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EVERYTHING BAGELS WENDY TRUSCOTT SEPTEMBER 1 2024
I'm Dr. Sherman from Dairy Lane Dental and you're listening to Muscoco Magazine. Hey there, you've tuned in to Everything Bagels on 88/7 The Bay or MuscocoRadio.com. Winner of the Korean Burns Best Talk Show Award, Everything Bagels is eclectic and gluten-free. It's a show about anything and everything, perhaps even bagels. This include alternative health practitioners, artists, bakers, canoe builders and canoeists, composers and musicians, jewelers, photographers, writers, and anyone else I find interesting. I'm Jenny Kressman, your host for the next half hour. I enjoy chatting with interesting people and I hope you'll enjoy my show. Here we go. Welcome once again to Everything Bagels with me Jenny Kressman and another interesting guest. I have another author in the house. I have Wendy Truscott with me today. Hello Wendy. Hi Jenny. Nice to be here. I'm glad to have you. Wendy, you've been a writer for how long? I would think I've just been a writer the last 10 or 15 years Jenny. I came to it late in life. Okay. But you came to Muscoco much earlier in life, I believe you told me this is a momentous year. This is my first year as a cottager and now a resident. Wow. This is my first year of history. And always on the same lake? Always. Okay. Go Lake outside Baysville. And when you weren't in Muscoco, where were you? We were living in Toronto in the beach district. Okay. And is that where you were a teacher? No, I taught, I did teach in Toronto in that area, yes briefly to start with and then over the years I taught in Scarborough. Okay. So, but always coming up here whenever you could in the summer. Always coming up here. The whole summer here? No. We had weekends almost every weekend and just the two or three weeks holidays that my dad had every summer. Okay. Yeah. And then later on then you were able to spend more time and now you're a full-time resident. That's right. Yeah. And you are very much a part of the community as a writer and in other ways I think. But as a writer, you've been involved in, tell me, various writing groups and reading groups. Yeah. I initially was involved and still am involved with the writer circle at Baysville, the Baysville Library and did for a while attend the same type of group in Bracebridge. I later was almost one of the original members of the Muscoka Authors Association when it formed. So, I've had a long history with that group too and that's been exciting because they bring various authors and workshops to Muscoka. And so, I've enjoyed all of those groups and still once a month with the Baysville group. Okay. So, one of the things that you've been involved with the MMA, Muscoka Authors Association, is the tall Pines events that's been going on this summer and other years. That's right. This is our 11th year. Two of the events have already taken place in Gravenhurst and Bracebridge. But they're wonderful evenings and at each one, there are eight different authors each reading a short speech from whatever they're working on or have published. There are two coming up, one on August 12th in Huntsville at 6 p.m. at Huntsville Library and one on October 3rd in Bracebridge at the brand new, brand new Bracebridge Library. Yeah. So, by the time this hits the airwaves, we'll be probably out of August or very close. The October one, that would be a very wonderful event for people to attend and see the new library. Exactly. Are you reading it that one? No, I'm not. Okay. So, you've done my part. You've read earlier. Mm-hmm. Do you happen to know who's reading it that way? I don't. I'm afraid. Okay. So, they'll have to just go to the Muscoka Awards Association website. It might not even be on the website. It might be a secret except to the organizers and the authors themselves. But always wonderful. No matter who's reading, it's always a treat to hear our local... It is. It is. It is. It is. So, you've read several times there. Mm-hmm. I think I've read every year and this was the 11th. Okay. And what were you reading from novels you've written or poetry? Usually, I've read from novels I've written. This year, I read the first few chapters of a work in progress. Oh. So, that was kind of interesting. I don't know if it's going anywhere, but it's a work in progress. Okay. So, that will be your fourth novel? It will. Wow. If it's finished. Okay. So, the first two came out a few years ago. They did in 2016 and 2020. And tell me how they came about. I think there's a nice little story about how you got going on those. There is. My husband and I joined a memoir writing group at the Baysville Library years ago. We had a wonderful leader, the late Melody Richardson, and I wrote a piece one day about a pioneer woman meeting a bear, and Melody thought it was a wonderful story. She thought it was the start of a young adult novel, and I thought that was rather funny. Haha. And I put it aside. I couldn't imagine myself writing a novel. But a year later, when I pulled it out to read it an author's night, she insisted I get back to work on it. And so, the wheel started turning, and that's how it began. You know, there's this