How to write

The frozen wilderness of Canada is the last refuge for men and women running from their scandalous pasts.  Dafydd Woodruff, a young and promising surgeon was no exception; serving a year long penance in the remote town of Moose Creek after a botched surgery.  To his surprise, he finds a community of misfits, some of which become friends and others, foes.  

Fourteen years later, Woodruff is satisfactorily (if not happily) married and working on staff at a hospital in Wales.  A letter arrives from a young girl, claiming to be his daughter. The news disrupts his predictable life. The child’s mother, Sheila Hailey, claims the girl and her twin brother are the result of rape.  Despite Woodruff’s vehement denials, DNA proves the children are his.  Woodruff, determined to face his accuser, returns to Moose Creek and finds a part of himself he left behind.

While Woodruff’s life in Wales crumbles in his absence, he begins a new life in Moose Creek, re-establishing old relationships and asserting himself in the children’s lives. The book tends to stall here, since there isn’t much conflict other than Sheila Hailey’s annoyance. Even when his wife leaves him, Woodruff is unable or unwilling to put up a fight.  He is repeatedly victimized and never seems to grow into a man worth knowing.  

Ice Trap is set in an unusual and exotic local; however the characters are common stereotypes: a spiteful harlot, a vindictive wife, a self destructive addict, a desperate spinster, a sullen teen, a bureaucratic administrator, etc.  Combined with a mundane plot, Ice Trap has all the excitement of watching ice melt.