By Thomas Smith

“It is a sign of a healthy democracy to have public support of libraries,” said Douglas Tindal. “Libraries are so important in so many ways. One of the things I learned was that you can loan a set of hiking poles. Libraries extend our ability to enjoy life in so many ways.”

As passionate for public libraries as he is for writing, Douglas Tindal discussed his latest publication Tales from Wine on the Porch as part of the Friends Cafe on Monday, April 7. Friends Cafe is put on by the Friends of Haliburton County Public Library.

Tindal also sold copies of his book, with a part of the proceeds being donated to the Friends of Haliburton County Public Library.

“The Friends all have a love of our libraries, and we raise money to help the library purchase things that they otherwise couldn’t buy,” said Penni Chaulk, vice president of Friends of Haliburton County Public Library.

Some of the initiatives that the Friends have spearheaded include buying sets of books for book clubs, AWE computers for kids, and supporting the library’s bookmark contests through publishing the bookmarks and giving them away to patrons.

Tales from Wine on the Porch is a collection of short stories that follow the lives of seniors and seniors-in-training in their coliving situation in Toronto.

A year before Tindal’s retirement, he began to write fiction, waking up with ideas that demanded to be written down.

The first story from Tales from Wine on the Porch emerged from his writer’s group, saying that he found his voice.

Tindal and his wife Mardi attempted to establish a housing co-op community in Toronto, but their plans fell through. Tindal says that he knows every millimetre of the setting of Tales from Wine on the Porch, as it is based on architectural plans made for their dreamed-of triplex.

It was by fluke that the couple came across the opportunity to live at Oakview Coliving, at the Oakview Lodge and Marina, while visiting his son in Stanhope.

Tindal assures that the coliving setting in his book is not related to his experiences at Oakview Coliving, having started writing its contents five years before moving to Oakview.

In February of 2020, Tindal attended a conference where he was told that he needed to add 50,000 additional words to his manuscript before it could be looked at. Then the pandemic threw a wrench in Tindal’s plans. His creative spark pushed him to write apocalyptic scenarios and drew him away from his original vision.

Upon returning to writing his short stories for the collection, Tindal had to decide how to incorporate the COVID-19 pandemic. He settled on a third of it being set before the pandemic, a third during, and a third after.

“I am writing to entertain myself,” said Tindal. “I want to be surprised.”

Tindal says that he has received inspiration from Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Lady Detective Agency and is most commonly compared to stories of Dave and Morley from Stuart McClean’s “Vinyl Café”. During his talk at the Minden Hills branch of the Haliburton County Public Library, Tindal shared that he is particularly fond of his short story The Case of the Missing Buddha. All of the characters in the short story collection are from different backgrounds, offering unique twists with every page. The characters’ personalities shine through and come easily, says Tindal.

“They kindly allow me to write them down.”

In addition to humour, Tales from Wine on the Porch touches on serious issues related to aging including green burials and planning for funerals.

Tales from Wine on the Porch is available to be purchased from Master’s Bookstore in Haliburton and on Amazon as either e-book or a physical book.