Cottage Daze

Cottage Daze celebrates life at the cottage where the cottage is the main character, and family, friends, pets, and fellow cottagers are the supporting cast. Whether writing about cottage routine ("First Ski," "Of Mice and Men," "Cottage Guests"), cottage tasks ("Splitting Wood," "Boat Launch"), nature ("A Gathering of Loons," "The Sting," "Autumn Spell"), cottage fun ("The Cottage Duel"), or cottage touchstones ("Start the Day," "Bonfire," "The Perfect Storm"), the stories are told with humour, compassion, insight, and nostalgia.

Who doesn't remember sitting in a frigid lake, trying to help a youngster get up on water skis for the first time, launching a boat while the whole world seems to be watching, or getting caught up in a nest of wasps? This collection of stories, elegantly organized into fourseasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter), will make readers laugh, cry, and long to be at the cottage a "must have" for every cottage bookshelf.

James Ross has a degree in journalism and has worked as a newspaper reporter, cowboy, mountain guide, museum curator, dogsledder, movie stuntman, animal trainer, photo double, and freelance writer. He enjoys adventures and misadventures at his Muskoka island cottage and lives in Bracebridge, Ontario.