Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with Re/Max Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network since 1996, marketing and selling residential, rural strata recreational investment, and project development real estate. Ian has received several awards recognizing his exceptional community commitment locally. As well as awards for outstanding performance and achievement from both Re/Max International and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board. You'll find true real estate professionals@ianlindsay.ca.

Rockin Rhonda & The Blues Band: Here comes Peter. Here comes Dave. Oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So much laughs and insights everywhere. Peter and Dave, they're on the mics. Alright, join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.

Peter McCully: Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your seats and trays are in the full upright position. Make sure your seatbelt securely fastened and all carry-on luggage is stowed under the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. And please welcome your co-pilot, I mean co-host Dave Graham. 

Dave Graham: My ears are popping. Hey, we've landed and fortunately we're in Canada even better. We're on the West Coast. Best of all, we're on Vancouver Island. Here we are with a focus on the middle part of the island. This is indeed the Pulse Community Podcast and it's co-hosted by Peter McCully. 

Peter McCully: On this episode, we include a segment we call You Said It. This is where we take to the streets for a public opinion poll. We wrote recently asking listeners what they consider to be their most important issues in the federal election. 

You Said It!: I don't honestly believe that any of the people that are out there as options to vote for are good options. I don't even know what the most important thing is. There's a lot of important things. 

Patrick, I'm calling them healthcare. Absolutely. Healthcare. We sort of half got the dental thing. We've half got everything's in halves and just at that borderline where I can get 40% but not 6% paid for, and my pension is not increasing at the same rate as the cost of living.

What single issue is most important to you in the upcoming election? I guess the trade war is priority. Ridiculous and we should stand our ground. 

Dave Graham: Iona Whishaw is the author of the popular Lane Winslow series, and it's so popular the 13th book is set for release. We chatted with her ahead of her upcoming personal appearances in Parksville and Qualicum Beach.

Iona Whishaw: You know, even when I was young, there were so many things women couldn't do. Like I couldn't go get a loan to buy a car in the 1970s, going back from the 1970s earlier, there were just. Thousands of things women couldn't do, you know, they couldn't work if they were married. They couldn't have their own bank accounts. I mean, it was quite extraordinary. In spite of that, and I think about my mother and my aunt and all these people in Kings Cove that I grew up with. I mean, these women's were Amazons. They didn't take anything from anybody, and they would be irritated that they couldn't do something, but that's how it was, you know? And their strengths, nevertheless, were there for all to see all the time. 

Peter McCully: Something new on our website, The Pulse Community.ca is the ability to sign up for a weekly reminder. We'll send you an email about the latest podcasts and contests. 

Dave Graham:  The other day I had a conversation about live music performances. The guy I was talking with, he'll remain anonymous. He said he had attended only two concerts in his life and that he wasn't that much impressed. He doesn't understand the attraction of going to a live performance and would frankly, much rather stay at home and listen to a recording. What, I'll be honest, I've never heard this perspective before with my radio background. And just being a fan of music, I have been to more concerts than I could possibly count, and they have without exception, been far more satisfying than a recording. I guess. This particular guy I spoke with has no interest in winning concert tickets from us, which improves the odds for those who do this here is a long-winded reminder to enter to win tickets to see Chilliwack in Parksville July 12th.

Peter McCully: Now to enter that draw, just send us an email with your name, phone number, and where you live, plus the name of your favorite Chilliwack song to contest@thepulsecommunity.ca. Remember, you'll never get this opportunity again because it's Chilliwack’s farewell tour. So just take a moment for a chance to see a classic Canadian rock band for the final time. We'll be making that draw on May the 30th. 

Dave Graham: Did you notice that recently the totem at the Qualicum Beach roundabout was lit up in indigo? It was in recognition and celebration of medical laboratory professionals and the vital work they do, that was April 15th, and the occasion was also marked by the legislative assembly of British Columbia in Victoria.

Peter McCully: Lab Week is an effort to raise awareness and recognition for laboratory personnel who work 24 7, providing approximately 4 million diagnostic tests per year to over 225,000 patients. I. 

Dave Graham: Now I can't hear the word laboratory without thinking back to when I was, oh, probably 10. And I got a science kid as a birthday gift. The box contained all kinds of test tubes and little containers of chemicals, and I remember many intense and slightly frustrating hours down in the basement trying to get stuff to either burn or blow up. Thankfully, I'm here today to report. It was all pretty inert. Probably a good thing for a chemistry set for kids.

