I've always appreciated a great story, and have the greatest admiration for those who could entertain and inspire others by telling one.  As a young child, I loved having books read to me by my parents, and by the age of two or three, I would memorize and recite my favourites.  In high school, after studying great, classic works of literature, I fell in love with these works, and became amazed by the power of the written word, and how moving, inspirational, and transcendent it could be.  This appreciation of these brilliant works, and being able to analyze and discuss them, is largely what inspired my career choice of becoming a high school English teacher- that and my enjoyment of helping young people, and making a difference.  A few years after graduating from university, I realized I wished to craft a novel of my own, one that has something meaningful to say.  However, for numerous years, the right story eluded me, and this dream lay dormant.   Over the last number of summers, I visited a few overnight camps, and I really appreciated the beauty of these places, especially the lake and facilities.  I absolutely love the laid-back, carefree lifestyle of camp, where everyone, staff and campers, is there for one reason: to have a wonderful time at the best time of year.  At one of these camps, I was the photographer, a job I loved, since photography is one of my personal hobbies.  As a result of this, I am quite familiar with the job, and from a narrative perspective, it allows access to a great number of individuals in different areas of the camp site, since you are constantly roaming around, seeing and hearing things as you work, and sometimes becoming better acquainted with some individuals by conversing with them.  Another inspiration is the common problem at many overnight camps, to some extent or other- drug and alcohol abuse among staff members, which creates a safety concern.  The issue is highly exaggerated in the novel for dramatic effect.  My camp experiences, coupled with classic works of literature, were the inspirations for the novel.   It should be noted, however, that the camp in Happy Campers is fictitious, as are all characters, situations, and events.  Although the situation at this fictional camp is highly corrupted, and there is a great deal of inappropriate behaviour, in reality, the camps I visited were wonderful, welcoming places that I enjoyed thoroughly, and the staff were pleasant and hard-working, unlike many of the characters in Happy Campers.  To the best of my knowledge, there is no Camp Black Pines in the Muskoka area; the name suggests death and decay- of reason, common sense, and morality.  Beaver Lake also does not exist in this region.  The name is intended to be very Canadiana- nature, and especially the beaver, are highly associated with Canada, and the beaver’s image is even featured on the Canadian nickel.  There is also some ironic symbolism involved here.  The beaver symbolizes ingenuity, since it constructs its home by using its teeth to fell large trees many times its size. However, ingenuity is lacking at Camp Black Pines; instead, it is replaced with hedonistic behaviour, the satisfying of base desires.  Additionally, the slang word ‘beaver’ has a base, crass meaning, which in this novel, is quite befitting.  Furthermore, unlike Simon in the novel, I was welcomed at the camps I visited, and had positive, friendly relations with the individuals I met there. With respect to classic works of literature, Lord of the Flies, a novel I love, and have taught countless times, was probably the greatest inspiration.  While writing this novel, I was often concerning myself with some of the same issues as Golding had not long after World War II; however, I contemporized it, and set my novel at a summer camp in Central Ontario’s ‘cottage country,’ instead of a deserted, tropical island, with both males and females, not just males, and expanded the age range from about age seven to roughly twenty-five, instead of five to twelve.  Happy Campers answers the following question: What would happen if a group of young people was secluded at an overnight camp in the wilderness, without any responsible authority?  Tennessee Williams's plays (A Streetcar Named Desire especially), and more recently, Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner were also inspirations.  The works of William Shakespeare- the tragedies in particular, are also a major source of inspiration, and some are referred to the novel, as is Golding’s novel; these works would be cherished by the protagonist, Simon Green, as well, since he, like myself, is a high school English teacher.    

Member of the Ontario College of Teachers