Jacqui Nelson’s North of the Border with guest Rachel Goldsworthy

Who’s next on my North of the Border guest blog series? Today we have Rachel Goldsworthy, author of Kiss in the Wind.

Where does Rachel get her inspiration? How is Canada part of her inspiration? Read on and see...

~ * ~

Tuning up a tale

Even silent movies had a soundtrack. When Canadian Mary Pickford became America’s Sweetheart in the early 20th century, the theatre pianist would signal danger with bass notes, emphasize on-screen sorrow with a minor key and andante through the upper octaves to announce a happy ending.

In my head, my stories have a soundtrack too – or at least the beginnings of one. When I was writing my first novel, the harmonica intro to Blue Rodeo’s “Bad Timing” teleported me straight to the treeplanting camps of northern BC, where the story was set. It was the whole package, both the tune and the words sung by Jim Cuddy, that did it for me. It took me years to write that book and through the whole process, all I had to do was slide the CD into the player, forward to Track 3 and when the muse (that would be Jim) said, “Hey it’s me,” I was instantly in a clearcut with a shovel in one hand and seedling spruce in the other, or behind the wheel of a pickup truck with a sticky clutch, cracked windshield and patchy paint job. It was magic.

I’ve had a song for almost every story I’ve written since that first foray into fiction.

When I joined the crew in Corsair’s Cove, I had two. Tom Waits’s “Shiver Me Timbers” describes someone sailing into the unknown to find what they’re longing for, which is how Corsair’s Cove – the place and the collaboration – came to be. For me, Tom’s raspy voice singing “my heart’s in the wind…” set the stage – or the sails – for the whole Corsair’s Cove experience. I also relied on Carly Simons singing “Let the River Run” to take me to Livy Tarbert’s world in a hurry.

In Kiss in the Wind, Livy left a safe life to pursue a dream when Great Aunt Ruby bequeathed to her and her cousins a chocolate shop in a tiny West Coast community. The town also had an insatiable appetite for truffles, a talking parrot that might or might not have been channelling Aunt Ruby, and a warm breeze that blew whenever that good-looking bar owner showed up.

Good Spirits is set in the 1920s when the US brought in Prohibition and Canadians became rumrunners. In both places, the Charleston was the dance for daring girls. My great-aunt was the muse for this one – not because she was a rumrunner (as far as I know) but she did get kicked out of a dance hall for doing the Charleston only a few miles north of the border. Every time I wondered what newly married cider-maker Hulda would think or do (or want to do), I imagined my Auntie Mary, with her short hair, short skirt and Charleston rhythm. Often, she and Hulda were of like mind.

Lately, I’ve been relying on Sara Bareilles’ “Brave.” Before the song’s half over, my head’s in Three Sheets, Betsy Lund’s fabric store.

I don’t have to turn on the GPS or search the glove box for a map or wrestle (much) with the demon Procrastination. It’s as if the music, and especially the lyrics, conjure a genie, a fantastical being that whisks me inside another person, one I made up, in a town I imagined.

So…Jim Cuddy as muse?

Hey, it works for me.

Green Spirits: A Corsair’s Cove Companion short story

It’s springtime in Corsair’s Cove, when trees bloom, tourists arrive and spirits get lively.

But for Betsy Lund of Three Sheets Fabric Shop, this year it’s not a happy season. She misses her beloved business partner. Someone – or something ¬¬– is using her quilting machines when she’s not around. And she can hardly get out of her own yard because her hedge is growing weirdly fast; she’s wearing out hedgetrimmers at an uncanny rate.

Orchardist Stan Redfern would love to do more than sharpen Betsy’s blades but his shy invitations are getting him nowhere.

Betsy isn’t even sure that romance is what Stan’s offering; her mojo eloped so long ago she can’t remember what it looked like.

When her hedgetrimmer gives up the ghost, she’s literally stuck, and Betsy has no illusions, or desire, that Prince Charming is going to ride up and save her.

What’s a self-rescuing middle-aged princess to do?

To read an excerpt from Green Spirits, visit the Corsair’s Cove blog. I hope you enjoy it!

~ * ~ 

I write fun feminist fiction. In my stories (like real life), women try to figure out the right thing to do and then to do it. Also like real life, love and laughter show them they’re on the right track. Or maybe not the right track, exactly, but they can have a good time even if they’re a bit lost.

I love working with the Corsettes – Shelley Adina, Sharon Ashwood and Lee McKenzie – who are all award-winning storytellers. We share real estate, stories and apple fritters in Corsair’s Cove, the magical town that calls you back when you need it most.

Green Spirits and all Rachel’s books are available on Apple, Amazon, Kobo and Nook.

Corsair’s Cove website: CorsairsCove.com 

Email: Rachel@rachelgoldsworthy.com

Corsair’s Cove on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/corsairscovereaders

~ All pictures (except for the 1st) are supplied by today’s guest with their assurance of usage rights.