|
Where is it? Penny is asked for directions to fictional B&B |
|
|
At what point does a successful author acknowledge her success? For all her graciousness, Townships writer Louise Penny is still as self-deprecating as any budding author. The difference is, she’s proved her worth.
Fresh off the release of her third novel, The Cruellest Month, Penny is on the receiving end of a long list of awards and acclaim for her three murder mysteries, including Dead Cold and her first book, Still Life. These days, she’s even getting emails from readers and tourists looking for directions to the fictional bed & breakfast in her latest book. “I’ve wanted to be a writer all my life, and I imagine a lot of us have,” said Penny, who spoke to the Eastern Townships chapter of the Canadian Club Thursday. “The written word is a remarkable thing. “And at the age of 50, I never expected anything like this would happen to me.” Penny said few of her editors ever expected her books to do well; the success they’ve seen has been a surprise to many. She recalled meeting famed Canadian author Farley Mowat once on a train between Montreal and Toronto, and suddenly realizing that “you can be Canadian, a writer and alive at the same time.” Penny took the long route to becoming a writer, as she sees it, by working as a broadcast journalist for many years before penning her first novel. Penny is equally well-known as the former host of Quebec AM, her last radio stint with the CBC after several years posted in Thunder Bay, Winnipeg and Quebec City. “I really got to the stage at CBC where I thought I had done it all,” she said. “I hadn’t really; I just felt like I was diminishing.” Once she left the broadcast booth behind, what ensued was, as she describes it, five years of writer’s block, gummy bears and episodes of Oprah Winfrey �" not quite the creative freedom she dreamed of. “I realized that I was trying to write the wrong book,” Penny admitted, “one for my own ego rather than something I’d enjoy reading.” That, and a change in venue led to the creation of Three Pines, the idyllic and fictional town where Penny’s three books take place. Not entirely fabled, Three Pines was inspired by the town of Sutton; the author’s home and where she said she finally unblocked her writing. “I needed to be surrounded by people who were doing what I wanted to do,” she said of Sutton’s healthy arts community. “I am blessed to have found that in the Townships.” And apparently, having a loving husband makes as good a muse as any in the creation of one of her books’ main characters, C.I. Armand Gamache. Luckily for fans, there is more murder to come. The fourth book of the series, set at a country inn on the shores of Lake Massawippi, will likely be released in fall 2008. Penny has also just signed a contract to produce another two novels in the same series, after which she’s considering some down time �" temporarily, that is. “It’s so much fun to write these books,” she said. “I think I’m probably going to keep it up.” By Sarah Rogers Nov. 16 |
Montreal Canadiens
