Just who IS Sarah Richardson?

In a recent Q&A session over at I Love Canadian Authors on Goodreads, I was asked if I drew upon personal experience for my critically acclaimed, bestselling novel Whale Song. Here's my answer...

I definitely drew on parts of my life for this story. I often say there is "more of me in Whale Song than in any other of my books". And it's true.

The main character in Whale Song is Sarah, a young girl who moves to an isolated town on an island in BC. When I was young, we moved to Masset, a small town on the Queen Charlotte Islands, north of Vancouver Island. It was very isolated, very different.

Sarah is thrown into a different culture--the native indian or First Nations cutlure. I had the same experience, but the culture was that of the Haida indians.

Sarah is introduced to racism and is bullied in school. I experienced the same thing.

Later, she becomes attached to the native customs, rituals etc and is fascinated by them. She begins to see their value instead of the differences. It took me much longer to find the value, but eventually I did and I'm glad for all the wonderful stories, the dance, the art from the Haida nation I grew up with.

Sarah learns an important lesson. At the time I wrote the novel, I was working through some personal tragedies and changes and I also learned the same lesson that Sarah does. That, I believe, is the key to why this novel is so popular.

To discover this life-changing lesson, read Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif. It'll change the way you view life...and death.

Available in ebook format at KoboBooks.com, Amazon.com and Smashwords.com.