The Joy of writing a Romance Novel

June 2, 2022

I am not alone, being a retired ex-journalist, political hanger on and PR guy, in that writing has been the backbone of my career.

How the tools of the trade have changed. I am old enough that my days writing various screeds go back to handwritten essays tapping on a portable Olivetti, to old Underwoods at the first paper I worked at, to the queen of mechanical typewriters the IBM Electric, to clunky desktops with Word Perfect to a series of laptops to my present HP Zbook. Always hunting and pecking I hate to admit.


Writing, writing, and more writing

But the output! Ponderous, overly wordy University essays, then local stories for the late Guelph Mercury under the inspiring tutelage of my Scottish city editor Vick who scrubbed my prose clean of all unnecessary blandishments, to scripts for TV shows at CBC and CTV, speeches for Pierre Juneau at the CRTC, to notes for Prime Minister Trudeau and press releases at the PMO, to talking notes and news releases  for Ambassador Alan Gotlieb in Washington, to my first published political commentaries for the Star and Ottawa papers when I returned to Ottawa. Then to endless materials and news releases, speeches and coaching lessons for executives, and other material for clients when I ran my own PR firm. I admit some of this stuff bordered on fiction since PR firms, while defending reputations, are really in the good news business. But I learned about convincing prose and the impact the spoken word can have. I did write deliberate short punchy quotes bound to make it into TV clips.


Meaningful Diaries

Then my wife and I had a child and I decided this was such a major event that I started writing a diary a few days after she was born – a full literary work which described the early days of her life, the Gatineau countryside where we lived for several years, our dogs and friends. My daughter, now a successful career woman over 50, loves to hear the account of the harrowing trip in a snowstorm to the hospital for her birth.  It will be her treasure. Then, every Saturday in Ottawa while I was at the PMO I followed the advice of a good friend who had told me to write a diary when I worked in the PMO. So, I spent a couple of hours handwriting as good a description of what had happened that week as I could. When I returned to Toronto I told an editor friend of mine about it and asked him to look at parts I’d typed up. He allowed, as there was a book in it, and I found a publisher and away we went. Close to the Charisma (McClelland and Stewart, 1986) was well-received and I made enough money from it to buy a fine French-Canadian armoire with some to spare. 


A New Venture

My first venture into real fiction took me from 1994 to 1996 to unravel what I hoped was a thoughtful series of yarns about a good man, an Anglican priest, Father Pat, as he deals with the world, the flesh and the devil in a very secular world. In a way I was writing about a life I almost had since I was to be a priest, went to seminary for a year and left it to be a journalist feeling my voice would be heard more effectively in that pursuit.  The Father Pat Stories (Dundurn 1997) came out when I was President of my PR company. My Rogers client threw a fine party. But neither I nor the family was thrilled with this fairly self-indulgent work. 


Retired, and felt I had to try another book. I certainly had time. It struck me during my daily walks with other dog people through a wonderful woodlot in South Aurora (yes, I had become a suburbanite) that this might be a great location and theme for a romantic novel. Something so full of love, dogs and positive emotions that it would be a real tonic to distract from the horrors of the daily news and Donald Trump. Almost no politics, the cast of my book would be vaguely leftish, but it would never come up. Loving sex only. Lots of dog stories and interaction. Cottage life where everyone is happy and there are no rules. This was inspired by the neat caring people with dogs I met daily in the woods. I even have dogs walking up the aisle with my two main characters who fall in love walking their dogs and get married. 


Good Therapy

Just think about pecking away at happy stories for days on end. New wife of a widowed man with a grown-up daughter becoming best friends with her. I highly recommend it as a life affirming activity. And if what ends up between covers is not much more than a Hallmark movie, so be it. Watching them makes millions of people feel better.  There is an end story which sets this book apart from regular romance novel fare. I discovered that alpha Wolves mate for life and that there are documented stories of one losing a mate and like elephants suffering real bereavement and showing it with pitiful howling. Hollie, the book’s chief character is a book illustrator and reads an Ernest Thomson Seaton book about a wolf called Lobo who dies of a broken heart when his mate Bianca is killed. She finds an Algonquin Park naturalist study of the Algonquin wolf who has written about a similar scene. That’s it. She decides to go to the park and spend time watching wolves and photographing them to be the basis for her own drawings for a story that follows a fictional pair who lose a mate. Love never dies becomes a theme, and the subsequent wolf story proves it for wolves and characters in the book. Slow Love which I self-published turned out to be the most satisfying piece of writing I have ever done. Try it. Best therapy ever. Write and imagine good things happening to your characters. What a thought! A total change from a lifetime of writing more “meaningful” stuff.


