Absolutely Invincible


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George Ma is very smart and highly skilled in Shaolin self defense, but there is something wrong with his mind--the result of a horrific incident in his past that he dimly remembers in terrifying dreams. The agents of
George's journey back to health are three other members of the "Cripples' Club"--Amy, Heather and their leader, Hook.

FAQ
WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR ABSOLUTELY INVINCIBLE?
This story idea began with a young boy, a refugee from a war in south-east Asia. I had the feeling that I wanted to write a story like this because of a young girl who was a friend of my daughter's. This girl's family left South Vietnam after the Communists took over, becoming "boat people" and suffering many hardships before they got to Canada. I wrote the escape from White Crane Village section first, although I altered it later.
The other influences on this book were Terry Fox and a couple of students I had at Innisdale Secondary School in Barrie, Ontario: both these students had health problems that threatened their lives, and I was deeply impressed by the courage they showed in dealing with their problems every day.
So, the first idea led to George Ma and his mental state; the second led to Hook and Amy and Heather.

DID ANY OF THE STORY HAPPEN TO YOU?
No, except through people I knew as described above.

ARE ANY OF THE CHARACTERS BASED ON PEOPLE YOU KNOW OR OTHER REAL PEOPLE?
No. The story was inspired by real people, but my characters are invented.

WHAT WAS YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE IN WRITING THIS NOVEL?
It's hard to write a book like this without becoming maudlin or sentimental. Often, writers tend to make characters with these kinds of problems perfect people. I call this syndrome "Disneyfying" a story or the people in it.
Also, getting inside George's head and seeing the world (and describing it) the way he would have was a challenge.

IS ANY OF THE STORY BASED ON REAL EVENTS?
No.


No Signature


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"Wick" Chandler is obsessed by his past. When he sets out to find the father who abandoned him when he was seven years old, Wick begins a quest that brings revelation he never would have imagined, that shatters the world he thought he knew.

FAQ
WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR NO SIGNATURE?
Most story ideas begin with an image in the writer's mind--a mental picture. The image that led to No Signature was a little boy (about six or seven) coming downstairs one morning to discover that his father has left home. As in most of my novels, the image led to other images, scenes and ideas, until it became a story concept.

DID ANY OF THE STORY HAPPEN TO YOU?
No, but, coincidentally, I got divorced when my son was seven.

ARE ANY OF THE CHARACTERS BASED ON PEOPLE YOU KNOW OR OTHER REAL PEOPLE?
No.

WHAT WAS YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE IN WRITING THIS NOVEL?
No Signature is a story without a fast-paced, adventure-based plot line; it's about relationships. In the TV age, it's hard to write about relationships in such a way as to keep interested an audience that is used to high adventure. This was the challenge.

IS ANY OF THE STORY BASED ON REAL EVENTS?
No.


Five Days of the Ghost


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WINNER OF THE MANITOBA YOUNG READERS' CHOICE AWARD
Poking around a sacred Indian burial ground in the middle of the night with her brother, John, isn't Karen's idea of a great way to start off the summer. But she lets John talk her into it, and the two are plunged into a world they could never have imagined--a world where past and present blend, where the spirits of the dead communicate with the living.

FAQ
WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR FIVE DAYS OF THE GHOST?
One winter many years ago I decided to cross-country ski across Lake Couchiching and look at the graveyard on Chiefs' Island. I'm very interested in the history of our area of Canada. I found the place, which was, to tell you the truth, not particularly interesting. But, as often happens, that experience led to an idea--the ghost of an Ojibway chief, sitting on a gravestone. This idea led to others, and gradually, over the course of a few years, the story developed in my imagination until I was ready to start writing.

DID ANY OF THE STORY HAPPEN TO YOU?
No, but I do live in the area where the story takes place.

ARE ANY OF THE CHARACTERS BASED ON PEOPLE YOU KNOW OR OTHER REAL PEOPLE?
No. Most of the places in the book are real, even the snack stand at Couchiching Park.

