Harwood-Jones pens children’s book set in Morden

Troy Harwood-Jones makes his living in the law, but it is writing that is his passion, and he now has eight novels to his credit.

His stories cover a range of fantasy and fantasy-adjacent genres from middle-grade adventures to adult epics, and his latest work pays tribute to Morden. The connection to his work as an owner, partner, and vice-president of PKF Lawyers is that he oversees the offices in Morden, Winkler, and Carman, so he has a vested interest in the region.

“I come down to Carman, Morden, and Winkler on a monthly basis … and I started to learn more about the local communities, of course, and I’ve taken an interest,” he said, noting the fi rm also aims to support local causes and organizations.

He sees his writing as blending humour, high-stakes action, and emotional depth but also often with a streak of the absurd. And he likes to tackle a variety of genres.

“I do like to have a new challenge,” Harwood-Jones said. “My go-to genre is fantasy because I enjoy the creative outlet of imagining it.”

His latest book, Dear Maybe, is about 11-year-old Mabel, who writes a diary as she copes with suddenly moving from Winnipeg to Morden with her mom. Harwood-Jones wrote it for his daughter to inspire her to read.

Mabel’s adventures allowed him to showcase some of the highlights of Morden.

“I’ve started to like what I see, and one of the things about Morden is that it’s a very charming community, and it’s a very supportive community, and it sort of is infectious,” Harwood-Jones said.

A number of locations in the community come into play in the story.

“There’s a number of things in the book that people will recognize,” Harwood-Jones said, citing the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre as one example, but also Maple Leaf School, the Kenmor Theatre, and even Coffee Culture. “To a certain extent, I do describe it as my love letter to the town because what I started to do was to think about the things that are great about Morden in particular.”

Harwood-Jones sees himself as always having been drawn to artistic endeavours, including as a musician and songwriter in addition to his literary pursuits.

“When I was a child, my father read to me sitting on his lap, and he read The Hobbit to me,” he recalled. “So most of my writing has a sort of fantastical element to it.”

“I’ve always been a creative type. There’s a lot of refugee artists who end up in the law because they need to make a living, and being an artist is a very hard life.

“In my heart, I’m still a creative person, and I’m artsy, not sciencey, and I need a creative outlet,” Harwood-Jones said.

“It’s a very difficult career choice to pursue life as an artist, and hats off to the people who have the strength and the passion and are willing to live on a shoestring budget,” he added. “I can write for the pleasure of writing.”

You can find out more about Harwood-Jones’ books online at harwoodjones.com.