Peter McCully:I bet the old school house in Qualicum Beach has seen a share of baking soda and vinegar, volcanoes back in the day as an art center. Now, the slogan at TOSH is that art is for everyone and everyone belongs. We'll be featuring a conversation with TOSH executive director Ilana Hester on an upcoming episode.

Dave Graham: And we will be welcoming Colt Long onto the Pulse Community Podcast sometime soon. Colt recently joined the SOS, the Society of Organized Services in Parksville. He's the manager of resource development and one of Colt's first challenges is to raise money for a new bus.

Peter McCully: Colt Long now there's a movie star name. 

Windsor Plywood French Creek: The Pulse Community Podcast is brought to you in part by Windsor Plywood in French Creek, specializing in hard to source interior and exterior home finishing products. Including flooring, doors and moldings and exterior project materials such as yellow, cedar, Windsor, plywood, French Creek carries high quality, responsibly sourced products and are committed to providing outstanding value and personalized one-on-one service to all of our customers. Homeowners do-it-yourselfers, renovators, builders, designers, craftsmen, and contractors. Regardless of the type or size of your project, Windsor can help you bring your vision to life from start to finish. Let Windsor plywood and French Creek help you with your renovation, new build or building project. Visit them online or call 752-3122. 

Peter McCully: A few quick notes in our United State of Canada segment. Dave had a chance to stop by the Elbows Up event in Parksville recently. 

Dave Graham: I am with Mickey Findley, organizer of this Elbows Up event. Congratulations on the turnout. 

Micki Findlay: Thank you, Dave. I am so pleased to see so many people turning up for their country today. 

Dave Graham: We were chatting earlier and we were talking about the spinoffs of the madness that's been happening. Coming outta south of the border and looking at a positive aspect of this care to explain. 

Micki Findlay: Well, the positive aspect is Trump has brought Canadians together like never before. 

Dave Graham: He does have a tendency to want to put people against one another, and here we are doing the opposite. 

Micki Findlay: Yay for us, because we're Canadians.Mm-hmm. We're smart. We have good neighbors, we are good neighbors. We take care of one another. We're a tapestry of beauty, diversity of people who just come together no matter what they believe. And that's what we need to do. That's the Canada I know, and that's the Canada I wanna keep. 

Dave Graham: Wonderful to hear. People have come equipped, lots of signs and flags, and you're hoping that this might happen again, a time or two or more. 

Micki Findlay: Stay tuned. We might just have something up our sleeve. This is a time when I believe we need to stand up. We have to say. Let's just put aside our fears. 

Neil Horner: I think this stuff is important. As Canadians, we're under threat and it's a very real threat and it's already starting to have impacts certainly on our prices, and I guess in a good way it's helped our national unity but's probably the best thing that could have happened for our national unity. That said, we are standing on guard for thee.

Dave Graham: Are you taking any other action or inaction as a response to what's coming out of the south of the border? 

Neil Horner: IWell, I have this sign on the back of my truck and I drive around and I get a chuckle out of it, actually. 'cause, you know, it's like, I, it really feels good to express your opinion. I've had lots of positive, you know, thumbs up and elbows up, and I've had one side eye, but, eh, whatever.

Dave Graham: Two voices captured at the recent Elbows Up event, the latter being Neil Horner, familiar to many around here for his work as counselor for the town of Qualcom Beach, and the other voice that of event organizer Mickey Findlay. 

Peter McCully: We had lots of passers by Speak Up when we set up outside Qualcom Foods to ask the question, what is the most important issue for you in the federal election?

You said It:  Jacquelyn Qualicm Beach. I think there's so many issues. As a mother, for me, it would be the future for our children. I think the country needs to be completely washed of our politicians at this point. I am against all of it fed up with the government in general. I would love to choose none of the choices at this point. I think we're in a bad place. We need change overall, big change. 

Dave Graham: What single issue matters to you most in this election? 

I'd say housing. I would like to see social housing where government sort of takes apart, actually buys the property and rents it to the tenant and the rents a control. Toby, from Qualcom Beach, I would have to say affordability.

We've gotten so far away from being able to afford homes and everything's just gotten right outta control. 

Dave Graham: Our question for today is, what single issue matters to you most in this election? 

It's all about Canada, not Trump. Trump woke Canada up from sleep. Oh my God. Barb, Qualicum Beach. That's me and me and we rock.

