Bernadette Calonego's Blog: Eventful

I haven't published anything on my blog since February. A popular saying comes to mind: "I made plans, but life got in the way."
In my case, a long stay in my first home country Switzerland came in between and before that an unforgettable hiking holiday on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands that belong to Spain. It had been a dream of mine for a long time to go hiking there. I had seen great pictures on social media, and my longing grew with every day.
After breaking my ankle last fall, I was also eager to see if I was fully fit again. I was pleasantly surprised with everything: my healed bone, the beauty of Tenerife, the varied, well-signposted hiking trails, the impressive Teide National Park with the volcano of the same name, and with the accommodation in the pretty town of Icod de los Vinos.
I also enjoyed the warm, sunny weather there, and it was only March!

Now I'm back in Newfoundland. While many people in Europe and other places complain about the heat wave, the summer in Newfoundland is very pleasant, if you accept cool rainy days from time to time. Heat is not for me (I would feel uncomfortable even in a sauna), I have become a "northern" person.

I have also reconciled myself a bit with the frequent wind because it keeps the mosquitoes away. I don't want to have to walk with a face net all the time. Part of my life in northern Newfoundland is the constant change of clothes - taking off clothes and putting on warmer (or cooler) layers. Onion look is the order of the day.

This year, I wondered how the political situation will affect tourism here. Will the Americans visit us after so many Canadians are staying away from the United States (for good reasons)? It is the end of July and the balance is positive so far. Americans are still coming, and many Canadians are now traveling around their own country.

For my favorite fisherman, summer means hard work above all. Today he got up at four o'clock in the morning and I don't expect him back until late evening. The cod he is currently fishing for is again plentiful. But he has to be careful not to overload his small boat and capsize.

It is not only on the ocean where serious accidents can occur. Speedy machines of all kinds are a popular pastime here. A young man recently died when he crashed his Sea-Doo into a boulder below the surface of a small lake. His death has shaken the locals.

Soon friends from Switzerland will arrive here, and I can't wait to show them the wild, rugged beauty of the area. There are not many museums here, it is mainly nature and friendly people. The contrast with Switzerland will be fascinating for my friends, I think.

Some book news: My latest Calista Gates mystery thriller has been translated and the next step is copy-editing. I hope to be able to publish "Dark Moon Island" at the end of November. Stay tuned!

February, along with March, is the worst month when the snowstorms whip over Newfoundland and Labrador. Today is such a day, we expect 75 centimeters of snow. I can't see the other end of the bay in the white whirlwind.
So far, however, the winter has been manageable despite the cold. On the really bitterly cold days I wasn't outside at all.
I am lucky that right behind our house there is a hiking trail leading up a hill from which you have fantastic views. Up there, I can let the neighbors' dog, which I take for walks, run free. Maggie follows snow hares and mice and startles the hawk, which is also hunting.
The bays were not frozen over for a long time, and I asked my fisherman if there had been years without ice on the ocean near the settlements in northern Newfoundland (yes, there were, but rarely). Now the most daring among us are already driving their snowmobiles over the thick ice cover on the water. In some places, however, ice floes have piled up and besiege the shore like hungry crocodiles.
During an excursion in the snow, we made an interesting, albeit sad find: a dead whale was pushed to the shore. Some locals claim it is a sperm whale. I can't say for sure, because it would have been too dangerous to get any closer to the poor animal on the ice.
Instinctively, people turn to things that offer warmth, coziness and distraction. I bake Swiss apple pie with puff pastry, play cards with the neighbors, meet other women for a coffee chat, keep the wood fire burning in the oven, plan a vacation in warmer regions and read exciting books (biographies, adventure stories and crime novels). By the way, if you subscribe to "Bernadette's Letter" on the homepage of my website bernadettecalonego.com/eng, you will learn even more about my everyday life in northern Newfoundland. Lots of love from Noddy Bay!

