The Story Behind The Story

Laurie Wood | @LaurieJeanWood

I decided to set my romantic suspense in a small sub-arctic Canadian town because polar bears are such a Canadian icon. And I had fun delving in to the research about Churchill, Manitoba, researching polar bears and the conservation efforts preserving their species.

But the other aspect of the “story behind the story” is how my two main characters changed and evolved as I experimented with the premise for the book. I was a police officer in the mid-1980’s and I read a lot of thrillers and police procedurals, so I started with a hero Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer. I figured a “Mountie”, as we call them, (because it’s shorter), was also a Canadian icon and that might hook an editor or agent’s attention, so he would be a good bet for a hero. And I wrote a great character sketch–but I couldn’t “see” him. I like to search Pinterest for interesting faces for my heroes and heroines but I wasn’t getting a bead on this guy. He felt hollow, and for whatever reason, wasn’t coming “alive” for me.
As for my heroine, I saw her jumping up from a restaurant meal and walking out–running out–from the hero after her proposed to her. And I thought, what would make a woman do that? At that point, I didn’t have her as a polar bear scientist. She was beautiful, but that was all I knew about her. I found this photo on Pinterest, no credit given, and my imagination ran away with me. I dug into the heroine’s background and came up with the “WHY” of her painful story. Why would she run out on a marriage proposal from a man she was in love with?

Once I’d written her background story the “WHO” of the hero transformed.
He wasn’t a police officer anymore. He became a spoiled rich kid who’d had every advantage in life. A lifelong Christian who’d been raised with all the answers to life from the outside looking in but hadn’t tested those “answers” until real life hit him in the face. And his family wasn’t perfect either. He “fell” in to his profession, rather than being a career guy.
I searched Pinterest till I found actor Paul Walker who starred in the “Fast and the Furious” movie franchise before his untimely death at the age of 40. And suddenly, I had my “face” to go with Lukas Tanner. He became the first “boy next door” hero I’ve ever written.

Remember that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. They’re not all alpha males who carry guns and can fight off three bad guys at once. Real heroes are the guys who learn from their mistakes. Who fall down and get up again even if they fall more than once. Who lose more than their possessions and start over and over again. Real heroes can take care of a sick child in the night and still get up and go to work at 7 a.m.
So, why did my heroine not want to marry this guy in the first place? Well, you’ll have to read the story to find out. She has her reasons: fear, shame, a huge secret. Even in our society, we have a “class” system. She didn’t come from wealth. And when she ends up with something in her possession, that other people are willing to kill her for, things take a dark and dangerous turn.
I hope you’ll enjoy reading Northern Deception. I trust I’ve written a tight love story with enough suspense to keep you turning the pages and also give you a taste of Canada’s far north in the middle of polar bear season. It’s been my pleasure to share this Canadian romantic suspense with you.

Laurie Wood is a military wife who’s lived across Canada and visited six of its ten provinces. She and her husband have raised two wonderful children with Down Syndrome to adulthood, and their son and daughter are a wonderful blessing to their lives. Over the years, Laurie’s books have finaled in prestigious contests such as the Daphne du Maurier (twice), the TARA, the Jasmine, and the Genesis. Her family lives in central Canada with a menagerie of rescue dogs and cats. If the house were bigger, no doubt they’d have more.

Website: https://www.lauriewoodauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauriewoodreadersgroup
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/LaurieJeanWood

#Wandering Wednesday: Wandering in Churchill, Manitoba

By Laurie Wood @LaurieJeanWood

When I decided to write a romantic suspense novel set in Canada, I thought, “what’s more Canadian than polar bears?” Polar bears and igloos are some of our most iconic Canadian symbols. And because I live in Winnipeg which is Manitoba’s provincial capital and just 1,000 km (620 mi) south of Churchill, I researched this small town in northern Manitoba to see what mischief I could come up with for a story.

Churchill sits on the western shore of Hudson Bay 110 km (68 mi) from the Manitoba-Nunavut border. It’s northerly. It’s right on the 58th parallel north far above Canada’s most populated areas. To compare, Juneau, Alaska, and Inverness, Scotland, also sit on the 58th parallel north. And yet, Churchill is still 2807 km (1744 mi) south of Alert, Nunavut–or the North Pole–at the top of Canada, which gives you an idea of how vast Canada’s far north is in size.

However, back to my love of polar bears! Churchill is called “The Polar Bear Capital of the World” because of their migration down through Churchill which takes place during October and November. An average of 300 bears come straight through the town and surrounding area, out to the frozen Hudson Bay onto sea ice where they spend the winter hunting ringed seals.

Tourism is brisk with various guiding companies taking clients out on the tundra in specialized “Tundra Buggies” built to navigate both the difficult terrain and protect people from the bears. There is even a “Polar Bear Jail” where nuisance bears who can’t stay away from town or people are tranquilized by natural resources officers and then taken by helicopter further north and released back in to the wild when the ice freezes over.

In my debut novel NORTHERN DECEPTION: Heroes of the Tundra, Book One, my heroine is a polar bear scientist doing research at the Arctic Science Research Centre in Churchill and my hero owns one of the Tour Guiding Companies. I’ve used all the proper sites in Churchill but changed the names of businesses because of trademarks. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the CEO of Frontiers North Company were generous with their time in answering my research questions.

For example:

• Canada is home to around 15,000 polar bears
• There are twenty discrete populations known to exist and three of them frequent Hudson Bay.
• Much of our knowledge of polar bears comes from research done in Churchill from the past thirty years.
• Males can weigh from 660 to 1760 lbs–females from 330 to 550 lbs.
• Their paws can be 10”-12” across with claws up to 3”-5” long
• Cubs stay with their mother for two to three years
• To survive the extreme cold of the Arctic their fur is almost ten thousand hairs per square inch

Canada is much more than a “land of snow and ice”. Our country has Rocky Mountain ranges, vast prairie regions, the Great Lakes, and the beautiful Maritime provinces. But when I decided to set my reunion romance in a remote setting I chose Churchill, Manitoba because I wanted the unique cache of sled dogs, polar bears, and the small town camaraderie of the far north.

I hope when NORTHERN DECEPTION: Heroes of the Tundra, Book One releases December 4, 2018 from Anaiah Press you’ll enjoy this tale two people who find themselves back together in different circumstances and thrust into danger through no fault of their own.

About Laurie Wood

I'm a military wife who's raised two wonderful special needs children to adulthood. We've lived all over Canada and are still on that journey. When I'm not writing, I can be found spinning, knitting, and hanging out with my dogs.

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About Northern Deception: Heroes of the Tundra

After a savage attack in university, Kira Summers fled to the safety of northern Canada and her work as a polar bear scientist. But when her whistleblower brother dies in a mysterious car crash, she must return home to bury him and pack his belongings. Unaware she’s carrying explosive evidence someone’s willing to kill for, she has no choice but to rely on the one person she never thought she’d see again.

Lukas Tanner, a widowed single father of a special needs toddler, moved to Churchill five years ago. As the proud owner of Guiding Star Enterprises, a wilderness tour company, he and his daughter lead a simple life. But when Kira comes crashing back into his world, he realizes God has other plans. Now, Lukas and Kira must confront a merciless killer as their past and present collide in a deadly race – a race they must win if they have any hope of a future together.