Who can deal with Mr. You know who? Mr. Trump? Yeah, definitely. 

Dave Graham: We're out taking a public opinion poll about the single most important issue in the upcoming election for you. 

Housing affordability. We're okay, but our family is Linda Qualcom Beach and Alberta. I think accountability needs to be brought back into government because it's ridiculous what we've put up with Chris from Qualcom Beach. Oh boy. Uh, probably crime and just the government spending. Big deal. 

I'm Megan and I'm from Bowser. As a millennial, housing is huge. Really, that's my number one. 

Dave Graham: How would you like to see it fixed or get better,more affordable housing? 

I think we just need to be cranking it out. We've done it before post-war,  and it can be done again.

Getting the right person in. Hopefully they do what they say and open up, get rid of the bureaucracy and get some energy flowing and housing's the main thing. Healthcare is a huge thing. The way I look at it, it's a lot of round talk. It's been like that for the last 20 years.

Somebody needs to put a foot down and start actually doing something. As far as I'm concerned, I'm fine with the West separating. 

So I'm from Qualicum Beach and my name is Liza. I think the most important thing for me is the economy and to get the economy back on track, and Canadians are being productive and we're growing as opposing to rely so much on the United States.

Dave Graham: Our question is, what single issue matters to you most in this upcoming election? 

Oh, our sovereignty. That's it. It's the big one for me. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Angela, I'm from Nanaimo. I think it's probably just like improving things to, for education is my biggest one. Well, I think it requires a whole change to the whole system. I'm a teacher and so I see it from the inside. 

Dave Graham: You have one or two things you'd point at as to where we might begin 

Putting more funding in so that students can get better supports with their learning. That would be my big one. 

Tariffs and how they're going to deal with that and just the economy in general. I'm really not sure who I'm gonna vote for at this point. I'm confused, but I'm sure when I get to the polls I'll make my mind up. 

Dave Graham: So if you were in charge of things, what would you do with the tariff situation? 

Oh geez. I'm not really sure how to fix it. I think we've relied on the US for too long, far too much. So I think that this is a bit of a wake up call for Canada to look at other options. Other than that, I'm not really too sure. It's a different world that we live in right now. Little bit of a concern, I think, for all of us. I think we're all feeling the same way right now. 

I would say it's the crime factor. Unfortunately, a lot of people, whether they, uh, have just been living their] lives or immersed any part of community, has come to the realization that crime has been on the rise quite a bit. Unfortunately, I don't think we're doing a whole heck of a lot to stop it. Now, that doesn't mean. Going to most extreme measures.

That means taking into account a lot of different facets of why a, the crime might be happening to begin with, or why it continues to be such a prevalent issue. I think the other thing that we're facing a lot of right now is uncertainty. Again, not necessarily just the crime, but with a lot of different facets of Canadian life, there's the uncertainty of what the future might hold or the uncertainty of what the economy might hold, or the uncertainty of practically every aspect of what we're living through right now. We need answers to that uncertainty to make us feel a little more secure as, as a Canadian people and as a Canadian public, so that we can better help ourselves and help those in the future Who go through this again, 

Tim. I'm from Canada. Well, I'm self-employed. I've been self-employed for my whole adult life. I wish our government would help me out a little more than they do now, and I hope that they listen to some of us if there was more programs. That I could sign up for and say, look, I'm still willing to learn and I'm not the only one. There's lots of us out there. You're one of us too. Look, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ian from Qualicum Beach, without a doubt how to negotiate with Donald Trump and the environment. A close second. Not enough. People are talking about environmental issues. Sometimes I feel more of a human vibe. When I hear people giving a damn about healthcare and social security, imagine.

Cindy, Qualicum Beach, Healthcare by a long shot. I've recently been diagnosed with cancer and getting in to see an oncologist has been a nightmare. If we have an aging population. They're coming in here and retiring here at a time in their lives when they need that healthcare that they've paid into with their very high taxes for tens, 20, 30, 40 years, and 50% of our population is going to be getting cancer. It's increasing all the time. We need the government to step in and help on both levels, federal and provincial. 

Dave Graham: What single issue matters to you most in the upcoming election? 