When I chose the title for the latest Detective Calista Gates mystery thriller, I had no idea how apt it is for the recent world events. In my small fishing hamlet on a peaceful bay, I seem far away from the turbulence in other countries. Naturally we experience autumn storms here, but when I look out of the window, the ocean is the strongest force of nature in my environment. On most days, it has more of a calming effect on me. However, even in a remote area like ours, you are no longer isolated because of (social) media and you can't stay completely away from disturbances. Or from developments that seem to be coming our way inexorably.
Even skeptical fishermen here are now talking about climate change because marine animals that normally live in warmer waters are appearing on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland, such as tuna, lobster and halibut.
In our area, only a few fishermen have a license for lobsters, or more precisely: there are only five lobster fishermen in a large fishing area. They are making a lot of money. The other fishermen think their union should lobby the government in Ottawa to get a temporary lobster license because their incomes are very low. But the five fishermen, who already have a license, are against it. This has led to tensions within the fishing communities, which is a great pity. It would be nice if more people had the common good in mind, because how can young people be interested in fishing if they don't earn enough money with it? If a new generation of fishermen does not follow, the fishing ports and villages will die out.
But back to Cold Dread: The paperback is already available on Amazon, just in time for Christmas. The e-book will be published on December 27. I wish you a suspenseful reading that is hopefully also very relaxing!
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About two years ago, I followed a friend's advice and started posting on TikTok. It was supposed to be really good for book authors and readers, I was told.
I tried different styles of videos but couldn't really bring myself to talk in front of the camera. When I showed off my books, I had 300 views or so. Which is not stellar.
But gradually I discovered what kind of stories really took off. It baffled me.
One video for instance that went viral was about how whales poop in the ocean and that you can see the product on the surface of the water and what it looks like. So far, it has garnered 160000 views and a lot of comments!
As I cannot duplicate this winner, I had to find other topics that many TikTokers might be interested in. Soon I found out that if I talk about me and how a Swiss born woman fell in love with a fisherman in northern Newfoundland, the views just multiply. Especially when I talk about what is so exotic for me in my new home. A video about me standing on the jetty and waiting until my fisherman's boat approaches the harbour, is one of the viewers' favourite.
Anything that is a true crime case is also eaten up by TikTokers. So I try to find interesting cases, like the one of an American woman hunting bears in Newfoundland with her husband and shooting him in the twilight (she was accused of murder but acquitted by a court in Canada).
Sometimes I'm in for a surprise: When I talked in a video about rhubarb growing like crazy in the short summers of northern Newfoundland while apple trees don't exist there, 74000 viewed it and 640 liked it. What?!
The videos about my mystery thrillers sadly don't see that kind of success. They don't seem to be as intriguing as rhubarb or whale poop. I comfort myself that life is not predictable and if I can catch the attention of people with some unusual content, I make at least some of them happy. As I do with my books.

When I read mystery thrillers, I tend to gravitate towards stories in which long buried family secrets are revealed. I suspect that you have read many of these books, too.
It isn't rare that I find myself in a situation where people disclose their own dark family secrets to me. Maybe because I'm a mystery writer or because I'm a good listener. Sometimes a person says: "You could write a book about it."
But I am reluctant to use such a family secret in my crime novels after somebody has confided in me. These are usually very painful personal tragedies and if feels wrong to exploit them for a book. They might not even be credible in a novel. Reality is sometimes stranger than fiction. It really is. Recently, an acquaintance told me of an episode in her life that impacted her marriage and her family and of course herself in a terrible way. I would never have thought that such an ordeal could have happened to this very nice person.
The mystery writer in me, however, was intrigued by these very unusual events. There was passion involved, betrayal, murder (the murderer was eventually prosecuted), revenge, dispair - and the question how people get over such an experience. It seemed to me that in this case, they were not able to move on.
I'm sure that you have heard of one or more family secrets, too, maybe just hints, maybe an entire revelation. It can be oddly fascinating, but at the same time you want to protect the people involved and you keep the secret forever.
For me, these real life dark secrets are confirmation that mystery thrillers don't always exaggerate and even my vivid imagination is sometimes surpassed by true stories. I think I better leave them untouched. At least for a long while.

Our snowmobile broke down a few days ago and it needs to be repaired. The parts - if we can buy them - will cost around 3000 Canadian dollars. We hope to find used parts but it is uncertain. A new snowmobile can cost up to 30000 Canadian dollars, more than a decent car. One cannot really live without a snowmobile in northern Newfoundland in winter. My fisherman needs to go over the barrens to cut down trees for firewood. There are places that cannot be reached on the road when there is lots of snow. We will have to make a big decision how to proceed.
Sometimes people ask me if the costs of living are way higher in remote places in Canada's North than for instance in Vancouver. My usual answer is: "It depends." I don't find food much more expensive in our isolated area than in Vancouver (the Arctic is a different story). But in my tiny Newfoundland village, there is no supermarket chain like Costco within reach. (There is no IKEA store either on the entire island of Newfoundland.) On the other hand, I am not tempted to buy the latest fashion or exquisite furniture for our modest fisherman's house. I own a second-hand car with a battered windshield because the salty air and the salt on the roads in winter make a vehicle rust out in no time.
There is no opportunity to splurge on entertainment in winter: I pay ten dollars to participate in a competitive card game or bingo. The last concert I went to was several years ago (very few concerts come to our depopulated area). During the Iceberg Festival, I went to Trivia Night in the local pub which I really enjoyed (I even won a t-shirt!).
With Netflix, it is not so bad not to have a movie theatre in town - nor a book store. I do appreciate Amazon for book deliveries.
When I started to spend time in remote northern Newfoundland, I worried that I would be bored and not stimulated enough. It turned out that I am busier than ever. Writing mystery thrillers, but also meeting people, going on hikes, trying new handicrafts, training a dog, helping a cat rescue group as a volunteer, zooming with friends. And hey, if push comes to shove - the temptations of New York and Vancouver are just two flights away!

