Deer Life: Making the transition from song to fairy tale
Ron Sexsmith’s debut novel is an enchanting story of woodlands witchcraft, bullying and revenge
Ron Sexsmith is used to waking up with a song on his mind.
Those moments when he’s not quite awake and not quite asleep are often when inspiration hits the Juno-winning songwriter.
But one morning he woke up with something bigger on his mind.
He’d dreamt of a shooting in the woods, a deer, a dog, a novice hunter, a magical bowler hat and a witch with purple eyes.
It was obviously bigger than a song. A movie, perhaps?
Sexsmith didn’t know much about filmmaking, so he started seeking advice. An acquaintance in the publishing world suggested he had the framework for a book, perhaps a novella.
Sexsmith didn’t know much about writing novels, either.
Nonetheless, he sat down and let his characters lead him through a charming little story focused on the strange goingson in the fictitious towns of Hinthoven and Hixenbaugh (which also happens to be the last name of Sexsmith’s musician wife, Colleen).
The main character is Deryn Hedlight who, during a hunting trip, is miraculously transformed into a deer. Thus the title of Sexsmith’s book “Deer Life,” published by Dundurn and released late last year.
Sexsmith will be one of the many authors discussing their work at the 14th annual gritLIT Readers and Writers Festival which takes place April 12 to 15 at the Hamilton Plaza Hotel, 150 King St. E.
On Saturday, April 14 at 12:30 p.m., Sexsmith will join fellow writer Kristyn Dunnion (“Tarry This Night”) in a panel entitled “Not-So-Happily Ever After.” At 9:30 p.m. on the same day he shares a “Words and Music” panel with Hamilton’s Tom Wilson, who will read from his critically-acclaimed memoir “Beautiful Scars.”
“Deer Life” is filled with Sexsmith’s lively wit.
A fan of Charles Dickens as well as “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show,” Sexsmith narrates the 136-page story in a “Fractured Fairy Tales” manner. Adding to the storyline are 22 of his original illustrations.
“I got very attached to the characters as I was writing it,” Sexsmith, 54, tells The Spectator from his home in Stratford, where he recently moved from Toronto.
“I would be so immersed in it to the point where I was in the town (Hinthoven or Hixenbaugh) and could see the characters. I would be furiously typing away in my office and a whole day would go by. It was a whole other level than songwriting.”
Sexsmith, a native of St. Catharines, is not yet ready to let go of the story or its characters (he’s particularly fond of Hinthoven innkeeper Crad Grimsby).
He has now written a dozen songs based on the book and is scripting a musical stage adaptation.
Sexsmith doesn’t know much about writing plays. Then again, he didn’t know much about novel writing before he actually wrote one. He’s taking on the task in steps.
In August, as part of the Stratford Summer Music Festival, he is staging a “Deer Life” recital with a chamber orchestra and a narrator to set up each song.
“I would love for it to be more than a book, for it to hit the stage or perhaps be a movie,” Sexsmith says.