest, it touched me more deeply than anything I’ve read in recent history. When I read the author’s note afterward, I realized that part of the reason was that, just like my novels, some of Harmel’s inspiration for this novel came from her personal family history.

At the centre of the novel is a woman searching for answers—about her family, her identity, and the secrets tucked carefully into the history she only thought she knew. I believe her personal connection to the story allowed her to create a quietly powerful novel that explores themes of how grief, love and memory shape a life, while truth is a healing force.

The novel is beautifully constructed, with a dual timeline that allows the slow release of secrets from the past to explain deeply ingrained assumptions of the present.

There is a reflective beauty to Harmel’s writing. She can make even small details feel meaningful when woven into the tapestry of a life. It’s the kind of book that invites you to slow down and consider how your family history might be affecting your actions in today’s whirlwind world.

The story itself is full of mystery, history, and the importance of intergenerational bonds. It touches on modern-day issues of divorce, single parenting, aging, and dementia while taking you back to the past horrors of World War II and the choices people had to make to survive.

The Sweetness of Forgetting is historical fiction at its best! This is a story that lingers long after the final page—a reminder that truths concealed for years can put a spotlight on the future.

Thank you, Kristin Harmel, for sharing a truly memorable story

If you read, or have read, this novel hit reply and let me know how it affected you!

 

You can check out my books at www.mariegage.ca 

The post The Sweetness of Forgetting … recommendation of novel by Kristin Harmel first appeared on Author Marie Gage.

Having just experienced a lovely Holiday season with my family, I feel fortunate to have been surrounded by their love and to have experienced the joy of the season through their eyes. It got me thinking about what Christmases must have been like for the characters in my novels. Given that many of those characters were inspired by ancestors of mine or my husband’s, I feel grateful for their perseverance and resilience. After all, if they had not done what they did, I might not be here.

Will at lumber camp Port Nelson in 1913Will (on left) dressed in his footman uniform in England before immigration

For Will in A Ring of Promises, he spent the winter of 1913 trapped in a logging camp on the shores of Hudson’s Bay, going deeper and deeper in debt to the company that had lured him there with promises he’d make enough money to get properly settled in Canada. He needed that money if he was ever to see the woman he loved again. As a former footman for a high-placed Earl in England, he must have suffered greatly from the extreme cold and the absence of his lady love. Will is based on the man who was my grandfather, so I am very fortunate that he persevered!

 

 

 

Rod (in reality named Ken) was ready to leave for England with the Number 10 Canadian General Hospital in December 1942.

For Rod in Promise of the Bluebell Woods, the personnel of the Number 10 Canadian General Hospital were living through World War II in England, awaiting the invasion of France. When Rod left home, he believed the invasion was imminent, but it did not happen until 18 months after he arrived in England. He and all of the medical staff of the Number 10 Canadian General Hospital spent two lonely Christmases in England before they were deployed to France and Belgium. Unlike many other military personnel during World War II, they were relatively safe in the area of Leavesden, England, but they were sad to be separated from their loved ones. When the news hit in January of 1943 that the invasion of France had been delayed, the troops were angry at being separated from their family, only to ‘mark time’ in England. The people of the United Kingdom made it their mission to entertain the troops as a thank-you for their service. For many of the men and women of the Number 10 Canadian General Hospital, it was a lonely Christmas just the same. However, if not for the dances and events held by local communities, Rod would never have met Pearl. Pearl was a young woman who believed it was her duty to attend the community dances because the men needed dance partners. I am grateful she did, as these two characters were based on the lives of my husband’s parents. Before doing the research for this novel, I had not fully understood the role this delay had played in the eventual arrival of over 40,000 War Brides in Canada!

Their 3rd Christmas, the Christmas of 1944, the Number 10 General Canadian hospital was in Turnhout, Belgium. They were very close to the action, with bombs dropping in the community around them, and they were so inundated with seriously injured men and women that they barely got to sleep. Yet their thoughts were on the orphaned children of the area. They held a party for 300 children, sacrificing things that were sent to them from home in their Christmas packages for the good of the children who had lost their parents.

For the War Brides, including Pearl, in my third novel, A Touch of Promise, their first Christmas in Canada would have been strange to say the least. These women were not accepted by Canadians because they were thought to have stolen men from Canadian women. And for several of the women featured in this book, the men they loved were traumatized by war, leaving them incapable of providing for their newly immigrated wives and children. Can you imagine being in a strange country, being resented for loving the man you married, and having no support from your family back home other than one air letter a week with news? Communication was so much harder then. You couldn’t pick up a device and do a video call to your loved one an ocean away.

