Canada Day is our annual family get-together for my father’s side of my family. Everyone is coming: cousins, aunts and uncles! This makes it one of the best holidays of the year for me.

We’ll be swimming, catching up, jam-making (it’s Ontario strawberry season!) and playing board games – in my family we compete not just to win, but to play, as there’s so many of us.

And we’ll be eating lots, of course. Eating is one of the best parts as my mum is a great cook. One of our annual traditions is a cake decorated by the younger members with red and white smarties. Sometimes there’s more smarties than cake!

Also this year, I’ve set up a little trivia game based on tidbits gleaned from one of our new releases, Fascinating Canada. It’s the one game this weekend that I’m assured of winning.

How did you research your book?

What was the creative process like for you?
I don’t work on my creative process, it just happens. Characters come to me as I am writing, so I never create a plot or outline beforehand. I never know where the story is going or what is going to happen. I figure if I know ahead of time, then any smart reader will know, too, and that would spoil the joy of reading.

What are you reading right now?
Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende. I bought it in the Amsterdam airport on my way back from Istanbul this month.

What is your next project?
I have two projects on the go. One involves the Russian Revolution and the starvation and brutality suffered by many German Mennonites. The other is a story about a quirky, unconventional family in the 1950s.

Tell us a little about the overarching theme of your work and why you felt compelled to explore it.
The overarching theme of Kootenay Silver is about believing in yourself and your abilities. Self-doubt is poison. You need to believe that you can do whatever it is you set out to do, and if life knocks you down, you get up and start again.

You can’t always control what happens in your life, but you can control how you react to it.

Tell us about your book.

Did you have a specific readership in mind when you wrote your book?
Any actor can gain by working at their publicity and attitude to the business, but young actors and acting students are more likely to buy the book. Or have it bought for them.

What was your first publication?
And what are you going to do for us? was the first ever collection of audition speeches drawn from Canadian plays. Simon and Pierre was forward-looking enough to publish it, and their successor, Dundurn, took over that role for our later books.

What inspired you to write your first book?
Margaret Bard (then a producer/actress, now a screenwriter) was part of an argument we were having with some Toronto actors who said they would use Canadian audition speeches if only they could find them. The next morning she called with a challenge to make a collection together, and very quickly even we were surprised to discover just how much material there was available.

Describe the most memorable response you’ve received from a reader.
From a recent BFA graduate, “Oh my god, you’re … you’re… you’re required reading!”

Let It Snow by son and father team, Darryl and William Humber is a fascinating historical look at winter sports in Canada.  Filled with archival photos, it reminds us of how many of our winter activities used to take place out-of-doors, but are now indoor sports like hockey and figure skating.

It’s also a call to action about climate change.  We hosted the Winter Olympics this year, in twenty years, will our climate still be wintery enough to do so again.

Check out her scary book  trailer — perfect for the haunting season.

Palmiro Campagna works for the Department of National Defence and has acted as Canadian representative to NATO in the area of electromagnetics in military aircraft. He is the author of the bestselling Storms of Controversy as well as Requiem for a Giant. He lives in Ottawa.

How did you come up with the idea for this work?

How did you come up with the title?
Having written fifteen mystery titles for Dundurn over the years, and having investigated unsolved mysteries first hand for our radio and TV shows and lectures for nearly half a century, it seemed to be the right title for a large volume containing a lot of real-life mysteries.

Tell us a little about the overarching theme of your work, and why you felt compelled to explore it.
We live in a very strange and mysterious universe. The riddle of sub-atomic particles, nanotechnology and the enigmas of the microcosm at one end — and the infinite distances of the astronomical universe at the other are further compounded by the mysteries of the paranormal, space-time paradoxes and the weird depths of the human mind. We just love exploring these very strange things.

Did you have a specific readership in mind when you wrote your book?
We always get positive, interested responses from listeners and viewers when we do our TV and radio shows and our lectures. Everyone seems to be interested in the paranormal and unsolved mysteries in general – so we had a general readership in mind when we wrote The Big Book of Mysteries.

How did you research your book?
We always like to investigate on site at first hand whenever possible. In 1975, for example, we were among the pioneering researchers at Rennes-le-Château in the South of France. We also visited and explored the mystery of the Oak Island Money Pit in Nova Scotia on several occasions. We have explored Croglin Grange in Cumbria and investigated the reports of the vampire attacks there at first hand. Lionel is President of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP) and Patricia is First Lady. A great many people come to us when they have encountered mysteries themselves and we always do our best to visit them and help them.

Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe can be reached through their website.

Tell us about your book.

When Mike arrives in Inuvik there isn’t much daylight and it’s cold. Don’t forget that Inuvik gets 24 hours of darkness in the winter and 24 hours of daylight in the summer. Mike feels quite out of place and makes a couple of enemies his first day at school. He is befriended by an outcast named Donnie Debastien who turns out to be quite a loveable nerd. An elder by the name of Victor Allen also takes Mike under his wing and gets Mike to start to think about whom he really is and what his heritage means to him. Mike’s mother is of South African heritage and a mix of Philippine, German and Zulu.

Mike gradually makes friends and is amazed at how athletic the Inuvialuit and Dene kids are in Inuvik. They participate in Arctic Sports which are quite amazing to watch. Arctic Sports include events such as the one foot high kick, two foot high kick and airplane. Mike begins to practice Arctic Sports and he introduces his new friends to lacrosse. When Mikes father sees how athletic Mike’s friends are he gets the idea of forming an Inuvik lacrosse team that will travel South to St. Albert to participate in the Baggataway Lacrosse Tournament.

Arctic Thunder is in many ways a coming of age story. It speaks to the importance of embracing your heritage, respecting it, and discovering what really counts in life. There are also subplots about he challenges that face youth in the North, and what a fantastic place Canada’s Arctic is.

