Yellowknife (Apr 17/06) - "A story is a found thing."

Much like an archaeologist, author and naturalist Jamie Bastedo said writing a novel is a process of digging up the past, acknowledging the present and looking to the future.

Jamie Bastedo on the tundra. His latest book "On Thin Ice" will be released April 21. - photo courtesy of Jamie Bastedo

In his second novel "On Thin Ice," Bastedo said he used a number of real-life events, accounts and stories to breathe life into his work.

"Stirring the truth into fiction is a lot of fun," he said, "and it makes the book more real and more credible."

The novel follows the story of a half-Inuit teenage girl, Ashley Anowiak, as she comes to terms with her growing shamanic powers and a powerful force stalking her community.

The story is set in the fictional Northern coastal community of Nanurtalik as it undergoes catastrophic environmental changes.

Throughout the story, he said Anowiak experiences dreams and visions based on anthropological reports, and struggles through environmental disasters ripped from recent headlines.

The Yellowknife author said he makes reference to a number of recent weather disasters in the North, from freak blizzards in Tuktoyaktuk, to hills torn apart by melting permafrost in Sachs Harbour. While adding to the reality of the story, he said these events also serve a metaphorical purpose.

"It's almost a spiritual tempest," he said. "There are storms within this girl as she struggles to figures who she is."

Given Bastedo's background as a naturalist, he said the use of environmental change as a backdrop also serves an educational purpose.

He hopes his book helps to "give climate change a human face," and prompts people in the North and elsewhere to examine their lifestyles and attitudes toward the environment.

"Climate change is the number one environmental issue right now," he said, "and nowhere is this happening faster or more dramatically than in the Arctic."

To this end, Bastedo will be releasing the book on Earth Day, April 21, and will tour Iqaluit in the fall, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund.

Bastedo said he found writing this book to be a thoughtful and exciting experience, as he examined Inuit culture and the dreams and experiences of friends as source material.

"This is a humble offering to Northern communities," he said. "I hope a lot of people enjoy it."