The reason I write historical fiction is that I don’t want the role our ancestors played in our current lives to be forgotten. I believe we need to understand and value the sacrifices our ancestors made. Our lives today would be vastly different if they had not played their role in our history. Please take the time to document, through video or journal, the stories of the people in your lives who are important to you before these people are no longer here to tell the tales. I would give anything to have a conversation with my grandmother and grandfather to fill in the blanks in their stories with the truth, rather than the fictional version I was forced to create because their stories had been partially lost to the sands of time. Past generations didn’t always share their stories. Let’s make sure we help those whose stories can still be told by capturing the details for future generations of our families.

Many people don’t tell their stories because they think their lives were unremarkable. I beg to differ. Every life matters to the future generations of that family. Something you did, or something you endured has made a difference to the future of your family. So, figure out what it was and tell the story.

You don’t need to write a novel. Just capture the facts in writing or on video and make sure others in your family know how to access the information. Your progeny will be glad you did. Please write a comment on this post and share some of your stories with other readers … or hit reply and send them just to me.

Wishing you a very happy New Year! Hoping all your dreams come true.

 

From my home to yours, Marie Gage.

 

The post Christmas Past first appeared on Author Marie Gage.

My apologies for sending the same post two days in a row! I have just switched to a new provider for the distribution of emails and there was a glitch. It is now fixed and in future you should only get one copy of each newsletter I publish.

Hopefully this duplication just gave you double the wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season and a terrific New Year!!

Thanks for your understanding

Marie Gage

The post Apologies first appeared on Author Marie Gage.

Holiday Greetings and a Holiday Gift for You

I know that this is a very busy time of year for most people, so I won’t take up much of your time. I just wanted to send a quick note to let you know I am grateful for all my wonderful readers! I love to hear from you, so please leave a comment on the post at www.mariegage.ca OR hit reply to this message and let me know what you think of the Promise Series, or just say hi and let me know you’ve gotten my message. I answer every message … just know it may sometimes take a bit of time but I will get back to you, even if only to acknowledge your message.

Now for a bit of an amusing story about life in the Gage household. This year the snow came a bit early and the dirt in the planters out the front of my house froze, and I couldn’t do my usual baskets of greenery collected from the woods nearby. I had to figure something else out.

I dug through the ornaments and decorations left over, after the finishing touches on the inside of the house were complete, and selected a few things to add to the exterior baskets. They had to be weatherproof, of course. We live in a cold, snowy and windy environment. I also hunted for outside ornaments that I could add a bow to.

What I came up with was a basket of ornaments and some fake berries for one and the same fake berries and a stone rabbit that I decorated with a bow around its neck. I added a couple of fake poinsetta flowers and voila!

When I stood back to look at the baskets, I wondered if I had mixed up my holidays. The basket of ornaments looked a bit like a basket of eggs, and with the stone rabbit in the other planter, it looked a bit like I was expecting the Easter Bunny instead of Santa Claus!

Whatever holiday you are celebrating, I wish you the best and hope you will continue to follow my journey and enjoy what I write!

A Christmas Gift for You

If you didn’t get it when you signed up for the newsletter in the first place, you might want to download the story, Betrayal, from Bookfunnel — my gift to you for your support! Just click this link to read it online or download it. It includes characters who will be in my next novel that I am currently calling “Finding Theresa” (but the title could change).

If that doesn’t excite you, then perhaps reading my manual on Family History Interviewing will be a better gift. I encourage everyone to interview members of their family who hold historical family knowledge before they are no longer able to tell their tales. Just click her for the guide.

 

Happy Holidays

The post A Gift for You! first appeared on Author Marie Gage.

It was Saturday, October 11th, 2025, the Saturday of Canadian Thanksgiving. We had two couples visiting us who hoped to experience the peak of the maple forest colour cavalcade. You know, the time of year when the maple leaves turn a variety of hues from yellow to brilliant red before falling off the parent tree and allowing it to rest and sustain itself over the winter.

We’d had our traditional turkey dinner on Friday night, instead of Sunday, this year, to ensure as many family members as possible could come to join the celebration. We all felt the need for a bit of a walk to work off some of the calories. There is no better place to do that in our local community than the Haliburton Sculpture Forest.   If you have never been there, you should add it to your bucket list. As you stroll, walk, run, snowshoe or cross country ski (depending upon time of year) around the trails, you encounter sculptures—some fanciful, some practical and some inspiring or thought-provoking.

On this autumn day, the peak of the colour had already passed. Mother Nature is unpredictable and likes to keep us guessing about when the peak of the colour season will arrive. The trees had been stressed this year due to summer drought, and many had lost their leaves early, without the usual spectacular colour change. There had been exceptions for trees near one of the many waterways in the Haliburton Highlands. But today the colours were more russet and sepia: the usual colours that come after the peak.

After walking most of the trail, it was time for a bit of a rest, and we went inside the Atmo-Sphere sculpture, a rounded stone structure, ideal for meditation and quiet reflection, or just a quiet rest before tackling the remainder of the trail. I love how the stone walls encircle you as you sit on the bench, looking out at the tops of the trees and sky.

