Maggie Giles is getting ready for the release of her second published book later this month, and plans to celebrate with an author talk hosted by the Collingwood Public Library on Sept. 21.
“It’s super surreal. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster,” Giles told CollingwoodToday this week.
The Collingwood author has lived in town for about eight years, and works full-time in her web development and marketing career. She says she considers writing to be her ‘passion project.”
“I’ve been writing most of my life, but I really started taking it seriously in the past five to 10 years. Before, it was just something I did for fun,” she said.
Giles skied at Craigleith her entire life, but was inspired to move to the area after her parents retired to the Town of the Blue Mountains 10 years ago. Around the same time, Giles went through some hard times in her personal life where a long-term relationship ended and she felt the need to move away from the big city of Toronto.
“I moved into my parents’ basement in my 20s convinced I would live there for a few months and then move overseas. I never ended up leaving,” she said. “It turned out, I just needed to leave Toronto. I fell in love with it here.”
“The lifestyle here is like no other,” said Giles.
Giles says she started her writing career crafting historical fiction, and would write stories for friends to read. One of Giles’ friends managed to connect her with Canadian author Genevieve Graham for advice and guidance.
“She talked me through the process of finding an agent and publisher. It was the first time I thought I could maybe have a book out there,” said Giles.
Giles spent a few years learning how to write through classes and networking and tried her hand at writing a few books.
“You’ll hear a lot within the industry that your first book isn’t the one who gets you your deal,” she said.
She also made the jump from historical fiction to the thriller genre. Her debut published novel, called The Things We Lost, was released last year by Rising Action Publishing Co.
“I thought it was a lot easier to kill people, than to make them fall in love,” said Giles, with a laugh. “Thrillers are a big genre that I love to read. I read Mary Higgins Clark as a teenager. I was fascinated.”
Twisted marks Giles second published book. The crime thriller follows Detective Ryan Boone, who discovers an unknown drug that may be tied to a string of seemingly unconnected murders.
Giles is in the midst of working on her third book, with a publishing date not yet set, set in a location is based on Collingwood. She says she changed the name of the town in the book to protect its reputation.
“It’s quite a dark book and I didn’t want that darkness associated with the town, but I used a lot of the town for inspiration,” she said. “When readers went through it, I described the vineyards, the breweries, the ski hills, the waterfront and the farmland. I had readers ask, ‘Where is this place? It’s not real.’”
“It’s where I live. It’s very real,” she says she told them.
Giles’ author talk is being hosted by the Collingwood Public Library on Sept. 21 from 7 to 8 pm., but is taking place virtually via Zoom in partnership with 10 libraries across Simcoe County.
To register for the talk via Zoom, click here.
Twisted is available for purchase starting Sept. 19. Both of Giles’ books are available for sale wherever books are sold.