Patrick Gossage Insider Political Views

Immigration – Too much of a Good Thing

By Patrick Gossage • September 17, 2025
Welcoming newcomers, especially those fleeing wars, has been a widely accepted Canadian virtue. Now, after 25 years of a very open door. there is increasing evidence that we have too much of a good thing. And admittedly, it has been pre-PM Carney Liberal policies which have us in this situation. Where we are now was exemplified by PM Carney recently at the caucus retreat in Edmonton where said recent levels have not been "sustainable" and a more "focused" approach is required. "It's clear that we must improve our overall immigration policies," he said. It had been easy to be caught up in Justin Trudeau’s unabashed enthusiasm for high immigration levels exemplified by his warm personal welcome of the first Syrian refugees in December, 2015. On the fifth anniversary of his memorable event he happily announced: “In the years since, the Government of Canada has worked closely with Canadians, the business community, and civil society to resettle nearly 73,000 Syrian refugees in more than 350 communities across the country.” Few questioned our generosity and thousands of ordinary Canadians sponsored families. But opening our doors wide soon got out of control. In 2021, more than 8.3 million people, or almost one-quarter (23.0%) of the population, were, or had been, a landed immigrant. Canada’s population grew from 38 million to 41.5 million, representing the highest annual population growth rate since the post-war boom of 1957. Immigration now accounts for virtually all of Canada’s net labour force growth. It then became of public concern that temporary residents, including record numbers of temporary workers and foreign students accounted for 3 million of that number. In total, since 2015 we admitted 15 million temporary foreign workers in agriculture, hospitality and some manufacturing and processing jobs. They were seen to be exploited with lower wages and few rights. Foreign students with limits on hours they could work swelled these huge numbers. Inevitably, public support for high immigration levels dramatically flipped, where 58% of Canadians now believe there are too many immigrants being admitted to Canada. An Environics Poll in 2024 showed that f or the first time in a quarter century, a clear majority of Canadians say there is too much immigration, with this view strengthening considerably for the second consecutive year . Canadians’ express concerns about the arrival of so many newcomers contributing to the country’s problems with housing availability and affordability; this view is much more prominent than a year ago. Immigrants placing pressure on public finances, taking jobs from other Canadians, over-population, and insufficient screening are less prominent. Along with rising concerns about immigration levels, an increasing number of Canadians are expressing doubts about who is being admitted to the country and how well they are integrating into Canadian society. The new Carney government took action, gradually reducing permanent resident admissions to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027; introducing caps for temporary residents, including students and workers at 673,650 in 2025, a notable decrease in new international student admissions with only 163,000 new study permits projected for early 2025. This has led to serious financial shortfalls in many post-secondary institutions. There will be a decline in the overall Canadian population in 2025 and 2026 due to the projected outflows of temporary residents.The number of new temporary residents arriving in the country — made up of international students, foreign workers and refugee claimants — declined in the first six months of 2025, compared to the same period last year. These immigration statistics have been closely watched, with critics arguing the Liberal government’s high immigration intake has contributed to Canada’s runaway population growth and is straining the housing market and health-care system. In response, the government slashed the 2025 intakes of new permanent residents by 21 per cent to 395,000; new study permit holders by 10 per cent to 305,900; and new work permit holders by 16 per cent to 367,750. Accommodating the needs of refugees for resettlement and shelter has become a major issue and embarrassment. In the summer of 2023 many asylum seekers in Toronto ended up sleeping on the street. What a way to welcome them to Canada! Since September 2021, the number of refugee claimants housed in Toronto shelters has increased more than tenfold, from 530 per night to a peak of almost 6,500 per night by August 2024. Recently there were about 3,500 refugee claimants in the system, about 40 per cent of all clients. The mayor recently wrote a letter warning that Carney’s government had agreed to cover only 26 per cent of Toronto’s estimated costs for housing asylum seekers in its shelter system this year. Refugees are a federal responsibility, yet reduction in federal support leaves the municipality $107 million short. We still welcome asylum claimants unreservedly. From January-June 2015 over 57,000. The leader of the Official Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, is now determined to make immigration a major political issue. He is calling for a tougher stance, saying he wants to see "very hard caps" on the number of newcomers allowed into the country. Poilievre says the country has struggled to integrate newcomers and he wants to see more people leaving than coming in "while we catch up." "We have millions of people whose permits will expire over the next couple of years, and many of them will leave," he said. "We need more people leaving than coming for the next couple of years. He would scrap the Temporary Foreign workers program altogether. BC Premier David Eby also calls for the end of Canada's temporary foreign worker program — blaming Ottawa's flawed immigration policies for filling up homeless shelters and food banks. "The temporary foreign worker program is not working. It should be cancelled or significantly reformed," Eby said. "We can't have an immigration system that fills up our homeless shelters and our food banks. We can't have an immigration system that outpaces our ability to build schools and housing. And we can't have an immigration program that results in high youth unemployment,“ Despite these concerns, there is a bedrock of strong support for immigration which was manifested recently in Torontonians where over 150 teachers,.labour union members and families organized a noisy counter demonstration against about 50 right wing flag waving Canada Fist anti-immigrant demonstrators. They chanted “there is no space for hate at Christie Pits”, the site of the clash which led to many arrests. Torontonians enjoy the benefits of living, the world’s most multicultural city with its amazing variety of foods and cultures, and daily evidence from immigrants that their children are doing very well, thank you. But we await the end of the hopelessness that is apparently part of the lives of so many new arrivals, particularly refugees, and the needless exploitation of many other newcomers in menial and low paying jobs..