I have been inside this structure many times, but on this day I was struck by the doorway. I noted how the imperfect, bent arch mirrors the shadow of a bent human form and beckons one back out into the forest of gold and russet leaves. Just gazing at the image slows the rhythm of my heart.

I love the sounds of autumn with the rustling of leaves as you walk along the forested paths. I’ve inserted a short video below that illustrates those sounds.

There are many more sculptures in this unique blend of man-made art and nature. Come and experience it one day!

https://mariegage.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/PXL_20251009_202040135.mp4

 

The post Sights and Sounds of Autumn in Canada first appeared on Author Marie Gage.

In August, my husband, Don, and I had the privilege of taking an Adventure Canada trip to the Arctic … Baffin Island and Greenland were our destinations. It turned out to be a meaningful experience that I wanted to share with my readers.

Cruising in the Arctic is inspiring in many ways. Mountains rise out of the ocean, rocky and barren but for the snow-covered peaks surrounding us.  Being north of the tree line was a foreign experience for me. The absence of trees and man-made structures threw off my perspective until a flock of birds danced on the wind into view, and I realized how small they appeared against the backdrop of the mountains.

Our excursions were done by zodiac as there are few docks in the remote areas we were visiting. Seeing icebergs from my perch upon the side of the zodiac was awe-inspiring as they towered above us. Always mindful of the danger of one of them rolling or calving, our drivers were on high alert. There were so many icebergs entering the ocean from the Illusasat Glacier that it makes one wonder how the glacier is not already totally melted. But a guide we had on the last day of our trip told us that the best way to describe the size of that glacier is to tell people that if everyone on earth were to receive one ice cube from that glacier, the ice cube would be 70 meters by 70 meters by 70 meters. That makes it sound like it will last forever. But it won’t. It is melting at an unprecedented speed and will one day be gone. The sheer volume of icebergs coming from it cannot be sustained indefinitely. It is a marvel to experience but a worry for the future of our planet.

The first sighting of a polar bear fleeing into the hills, likely disturbed by the noise of our ship anchoring nearby in the ocean, brought out a childlike excitement in me, making me want to run and tell all the other passengers what I’d seen. But it was the viewing of a polar bear floating on an ice flow in the Davis Straight that became my favourite animal sighting of the trip.

 

Did you know that polar bears have black skin? From a distance, when lying still, they look like a dark mound against the whiteness of the ice flow. I struggled even with my binoculars to spot the bear until I snapped a picture of the area the onboard mammal expert said the bear was lying in and asked him to point it out. She lay behind a pile of snow, with only a semi-circular mound that resembled a pile of dirt visible. How the wildlife spotters had seen her, I’ll never know.

The announcement of her presence brought everyone out to watch as she, or perhaps he, having been disturbed from sleep by our presence in her world, first tested the water, as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to dive into the cold depths of the ocean, then paced on the ice flow for a bit before taking the plunge with a smooth glide into its depths.  The low angle of the sun in the Arctic, coupled with clouds that distributed its beams in interesting patterns as the light reflected off the smooth surface of the water, created an other-worldly glow that enhanced the experience.

Throughout the trip, the plight of the Inuit people tore at my heart. Through the cultural facilitators on our ship, Inuit people themselves, we learned of the abuse they’d endured as their lands were invaded and taken from them. Their very existence was threatened by the white man’s overfishing of the many sea creatures they depend on for food. Adding to the threat is the more recent movement to prevent the hunting of seals and the restrictions on the harvesting of whales to prevent their extinction. In a world where the growing season is so short, the only source of food is the sea, and the right to harvest from it is an essential component of the Inuit existence.

Mary, one of the cultural facilitators on the ship, showed a movie that told the story of her family’s relocation to the northernmost part of Baffin Island when she was a young child. Her family was lured away from their home in a more southern part of Quebec with promises of being moved to a land where an abundance of animals made hunting easy. They were told they would be relocated with their friends and other relatives to a place that would be better for their future. Yet, individual families were dropped in separate locations in the north, separated from their long-term friends and neighbours. They were left with no supplies and serious hunting restrictions as winter approached. Children who tested positive for tuberculosis were ripped away from their families. Mary’s sister was one of them. She was not reunited with them until years later, after having been dropped off at the wrong settlement twice in the previous two years. The trauma made her doubt whether she was with her real family when they were finally reunited. Yet, when I spoke to Mary about it and expressed my shame that my race had done this, she reached out, took my hand and said, “It wasn’t you, Marie”.

The warmth of the Inuit people toward us was heartening. When we landed at a small village on Baffin Island, everyone greeted us with enormous smiles that completely took over their faces, before offering us a share of their precious food resources so we could experience what their diet was like. Their hearts appear to be full of forgiveness.

