The Wishing Stone on Gull Cliff Island

You've studied the photo to the left.  Have you figured out what it is you see?  Imagine it fitting in the palm of your hand, fragile, crumbling, yet strong.  Very old, yet once a child's.

Let me begin here...

An island can be seen a distance off the harbour of Harrington, Quebec.  It is small, and upon it quaint buildings like country houses in miniature sparsely dot its landscape.  Locals know the island as Gull Cliff, and many, if not most, have family members who once lived there during the warm, berry bright months of summer.  The island once housed a small community of fishermen and women with their families, who owned days filled with duties and hearts filled with pride.  But as time sped forward time changed, as did the faces of those who ran about the island's meshes and pussy willow fields.  Eventually the community it once housed dwindled.  Some homes were transported over ice or sea, while others remained to be kept for pleasure, for those leisure moments which suddenly were more prevalent than they had ever been before.

This time belonged to my mother and her siblings, to her parents and their friends.  She once roamed the secret folds of Gull Cliff's rock body.  And as I visited the island this summer, taking my novel which was written for those like her, I felt the ghost of her youth flitting about me, could almost hear her youth's laughter ringing upon the wind.

It was in fact a photograph of my mother and her sister on Gull Cliff which inspired the Wishing Stone's creation.  A black and white of a time nearly forgotten by some, unknown to many others.  It was with great pleasure I walked the hard ground of the island with my children of the West skipping and roaming alongside me.  There was a sense of knowing my story began there too, as did the tales of so many others of the Lower North Shore.  And I don't simply mean that island specifically, but those beginning lands, those places of the North Shore which were to begin what became a thriving faction.  There are many.

As I investigated an old building with a gentleman by the name of Bill Anderson, who once lived on Gull Cliff and now retreats there because the island continues to give him joy, I discovered it to be the oldest that remained on the island, over a hundred years.  And what moved my heart to new heights was knowledge that the hands of my great, great, great grandfather had built it, Thomas Strickland, of whom my youngest son had been named.

As we looked upon an unfolded strip of papers, hard because they'd been long ago worked with a flour mix (in replace of glue) and pressed upon the walls as wallpaper, I was reminded of how the ease of acquiring 'things' has drastically changed since Gull Cliff's time.  The strip had been saved for this purpose.  It was beautiful in all its simplicity, breathtaking for its age.

Stepping from my great grandfather's building, I saw my sister and her husband walking toward me.  Beside them our mother was beaming.  When we grew close a hand outstretched, and curled upon it sat a tiny, misshapen shoe.  A child's shoe, a girl's shoe, and it had been found upon the site where Mum's childhood home once stood.  Remember that photo above?

Who's shoe had it been?  We gazed upon it like a treasure, for it was that.  The possible stories behind it flooded into my mind, took me away on spread wings.  Some small child had greatly missed that one shoe I was sure, some time ago.  Might it have been Mum's?  Or her sister's?  Or perhaps it belonged to a curious visitor to a site where a remembered house was no more.  We wondered, and the shoe was kept.  It now sits with my sister in her Alberta home.

I think everyone left Gull Cliff that day feeling something special within them.  It is what revisiting history does to people.  That sense that you can almost touch a time past, can just about feel a spirit of old pull forward.  It's an odd thing and leaves one contemplating, feeling whole and yet empty all at once.

One thing is sure my family felt closer.  My father and mother were there, my sister and brother, their partners, their children.  My own husband and children too.  Could old great grumpa Tom feel us there?  Might he somehow be aware that his blood was then reaching out to him, thankful for the sweat he'd once spilled... for us?  We were.  We are.

The Wishing Stone and Other Myths: Learned on Gull Cliff Island, written in Alberta Canada, written about the Lower North Shore of Quebec, now understands its namesake.

The journey will never be forgotten.

