Muskoka is known well for its artists—painters, sculptors, potters—appearing at the annual Summer Show in Bracebridge and displaying their works at studios scattered across cottage country. Lesser known but equally vital are Muskoka’s authors. There’s a growing group of them, many belonging to the Muskoka Authors Association (MAA), which fosters and supports its members through monthly meetings and how-to seminars hosted by some of Canada’s most accomplished writers. This month I’d like to introduce you to three of those MAA authors: Paul Feist, Wendy Truscott, and David Bruce Patterson. All three published new books in late 2020. 

Paul Feist: Broken Anchor

You may recognize author Paul Feist as a humorist, writer, and actor. Feist has appeared on stage in multiple theatre and television productions. His weekly humour columns in The Muskoka Sun captured oddball cottage and country living stories from 1993 to 2007. Feist has now turned his talents to writing fiction in the style of Terry Fallis and Stephen Leacock. His latest effort is a novel titled Broken Anchor, a 1950s adventure/romance tracing a year-in-the-life of a cocky kid named Dan Dawson as he toiled on a Great Lakes tanker. And while the there’s plenty of ‘inside reveal’ of life on a gritty ship carrying cargo for the British American Oil Company—brothels and backstreet bars included—at the book’s core is a light-hearted story of friendship, family, and love. It’s the coming-of-age efforts of a boisterous kid trying to do right by his mother, girlfriend(s), and closest ship mate. Broken Anchor is available for sale ($20) in Bracebridge at Majestic Hair Design, Martins Framing Centre, and Worth Repeating, or by contacting Paul directly at feistpaul@hotmail.com. 

Wendy B. Truscott: MacGregor’s Curse

Wendy Truscott is a prolific author and artist living in the Baysville area. MacGregor’s Curse is her second novel in a series of books for young adults (YA), a series that began with Haunted Journey. Both are set in old Muskoka—general stores, dirt roads, horse-drawn buggies—and both books are journeys back in time to the early days of places we love and recognize in Muskoka. Overwhelmed by grief for his dead mother, young Jamie MacGregor of MacGregor’s Curse commits an act of revenge he immediately regrets. Lacking purpose, confidence, and friends, Jamie falls under the spell of a dangerous blackmailer. As others work behind the scenes to help him find his way again, Jamie’s life begins to turn around, but the blackmailer remains determined to bring him down, and falling for a lively girl brings complications. Events come to a head with a spectacular and dangerous theft. During a rescue attempt, Jamie must prove to others he can be trusted. Truscott’s books ($20) are available via her website: wendytruscott.com.

David Bruce Patterson: Square Wheels

Author and poet David Bruce Patterson is an avid contributor to Bracebridge life, serving his church, political campaigns, Friends of the Library, and the Muskoka Authors’ Association with verve and dedication. In Square Wheels, his first full-length novel, the author takes us back to Toronto in the Roaring 1920s, a world filled with dance halls, silent-movie cinemas, and jazz music. This is not a fast read, but rather a long, slow, insightful dip into a Toronto lost in time. Fashion, food, transportation, even vacation-friendly Muskoka in the 1920s are revealed through the trials and tribulations of the Conor family. Add a Toronto streetcar disaster that throws the family, their friends, and all of the city into peril and you’ve got a saga that’ll stay with you long after you’ve turned the last pages. Square Wheels ($25) can be purchased by contacting David at david.patterson@alumni.utoronto.ca. Copies can also be purchased at the Heron’s Nest Gallery.