My German editor told me recently she had noticed that there are a lot of cabins in my mystery thrillers. She's right. Cabins play an important role im my stories. How could they not: My crime novels are set in northern and other remote areas where a lot of people have cabins. Fishing cabins, hunting cabins, weekend cabins, party cabins, icefishing cabins, cabins along snowmobile trails, cabins in the woods, cabins on the lakes, cabins in the wilderness, cabins to get away from everybody.
There is a distinct cabin culture in isolated and rural areas. It is part of people's lifestyle and traditions. In my small community in northern Newfoundland, not many people can afford to go on cruises or beach holidays in Cuba or even to cities like Halifax or Montreal. But they do build a cabin to enjoy a getaway, especially in the winter when they can reach these wild locations on the snowmobile.
As it is tradition to visit people in their cabin, the cabin dwellers aren't alone for any stretch of time. Usually, visitors are welcome. They are offered tea and some cookies or they bring a bottle of rum or "screetch" with them and the chatting and hollering can begin.
Everything is simple in the cabins: old sofas, used cutlery, worn blankets, ancient calendars on the wall. But it is a great way to spend a day or two, to forget about village life and chores, to gossip and relax.
For me as an author of mystery novels, cabins are a fitting location for crimes, hideouts or eerie encounters. For this reason alone, I cannot promise there won't be any cabin in my next book. There is certainly one in "Missing in the Dark", my latest crime novel! And morbid things are happening there, I can tell you.

Those who have read my mystery thriller "A Dark Chill" know that I have a soft spot for sharks because I think it is cruel to cut their fins off and let them die slowly in the water.
But I am very well aware that sharks are dangerous predators (they have an important role in the ocean's food chain). My fisherman had a scary encounter while he was jigging some cod in northern Newfoundland. Jigging means sinking a fish hook with the bait into the water while manually jiggling the fishing line up and down in order to attract the fish.
However, what my fisherman pulled to the boat was not only a cod but also a shark! The Poorbeagle shark had the cod with the fish hook in its mouth and didn't want to release it. So my fisherman had to get the fish hook from the cod and let both of them go. Since the shark kept its mouth closed, because it held the cod with it, it could not bite my fisherman. The very same day, however, a shark bit a fisherman in the arm in the exact same situation. The man had to be transported to the hospital.
Some other years, I've also been jigging cod, but I don't know how I would have reacted if a shark had wanted to take away my fish! I probably would have experienced more than "A Dark Chill"!
P.S. My new mystery thriller "Missing in the Dark" can be pre-ordered on Amazon for a really low price.

Bernadette Calonego

If one, like me, lives close to the locations that appear in my crime novels, there is sometimes a strange overlap of reality and fiction.
If you have read my series, you know that my main character, Detective Sergeant Calista Gates, lives in St. Anthony, Newfoundland, in a house on a large, overgrown, former campsite. When I drove past it recently, the police were there and the ambulance drove past me. Later I learned that a woman had turned onto the main road from the entrance to the campsite and had overlooked an oncoming car.
She barely survived the collision. I saw a badly damaged pickup truck in the ditch. As soon as I recovered from the shock, I thought of Calista: I have to warn her to be careful when she turns from her property onto the road. Only after a few seconds did I remember that Calista doesn't live there in real life. That's how close you can be to the people you invent for a book.
Serious accidents always scare me. Recently, a fisherman's entire arm was ripped out when he operated a hydraulic winch for shrimp on a ship and the arm became entangled in a cable. The man was rescued by the Newfoundland Coast Guard, but the helicopter had to make a stopover in Gander so they could give the man blood transfusions. He almost bled to death during the transport. Life is dangerous, and not only in crime novels.
Bernadette Calonego

Why are many of us (me included) so fascinated by small town crime? I mean, there is a lot more crime in urban areas and a city makes an intriguing background for detectives and criminals alike. But somehow I tend to gravitate toward small towns with dark secrets (just recently I read "Outback", a crime thriller by Patricia Wolf that is set in a really small town in Australia).
Maybe somehow crime is more visible in small towns and rural areas? Or is it the fact that on the surface everything seems so peaceful and friendly but when one digs deeper, one finds all kinds of hidden dark secrets. From my experience, I can say that there are some heinous crimes committed in rural areas. You would think that because everybody knows everybody, the perpetrators are caught quickly. This is not necessarily the case. Because people depend on each other, they don't want to be the ones who are talking to the police. Or they fear making enemies in an area they cannot move away from. During the summer and fall, I live in a tiny fishing community of 46 people in Newfoundland. One of my neighbours has installed surveillance cameras because he and his family don't feel safe - although only relatives of his live on his street.
There can be lots of drama in the smallest of places and sometimes it boils over. This is fodder for my mystery thrillers. By the way, I didn`t use to lock my house door in the past. But after some events, I have changed my mind.