Advice from IR Approved Author Michael Saver: “Readers tell me that this is a book that they can’t put down. They have to keep reading to see what will happen. The twists and surprises in the story keep readers engaged.”

Lost Village: The Conawalki Murder Mysteries: Received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.

Following find an interview with author Michael Saver:

1. What is the name of the book and when was it published?

Lost Village: The Conawalki Murder Mysteries, Book One – July 23, 2025 (my birthday!)

2. What’s the book’s first line?

The One lit his cigarette, then flicked the match out the truck window. Not dry enough to catch fire, he thought. Too bad.

3. What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.

For years, the residents of the tiny (fictionalized) town of Conawalki, Ontario have struggled to rebuild their lives and their community’s identity after the town was uprooted and moved back from the river in the late 1950s to make way for the St. Lawrence Seaway. In the spring of 1973, a pair of brutal murders shatters the uneasy peace, threatening to rip the community apart. As shocking secrets begin to surface, it becomes clear that Conawalki is more than just a town in search of an identity; it’s a place built on hidden truths and unspoken fears. At the heart of the turmoil are the “Three Smart Boys”, teenage friends and bandmates navigating their own identity crisis. As they chase their dreams and grapple with the town’s unraveling mysteries, they become entangled in a web of murder, blackmail, betrayal, and a brush with death that will change them forever. In a town where the past refuses to stay submerged, the boys must uncover who they really are before the deception that blankets their community like a looming shadow destroys everything they hold dear. Lost Village examines the experience of displacement on individual and communal identity, while also exploring growing up LGBTQ in Canada in the 1970s.

4. What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?

I have always journaled. About six years ago, I began to do some writing that I would identify as therapeutic – a chance to make sense of some of my experience growing up gay in a very unusual village in Eastern Ontario in 1973 and wondering how that had an impact on my life, and how it might have been different. From these beginnings, a much more expansive story emerged – something that I thought could be shared with others. Lost Village is a murder mystery, a coming-of-age story, and a historical account of the flooding of eleven long established riverside communities for the development of the St. Lawrence Seaway. As it emerged, the story I wanted to tell happened to bridge these different genres. I have a strong memory of the experience of living in a village when a vicious murder occurred, and the impact that trauma had on everyone. I also reflected how growing up gay in the late 60s and 70s involved a different kind of trauma – bullying, shame and stigma, grit and survival, an absence of role models, the constant challenge of being in the closet. I now realize there are many kinds of “closets” where the truth of peoples’ lives must be hidden. And, as I thought about the historical reality of those villages in Eastern Ontario, I realized that there was generational trauma involved in the displacement created by the Seaway. So, the traumas that underlie these three literary genres combined potently in my memory, and in the stories that I wanted to tell.

5. What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?

Readers tell me that this is a book that they can’t put down. They have to keep reading to see what will happen. The twists and surprises in the story keep readers engaged. And I would add this, also from a reader: “The characters are more than believable—they feel known. Their choices, flaws, and resilience emerge from a precise historical and cultural context that you, as an author, clearly know intimately. For readers, it’s not hard to say, ‘I know these people.’ This makes Lost Village not just a compelling mystery or a meditation on identity, but a deeply human story—one that educates as much as it invites us to connect.”

6. What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?

Mark Sheiffer, the 17-year-old Glam Rock aficionado and David Bowie’s #1 fan, longs to escape from his hometown of Conawalki, while also finding himself entangled more and more in its submerged secrets. He is the character who is most like me, and some of the things that happen to him in the novel are based on my own lived experience.

7. Is this the first book you’ve written?

Yes! I’ve written plays, articles, other kinds of professional writing, but not a novel. At age 70 this was not something I anticipated doing. But I love writing, and I am working hard on the Sequel.

8. What do you do for work when you’re not writing?

I have been an educator, teacher educator and educational leader for 40 years. Since 2016, I have served organizations through professional development and consulting focusing on inclusivity and living and leading with authenticity. As well, I have been a Facilitator with the Center for Courage & Renewal since 2001, leading Circles of Trust, Courage to Teach and other programs across Canada and internationally. I presently serve as Lead Facilitator for the Center’s Core Programs.

9. What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?

I feel an enormous sense of freedom as an indie author – that ultimately what has been published is fully my own work. I did have incredible support from Friesen Press in terms of editing, design (the cover is magnificent, and has received constant kudos), learning the ropes of promotion, etc. However, now it’s up to me, and I experience a real challenge moving my work beyond my networks to a broader audience. I have done everything I can via social media to grow an audience and have appreciated IndieReaders and CANReads and other excellent venues providing feedback and support. And I feel constantly that I’m not doing enough to get my book into the hands of readers. I will begin working with a publicist in January.