adage right what you know, and basically, I felt I know Muscoca, and I have always had a great admiration for the early settlers and what they went through. So, that's the basis of my first two books. So, the first one is Haunted Journey, and it's set in the 1800s. It's set in 1879 in the Lake of Bayes District. Okay. And sort of what happens in that one? It's the story of a 16-year-old boy who left home because life was hard, and he thought he was being a burden to his family, and it might be better if he left. And so, he's working in the mines up in Kirkland Lake, and he starts being haunted by dreams of things not being well at home. So, he sets off on foot the only way he can to return to his home, and discovers interesting things have happened in his absence. Uh-huh. And is it a young adult, or is it technically, it's a young adult, only because of the age of the protagonist being 16. Oh, okay. And I have had young people read the story and enjoy it, but interestingly, the majority of my readers have been adults. Okay. So, it's sort of a crossover. It is a crossover. One publisher told me to just say it's for anyone from 8 to 80, so that's what I say. All right. That sounds good. Mm-hmm. And then that came out, and very soon after that, it wasn't too soon. It was for another four years. Okay. It took me four years to write that one, because they don't write every day. Yeah. And I kept hearing from so many readers, I'd actually started on now my third book. Mm-hmm. The reader said, "We need to know what happened to those characters in our first book." And I found that really, first of all, very satisfying, that the readers felt that way. And the wheel started turning, and so I went to work on what became McGregor's curse. It follows many of the same characters, but it's an entirely different story with a whole new family as the main characters. Okay. Okay, said in the same area, but at the same time, in the same area, around like a base. All right. Yes. But is it going into the 1900s by then or still, it's still, perhaps, 1880 or 1881? Oh, okay. Okay. And so what roughly happens in that one? That's the story of a young lad who's lost his mother, and he's really grieving, and he's experiencing very lost the rest of his family is not picking up on how lost he is. And he sets out for revenge against the doctor who treated her, who he blames for her death. His mother. His mother's death, yeah. And so he gets into a bit of trouble and meets some characters who lead them astray. And there is a lot of adventure in that story. I see. Mm-hmm. But how did these ideas come to you? Were they born out of things that you had experienced or read or heard about, or they just sort of bloomed in your brain? I think they just bloomed in my brain, and someone asked me why both those books were about teenage boys, and I can't tell you why that happened either. Except maybe I had the idea that in those time periods, boys had more adventures than girls did. Sure. But in McGregor's curse. And I think in Haunted Journey too, there are a couple of very independent young women who are strong characters as well. Yeah. Did you find it difficult to write from the perspective of a teenage boy? Oddly not. No. Okay. I don't know what it says about me, but no. Well, yeah, I don't know either. It's just you can put yourself in his boots and hike along, I guess. I did have another author tell me that in one scene, it was a bit unrealistic. There was a scene where something happened during his mother's wedding. She was marrying for the second time, and something nasty happened, and he took off in hot pursuit in his best clothes, better clothes than they'd ever owned before. And he came to a creek, and he stopped and thought twice about his new shoes and his good outfit that he should stop there, he shouldn't pursue across the creek. And another author read that to me and she said, "Wendy, I've raised teenage boys. That wouldn't stop them. They'd just plow on through." So I don't know, but in a different era, there was more value placed on clothes and shoes because they were so expensive and hard to get. So I don't know. I think you were right. Could be. Yeah. A different era. You could be right. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I prefer. I know you're not supposed to have favorite children, but of those two books, which one do you like best? I think maybe I crafted McGregor's Curse a bit better, but that's, from my perspective, I haven't heard any of that from readers. The first one was only going to be a story for family, and so I named all the characters after my grandchildren and my daughters and son, and that's a no-no. But then after I'd put so much work into it, I thought, "Oh, I'd like a few more people to see this." And so I did mix their names and their ages up a bit, so they're not too readily identifiable. But when it came time for the second book, I had to follow through with those names because they've been in the first book, so that was kind of interesting. They got to kick out of that. Yeah. Okay. Well, it sounds like you had a lot of fun writing, and we're going to have a lot more fun talking to you in just a little bit. We're going to pause