How did you come up with the idea for this work?
I was actually driving between Edmonton and Calgary when the idea for Arctic Thunder crossed my mind. I was on my second coffee and being quite caffeine sensitive my mind was racing. I pulled over and called Michael Carroll at Dundurn and he became excited about the idea as well.

Arctic Thunder brings together two of my greatest loves; Canada’s Arctic and lacrosse! It always frustrates me how little people really know and understand the Arctic. On the other hand it also frustrates me that although lacrosse is growing in popularity these days it still takes a back seat to hockey and other major league sports. I was lucky to play lacrosse when we lived in Prince Edward Island and understand what an amazing game it is. It combines speed, agility, hand-eye coordination and intense body contact. These athletes that play in the National Lacrosse League have full time jobs as well and play because they love the sport! Once you watch a National Lacrosse League game you forget about hockey!

How did you research your book?
Most of my research was conducted through family and friends from the Inuvik area. Loretta Trimble Hopkins and Gerry Kisoun were a tremendous help! I relied somewhat on my personal knowledge of the area however conferred with my parents, Gerry and Loretta on many details. Doug Fitts of the National Lacrosse League and Gord Sawyer of the Edmonton Rush also offered support.

What was the creative process like for you?
When I get an idea for a story I usually just dive in and start to write. As I write, I start to get ideas for plot development and then sketch out where the story will go from there. After the first chapter I will often have a general idea and note book full of ideas on how the story will advance from beginning to end. That can change however as I write more and I often go back and add details or change sections. When my writing is going well it feels like I am possessed! I will be typing on the laptop and don’t really know where the words are coming from. They just jump onto the screen! I will stop and after looking back go, “Wow! That’s pretty good where did that come from did?”

In your own work, which character are you most attached to and why?
That’s a difficult question! I tend to get very attached and possessive with most of my characters. In Arctic Thunder I would have to say that I am very attached to Donnie. He is a big, loveable nerd that everyone including himself has written off. Through his friendship with Mike, other people begin to see how much fun and loveable the big guy is. I tend to get emotional about Donnie when I go back and read the manuscript. I have this vivid picture of him in my mind and he makes me laugh and want to cry.

How did you come up with the title?

What was the hardest part of writing your book?
The hardest part of writing my book was the memories; the pain of abuse and lost childhood, of a broken spirit…and loss of one’s self!

What was your first publication?
MY first publication was a poem called Lockwood, published by Them Days in Goose Bay, Labrador.

What inspired you to write?
The inspiration to write my first book was for my children. I wanted them to know from where they came; of the terrible hardship and struggle for survival of their people. I didn’t think of publication!

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I’ve ever recieved as a writer was pretty basic…given the very first writing class I attended at McMaster University, “write what you know” and “let the chips fall…”

This book, dealing specifically with Atlantic Canada, is the first of three books on the English that I will be writing. It describes the English settlers of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and identifies their reasons for emigrating. Beginning with the Planters and Loyalists of the 18th century it takes their story up to the early 20th century. The book traces where the English came from, where they settled, how well they coped as pioneers and considers their lasting impact.

A special interest for genealogists will be the many passenger lists and shipping details for seven hundred Atlantic crossings, that are to be found in the Appendices.

How did you come up with the idea for this work?
I had completed eight books about Scottish emigration to Canada and along the way noticed how little attention had been given by historians to English emigration. Atlantic Canada is my favourite part of Canada so I chose it as the focus of my first book. My husband Geoff and I were looking for a reason to return there!

Tell us a little about the overarching theme of your work and why you felt compelled to explore it?
Because early English settlers failed to register as a distinctive ethnic group in Canada, their story has not had the attention it deserved. Having spotted this oversight I have now taken up the challenge to put things right.

The English had come to a country that had adopted their language, customs and values and so they saw little need to proclaim their Englishness. They were happy to fade into the background. Meanwhile, the Scots and Irish did the exact opposite. They sought to highlight their colourful and distinctive traditions, thus attracting considerable attention to themselves, while the English went unnoticed. I want to tell their story – hence the three books. The second book (out in 2012) will deal with Ontario and Quebec and the third (out in 2014) with the prairies and British Columbia.

Did you have a specific readership in mind when you wrote your book?
My book will be of particular interest to Canadians wishing to trace their English ancestry and will be of general interest to anyone wishing to understand more fully the long-standing links between both counties. In fact, all of my books are aimed at two types of readers. I write for family historians who want to go a little further into their family history by understanding the factors at work when their ancestors decided to emigrate. Why did their ancestors emigrate at that particular time? Why and how did they choose a place in Canada to settle? Were they successful? I also have a second audience in mind — academics and historians. I take great pride in ensuring that my research is rigorous and well-documented while trying to write a clear and easily understood story which carries the reader along.

How did you research your book?
My research endeavours have covered many sources – including the British National Archive at Kew, county record offices across England and Canadian national and provincial archives. Geoff and I get a real buzz when we visit these places and pore over the documents. You never know what you are going to find – so it is a real adventure! I also dig for information in the more obscure publications to be found in university libraries on both sides of the Atlantic. And a special treat for me are my regular visits to Oxford and London Universities to consult the reports of the many Anglican and Methodist missionaries who lived and worked in Atlantic Canada. After the great hunt for data comes the writing which I try to complete within a year.

Ottawa-born Lucille Campey is a professional researcher and historian. Having married an Englishman, she moved to England where she acquired her M.A. in medieval history from Leeds University, then completed a doctorate on emigration history from the University of Aberdeen. She is the author of eight books on early Scottish emigration to Canada. Lucille and Geoff Campey live near Salisbury in Wiltshire.