A Ladysmith author explored themes of friendship, love and death in her debut novel, Shimmy, which was inspired by true events.

The idea for the story came to Anne Cateaux over a decade ago when her sons witnessed a fawn drowning on a beach after being frightened by the familyB次元官网网址檚 German Sheppard, Rubrum and running into the water.

B次元官网网址淪uper tragic and as you could imagine my sons were really overcome with grief and shock and what really followed was this question about B次元官网网址榳here do our pets go when they die?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Cateaux said. B次元官网网址淲e always had pets and it required more than just an B次元官网网址榠tB次元官网网址檚 OKB次元官网网址� kind of answer.B次元官网网址�

It took her over a year and a half to answer the question through storytelling, writing between her full time job and other responsibilities.

B次元官网网址淚 have always had an active imagination and from that this whole story just kind of exploded in my mind, which was to answer their question,B次元官网网址� she said, adding she would write on weekends and at night after the kids had gone to bed.

She took inspiration from her sons and their friends to create characters B次元官网网址� she said they were all very excited to hear the story. They had a four-day sleep over and she read the novel start to finish, getting feedback from the kids.

B次元官网网址淲hat started off as a really small story just blossomed into this pretty huge novel and they loved it and I was on my quest to get it published, but it took a decade and now itB次元官网网址檚 doing really well,B次元官网网址� Cateaux said.

She aimed the story at young adults, but said she has gotten feedback from all ages who loved it. B次元官网网址淚t just seems to be a story that really appeals to the young in all of our hearts.B次元官网网址�

She said she would like to see the word shimmy become common to describe a B次元官网网址渢ransition.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淢y belief system is that we are energy and we take this from while we are alive and well in the 3D existence, but when it is time to transition we just go back to source B次元官网网址� we go back to energy, as do all living creatures,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 guess thatB次元官网网址檚 the big heavy message there.B次元官网网址�

This was the foundation of her story where she addressed big concerns her kids were going through at the time B次元官网网址� drama and friendship dynamics, bullies and secrets.

B次元官网网址淩eally at the heart of it, it is about relationships. ItB次元官网网址檚 about love,B次元官网网址� she said.

Cateaux said she is working on a sequel to Shimmy and plans to continue writing fiction after.

B次元官网网址淚 was really blessed to be born into a family where my mom, who is from London England, was a teacher/librarian. There were five kids running around in our house and there was always books,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 just the importance of writing both for me B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 a gift for me to get whatever these ideas are and these character out of my head down on paper, but then hopefully for those that are actually indulging and enjoying the stories.B次元官网网址�

The book can be purchased locally at 49th Parallel Grocery Stores, Triple Spiral in Victoria, Wishes in Duncan and Aurora Arcana in Nanaimo. It can also be found on Amazon and other major book retailers.

editor@ladysmithchronicle.com
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