White Rock, BC, Jasmine, Jenny. At the end of the day, I think that we're still gonna end up getting somebody that's not really all that great. The options aren't that awesome at the moment. They talk a big talk, but then when, um, a push comes to shove, we get the shove. They get the push. How the Prime Minister will navigate through the Trump situation. We need to have more focus on wealth to protect ourselves. So I think we need that kind of focus to navigate through this 

Alisa, and I'm from here in Qualicum, Good lord, I'm not the right person to ask that question for. I don't honestly believe that any of the people that are out there as options to vote for are good options. I don't even know what the most important thing is. There's a lot of important things. 

Patrick, I'm calling healthcare. Absolutely.Healthcare. We sort of have got the dental thing. We've half got everything's in halves and just at that borderline where I can get 40% but not 6% paid for, and my pension is not increasing at the same rate as the cost of living. 

Dave Graham: What single issue is most important to you in the upcoming election? 

I guess the trade war is priority. Ridiculous and we should stand our ground. Do you see an answer to that? Not while there's an orange fellow on his throne. We'll have to let the American people deal with that, and then we'll pick up the pieces later. 

JC, the most important issue for me is a security of this great country. We are under threat.

Our problems are big like any other country, but this one is the top one. The Americans are nice people. Now, guys like you and I, but there is a bad gang in the group at the present time. There is a lunatic in there with his gang, and that's a problem right there. I mean, you and I are okay. How about the kids? I left that the land. I came from a beautiful country, but you again, you were taxed out of shape. So I said, well, I'm going to go where my forefathers went to North America. It was great, absolutely great, and I don't regret it at all, but my grandkid, he counts as well. My wife tells me I talk too much. I think I should do the trick.

Dave Graham: So what single issue matters to you most in the upcoming election? 

If we could change one thing, I think it would start even before you complete your vote, that we'd have more votes in the West. I think it's ridiculous that we have no control over what happens. Quebec calls all the shots and their biggest draw is tourism. All the natural resources are in Western Canada and we don't gotta vote. I think that's painful. 

More support for mental health and addiction. Get rid of the free drug sites and actually get them help. 

Single issue for me is paying down our debt. Someone's gotta fiscally responsible for this country and start paying down our $1.4 trillion worth of debt. That's the guys I'm voting for. Sooner or later we're gonna run out of money. 

Dave Graham: What is the single most important issue for you in the upcoming election? 

I'm a senior health. That's it. Nothing else. I don't care about the others. If I were working, it might be the economy or that sort of thing, but health, whether I believe these guys or not. But the point is, it doesn't appear as if it's gonna make any difference because whatever it is that they're saying, I can. Yeah, we need that too. 

Lacey, for me, it's kind of a tough question. I'm a Christian. I see obviously like there's some conservative values that are like promising, but it goes so much deeper for me, I, I don't even know if it's an issue for everyone, but I feel like life is so important and I'm definitely pro-life and I don't even think that's really a big topic, but I just feel like the nation that like honors life will be blessed and so that's an important issue for me. The cost of living. That's going through the roof., I have 10 children, so our grocery bill is the largest bill next to our mortgage. So I think the cost of living is a concern. Canada scares me a little bit the way it is going, the direction it's going, but I, I do trust that God has everything in control. So that's where I get my like peace. So I appreciate like politics and everything, and I know it's important that we get out there and vote, but I can't say there's one particular party that has my, like allegiance, if that makes any sense. 

My name is Mike. I think the biggest issue is probably like on our economic plan. I'm from Vancouver visiting my girlfriend on the island here. It's really hard for us to be able to buy a house and have kids and do everything with everything that's going on, as opposed to say 20 years ago when houses were a third of the price. 

Peter McCully: We want to thank the many folks who stopped by and shared their thoughts on the segment of the podcast We Call You Said It.

Dave Graham: The Pulse Community Podcast is designed for grownups, but we also cater to the youngsters with our Skookum Kid stories. Delightful original stories about a boy named Peter and his pet, Eskimo dog Gracie. They find adventure wherever they go. Follow along with stories of Peter and Gracie as narrated by Peter McCully.

Peter McCully: And then there's Captain Dave and his stories of adventure aboard the Mellow Submarine. You'll find those Pulse podcasts and Skookum kids stories on the Pulse community.ca, skookumkids.com. Apple, Buzzsprout, Spotify, iHeart, Amazon, and YouTube. If you're interested in joining our growing family of sponsors for the Pulse community and Skookum Kids Stories podcast, please let us know. Just email me peter@thepulsecommunity.ca. 

