Proof of Concept

Sometimes, my characters do things that make me wonder, "is that really possible?"  For instance, in The Prize, Caleb routinely paddles his canoe over what I came to realize were some pretty extended distances.  I've done a little bit of canoeing myself, but I wondered whether I was asking too much of the boy.

So the summer after I completed the manuscript, I got out onto Lake Champlain myself, first just paddling around the bay, but working up to longer trips.  Within a couple of months of ir...