When some people hear that my novel THIRTEEN is set in Canada they automatically say, why Canada? Wouldn’t it do better if it was set in the States? Haven’t you limited your market to Canada’s West Coast? Wouldn’t you sell more copies if it was set in the USA?
To be honest, those questions upset me and I’m going to tell you why.
I am Proud to be Canadian
I am a proud Canadian and believe that the best thing about Canada is that it’s not the US. You can stop laughing now. There are lots of great things about Canada, no maple syrup and igloos are not on my list.
I love our sense of humour, I love how we spell humour. I like Canadian comedy, it’s sarcastic, satirical jokes designed to make fun of ourselves. It’s witty, not slapstick, and I’ll take wit over dumb any day of the week.
I enjoy being polite and saying I’m sorry. It takes a strong person to say sorry, we are not weak in our courtesies. It saddens me that we have started to pull away from our Ps and Qs in favour of a more self serving, all about me attitude. We’ve lost our pioneer spirit of community, that coming together to help each other survive the harsh elements of this land. I wish we could get it back.
I think our gun policies and peace keeping attitudes make us a better country to live in. We need to continue to remember that gun control and peace are things to protect and strive for. We have free education up to grade 12 and affordable health care based on triage of need instead of a person’s pocket book.
We are resource rich, we are the 2nd largest country with the largest coastline, we are a diverse nation of regional values, traditions, and languages. It is a place you can get lost in and find yourself in. It is a great country to be from.
That, and we have hockey.
I think Canadians can create Quality Art
I’m still pissed off that our Canadian National Art Museum paid $1 Million for a huge painting of three lines painted by an American artist. That money could have bought a million Canadian paintings. OK, so maybe not a million, but more than one. I’ve seen this infamous piece of artwork and I got to say, it really isn’t my favourite piece hanging on the walls and definitely not worth a million dollars, not even a million Canadian dollars.
There are Canadian artists creating amazing music, photography, paintings, sculpture, literature, and movies. You only need to take the time to explore art galleries, indie music sites, and local bookstores to find interesting Canadian artists.
The only thing that keeps Canadian made TV and movies coming off as second rate compared to the States is; one your opinion and two money. Considering the amount of Hollywood blockbusters that are filmed in Canada using Canadian talent behind the scenes, I know that Canadian producers are making blockbusters, they just set them in the States under American production company titles.
Vancouver is the most filmed Canadian city
Considering how many Hollywood blockbusters are filmed in Vancouver you’d think the city would be worthy of being the setting of story. Alas, it is not. When you watch a movie that says it’s in some American backwater of a place, chances are you’re looking at Vancouver.
T.V. Shows like the X Files, SuperNatural, American Psycho, are all filmed right here. So why can’t they be set in Vancouver, it’s a beautiful place.
It’s diversity of mountains, city, country, rainforest, ocean and beaches give film makers so many backdrops that they can have the setting almost anywhere they want it.
Why Canada for THIRTEEN
Most of the reasons why North Korea invades Canada in the novel THIRTEEN will be revealed in book 3, I know that’s not fair. To be fair I will give you some things to think on.
Who has a stronger Military, Canada or the US?
Who thinks the US will come save them, like in movies?
Who is more prepared for an attack Canada or the US?
Which two countries have the largest unprotected boarder?
Which country has less citizens with guns?
I could ask you more questions to get you thinking about it, but it comes down to this: What country could I write an invasion story about, which I knew enough about and I could make somewhat believable?
Can Canada be Invaded?
Heck if I know. It’s a story. Not reality. The point of THIRTEEN is not to say hey North Korea why don’t you invade Canada and this is how to do it. The point of the story is to examine what life in a North American city would be like if there was a totalitarian government and a war.
What would happen to our way of life? Could we survive without power, water, gas, wifi, coffee, and video games?
OK, so our military may be an international joke and too reliant on the idea that the AMERICANS will save us. Our armed forces may be in serious need of funding, which might just make it a bit easier to invade Canada over the US. Especially considering our navy could sink if it went too far off the coast.
But still….
I don’t think any country would want to invade us, I mean come on we’re nice. Insert smiley face. We’re polite. We are a land of great distances between places with very few people in between. We are the great white north, the place of snow, igloos, and polar bears.
