Lesley Choyce's double double

Dal English instructor Lesley Choyce has two new books out, Random and Raising Orion. (Danny Abriel Photo)

Lesley Choyce has written close to 80 books. “I’ve lost count,” laughs Mr. Choyce, “I hope to one day make it to 100.”

Despite having filled an entire bookcase in his cozy office with his published work, the prolific author, Dal English instructor, TV broadcaster, publisher and surfer would still keep writing “even if a law was passed that said I could never publish anything else.”

Having written on a variety of subjects, Mr. Choyce is sometimes influenced by his surroundings and what he is writing about and working on presently. But sometimes, “the topics find me rather than I find them,” he says.

For example, Random (Red Deer Press), a novel for young adults, was inspired by the increased use of the word “random” in the English language. Mr. Choyce noticed it coming up again and again in casual conversation and in the media. This observation morphed into a character and the character into a novel.

In the case of Raising Orion (Thistledown Press), the story is about Molly, the daughter of the last lighthouse keeper on Devil’s Island. While Molly is a fictitious character, Devil’s Island is a very real place located at the mouth of the Halifax harbour. The island's lighthouse was staffed by a keeper and his family until 1967.

Despite having such a large amount of published titles, Mr. Choyce does not always write every day. Other things like marking papers, teaching classes and life get in the way. He often has several books on the go at any given time and goes through phases in terms of his interests and genres. He also never uses the term “writer’s block.”

“One of the most interesting places to be in a novel is faced with a problem. Sometimes problem solving is delivered to me like a package and other times it takes a few days,” says Mr. Choyce.

When faced with a particularly tough problem, Mr. Choyce heads to the beach to catch a few waves. Surfing is an activity he partakes in 365 days per year from his home in Lawrencetown.

Mr. Choyce will be releasing both Random and Raising Orion at the same time. Because of this, he is very interested in what the response will be from both young adult readers and an older crowd.

Raising Orion has been in the works for nearly 8 years and marks Mr. Choyce’s return to what he calls “the literary mainstream”. The goal for Raising Orion is to once again connect with his adult reading audience who may have been following his work and reading some of his previously published books.

“It was almost like editing someone else’s manuscript when I was putting the finishing touches on Raising Orion,” says Mr. Choyce. “Eight years is a long time. The person who was writing this book eight years ago is gone. I’m a completely different person now so it will be interesting to see what the response will be like.”