SOSD69: For 57 years, SOS has helped ease social isolation and strengthen our community by connecting people of all ages to programs that support their wellbeing. For many years, the SOS bus has helped facilitate reliable and safe access to programs. Unfortunately, the bus has reached the end of the road. The SOS Connecting Community Campaign aims to raise $200,000 to help purchase a new, safe, reliable bus that is essential in providing transportation to a variety of SOS programs. I. Seniors are taken on grocery shopping trips. Children are picked up from school so they may enjoy enriching supportive programs, and families and youth are taken on exciting outings. Social connections can decrease anxiety and depression, enhance self-esteem, and improve overall health. For more information or to donate to the OS Connecting Community Campaign, visit OSD 60 nine.com. 

Dave Graham: It is time for our guest this week, Marilyn, who's in the Green Room. 

Marilyn: Iona Whishaw has been a social worker teacher and an award-winning high school principal who continued with her writing throughout her working life. The bestselling author of the Lane Winslow Mystery series is a two-time finalist for the Crime Writers of Canada Award. 

Peter McCully: Thanks for joining us on the podcast today, Iona. 

Iona Whishaw: My pleasure. 

Peter McCully: You were born in Kimberly, a beautiful spot in British Columbia, and grew up in a number of different places, not in Kimberly as your dad was on the road a lot as a geologist. Perhaps you could tell us about some of those places you grew up in, spent some time in, and how they may have shaped your life growing up. 

Iona Whishaw: I was born, as you say, in Kimberly, but I spent  boy, five minutes there and then we moved into the Kootenay area. I lived in a mining camp above Samo, and then when I was about two, we moved to the place that I write about, uh, which is actually called Queens Bay.

We had a lovely house there that my mother bought. Then when I was five, my dad went off to Mexico. My mother decided she wasn't hanging around, so she tossed me in the car and we drove down to Chihuahua where we lived on the side of a mountain. It was like a woodshed. It was a. Wooden structure with two rooms, and there was an outhouse up the hill somewhere, and my mom cooked on a Coleman stove, and it was quite adventurous.

I remember never wearing shoes because they wore out so quickly and she didn't wanna buy me anymore because they wore out so quickly. So I, I very excellent bare feet. And then after that we moved to different parts of Mexico. We lived in Mexico City for a while in Guadalajara. We lived in a wonderful place called Fracas, which was a tiny village, then tiny town, and now is a monstrous city.

And then I lived in Nicaragua for a year, and then we came back. I lived in Tucson all through high school. I went to college in Ohio and came back after that. 

Peter McCully: Did you pick up the language when you were living in South America? 

Iona Whishaw: I did because I was so young and my parents being a bit lefty were inclined to not put me in English speaking schools because they had both had very international upbringings. My father never spoke any language but English, but my mother spoke seven languages perfectly, and in fact, my character is modeled on her. I was lucky to live in a place where I could become almost bilingual in Spanish and English. 

Peter McCully: Do you have occasion to speak in Spanish these days? 

Iona Whishaw: I do off and on. In fact, my grandson, my second grandson is studying Spanish and he loves it and he's 21 now and goes to UBC and we text back and forth in Spanish all the time. Then I was involved with the flamenco community and there's lots of Spanish to be spoken around here. When I was a teacher, I taught it as well. 

Peter McCully: You've had a varied career path from social worker to educator, as you mentioned now author. How have those different professional experiences influenced your approach to storytelling?

Iona Whishaw: When you're anything working with kids, I think it's really all about the stories. It's all about the stories that you can tell about what their lives can be and the stories that they can tell you about what their lives are. Early on, I learned that storytelling is the best persuasion, really, and also my long. Exposure to working with kids, I feel is coming up in the books from time to time, you know? And I really like spending time with those kids that I write about because they're coming from my history of working with kids. 

Peter McCully: Iona, what inspired you to shift from short fiction, poetry and children's literature to create the Lane Winslow Mystery series?

Iona Whishaw: I dunno if it was inspiration or luck. I've always wanted to write mysteries because I love mysteries. It's my main cache of reading, you know? But I never thought I could write a whole entire book. I just never thought, I just thought other people can do that. I can't. One day I was reading a book, I don't even remember what it was, but it wasn't that well written, and I remember thinking.

