About
Welcome
About the Café
The Black Canoe Café first appeared in 2011. We were living in southern France at the time and my first novel was making a giddy transition from the limbo of ‘one day I’ll write a book’ to actually becoming one. In that first draft, the characters needed a place to gather.
Somewhere cozy where they could sit comfortably to have a drink, and maybe something to eat. Somewhere where they could have a conversation, or quietly stare out the windows. And maybe work on a crossword or best of all…read a good book.
For me, the name has roots in the early 1980’s when some high school friends and I would get together to bash around on our guitars. Dreams of rock band futures never had much chance of taking off but we had fun thinking up names. One of those that always stuck with me was “The Black Canoes.”
The café continues to show up in all my stories and has always been a place that I wish existed in the real world. The next best thing–for now–is this digital version. A place where I can share news of my novels, and things I have learned about the craft of writing.
About Christopher
Christopher Courtin was trained as a wildlife biologist but soon discovered that making up stories about animals was much more fun than actually studying them. For many years that story-telling interest was expressed in the world of documentary film where he worked as a writer, videographer, and editor.
He lives in Victoria, BC, Canada with his amazing wife, two wonderful children, a variety of pets and wildlife…and a really quite good espresso machine.