Peace River Author Trina Moyles is the author of an award-winning Memoir, entitled Lookout: Love, Solitude, and Searching for Wildfire in the Boreal Forest, which takes the reader through her experiences at a wildfire lookout in Northwestern Alberta.
“It was hugely surprising and such an honour because the book was up against two amazing books by two other Alberta authors. The competition was pretty stiff. This is the first year that the Alberta Writers Guild has offered this Memoir Award, so that also was a huge honour for it to be the first in that category.”
That includes work from May until the end of August, covering a 40-kilometre radius, with no days off, and no relief. It was just Moyles and her dog, Holly, surrounded by nature.
“People say that I’m too young to write a memoir and this is the first one I’ve written. The craft of writing a memoir is something that my writing gravitates towards. It didn’t start out as a memoir, but being the lookout you really are the subject of your own story. You really have to learn to make peace with who you are,” she says.
The book took about four or five years to come together but Moyles feels it was worth the wait.
“Just working through all the drafts and finding a publisher all took time. It’s very rewarding when these small successes occur. It’s definitely a labour of love being an author and publishing and writing books,”
Moyles has always been passionate about writing, dating back to her days as a kid growing up in Peace River.
“I always wrote as a child. I wrote little poems, and stories of my own making and continued to really enjoy writing through school. My first career saw me working in community development and rural development. I’ve always had a knack for writing but it wasn’t until my late 20s to early 30s that I started writing more journalistic pieces and pitching stories to different magazines,” she explains.
“The idea of writing a book was always something that I had in my mind as a young child because I always enjoyed reading. Looking back, that journey as an author began in a more professional way in my early 30s.”
Even though it’s early, Moyles has received some positive feedback from locals living in the Peace River area.
“A lot of people have come forward just to say to me how much they appreciate aspects of their own community reflected in the pages of a book. I think people don’t think about how many artists come from the northern part of the province. There are many talented and great authors and I’ve certainly felt a lot of local support from people in the Peace Country,” she adds.
Lookout: Love, Solitude, and Searching for Wildfire in the Boreal Forest is available in paperback, audiobook, hardcover, or e-book. If you would like to order a copy, click here.