We were privileged to have a group of 20 youth on the ship who were part of a program called Students on Ice. Many of them were Inuit and likely future leaders of their communities, judging by the passion with which they spoke and the leadership they showed.

One of the young women wanted to become a health professional to help her northern Labrador community. She was interested in exploring the options of medicine, as well as physio and occupational therapy. As a former therapist myself, I spent some time discussing the options with her. When she said farewell to the passengers, on behalf of her group, her words brought me near to tears. As I said goodbye to her on our last day, I gave her my contact information and told her I thought she would do great things one day. She expressed her appreciation but added, “I’m so angry”. There was no time to explore what caused the anger. I had not heard her personal story beyond her career plan. I hope I get the chance to find out. And to help in some way.

 

The post Cruising in the Arctic first appeared on Author Marie Gage.

Well, dear readers, today’s post is a thank you to those of you who have posted positive, thoughtful comments about my latest novel, A Touch of Promise, on Facebook or Instagram, or sent me a note via the email link on my website. I want you to know how important those comments are and how much I appreciate you as a reader. Read on to gain an understanding of how those comments impact me and my future work.

The novel “A Touch of Promise” took years to complete. Much of the work was done in the isolation of my office. Sure, there was input from friends who acted as pre-readers or helped me problem-solve when I was stumped about how to move the story forward. But most of the time, I was alone in my office with my characters rambling around in my head. And there were a lot of characters to keep straight in A Touch of Promise!

As many of you already know, I am the kind of writer who does not plan the story before writing. I have a beginning and an end in mind, but the exact path between the two comes to me little by little. I write the chunk of the story that is clear to me and then park the writing while the next part emerges. As I walk through my day, the perfect scene to take the story to the next level suddenly appears in my head. Some authors say their characters talk to them, but I don’t hear their voices; I just suddenly visualize the scenes that will enhance their life journeys. When I do, I hurry back to my office to capture it before it disappears. Or if I can’t get to the office soon enough, I will jot down notes of the idea in an app on my phone.

When the story is finally complete and has been through the various levels of editing to ensure it will be clear to my readers, I press the button to publish it and pray that it strikes the right chord with those who read it. There is a knot in my stomach until the first reviews start to appear online. It’s a joyful experience to open my computer and find a note on Facebook or Instagram, or an email sent to me via my website’s email link, that tells me just how much a reader appreciates the story. Those notes make the work all the more satisfying! So thank you to those of you who have made such comments. For others who have been shy about expressing their opinions, please consider dropping a comment somewhere where I can find it or sending an email via my website. Reviews on Amazon or Goodreads also help others find and make a choice to read my novels. I appreciate the time it takes for readers to give a thoughtful review.

If you have questions about the novel or storyline, please ask them using the comment section of this post … I’ll be happy to share my thoughts. My readers are important to me and I enjoy the dialogue!

Have a happy day!

Marie.

 

 

The post The Solitary Life of an author first appeared on Author Marie Gage.

To read this editorial you will have to click the picture or this link and then scroll through the paper to the article (sorry, tried everything and couldn’t get an image with good enough print quality to read here)

I woke up yesterday morning to what I thought would be a pretty normal, albeit busy, day of marketing my new novel, A Touch of Promise, and fulfilling my tasks for a local event called Bookapalooza! 

I sat down at my computer before even having breakfast and found that a friend and local poet, Brenda Pedigrew, had sent me a congratulatory note about the article in our local newspaper, TheHighlander, about my new novel, A Touch of Promise. I quickly searched for the article in the e-edition of the paper and my heart was warmed by the thoughtful and insighful prose I read. Thank you Mike. (You can access it through the link below).

I scrolled back to the beginning of the paper and began to read about other local events. When I came upon the editorial, I noted that Mike had also written it. As I read my eyes welled up. The editorial was all about how the conversation we had, had impacted his life and inspired him to make a commitment he had been putting off for several years. He was touched by Pearl’s journey after her arrival in Canada and could see many similarities to his own path. He made a pledge to become a Canadian Citizen by July 1, 2026. I wish him the best of luck in that pursuit and will look forward to seeing his picture in the paper with his own story next July!

It occurs to me that we Canadians are all, with the important exception of our indigenous people, descendents of people who made a journey to a land that held much promise alongside much potential disappointment. They had to rise above the barriers and find their own path in this new land, or we wouldn’t be here. That’s really what my Promise Series is all about! It may have a foundation of my own family history but it goes much deeper. Make Canada Day a day to explore your heritage and learn your story of settlement in this wonderful country, or whatever country you live in, before the story disappears with the sands of time never to be found again.

Here’s the story he wrote about A Touch of Promise

Hit the above link to see a bigger copy of the original article.

Book a story of promise and perseverance

 

The post A Great Canada Day Story: How a War Bride’s Journey Inspired One Man’s Real Journey to Citizenship first appeared on Author Marie Gage.