Before I share the story behind the story, here’s a synopsis of The Tree Spirits

Investigative journalist Gregory Gault never expected his latest assignment to put a target on his back. He’s uncovered a chilling conspiracy—a secret alliance of U.S. and Russian power players orchestrating an economic war to force Denmark to sell Greenland and Canada to surrender the provinces west and north of Manitoba. Now, he knows the stakes are life or death. With nowhere else to turn, he must confide in the one person he trusts completely: his older stepsister, Grace.

Grace Parker Gault is a librarian and aspiring writer, who loves snow, Christmas, and travel. At 45, she carries herself with the quiet confidence of a woman who has experienced the joys and griefs of life and become stronger, softer, and infinitely wiser. While most older women miss the attention they garnered in their youth, Grace is perfectly comfortable with navigating life in stealth mode. She hides her curvy figure under oversized and flowing cardigans, just like she hides her heart. For the past few years, she’s felt an unexplainable pull toward the boreal wilderness of northern Manitoba. When she arrives in Thompson, she is immediately drawn to the land and Erik Strand.

Erik Elias Strand is a former AHL hockey player whose career-ending injury left him searching for purpose and an identity off the ice. His presence is magnetic. Standing at 6’4″, his lean, athletic frame exudes the aura of a man who knows his strength and never needs to flaunt it. The chemistry between Erik and Grace is undeniable. And when threats against Grace and Gregory intensify, Erik knows one thing for certain: he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

But there’s more at stake than just their survival. As corporations and corrupt leaders push deeper into the Arctic, the boreal forest—the Earth’s last great shield against climate destruction—stands on the brink of devastation. Across the world, young activists are organizing, protesting, and rising in defiance to protect the land. Soon Erik and Grace find themselves at the heart of a growing movement. Though Erik has always been apolitical, his love for Grace and his growing connection to the land awakens something fierce within him. He discovers he is Nâstamâkêw—One Who Can Hear—the latest in a long line of guardians bound to the ancient spirits of the North. And Grace, with her deep reverence for Cree traditions and the wisdom of the land, becomes his partner in a battle much older than them both. As passion ignites between them, they must harness the forces of love, magic, and raw human will to protect the forest, its spirits, and the future of the Arctic and Manitoba’s boreal forest.

Now here’s the story behind the story

When I started writing The Tree Spirits, it was just an exercise in following an established formula. Shortly after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, a friend shared a hysterically funny video on social media of comedian Don McMillan explaining how he cracked the code for Hallmark Christmas movies. So, just for laughs, a few friends and I decided to share our ideas for a new holiday movie. My friends know that I have always dreamed of starting a Christmas tree farm, so my story had to have a lumberjack, a career woman from the big city, and take place in Canada.

During the holiday break, I decided that I was in dire need of a long hiatus from academic study to recharge and focus on work. Then, after the New Year, I decided to get serious about writing a story that I might actually want to share.

As I mention in my bio, I’m originally from Philadelphia, PA, and currently reside in Charlotte, NC. I attended college and lived in Boston, MA, and I’ve also lived in two small towns in Nebraska. I’ve visited Quebec on several occasions, but I have never been to Manitoba. However, like the story’s character, Grace, I too—for reasons that I am yet to understand—have been drawn to learn about the people, culture, and history of the vast prairie province in central Canada.

My fascination with Manitoba began on New Year’s Eve 2013, when I read an article reporting that the wind chill in Winnipeg made it feel like -53 degrees Celsius / -63.4 degrees Fahrenheit—as cold as the surface of Mars. A million questions ran through my mind, the first and foremost being, How do people live in a place that cold? Since then, I’ve met a few Winnipeggers and had the opportunity to ask them how they survive the winter weather. Each of them has said, “You get used to it.” I love the snow, and the winter scenes of Winnipeg—especially during the holidays—are breathtaking, but -53°C is brutally cold.

Still, when I had to create a mock design for a public library website for one of my library science courses, I decided to redesign the Winnipeg Public Library website. While completing that assignment, I learned about Winnipeg’s diversity.

I hope to visit Winnipeg one day—and travel further north to Thompson and Churchill to see the polar bears. However, as I learned from author Diana Gabaldon during her keynote address at the 2023 Outlander conference, you don’t have to visit or be intimately familiar with a location to begin writing about it. You just need to put in the work to do the research.

You don’t even have to share the same cultural heritage as your characters. What you do need is to make your characters interesting, respect them and their culture, and respect your audience. I wasn’t surprised that Diana Gabaldon is a fan of the Doctor Who series or that the idea of a man in a kilt contributed to her interest in writing a book about a scholar. For me, there is something incredibly sexy about a hockey player’s mastery of the ice and agility, especially goalies.

So now, I’m researching the history and culture of the people of Manitoba, Canada, and developing my characters. Since my personal reading tastes have always leaned more toward historical fiction, mystery, and non-fiction, I’m also reading a lot of contemporary romance novels to become more familiar with the genre. And, as always, I’ll be watching hockey.

I’ll be sharing passages from my book as they are written, as well as insights into my writing process. Just keep in mind that the posts are first drafts and I may tweak details during the writing process. I hope that you will find The Tree Spirits to be a gripping blend of steamy romance, thrilling mystery, magic, and eco-fiction—a story of two people who become warriors for a world on the edge of ruin.

In addition to Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, other books that have influenced me over the past few years are Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series, Celeste Ng’s Our Missing Hearts, and Valley of the Birdtail by Andrew Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson.

Click here to begin reading the story