WHAT WAS YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE IN WRITING THIS NOVEL?
A big challenge in writing a ghost story is to introduce supernatural elements and at the same time make them seem real.

IS ANY OF THE STORY BASED ON REAL EVENTS?
Yes and no. There is a certain amount of real history in the book--mostly revolving around Chief Copegog's early life. And the description of the Champlain Monument is exactly accurate.


Speak to the Earth


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Brian Troupe is isn't really interested in the bitter dispute between loggers and "tree huggers" that splits the community of Nootka Harbour . But eventually the conflict divides his own family and affects his relationship with his girlfriend, and Brian is dragged into the centre of an environmental conflict that shatters his way of life.

FAQ
WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR SPEAK TO THE EARTH?
The Clayoquot Sound demonstrations against the logging of old-growth timber on Vancouver Island provided the idea and the inspiration for the writing of this story; but it's more complicated than that. For most of my life I have watched the progressive deterioration of many facets of our environment, both here and abroad, and I have found that in almost all cases I'm aware of, it has been ordinary people, not governments and certainly not corporations, that provided the energy and dedication to combat the pervasive deterioration of our planet. It is the ordinary people, on both sides of the logging disputes, that inspired this book.

DID ANY OF THE STORY HAPPEN TO YOU?
No.

ARE ANY OF THE CHARACTERS BASED ON PEOPLE YOU KNOW OR OTHER REAL PEOPLE?
No. However, there are certain organizations present in the novel which are very similar to real organizations. The names have been changed.

WHAT WAS YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE IN WRITING THIS NOVEL?
Writing an interesting story with a strong theme, but remaining balanced, was difficult. Bryan's mother is on one side of the issue; his uncle is on the other; and Bryan feel squeezed in between. I tried to make the story sympathetic to Jimmy as well as to Iris. Bryan, like all of us at times, feels like the whole battle has nothing to do with him. It's ruining his life and he wants it to go away. But sooner or later he has to come off the sidelines.
Some people who are in favour of clear-cut logging have said that this story is biased. Obviously, I don't agree with them.

IS ANY OF THE STORY BASED ON REAL EVENTS?
This story is based on real events but is not limited by them. In other words, I used the Clayoquot protests as a sort of focus for the general theme of environmental concern.


Death Wind


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"Look!" Razz said, and pointed to a black cloud up the highway. It seemed to be moving. It wobbled and shifted. Then Allie could see what looked like a crooked black finger reaching down toward the ground. . . . Allie squinted, trying to figure out what she was seeing.
Then she knew.

FAQ
WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR THIS BOOK?
In May, 1985, fourteen tornadoes hit southern Ontario, Canada, killing 14 people. One of the cities affected was Barrie, where I taught high school. The neighbourhood immediately north of the school was very badly damaged. The tornado struck on Friday afternoon, about twenty minutes after I had left the school. In the following days, I witnessed the effects on property and people.

DID ANY OF THE STORY HAPPEN TO YOU?
I had left Barrie shortly before the tornado struck. That weekend, I and many other teachers from the school helped in the clean-up after the storm. The catastrophe affected many of my students, especially one, whose little brother was killed.

ARE ANY OF THE CHARACTERS BASED ON PEOPLE YOU KNOW OR OTHER REAL PEOPLE?
No. Although the book is based on real experiences, all of the characters and most of the plot are fictional.

WHAT WAS YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE IN WRITING THIS NOVEL?
When you write a story based on real events the experiences of people you know (including yourself), you have to try to keep things at a distance. Sometimes that's difficult to do, because you response to other people's pain and loss is very personal and emotional. A second challenge was the fact that I couldn't let this particular novel get too complicated. It was written for a series to be used in schools, and the publishers wanted the reading level and vocabulary controlled. That's why Death Wind is very unlike my other novels in style and complexity.

IS ANY OF THE STORY BASED ON REAL EVENTS?
Yes. See above, and the Author note on page 91 of the book. There is a great deal of information about the 1985 tornado on the Net.