My first attempt at writing something longer than a short story was challenging, but but once I got my head around the fact that I needed to do some fairly detailed planning in advance of actually writing it, things started to slot into place. Several of you have mentioned that the stories in Shifting Horizons could be made into longer pieces, so I took that as the next step on my writing journey - learning how to write in more depth and detail! 

Okay, back to From Manchester to the Arctic: A young, recently qualified nurse from Manchester, in an impetuous moment, applies for a job as the nurse in a remote settlement in the Canadian Arctic. The story is set in the 1970s when conditions were still very challenging for westerners, and Connie soon realises that she has taken on something far beyond her romantic notions of life in the north.

Although the book is entirely fictional, it is loosely based on the adventures of my wife, Glen, who was that young, romantic and impetuous nurse! Having said that, Connie is very different to Glen in many ways, but the detail of Arctic small-settlement life in the early 1970s, however, is very much based on Glen's recollections in her journals from that time. They provide a snapshot of a way of life that no longer exists in the 21st century.