Gosh, I can write better than this. At that point, I thought, so why not me? Why couldn't I? And that's how I began really, without really knowing what any of it would be. I had this image in my mind of my mother buying that house I told you about. It just took off from there. I have to say, it's been lovely because it's an opportunity also for me to go back and spend time in that locale, which I was a child in.

Peter McCully: What specific memories or experiences from your youth and that time in rural BC find their way into your descriptions of King's Cove, where the books are set? 

Iona Whishaw: There's two big angles here. One is the setting itself, which is absolutely glorious. King's Cove or my home was set on a kind of long sloping hill above the road, above the lake, and we all had fantastic views of this lake in all its many moods, if you will.

But the other big thing were the people who lived there. And if you read my books. You'll see that there's a full cast of characters, most of whom have come from what they used to call the old country, who are apple brewers and so on who live up there. I've taken many of those characters and put them in my books.

So whole and complete almost as they were and almost named what they were. I've created new characters and put them in, and I've taken some idiosyncrasies of some characters and kind of highlighted them, but they were probably the biggest influence on my life 'cause I was a very small child then.

Really, aside from the three boys that belonged to another family. I was pretty much on my own 'cause I was younger than them and it didn't matter where I wandered, people would always have me in and give me a cookie, or if I looked sleepy, you know, put me to bed for a nap. It was a remarkable village upbringing I enjoyed.

Peter McCully:  Iona, your own family history includes espionage work during World War ii, and I wanted to know how your family's past has influenced the creation of the character, lane Winslow and her background as a former intelligence officer. 

Iona Whishaw: Well, very much so, and I almost don't think, except for one little occasion When my mother was 86 and she died at 87, she was in my kitchen and we were doing something and she suddenly told me that she used to get all dressed up as a nice German girl and go to German officers parties and get information. This was before the war 'cause they lived in South Africa and South Africa declared with the allies.

Five days after the war began. So all the Germans who were there had to skedaddle outta there. But I think her work continued because there were a lot of pro German sentiments still in South Africa, so they had to be kept an eye on during the war. So I never learned any of that. I just learned this adorable story of her getting all dressed up and going to get information outta German officers.

And you could have knocked me over with the feather. I mean, my mother had an extraordinary life. And was an extraordinary human being without having ever been a spy. So I think that really just lodged in my brain. Let's say I started in 2012. She died in 1999, so it took that long for me to have that thing germinate and create a character, 

Peter McCully: and she hung onto that little nugget for 86 years.

Iona Whishaw: She sure did. And people ask me, is it 'cause she signed the Secrets Act or something? And I don't think so. I think, you know, she was the kind of person who would go headlong into any adventure. Whatever went before was irrelevant and whatever was coming, was irrelevant. And when she'd done with that, she'd move on to another one.

So I think she just had. Put it far behind her, and it was a miracle that it came up. And her father was a full fledged spy and a very unpleasant man. And I pretty well replicate him whole in my books. And so I learned recently from people in Latvia. My mother and father were both born in Latvia, in a British community as very British, British people.

She was presented at court, that's how British she was. My grandfather's two brothers also worked for MI six. So it's quite a deep well of espionage. 

Peter McCully: Do you plot your mysteries in advance, Iona, or do you discover aspects of the mystery as you write your way through the novel? 

Iona Whishaw: I definitely am not a plotter. I don't find it particularly interesting. Because I started so late. For me, the creativity of the thing is really important and it's what's happening as I write. I don't think I'd be happy just writing from one plot point to the next. That wouldn't be me. So I do spend a lot of time discovering what's happening.

I have a vague, general idea about what I'd like to write about. And I just sort of throw that in the air and then just begin writing and you know, as I go, I find, of course, because there's a lot of historical things going on in the book that I need then to catch up and read all of the historical stuff I need to read to support that, whatever can't be fully supported, but partially supported then becomes the kind of detail in a story that. Could or might not be true, but could possibly have happened, you know, that kind of thing. 

Peter McCully:I'm glad you mentioned the authenticity of the language. Your dialogue's been praised for its authenticity to the period, so what research do you use to craft that dialogue that feels true to the late 1940s? Without alienating modern readers, you will not find the word awesome anywhere in your books. 

Iona Whishaw: There's a number of words that you won't find. This is something that's very dear to my heart, and it's a question that I love to talk about. I really feel it's important for me both in the narrative and in the dialogue.

