FAQ
WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR THIS BOOK?
I think the idea came from all the camping I've done and the canoe trips I've taken. The wilderness presents us with challenges as well as beautiful scenery and fun; and sometimes the challenges change us. This tale started out as a short story about a man. The more I thought about it, though, the more it changed, and eventually the main character became an eighteen-year-old. Crabbe remains one of my most popular books since its publication in 1986.
DID ANY OF THE STORY HAPPEN TO YOU?
No, but as I said above I drew on my experiences in the outdoors when I was planning the book.
ARE ANY OF THE CHARACTERS BASED ON PEOPLE YOU KNOW OR OTHER REAL PEOPLE?
No.
WHAT WAS YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE IN WRITING THIS NOVEL?
Crabbe was my first big story: I had tried a few short stories before I wrote it, but I wasn't satisfied with them. It took a long time to write this book--about three years, I think, because I could only work on it when I had time (usually late at night) and I'd often get stuck and leave it for weeks or months. Eventually, though, it seemed to come to an end. I rewrote it (teaching myself to type at the same time so it wouldn't be a total loss) and made a lot of changes as I went along. All the while I had the feeling that I didn't really know what I was doing, but I wanted to get the story out of my head and onto the page.
IS ANY OF THE STORY BASED ON REAL EVENTS?
No. I have never gone backwards over a waterfall in a canoe and I've never been caught in the bush in the middle of a blizzard.