now for a commercial break, and we'll be back shortly with more chat with Wendy. Hang on, please. I'm Dr. Sherman from Dairy Lane Dental, and you're listening to Muscoco Magazine. Welcome back to Everything Bagels with Jenny Kressman and Wendy Truscott. We're speaking to another Muscoco author today. Wendy has three novels out, and we've talked a bit about the first two. Now we're going to get into the third one, which is a little different, isn't it, Wendy? It's entirely different, it's a contemporary novel, and it's a psychological thriller. Okay, a psychological thriller. Was that different after the other two historical ones? Very much so. Not in some ways it wasn't quite as easy because I was writing about people many years younger than I am, and so it was awkward for me to try and make them sound current when I'm not that current. So it's set in this time period, and is it also set in Muscoco like the others? There are chapters about Muscoco in it, I couldn't resist. But it's set in the east end of Toronto in the district known as the beach, where I primarily grew up, and the action takes place in locales that are very familiar to me. Okay, and so can you tell us sort of what the plot line is without giving too much away? The story is about Dana, a young woman who's a writer herself and a part-time yoga teacher to support herself. She has left a longstanding relationship which fell apart, and she decided to move to a different part of the city for a fresh start. So she is in new lodgings, she has rooms in an old house with a landlady, and she's making new friends, and this started a new job at a yoga studio. And things seem to be going well until suddenly things are not going well. Oh, dear. Okay. Is someone out together, or? Yes. Uh-oh. So how long did it take you to write this one? Again, it was probably four years. Okay. As I say, I don't write regularly or even every day. Okay. So yeah, about four years for each. And so now I think you have an excerpt from your third novel that you could share with us. I would like to read part of the very first chapter, Dead Serious. This is part of chapter one. The first thing Dana Williams saw that morning was a dead rat sharing her pillow. Its teeth bared in a sick half-smile, a black lace bow encircled its thin, stiff throat. She leaped out of bed screaming, unable to take her eyes off the obscene thing. She raced crab-like to the furthest corner of her bedroom, managing to tuck her long limbs close to her chest. She squeezed herself into the awkward space between dresser and wall, where she sat curled in a fetal position. Little mewing sounds escaped her mouth, but Dana felt separate from them as if they were coming from a stranger. Oh, God, please help me. How did that thing get in here? Someone must have been in the apartment. When a more terrifying thought, they could still be here. She strained to listen for signs of an intruder in an apartment, but her heart thought it so loudly she wouldn't have heard a nuclear explosion. What kind of sicko would do something like that? And why? Why? She shrank even further into the corner, willing herself to be invisible as she tried to calm her mott body and mind with deep, yolk breaths. From this vantage point, she could no longer see the hideous thing. An urgent knock on her apartment door broke through her thoughts. Reacting automatically, Dana unfolded from her cramped position and stumbled into the living room. As she scurried across the carpet to open the door, she realized she had no idea who might be out there and came to a sudden halt. Her body tensed as she listened, terrified and afraid to breathe. Dana? Dana? It's Mrs. MacGyver. You all right, dear? Mrs. MacGyver, Dana was so grateful to hear her landlady's voice, that when she opened the door, she almost threw herself into the sweet woman's arms. Except Mrs. MacGyver wasn't alone. A tall man stood behind her, his dark skull and stiff stance, exuding an almost palpable tension. Is that enough? Oh, I want more, but we're going to run out of time if we don't watch out. And wow, so it sets the tone very quickly. Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, is there actual violence or just allusions to violence? There is a murder later. It's not graphic in any way, but years ago I took a course on writing romance and mystery here at the Summit Center with a rather well-known romance writer, Deloitte, and it was interesting, I started this, I didn't want to write romance, I just wanted to write mystery, but Dee insisted there had to be some romance in it. So I was rather contrary and I started to write the silliest thing I knew, which included the rat and put it away for a long, long time. But when I started up again, I sent early chapters to Dee and she said something really dramatic has to happen, like perhaps someone should die and make it more of a murder mystery. So that's when I had to start contemplating who would be a good character. Okay. It can't be someone, the reader is too sympathetic towards, but someone they still care enough about that if they're killed, they'll be upset. Yeah. Yeah, that can be a challenge. It's a challenge. Yeah. In one of my novels, I killed off