Why would anyone want to invade a country that is cold 9 months of the year and just cool the other 3? Who’d want to set up base camp on a frozen block of ice, even though it does butt up against the US?
Hopefully, no one.
Can a Novel set in Canada be Successful?
I hope so, but that’s up to you, the reader. Chances are if you’re American and reading this you probably thought there was just this big, black, blank void between the North Pole and the 49th Parallel. However, if you are Canadian, perhaps you’ll want to take a chance and buy an action blockbuster type story that is set in Canada.
Shannon Peel is the author of THIRTEEN a YA Novel set in Vancouver, Canada about a 13 year old boy, his single mom, a cop, and an invading army. It’s a look at what would happen to our way of life if a totalitarian type government invaded and took away all our freedoms. Could we survive with no power, no wifi, no video games? What if our city all of a sudden became a dangerous place?
Teenagers and Fiction 
March 2, 2016 at 3:56 pm
I read books with settings from all over the world. I think it’s condescending to Americans to think they won’t read a book set outside of their country!!! And the US is a big country, would someone from California be reluctant to read a book set in NY???? You need to be authentic to your story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 27, 2016 at 3:39 am
Disclaimer: I’m from the US.
There’s all sorts of things that are just kind of wrong here — One being that you’re severely underestimating and devaluing your own military if you think the Canadian forces ever think, “we’ll just wait for the US to save us!” Because your military has aided not only the US but many countries and have contributed a large chunk of funding to development of technology and medicine. Even if Canada backed out of the F-32 development (which seems like its a good thing now) they did fund a large chunk of the program, for example.
I can think of no one that’s ever said that Canada is lacking in art, or creative materials. I mean, hello? Montreal?
There are numerous Canadian artists and actors who are in the limelight. Bryan Lee o’Malley, Ryan Reynolds, Celine Dion, Rush, Three Days Grace — I could go on, and I will if you want me to.
“Chances are if you’re American and reading this you probably thought there was just this big, black, blank void between the North Pole and the 49th Parallel.”
Good job on completely isolating an entire country’s worth of reader base there. So because I’m an American, I’m too stupid to know that a country that has MORE LANDMASS THAN MY OWN even exists? Right, because we haven’t been allied in the last several wars and Canada never sent aide for us during 9/11 or any other tragedy — right? I mean, God absolutely forbid an AMERICAN would read a book without asking, “Canada? What’s that? A type of food?”
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 27, 2016 at 4:35 am
This post was not meant to offend. It is Canadian humour, or is that humor, which is full of tongue in cheek sarcasm. Our military is something to be proud of because we have always stepped up and helped out plus our reputation as peacekeepers is something to be proud of.
Personally, I have a great respect for those who chose to sign up for our armed forces. However, for a country our size, our military is not that big based on a per capita or a per acre basis. Compared to the country beneath us, our military is underfunded. See articles.
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-sinking-of-the-canadian-navy/
http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/why-canadas-military-risks-returning-to-a-decade-of-darkness/
Many Canadians (Not military) believe that if we are attacked for some reason, our big brother to the South will come save us. Especially those of us who have watched too many Hollywood movies.
What you need to know about Canadian humour, a large chunk of it is about making fun of how little Americans know about Canada. It was a joke, much like those maps that label us as USA Jr. Check out Canadian humour at it’s best – https://youtu.be/seYUbVa7L7w — BTW…. We make fun of ourselves much the same way. Google This hour has 22 minutes, it is hilarious.
Twenty years ago I was working in the tourist booths and I always remembered when someone from the States came in wondering where the igloos were. Another time in Montreal, a couple cute guys sat down with a friend and I saying, “Thank God Americans.” We asked them why they thought we were American, their answer… “You speak English.”
Today, I’ve run into lots of Americans who know what it’s like here, that we do speak English and that there is talent, green grass, and free healthcare. This is due to the amount of travelling between the two countries, TV, and Movies. Canadians are proud of our exported talent, it is too bad they have to leave to make it big, but we don’t have enough people for them to make the big bucks.
When I talk to people here they tell me that since the book is set in Canada, and not in the US, the American audience will not be interested and therefore it will not make any money. I don’t think that is necessarily true and that’s what the blog post is about.
LikeLike