A sample reading from the Wishing Stone and Other Myths, on CFBS radio

Check out the link below to hear me on CFBS radio, reading chapter one from the Wishing Stone and Other Myths:  Learned on Gull Cliff Island.    I get very nervous during interviews, and knowing I was being recorded here set me to shambles!  Sound a little flustered, but it was such a privilege to have CFBS interested in helping me spread the word about my novel.  Hope you enjoy.

Link to Chapter Reading from the Wishing Stone and Other Myths

The Wishing Stone Book Tour: Day 10

We at last made our way back to Quebec's Lower North Shore; first stop Blance Sablon.  We made our way to Middle Bay, making a stop at Bells Amour for mussels (of course).  What a lovely mussel farm!


Though the fog rolled in black on the day of our Middle Bay chapter reading event, we still saw a few brave faces, and sold many books besides!

Thank you to the people of CFBS radio for recording and then airing my reading that night. It generated a lot of interest and positive feedback, which is just what a young and green author like me loves and requires!

I was lucky to have had the opportunity to read and sign out of the Interpretation Center in Middle Bay Quebec.  The building, previously the Middle Bay school, is a treasure, and I'd recommend any who venture that way to take time to stop and visit. The history within is rich, and beautifully displayed. The antiques there, shared by the community, emanate tales from the past, and local folk art inspire.  A definite must see.


Middle Bay proves a place doesn't have to be big and busy to have character.  While the pretty homes here may appear at first glance secretive, once a door opens one soon discovers those inside have opened arms and smiles that shine.  Thank you Middle Bay for embracing the Wishing Stone!

The Wishing Stone Book Launch

I've been away some time and apologize.  June did not end up being the laid back, lemonade in the shade kind of a month I'd anticipated.  Instead, it was an exhilarating, nerve wracking, scatter brained month with lots to do while always remembering to be a good Mum first.

But after wrapping things up at school, writing letters until I could barely type my name correctly, and looking busy while my Mum baked tarts and steamed pudding, July 3rd rolled around and it was time to celebrate the release of the Wishing Stone and Other Myths: Learned on Gull Cliff Island.

With the help of my tireless family and friends, we rolled out the red carpet in the form of plywood and guitar strings, and the launch proved fit for an East Coast King.

The first step in any promotional event is to set the stage; and that's exactly what we did.  My brother, Justin Buffitt, alongside my husband, Ross Lavallee, pieced together the prefabricated backdrop they'd built to stand in as a sneak peek inside the Wishing Stone's main setting; Dot's home on Gull Cliff.

We were on a tight schedule, having only an hour and a half of prep time before the event would begin in the Grande Prairie Public Library, so my stress string was taught, but I had good faith in my crew. There were chairs to fold and stack, chairs to position, and food to lay out as well.  But all went without a hitch, and before long, we were making merry to tunes by some Downhome talent. Who rang the twang?  My father, Keith Buffitt, and a close family friend Clint Osborne. They drew a crowd that filled the room and soothed a nerved lady who was wearing checkered black and white.

And so the evening progressed, with two lovely Middle Grade readers greeting guests with two pails (NFLD beef buckets to be exact) filled with 'wishing stones'.  These young girls were dressed as protagonists Dot and Sara, and offered each individual joining the launch a stone for their pocket.  But not before whispering it a wish. I later announced before reading my sample chapter, "...don't count on your stone to grant your wish, however.  Instead, let it be a reminder of that wish, that dream.  Because wishes do come true, as long as we don't forget them."


We enjoyed words from the City of Grande Prairie Councillor, Chris Thiessen, who wished the novel well and spoke of the importance of community and family spirit, and from Penson Principal Jenny McAusland, who reminded all of literature's value, and the importance of keeping it alive.


And then, before returning to tunes which had brought our guests in, I stood before the crowd to speak, and read the first chapter from the Wishing Stone and Other Myths.


I was overjoyed to see people visit who were originally from the East Coast as well as from Alberta.  It was a perfect blend.  Because everyone knows a good book can be enjoyed by anyone, from anywhere, as long as that book can find its way to them.  Thank you Morning Rain Publishing, for allowing me to share Dot and Sara's story with Canada.