As Coquitlam's first archivist, Emily Lonie would drive from her home in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»to work and pass by the large crow rookery around Still Creek in Burnaby — north of BCIT.
She didn't like the commute and wondered if the birds felt the same about their journeys.
The question planted the seed for a story, which Lonie then turned into a screenplay.
But when she presented it before her writing critique group, Archivists Who Write, in 2021, they suggested she adapt it into a novel that's geared for middle school students.
"It lent better as an early chapter book," Lonie told the Tri-City News on Monday (Aug. 14), noting it took a few months to change the format, as well as a few aspects of the narrative.
Last week, Lonie released , a self-published debut that includes illustrations from Amy Knill, a recent graduate of Emily Carr University of Art + Design. It was edited by Naomi Pauls of Paper Trail Publishing while the book was designed by Jazmin Welch of fleck creative studio.
The work is available .
Lonie describes the book as a "love letter to the Lower Mainland" as her protagonist, Corben, visits all the landmarks she loves to go locally such as Steveston Harbour, Granville Island, the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Aquarium, Lions Gate Bridge and Jericho Beach.
The bored crow also encounters many animals — a seagull, squirrel and a fluffle of bunnies — along the way as he flees his family for new adventures around the region.
Lonie, who was Coquitlam's archivist from 2013 to 2021 and is now a financial advisor, said crows don't get enough props.
After studying their behaviours for years, she concludes they are intelligent and problem-solving birds that "are perfect candidates for fictional characters."
"They're cheeky and aggressive, too. I find them fascinating. And usually everyone has a story about a crow.
"I want to soften them a bit with this book."
As for her next writing project, Lonie said she may spin the Corben tale into a series.
