Yukon Adventure
Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/glacier_fed/
I received a grant from the Canadian Council of the Arts to finish my next novel, which takes place in the Yukon.
I started to write the novel a while ago and then put it aside to work an another novel, as I felt I truly needed to walk in my protagonist’s footsteps once again to finish the Yukon-based novel (which I refer to as Naked).
I was surprised and thrilled to receive a Canadian Council grant because it means that I can afford to go back to the Arctic and finish my research on Naked this summer (I spent a summer living near the Arctic Circle as a student in the late nineteen eighties).
I am relieved to say that I have finished planning the Arctic researching adventure!
The most amazing thing about planning a novel research trip is that I get to live someone else’s life for a bit. I planned the trip based on the places and experiences my protagonist would have; thus, when booking hotels to fly in and out of Whitehorse, I did not select the nicest ones as I would if I was planning the trip for myself. Instead, I selected the oldest hotels, as these are the places my protagonist would stay at. It is fun planning a vacation based on retracing the footsteps of a fictional character!
Peter will be joining me on my adventure, as I explore (and research) as much as the Yukon as we can fit into the eight days we will be up there. The trip is both work and adventure for both of us: Peter will be making a stop at the Yukon University to help redesign some curriculum for them.
We will pick up our car and tent on arrival in Whitehorse. We are renting camping equipment (+ bear spray) once we arrive. We head out of Whitehorse and drive the Dempster to the Arctic Circle, exploring natural wonders/history and also Klondike history along our journey! For a treat, we’ll be spending our wedding anniversary night in a historical Victorian brothel (now a hotel) in Dawson City.
We will be without wifi for most our journey but I will be posting about our trip on our return.
Our Arctic adventure begins in early July, so I have a few more weeks to finish the last minute details…
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