a key character, but it was near the end of the book and I had to do that so there'd be a sequel. I understand. I understand. And pros and cons. Yeah. Yeah. It's, I think, a challenge psychologically as a writer to sometimes kill off the people that you've been working with that have been living in your head. It's true. Yeah. It's true. So you talked about taking part in something at the Summit Center that inspired some writing and I think you're probably going to be inspirational for some people soon. If I am correct, it's September 10 that you start a series of workshops. I'm starting on September 10th for four weeks. I'm going to offer an introduction to memoir writing or another word for that might be just telling personal stories. I've had, I think, sufficient number of courses under my belt that I could offer an introduction and I wanted to give back to our library because it's been so good to me. So it will be four Tuesday afternoons started at one thirty for about two hours each time. And I know almost everyone has a few stories they'd like to write down for their family. Yeah. Some tell you it's about your school days or your parents or just things that have happened to you in life. So that's my intention with those four Tuesday afternoons. Okay. And that's at the Baysville Public Library at the Baysville Library. And if people want to attend, they should probably contact the library to register. I think so. Yes. But even so, it may be possible to just walk in at the last minute. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Either way. I think either way would be just fine. Okay. So four workshops and they're going to be what? An hour? I want to have two hours. Two hours? That'd be two hours. Okay. And at this point, I don't think there's any charge and I don't expect there will be. Okay. Well, that's great. There'll be a lot of fun. But meanwhile, you're having fun with another project, I think. So your fourth novel is underway? It's interesting because it's a novel and yet it's based on a true family story. So I couldn't really write it as nonfiction. I know many of the details personally, but a lot of it you have to make up like what someone was thinking and that sort of thing. And so I think the new term for this contemporary nonfiction or no, creative nonfiction is the new term for it. So I'm writing it as fiction, but it's based on a true mystery in my family that to this date hasn't been solved in its rather intriguing. Wow. Okay. Tell me more. Tell me more. Is it your generation or appreciated? No. It was my mother's generation. Her father was in World War I, he did come back. He was demobbed at the CNE as they all were, I guess, at that time and then sent home apparently with his name and address pinned to his jacket, which tells me because he had been wounded several times that perhaps there was something wrong. If you have to have your name and address pinned to your jacket. Indeed. And I'm not quite sure of the time period, but shortly after he arrived home, he disappeared and he disappeared forever. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So he made it home, but then, but then we don't know what happened and we have theories. But my grandmother spent many years looking for him, including working in military hospitals, hoping he might show up or she had some lead that he might be there and one thing and rather, but to make life easier for herself and her children, she decided to call herself a widow and told her children life would be easier if they just said their father died in the war. So I was raised to believe my grandfather died in the war and I found out quite accidentally in later years that he hadn't. So that was interesting. Wow. Well, that is quite a good mystery indeed. So are you researching it yourself, trying to track down? I've done a lot of research over the years because I've done a lot of genealogy and family history. So a lot of the information I already have, I was also fortunate to know my grandmother quite well and she liked to talk and tell stories. So I got a lot of information that way. Okay. Well, intriguing indeed. We can all look forward to the fourth novel from Wendy Truscott sometime within perhaps the next four years. I hope it's not four years, but. Okay. Thank you. Meanwhile, everyone can take part in the Baysville workshops coming up September 10th with Wendy and they can find you online, I think, Wendy at your website, Wendytruscott.com and at W-E-N-D-Y-T-R-U-S-C-O-T-T dot com. Thank you very much for coming in, Wendy. Thank you, Jenny. It's been delightful. Okay. Bye. Thanks for listening to Everything Bagels. This show airs every other Sunday on 887 The Bay and is available shortly thereafter in podcast format. Archives can be found on the station's website, muscocoradio.com, where you can also listen live. I regularly post show reminders and links on Facebook as well as photos of guests. Look for author Jenny Kressman and follow me around. If you know someone who might make an interesting guest, please send me your suggestion by a private message on Facebook. Everything bagels will be back again in two weeks. Meanwhile, have a bagel and enjoy everything you can.