To use language that would not have been unfamiliar at the time. You know, I'm not writing about Renaissance Italy, you know, I'm not having to make up some sort of formal language that might have been used, you know, in every period in history. People talk perfectly naturally in keeping with whatever is the natural way of speaking in that time.

Now, I'm lucky I have parents who come from that time. They were both English and I heard them speaking all the time, so that helped. A lot of it's ingrained there, but this language grows so fast that you can be putting in quite modern things without even being aware of it. Some really subtle ones are things like somebody saying, I'm gonna need you to go do something.

That's like 2000 and later in 1940. Darling would say to his underling, I want you to go do that. Little stuff like that. He's got his own agenda. There's so much of that you have to weed out. And I often will use the word and check, and there's a wonderful way you can check. There's a thing on the internet called Ngram, N-G-R-A-M, and you click on that and you can put in an expression up to five words and it will tell you when it began to appear in literature.

Which means that that is when it was probably being used. It's a fantastic way of constantly correcting. I also have a beta reader who's about three years older than I am, and she's very sound on language at the 1940s, and she will highlight instantly. She thinks something doesn't quite ring. The other thing I can do, because I've been doing it so long. You know, 12 books, 13 books now that I'm working on, you become used to how you have used the language and so it settles in, if that makes any kind of sense. 

Peter McCully: One of the things I noted in reading the novels is your books touch on social issues of the post-war period from, let's say, the treatment of veterans through changing roles for women.

Iona Whishaw: This is an area that fascinates me. You know, even when I was young, there were so many things women couldn't do. Like I couldn't go get a loan to buy a car in the 1970s. Going back from the 1970s earlier, there were just thousands of things women couldn't do, you know, they couldn't work if they were married, they couldn't have their own bank accounts.

I mean, it was quite extraordinary. In spite of that, and I think about my mother and my aunt and all these people in Kings Cove that I grew up with. I mean, these women's were Amazons. They didn't take anything from anybody, and they would be irritated that they couldn't do something. Uh, but that's how it was, you know, and their strengths, nevertheless, were there for all to see all the time.

So I'm quite interested in this. I remember one time I was speaking, a young person put their hand up and said, you know, it's hard for me to believe in your character because in the old days, women were really subdued. And my response was, oh my God, you didn't know my mother. People made up for it. You know, by the force of personality a lot of the time.

Peter McCully: I was particularly interested in that. And you know, a lot of the social issues I cover unfortunately are still with us. Violence inside of marriages and rape and child abuse and all those things are still here to be dealt with in some ways. I feel like it can be just a moment and we can be back under everybody's thumb.

Iona Whishaw: Well, there's no doubt that Lane Winslow is indeed in independent, forward thinking, woman navigating that post-war society. She's very lucky in her husband because he is someone who is extremely respectful and respectful of women and always assumed that they were the strong ones because his dad always used to say, I don't know, you'll have to ask your mother.

Peter McCully: Sounds like my house growing up when I read a book and I suspect like most folks, I have a little bit of a movie running in my head. And I have to admit, I laughed out loud when I turned the page in the first book and the character of Inspector Darling popped up to me. I saw Leslie Nielsen. You remember Leslie Nielsen, the actor?

Iona Whishaw: Oh yes. Absolutely. 

Peter McCully: Don't call me Shirley. I found out a few pages later, of course, he wasn't old white-haired guy. He was a younger policeman. Where did Inspector Darling come from? 

Iona Whishaw: I'm not really sure. I'm always put in mind of the wonderful story about Dorothy l Sayers, who wrote the Lord Peter books.

These were all written in the 1920s. Somebody asked her, you know, where did Lord Peter come from? And she said, I just wanted to create the perfect man. So to some extent, I think there's a little bit of that. I mean, he's very intelligent, very kindly and very caustic to his underlings all the time in a very affectionate kind of way.

Like they are never put off because they know he really cares about them. He's got a great sense of humor, you know? I mean, what's not to like? So I think there was a bit of just me wanting to have somebody like that in this character's life in Lane's life. 

Peter McCully: You've written 12. You're working on your 13th book for the Lane Winslow series. Are there other stories or genres you're interested in exploring or are there too many more Lane's, Winslow stories to tell? 

Iona Whishaw: I think there's more Lane Winslow stories to tell. I. I've already got my eye on a 14th. That could prove interesting. It's very enjoyable to keep writing about the same characters because you're in a family and you're watching them grow and change and all of that.

