Alex McGilvery has been reading almost his entire life, although he can’t exactly pinpoint when his obsession with literature began.
“I’m one of those people who doesn’t remember learning how to read. I was reading Isaac Asimov books on dinosaurs and planets since before I was in nursery school,” he said. “I didn’t really start reading fiction until I was about 12. It wasn’t too long after that I started writing books.”
Today, he is the author of 12 published works that touch on several literary genres, such as science fiction, fantasy, contemporary young adult, short stories and even poetry.
This summer, McGilvery is adding “thriller” to his body of work, since his new novel Wendigo Whispers is set for a physical and digital release on July 29.
The plot of his latest work revolves around the character Leigh, a schoolteacher who takes a job in an isolated northern mining community after suffering from a severe psychotic breakdown. Of course, the town is full of dark secrets and it isn’t long before Leigh’s life and sanity hangs in the balance.
Not only does this new release represent McGilvery’s professional foray into a new genre, but it also marks the first time he’s set one of his stories in real, tangible place: Northern Manitoba.
While the novel’s setting is fictional, McGilvery said he pulled geographic characteristics from several northern communities in order to create the town of Spruce Bay. He also injected the story with a number of themes that reflect the harsh reality of living these communities, including struggles with mental health, crime, economic strife and disaffected youth.
“I’ve visited a lot of communities up in the north, so … I’ve seen the good sides and the bad sides of them,” he said. “You always have problems with kids running around who are bored. You’ve got problems with gangs. I thought, what if you had somebody who managed to take control of that and use that as a weapon to take control of the town? And that’s where the story took off.”
While McGilvery’s fictional Spruce Bay is a frightening place, he has good memories of living in Flin Flon, which served as his home for the last six years until he moved to Winnipeg in January.
In fact, he said the city is home to a strong writing community that includes a writer’s guild, regular poetry readings, and enthusiastic participants for National Novel Writing Month.
“Because it’s the north, people have to entertain themselves. So the arts community grew out of that.”
When he’s not writing or spending time with his family, McGilvery also makes his living as an editor, where he performs “beta reads” for authors looking to revise their stories before heading to the printers.
“I almost enjoy that more than I enjoy writing my own books. Not quite, but it’s very close,” he said. “There’s something very satisfying about taking a book that has really great potential and helping them polish it up and really make it shine.”
For aspiring writers looking to break into the industry, McGilvery said this kind of collaborative relationship will be their key to success.
“Find somebody whose writing you like and work with the person to develop your own skills,” he said. “As an editor, my philosophy is there aren’t any bad books. There are just books that need more work.”
In terms of future projects, McGilvery is already planning a Wendigo Whispers trilogy, with the next book in the series set to come out in the summer of 2018.
“I’ve got these two stories that follow the town and follow the characters into new and crazier situations,” he said, wanting to maintain the same delicate balance between fiction and real world drama. “You have situations that remain true to the north. These are conflicts that you can actually see happening and not quite the exaggerated stuff that you would put in a thriller.”
