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Tofino 2010 - Jennifer Barnes

Hi I'm Dave.

About Dave

I live on my beloved Salt Spring Island in the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada with my wife Jennifer. I share space with Pie, Gooseberry and Tuesday the cats, three chickens, and a yard full of kayaks. When not glued to the laptop or tending the chicken coop I am out paddling the backyard waters of this amazing place I calls home,

Writing

I started writing back in highschool. I took creative writing as what I thought then to be an easy credit, but soon found out two things about writing. It is not always that easy to find the words and secondly, I loved finding the words. My class was taught by a bit of a maverick who's voice reminded me of Carl Sagan and he had a mysterious quality in that he taught out of bounds. In English class, in which he also taught it was done by seeking the metaphysical side of things within the required reading assignments. In writing class his technique was equally challenging and he brought some thing trapped inside my head out onto the paper. This ghost called a story. My teacher's real name I will keep a secret but we all nicknamed him, Cosmic Dave (no relation).

From there I wandered away from writing for more than 2 decades. A regret of sorts for following paths to make others happy when I should have entered a journalism class rather than a fine arts class. Alas, hindsight is wearing bi-focals.

I am back at the keyboard and writing pad once more. Delving into writing with both feet a few years ago with a small self-published ramblings about my passion of sea kayaking. That led me to a second attempt at self-publishing, a book called Dreaming in Nuchatlitz (available through Amazon).

My most recent writing is a entry level how-to book about cooking and camping named, The Hungry Kayaker. Feel free to visit my website for more info about that project.

I write a kayaking blog as well for the past year or so and enjoy that very much, but often feel confined to the short post format and want to expand on ideas.

I found Suite 101 last year, and then after many months came back to it again, signed up and submitted a first draft. I was happy to read those initial editor's notes and felt at home and in a professional environment.

What now

Most of my articles for Suite 101 will reflect my life on the coast and my passion for the outdoors with an emphasis on the kayaking world. I love to cook and doing that in the great outdoors makes everything, even a botched campsite meal taste good. You can look forward to a few foodie related articles as well.

I hope you will enjoy what I have to offer in words.

Cheers!

Dave