Bio | Books harryb

My wife Linda and I, two dogs, and an irascible cat arrived on Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada in June 2012, having finally escaped the snow and bugs of rural Ottawa, Ontario.

Failed retirees, we moved into a rambling bungalow in an acre and change, part way up Mount Maxwell, and promptly added two more bedrooms and another bathroom.

You know how it is with parents: The kids come home three weeks or less every year, and we maintain a small hotel the other forty-nine!

Part of that mindset for us anyway, is our English heritage. We lived in the South of England and would take our two young children to visit their grandparents.

Their houses were small and their gardens perfect. I swear my father-in-law's weeds grew in straight lines and stood to attention until he'd passed by! These were not the gardens for rambunctious children and in fear of a disaster to some petunia, aspidistra or other, we'd take them to the local swimming pool in an attempt to wear them out.

The aphorism: 'A tired dog is a good dog.' applies equally well to small children.

We swore that when we got grandchildren, and we have one on the way, we'd make sure that when they visited they could run and play ball in our yard, without fear of a floral disaster!

The basic story for Nexus arrived in my head one evening as I sat staring vacuously at the mountains at the bottom of our garden. In my defence, it had been a busy week and the rather fine glass of Malbec at my elbow, courtesy of my bride (we've been married four decades and she's my best friend) was helping the relaxation process.

I spoke to Linda about it a few times, well maybe more than a few, over the next few days and then one morning she said, "Why don't you just write the bloody thing?" She's a redhead, need I say more? Certainly I know how to behave!

Of course I resisted. "I have no time", "I'll never get it finished and it'll hang over me in my dotage, like the sword...." —anyway, you get the idea.

So I made a start. It was done in less than three months. I found the whole process absolutely compelling and would spend a lot of the day and some evenings at my desk, whilst Linda took over everything in our busy lives.

The manuscript went to her first of course, although I know we were both worried it'd be terrible.

There's a local, rural book club that she belongs to where the attendees are a bunch of very smart ladies (our neighbours for the most part), and it was with some trepidation that I wandered along to three of their houses, clutching manuscripts wondering if they could find the time?

To my astonishment, all three agreed and stopping only to grab several red pens, began the editing process.

I'm sure if even one had come back to me shaking their head, suggesting that it might be better for everyone, and the literary world in particular, if I never wrote another thing, not even my name, that would have been the end of my foray into fiction.

As it was, wonder of wonders they liked it—well—with reservations.

One took it on holiday to Hawaii and e-mailed me a few days later, asking of one protagonist, "When will he die? Soon I hope. I hate him."

A few people have written some nice things and handed out stars on Amazon, for which I'm very grateful and not a little humbled.

I'm the world's worst marketer, so this site is my initial effort to get the thing out there. So if you like it, please tell your (reader) friends.

To whet the appetite of those who find it appealing, it's the first of at least a trilogy. Two others are written and are going through the editing and cover design process.

Thanks for reading this far. I'd love to hear from you and you can e-mail me at books@harryb.ca I'd like you to sign up to my mailing list too. You can do that below.

Harry B.