Summer’s Most Anticipated Books: Author Q&A
In this Q&A, we spoke with four Canadian authors who have new books coming out this season, many of them inspired by landscapes that feel inseparable from the stories themselves. From isolated islands and the great big sea, to quaint Ontario towns primed for romance to bloom, these conversations explore how setting and nature (and the pull of our hearts) inform the novels we’ll be packing for our next cabin getaway.

The Wild Beneath by Kelly Anderson
Question #1: Introduce yourself and your upcoming book
My name is Kelly Anderson, and I’m a writer and physician living in Guelph, Ontario. My novel, The Wild Beneath, follows a woman named Annie MacLeod, who was raised on a sailboat in the remote Pacific Northwest. When a tsunami strands her on shore, she finds a mysterious man in the wreckage who emits a humming sound only she can hear. It’s a love story and a myth, built for readers of Wild Dark Shore and The Time Traveler’s Wife.
Question #2: What drew you to writing a book in this genre?
I’m drawn to immersive love stories set in vast, beautiful landscapes. It’s even better if the story has threads of magic that feel believable, as if they could happen in my own life. This is how I imagined The Wild Beneath—an ocean world we can sink into and feel like the magic belongs to us.
Question #3: Which character in your book is most like you and why?
I’ve been asked if my main character, Annie, is me. She’s a doctor trying to find her way back to herself, and what I would say is this: writing Annie was a way to imagine myself into a different life. I love the practice of medicine—it’s a rare privilege to care for people in vulnerable moments—but I left the ER to write this novel. I still practice medicine in ways that are meaningful to me, but with a different lens, and in places where I can follow my own inner GPS.
Question #4: Who is your favourite Canadian author? What book of theirs would you recommend?
Michael Christie’s Greenwood is one of my all-time favourite novels. He blends a reverence for nature with deeply lovable characters you can never forget.
Question #5: If you had a weekend alone in a cabin, how would you spend it?
This sounds like heaven. I’d get up early to watch the sunrise. With a very strong coffee in hand, I’d sit at a desk overlooking the forest and dream up a scene for one of my stories. Hopefully there’d be a long walk afterward—or a jump into a body of water!
Question #6: What kind of landscape do you feel most creatively inspired by?
Give me a cabin with a fireplace and a bathtub beside the Pacific Ocean, and I might never, ever leave. I wrote my favourite parts of The Wild Beneath while staying in a treehouse overlooking the sea in the Pacific Northwest. I’d watch the waves from the balcony each morning and write for hours.
Learn more and order your copy here
Venom Lake by Emma White
Question #1: Introduce yourself and your upcoming book
Hello! I’m Emma White, research lawyer by day and thriller author by night. My debut novel, Venom Lake, is coming out on June 2, 2026. On a weekend getaway for their true-crime book club, four women retreat to an isolated cabin on Snakebite Island. But what was supposed to be a fun weekend of getting trashed on rosé and talking serial killers takes a dark turn when a member of the group is found dead on the shore. Murdered. By one of her supposed friends. Under the surface, there’s turbulence in the group. All of the women are hiding dangerous secrets, but how far are they willing to go to keep them? The murder creates a dilemma for the three surviving book club members: report the death and have their own lives shredded by an investigation or use their true-crime knowledge to stage their friend’s disappearance on the lake. The consequences of their decision will ripple outwards, creating new risks and threatening to unravel their entire net of lies.
Question #2: What drew you to writing a book in this genre?
I’ve been a huge thriller fan since I was a teenager. It is my favourite genre to read and it was the only type of story I could ever imagine writing. My specific interest is in psychological suspense because I’m endlessly fascinated by the intricacies of interpersonal relationships and why people do the (terrible!) things they do.
Question #3: Which character in your book is most like you and why?
I fear identifying too closely with any of the main characters in Venom Lake, as they’re each their own brand of nasty! I’d say I’m most like Claudia, a supporting character, who is the host of the fictional Filthy Funds podcast. I relate to her intense interest in true crime and her somewhat irreverent treatment of serious issues.
Question #4: Who is your favourite Canadian author? What book of theirs would you recommend?
This is such a hard question. There are so many wonderful Canadian authors whom I admire, but I have to go with the undisputed icon, Margaret Atwood. One book of hers that I particularly enjoy and would strongly recommend is The Robber Bride. Toxic female friendships and betrayals galore, plus it’s set in Toronto!
Question #5: If you had a weekend alone in a cabin, how would you spend it?
I would spend my days swimming (I’m hoping this cabin is on a lake!), kayaking, and reading in a hammock. I would bring a giant stack of books and get into my TBR list while eating chips and drinking lemon fizzy water. Heaven. But I have a confession to make: despite being a thriller writer, I’m a huge fraidy cat. So if I were alone at this cabin, I would spend my nights lying awake, terrified, listening for strange noises. If I survived, I would be up to watch the sunrise with a cup of coffee and a warm cinnamon bun.
Question #6: What kind of landscape do you feel most creatively inspired by?
The landscape of northern Ontario is where I feel most at home, relaxed, and inspired. I spend parts of my summers on a lake in northeastern Ontario, and I do a lot of brainstorming and writing while I’m there. My favourite thing to do is to take a kayak out for a long paddle and think about the story I’m working on. I’ve plotted many a murder while gazing at the most peaceful boreal forest!


