Of waves and water, life and dreams

A number of people have asked me why I chose to open my novel, “Shades of Teale” on a rainy beach and I love that question because it brings back such lovely memories for me.

The truth of the matter is that at the time I began writing this novel there was a stunning beach located right outside my back door. The beach had become a powerful part of my life and it was exceedingly easy for me to imagine poor sodden Teale sitting cramped and hopeful on the sand just beyond my property line.

My husband and I had moved to Port Stanley, Ontario, a few years before I began writing “Teale,” and we were steeped in the wonder of our beachfront home. We had decided to give up on life in the big city and live “The Dream.” And what a dream it was! The house itself was an open concept beauty with four bedrooms and three levels, and huge windows gave us panoramic views of Lake Erie. At the time we had only three children, each of them on access schedules with their other biological parents. We had two big dogs, a Chocolate Lab named “Zeppy” and a German Shepherd we had called “Jedi.”

I used to go out every morning and walk the beach with my dogs, treading the snow dunes with them in the cold winter months, and throwing sticks for them to chase the rest of the year. It was a peaceful life, idyllic and comfortable, and it was on those morning walks that Teale’s story began to take shape.  After our sandy journey along the edge of the shore, I would head back into my office and start my work day.

As a writer focused on PR, corporate communications and marketing work, it was easy to work out of my home and I was always grateful for the balcony that lay just beyond my desk. It was never too much of a distraction as I always had the option of ending my day with another jaunt along the beach — pure luxury!

In those years on the beach I discovered how fascinating a beach and its lake can be. The color of the water ranged from steely gray in sour weather to deep cosmic blue on a fine summer day. When I actually started writing Teale’s story I realized that it matched the kind of beach day that is cold and unfriendly, the kind of day that invites a retreat back into the house for a cup of hot tea and a book by the fire.

I have wonderful memories of living on the beach and both my husband and I were sad when the time came to move on into a different chapter of our lives. The beach will always live on for me, however, in the pages of the book that got its start in the comforting sand of what is, in my mind, still to this day, a truly Great Lake.