National bestselling author of Death and Other Inconveniences here Oct. 14
One of the most prolific authors in the Maritimes will be in Woodstock on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Elks Club at 123 Connell Street.
National bestseller Lesley Crew has written 17 books and is about to embark on a book tour to support her latest, The Spirit of Scatarie.
“I understand why the library chose this book,” she said, when reached by the River Valley Sun via Zoom.
Woodstock Reads is an annual fundraiser for the library. This year, the event is centred on Crew’s book, Death and Other Inconveniences.
Set in New Brunswick, the story centres on the life of Margo, who is recently widowed and living alone for the first time while she works to discover who she truly is.
“I think people see themselves or people they know reflected in my stories,” she offered after being asked why her books are so popular.
Crewe, who has been experiencing some health issues lately, hasn’t travelled much in the last few months, so she’s looking forward to getting out and seeing Woodstock and meeting readers in New Brunswick.
“That’s the best part,” she offered. “It’s great to be with people who love your stories and the characters you’ve created.”
Crewe said that when it comes to writing, everything is fodder.
“Every interaction and experience can be used in the writing process, and often is.”
Crewe says she tends to write so she can work out her own feelings.
“I lost a son to SIDS,” Crewe shared. “I wrote to process it, to get it out. It feels better when it’s out. That’s how my first novel, Relative Happiness came about.”
Crewe, who was a stay-at-home mom when her children were young, thought the world was passing her by.
“I remember watching the friends I went to university with. They had these careers and were using their university educations. I was making lunches and helping with homework,” she said. Crewe didn’t realize that life had just decided to delay using that education. The year she turned 50, she wrote two books, Relative Happiness and Shoot Me, published in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
A couple of years later, while her husband was doing their taxes, Crewe decided that she would write full-time.
“For the first time in our married lives, I made more than my husband,” she said with a smile. “That was a big milestone for me. It was a wonderful feeling to finally be contributing, financially, after all these years when we lived on one income.”
Crewe says writing comes easily for her, which is why she’s been able to produce so many bestselling novels in twenty years.
“I have a process for writing. I usually spend two months down here (in the office) getting it all out.”
Crewe’s recent health challenges have made writing more difficult. She can’t type much at the moment, but she and her doctor are working on things.
“I don’t do well with those speech to text programs, so when I was in the editing stage of the last novel, I went to Halifax and worked alongside my editor to make the changes, and that worked well.”
At age 70, Crewe’s not sure how many more books she has in her head.
“For now, I’m concentrating on my trip to Woodstock and getting ready for the book tour for The Spirit of Scatarie, which is a ghost story of sorts, told from the ghost’s perspective. I spent a lot of time researching Scatarie Island so I could be historically accurate. I think this one is going to be big.”
Crewe says she’s looking forward to discussing her books with fans at the Woodstock Reads event. Tickets ($20) and books ($20) are available at the L.P. Fisher Public Library.