This Changes Everything by Danielle McKechnie
Question #1: Introduce yourself and your upcoming book
Sixteen years ago, after losing my dream job due to some confusion with my 0-1 Visa, I started writing about a girl named Ellie. I turned to my journals and wrote the first line, “HOW IT WAS, KIND OF WAS, WISH IT WAS, AND WISH IT WASN’T.” Since then, there have been many different iterations of Ellie. She has been written and rewritten into different books, pilots, screenplays, and pitches, but even still, I couldn’t quite figure out the way through her story. It took me sixteen years to realize that was because I hadn’t figured out the way through my story yet. When I was twelve years old, I decided what my life would be, and I couldn’t let it go. I would marry my childhood sweetheart, move to Los Angeles, and become a freaking movie star. I just had to get from A to B, and nothing was going to stop me, including the life and loves I left behind. It didn’t take long once I landed in Los Angeles to realize that nothing is ever as it seems. And the version of myself that I became along the way was someone I’d never thought I’d be. But my memories and lingering loves were a beacon through the fog. I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote, and when I met Ellie, buried in my heart, I couldn’t let her go… and now you’ll get to meet her in This Changes Everything!
Question #2: What drew you to writing a book in this genre?
The first “book” I ever wrote was when I was a child, and it was a “book” of poetry dedicated to Elijah Wood, so I think it’s safe to say that I’ve always leaned toward romance. Perhaps it’s a defense mechanism, or perhaps it’s just an overall problem, but I’ve always looked at life cinematically; everything has always had a score, everything has a backstory, and everything has always meant more than what’s presented on the surface of a moment. I like looking at life that way – finding the romance. It’s not a glass-half-full mentality; it’s more like what’s in the glass to start with? Also, if a certain kind of sadness wasn’t supposed to be seen as at least somewhat romantic, then they never should have cast 1996-era Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo. They did this to us. Millennial women never stood a chance.
Question #3: Which character in your book is most like you and why?
While Ellie’s story was inspired by my own, she became her own person. She dreams without limits, experiences love that consumes her, learns hard lessons, and makes big mistakes.
Question #4: Who is your favourite Canadian author? What book of theirs would you recommend?
I recognize that this is probably not at all what you’re looking for here, but I’m going back and saying L. M. Montgomery. First off, not only did I love the book as a kid, but the 1985 adaptation of Anne of Green Gables with Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie did something to me as a child. I’m fairly certain my love of long-lasting childhood love, longing, and deep-rooted nostalgia stems from two sources: that, and The Wonder Years.
Question #5: If you had a weekend alone in a cabin, how would you spend it?
I mean… how alone am I here? Like me? Just me? And are the boys from Heated Rivalry in the next cabin over? Truthfully, if it’s just me by myself, I’m probably writing and listening to music that’s far too loud to be deemed acceptable when surrounded by nature. As much as I love a summer cabin, give me a cozy blanket, a laptop, and the rain any day of the week. A fall and winter cabin is my heaven. If I’m with my family, we’re out in the forest while my children explore, my husband hikes, and my paranoia sets in as I choke-hold a can of bear spray.
Question #6: What kind of landscape do you feel most creatively inspired by?
Though I’ve lived in New York and Los Angeles, I’m from Vancouver, and a good portion of my family is from Scotland. Trees and rain. It’s always going to be trees and rain.
Learn more and order your copy here
Chasing Summer by Frankie Scott
Question #1: Introduce yourself and your upcoming book
My name is Frankie Scott, or is it? It’s my pen-name and I picked it because I think it sounds like an old timey detective, or the androgynous lead singer of an indie sleaze band.
Question #2: What drew you to writing a book in this genre?
I love romantic comedies. It’s my favourite genre of film. I work as both a literary novelist and a TV comedy writer, and after writing a few very serious books during the pandemic I wanted a break. I needed some joy and a new challenging creative project. I’m a romantic person. I love talking about feelings. It felt like a natural progression.
Question #3: Which character in your book is most like you and why?
I’m probably most like Dave, one of Elise’s suitors. He’s a bit introverted and gruff with a secret big heart. I don’t like the band Rush, though, and that’s a big part of his personality.
Question #4: Who is your favourite Canadian author? What book of theirs would you recommend?
It’s so hard to answer this question. I love Heather O’Neill, and Sheila Heti and I think Greg Kearney is the funniest Canadian author.
Question #5: If you had a weekend alone in a cabin, how would you spend it?
I’d spend it swimming and walking my dog in the woods and writing moody poetry and texting my friends at night when I’m worried about being murdered by a madman.
Question #6: What kind of landscape do you feel most creatively inspired by?
I’m very inspired by the bright green meadows and farmland of Prince Edward County, and the long powdery beach at Sandbanks. I’m so happy that Chasing Summer is a love letter to the area, where I’ve lived since 2021.

Written by Kristina Jagger with Harper Collins Canada



































































