Tim McDonnell
If you happen to be sitting around your house for the next few weeks, you might want to pick up an excellent book written by a former local author.
Tim McDonnell’s third book is a murder mystery set partially in his childhood backyard, the BWCAW.
Tim’s parents owned and operated Hungry Jack Lodge from 1958 to 1970. His latest tome is a coming of-age-story wrapped around a murder mystery.
The setting for Where Water Collides with Stone begins at the fictitious Babiche Lake Lodge, which is situated in Maine, but in a setting much like the periphery of the BWCAW. Inside these 272 pages published by Beaver’s Pond Press, is the story about Nick, a happy-go-lucky teenager whose grandfather was accused of murder and then went missing.
The story gets moving when an estranged uncle Gregor shows up and offers to take Nick on a canoe trip, which he eagerly accepts. From there, as Nick learns about his uncle–who quickly becomes his role model–he also begins to learn more about his grandfather’s mysterious disappearance.
Told over three generations, Where Water Meets Stone is a murder mystery that takes the reader from the BWCAW, Maine’s lake country, Boston’s Children Hospital, and the Canadian barren lands as Nick searches for answers.
In the end, will Nick solve the mystery? Or will he learn that the wilderness has secrets it just won’t give up? All the while, Nick slowly discovers that the most crucial secret he has been trying to unravel is just who his family is, and how precious that is.
Tim McDonnell
Before retirement, Tim spent decades teaching English and reading skills to hard-of-hearing students in suburban Minneapolis. Today he does volunteer work for a Twin Cities nonprofit organization that helps people transition out of homeless shelters into independent living. Of course, Tim still finds time to camp and canoe as well as write.
When Tim isn’t at his typewriter or working as a volunteer, he says he stays busy helping his wife “fulfill a mutual commitment of happiness.”
Tim’s first two books are The Whole Forest for a Backyard: A Gunflint Trail Wilderness Memoir and the Contemplative Paddler’s Fireside Companion.
Asked when he began to write, Tim responded with a laugh, then said, “All my life. I started journaling when I was 12, when I started canoe tripping, which was my first love.”
He says while his characters are fictitious, they are based on many people he has met through his life. “The characters are an amalgam of people from my past. I’ve had a lot of fun in my life. There has been sadness too, but overall I have had a lot of joy.”
That pretty much sums up the book. It certainly has some sadness in it, but there is much joy spread over the 30 years covered in these 272 pages. Tim’s characters come alive and the pages turn quickly. Overall, it’s a great read, especially for someone up north who is “cabin bound.”
Save this date: On September 6, 2020, Tim will be the guest author at Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center’s annual pie social.
Locally Tim’s books are sold at Drury Lane Books, Birchbark Books, and Gifts, Lake Superior Trading Post, Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, and at Tuscarora Lodge and Canoe Outfitters.
To order Tim’s book, visit www.ITACABOOKS.COM or call (800) 901- 3480. Reseller discounts are available, and the book is also available through INGRAM.
The official date for the book release is April 7, so it might not be in local bookstores just yet, but you can pre-order it through Beaver Pond Press.
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