Deciphering the Canada/US tariff wars

By Patrick Gossage • August 12, 2025
1. Negatives - The sad truth about missing the August 1 deadline: Trump on July 31, 2025: ”We haven’t spoken to Canada today. He’s called.” Carney could not get through! Obviously, the President of Mexico did and got a 90 day reprieve. He may speak with Carney this week but clearly the PM’s relationship isn’t what we thought. Trump:: ”(Canda} has been very poorly led….Canda has treated US farmers “very badly” (our apparently untouchable dairy and poultry supply management regime remains a major irritant.). He still believes there is a “huge flow of fentanyl from Canada to the US that has to be stopped.” Trump said earlier he hasn’t “had “a lot of luck with Canada,” and reaching a deal wasn’t a priority for his administration. In addition, Trump intensified his trade war with Canada with A35% tariff just ahead of the August 1 deadline for an agreement, saying it would be "very hard" to make a deal with Canada after it gave its support to Palestinian statehood. “ Ford among others has called all along for a tougher approach and dollar for dollar reciprocal tariffs on US goods coming to Canda – which the White House dislikes claiming only Canada and China are imposing these tariffs. A recent Angus Reid poll suggests the proportion of those advising the PM and his team to “play hardball” has increased, from 63 to 69 per cent of the population compared to mid-July. Recently Carney has prepared us to accept there will be no deal without tariffs. In March he predicted “It is clear that the United States is no longer a reliable partner. It is possible that, with comprehensive negotiations, we will be able to restore some trust, but there will be no turning back,” On August 5 he said the focus now will be to preserve and reinforce CUSMA ahead of next year’s negotiations, adding “There’s a bigger picture there. Sounds like buying time? One journalist’s – Matt Guerny’sjudgment on Carney’s performance: “…the central conceit of the federal election three months ago was that we faced an unprecedented crisis requiring an unprecedented response…The Liberals made the case — and voters agreed — that Carney was the man to lead Canada’s emergency effort….But I will blame Carney for not doing the things that he can do, as fast as he can do them, and that very much includes moving fast enough to harden this country so that we can better withstand geopolitical and economic threats … threats like an erratic and unpredictable U.S. president.”. 2. Positives Government’s plan B: Carney - “Canada, we are in charge of our future. We can build a strong economy that doesn't depend on the United States. We can be masters in our own house.” Bill C5 envisions huge national infrastructure projects: “It’s time to unite this country and invest in nation-building infrastructure on a scale not seen in generations. Major nation-building projects will connect Canada and grow the economy in ways that last for generations, such as the Port of Churchill, hydrogen production in Edmonton, seizing vast solar potential in Cowessess, high-speed rail that starts with Windsor to Québec City, and a trade corridor to Grays Bay in Nunavut, amongst others.” However, we are still wiring for a major project to be green lit under the Build Canada Act. 50% Steel and Aluminum tariffs backfiring: GM and Ford announced billion-dollar losses and Ford’s best-selling aluminum body F150 pickup severely affected by aluminum tariffs. This noted by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bissent: “We will be negotiating with Canada on those.” Canadians deciding to not travel to US -and US alcohol being taken off Liquor Board shelves in provinces (except Sask and Alberta having an impact. This is "worse than tariffs", the boss of Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman says. Statistics Canada reporting a "steep decline" in Canadian travel to the U.S., particularly by land, and a -notable, drop in air travel. Big US coverage of impact on business in affected states. Leverage of Canadian rare earths and energy: Canada is a major energy exporter to the United States, particularly for oil, natural gas, and electricity. Canada supplies a significant portion of the US's crude oil, natural gas, and electricity imports. Specifically, Canada provides 60% of the crude oil and close to 100% of the natural gas imported by the U.S. Additionally, Canada supplies 85% of the electricity imported by the U.S. Canadian reciprocal counter tariffs: On March 3 2025 Trudeau announced a slew of retaliatory tariffs on US consumer and other goods entering Canada: Outlining the tiny amounts of Fentanyl crossing the border and investments in enhancing border security, he added : “Canada will not let this unjustified decision go unanswered. Should American tariffs come into effect tonight, Canada will, effective tomorrow, respond with 25 per cent tariffs against $155 billion of American goods – starting with tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately, and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion on American products in 21 days’ time. Our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. trade action is withdrawn.” August 4 th Carney said he may consider removing some. They have had an immediate impact on Canadian households. Tariffs hitting US consumers Proctor and Gamble announced last week it would raise prices on a wide range of consumer goods. Other manufacturers, from Porsche to Nestle to Adidas have announced the same thing. As have Walmart and Amazon which has raised prices on over 1200 items. Andrew Coyne on one sector Trump cannot control: “The Markets may be nevertheless prove to be Mr. Trump’s most implacable opponents.”
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