“Don’t give up”, was the last piece of advice Maggie Dunchurch received from her late father.
After years of unscrupulous turmoil, caused by an unsavoury American publisher who misappropriated the sales from her earliest published novels, forcing her to destroy her entire book stock in frustration and anger to protect herself from further exploitation, Maggie found a renewed resolve to reinvent herself.
In late 2020, Maggie resurfaced as a book publisher and distributor, releasing five previously published books under her pseudonym Maggie Dunchurch. She intends to roll out print copies of her books over the next few years, along with new novels. Following a proven model for building a reputation as a writer, Maggie travels Muskoka, doing public talks, pop-up book events, stocking shelves in local stores, selling her books at regional farmer’s markets and through her own webpage. https://maggiedunchurch.com/
From childhood, she remembers sneaking away, while other children played at recess, to write. She learned to type, specifically, so that she could seize her stories, effortlessly, as they flowed through her imagination. Blessed with a vivid, resourceful intellect, Maggie chose not to pursue creative writing academically, trusting her own process and talents to guide her.
Maggie writes in her blog, “Through grade school and high school I wrote short stories and poetry. When I was 17, I wrote my first book. I wrote it on a manual typewriter by candlelight in my first apartment. I didn’t have a television or phone, so I wrote non-stop. I loved it. Then, I stopped writing for more than 15 years. During this time, I used other creative outlets to entertain myself. When I returned to writing, I wrote full steam; one book after another.”
In 2003, she began her first published book, “Onions”. Maggie recalls that she worked twenty-two hours, “hands to keyboard”, to create the story, with little more than an opening scene and a title—a formula she repeated in producing all twenty–four novels in the series, thirteen of which she wrote within a year of completing “Onions”. In fact, she often works on two books at a time, one new and editing or rewriting another.
Maggie finds she gets so immersed in the story, as characters materialize before her eyes, the suspense building is an unfolding mystery. She explains that she is rather “blissfully unaware”, of where or what is about to happen, like an explorer in an unknown panorama.
“The characters seem so real”, she feels, “they must exist somewhere”.
“Onions is a romantic mystery suspense novel about a woman whose determination to start a new life brings unexpected chaos and love.” Set in Sundridge, Ontario, Claire, the central heroine, is forced to “piece together a mystery that rocks the town”.
Upon finishing her inaugural published novel, “Onions”, Maggie already had the idea for her second novel, which led her through a series of twenty-four novels, finding familiar characters merging, interacting, and interspersed throughout. In the final novel they disperse, as Maggie began writing new untold, unforeseen escapades.
She looks at writing like painting a room, “You’re not trying to be perfect, you’re just trying to get the feel of what the colour looks like”. With ease and freedom, Maggie moves proficiently to complete book after book, keeping pace with an expectant growing readership. Her prose typically involves the resolution of some uncertainty, staged from Huntsville to Bracebridge and from Orillia to North Bay.
Maggie Dunchurch, who makes her home in Magnetawan, feels that writing fastmoving tales, set in local settings, pays tribute to the most beautiful place in the world, where she is happy and lucky enough to live.
Although ten of her books had been previously published, starting anew with ownership firmly under her control has given her a new opportunity to target Muskoka audiences, finding new readers wherever she turns. Maggie has thirty–three books completed and is releasing them in paperback through her own publishing firm, MDM Publishing.
Her books can be found in local libraries and for sale in hardware stores and pharmacies. Gaining financial control over her material has spurred her back into writing new stories, a passion she had almost given up on when she discovered that her book sales had been essentially stolen from her. Maggie Dunchurch also writes a detailed blog on her webpage, outlining her previous challenges and writing process and other interesting facts about her career.
Dunchurch writes both fiction and non-fiction. Her catalogue includes nine true stories, that she plans to rewrite as fictional in the future, letting the stories find a path of their own. She writes, “I get to keep guessing what’s going to happen along with everyone else.” As in all her work, and her approach to writing, that is the fun, joy, and beauty of it.
In between writing projects, Maggie successfully taught herself videography, from photography to editing. Travelling with her husband, whose company provides power for outdoor festivals and concerts, Maggie produced a series of videos based on her experiences. Some of these, she explains, are scheduled for a future, tentative, Netflix documentary.
Maggie uses short video teasers to introduce her stories on her webpage. Videography is a tool that she uses to enhance her work as a writer, giving her an outlet to keep her creativity alert and healthy, but she has recently put a hold on that activity to concentrate on building her readership.
Don’t ever give up, is advice from which all can derive sustenance. Like water, flowing to the sea, each of us must surmount obstacles and reclaim our purpose, flowing from the endless depths from which all inspiration arises. Maggie Dunchurch exemplifies the determination and verve needed to overcome adversity, to persevere, follow a dream, and shape a future of her own making, all while having a grand adventure.
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