108 Mile Ranch author Barry Porter is inviting people to come back to the sawmill in his new book Wonderful.
A spiritual sequel to his first novel Sawmillers, which came out just under a year ago, Wonderful is another story based on the colourful characters Porter met working at a Canfor sawmill in Chetwynd for three decades. While some of the characters from his last book show up in the sequel, Porter said you don’t have to have read it to understand it.
“It’s meant to be humorous and a little bit informative. At one point I explain how mill sprinkler systems operate and how a mill fire can start,” Porter said. “I try to get characters to talk naturally as they would in the lunchroom.”
Set in the year 2000, Wonderful follows a series of men and women working at a sawmill. Using fictional characters Porter dramatizes the relationships, personalities and funny stories he saw every day while he was working. The title is inspired by Love is So Wonderful a song from 1958 that ties the story together.
READ MORE: Sawmillers a tale of love, sabotage and life at the mill
This time around he placed more focus on the South Cariboo, with several of his characters visiting 100 Mile House, 108 Mile Ranch and Lac La Hache. Porter said he made sure to make the community look good to encourage readers from outside the Interior to come visit one day.
“I think I put a couple of good plugs in for the town. People stop and eat here or admire all the flowers lining the roads.”
When asked why he decided to do a sequel to Sawmillers, Porter said it’s for the joy of writing. He has only made enough money self-publishing through Amazon to cover the cost of the cover for the first book, but that’s ok with him. The positive feedback he got from those who read it was more than enough to keep him going.
“(Writing) keeps me thinking and doing things in an evening when I’m not sure what else I want to do,” Porter said. “From the time I was a kid, I always thought it’d be nice to write a book. I never even tried because when I was in Grade 2 I’d keep telling myself ‘I learned another big word today, when I’ve learned enough I’ll be able to write a book.’ I guess I must have learned enough.”
Porter said anyone interested in picking up Sawmillers or Wonderful can find them at Nuthatch Books, the 108 Mile Post Office in paperback and Amazon for the Kindle version.
“A lot of people in 100 Mile have had family who have worked in sawmills, so this book is a chance to see what sort of things their family members go through and what a day at work might be like to them.”