So I think it's very engaging to do that. And I do have two and a half books that I wrote that take place in 1919 in a place called Rye in England, where I have relatives. So I spent a lot of time there. I don't think anyone's interested in them, but I've enjoyed writing them. They're kind of an amused bush, you know, between Lane books 

Peter McCully: When you're holding readings and book signing events. Iona, what's the most popular question that pops up? 

Iona Whishaw: The most popular question at the moment is. When is Lane getting pregnant? And you know, if you're writing a series about a woman who's engaged in the kinds of things she's engaged in, it's difficult to imagine what this is gonna be like carting a baby around. But I will say my mother was never daunted by having babies. If they were in the way, she shuffled them off and somebody else looked after him and she went off and did her thing. I'm hoping Lane isn't quite like that. I'm hoping she has more maternal instincts to her. The other question that gets asked a lot is, you know, will we see films of them? You mentioned yourself that you kind of run a little reel. The other one is often comments about the covers. I get a lot of very positive comments about the covers 

Peter McCully: And who does the covers for you? 

Iona Whishaw: Independent artist Margaret Hansen, who works for Touch Wood editions. She captures the essence of what the book is about, and I have had several people tell me that they grab the books because they're attracted by the covers. If they've never met my work before. That's exactly what you want a book jacket to do. 

Peter McCully: Yeah, they're eye catching for sure. Will there be a movie or a television series?

Iona Whishaw: There's been some interest shown, but all this takes a long time and you can't really count on anything until they say, please sign along the dotted line. So the interest shown has been very gratifying. I will say that people have seen them as a series, but you know the economies up in the air right now and you know who knows what, where it's all going. 

Peter McCully: Iona, what feedback from readers has most surprised you or touched you? 

Iona Whishaw: I've had a lot of feedback from readers two or three times. People who've lost someone in their lives have written to me to say that they've read my series of books once or twice because they find them so comforting. I. Now these are mysteries with bad things that happen, but I'm very, very touched that people feel they can disappear into this world that I create and find a moment's peace and solace in it.

I also had some incredible feedback. I did a book. About the SUD Dayton land refugees who were sent in 1939 to the most inhospitable place up in the Peace River area in the middle of a horrible cold, wet spring, and told to get farming. And these people were all urban people, you know, they were union people and lawyers and all of that.

And they'd been on a list that Hitler was going to eliminate when he got into what was then Czechoslovakia. So they were all sent over here. I read some incredible memoirs about their time there, so I created the story around a character who comes there, and I got a letter from a woman who said, you know, my dad was one of those original refugees in the piece.

You know, when I read your book, it's like hearing his stories. A couple of things happened. One is I was just so grateful and thankful for that comment, but I also realized how important it is if you write about things that have gone on around you historically. That you get the key things right, because they matter, because there are people who were descended from people who had those things happen to them. So it made me feel more heavily my responsibility as a writer. 

Peter McCully: Iona, I wanna thank you for your time today. You've been quite generous and quite generous with 12 novels on the Lane Winslow series so far. We'll look for another dozen or so. 

Iona Whishaw: Sure. 

Dave Graham: If you would like to see and meet Iona when she's in the area, go to the links for our show notes and you'll see details on her appearances. May 6th Iona will be at Knox United Church, presented by Fireside books and at the Village Theater in Qualcomm Beach, presented by Mulberry Bush books. 

Peter McCully: Your feedback is always welcome. Click on the link labeled, speak to us, and literally do so or there's an option to text us if that's more [00:44:00] appealing.

Dave Graham: Well, okay, Peter, it looks like it's time to head down to the cafeteria. Check out Mabel's daily special. 

Peter McCully: You really don't sound very enthusiastic, Dave. 

Dave Graham: Uh, I guess you haven't heard about it then, 

Peter McCully: Isn't it Soup and sandwich day? 

Dave Graham: I wish. No, it's all the way Flambe day. 

Peter McCully: Oh, you mean where they bring the food out? Pour on some booze and set the whole thing on fire? 

Dave Graham: Precisely. You can still order a sandwich, but it's going to be extra crispy. 

Peter McCully: I suppose a salad is out of the question. 

Dave Graham: Like I said, extra crispy. 

Rockin Rhonda & The Blues Band: Here comes Peter, here comes Dave, oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So to speak. Laughs and insights everywhere. What a treat. Peer and Dave. They're on the mics all right. Join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.