Almost 20 years ago, Ed Zaruk gave up his expensive hobbies and informed his wife Marian he was going to be a writer.

Since he always loved reading, Zaruk figured a couple of pencils and a few sheets of paper would be his investment.

But his first novel, which now lays in a drawer, unpublished, took 10 years to complete.

“Writing is the hardest work I’ve ever done,” Zaruk said.

A comfy couch in a hotel lobby, yellow lined pad of paper and a few free hours are all he needs to write.

“I drive a lot in my regular job,” Zaruk said.

“That’s where I work out my ideas.”

That first manuscript was painstakingly perused by Marian where spelling, grammar and structure were scrutinized.

“I have a stack of rejection letters for that novel,” Zaruk said.

He wrote what he loved, a thriller novel.

However, what possibly is the most influential exercise during that process was the couple began attending writers conferences, including the prestigious conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo. where they rubbed shoulders and picked the brains of some of North America’s best novelists.

Many of which were women.

“I started reading women authors and switched from plot driven work to character development,” he said.

“It was totally out of my genre.”

A chance reading of a true story about a pilot who flew a Norseman bush plane, carrying Indian children to residential schools, sent Zaruk on a journey to a completely different world.

On their way to Jackson Hole in 2004, Ed waited anxiously for his wife to finish reading what he had been working on for six months.

“I was prepared to put it in the drawer with the other three manuscripts,” he said.

“She loved it.”

But Zaruk was far from finished, the subject matter was controversial, the character development and relationships complex.

The novel was taking on a life of its own and Zaruk followed its lead.

Wanting to set the right foundation for this body of work, research played a big part in his writing, digging for the authentic details about a lifestyle almost gone.

Zaruk found through the residential school system and urbanization of First Nations people, much of the Native culture was lost.

His first chapter, where white boy Ted meets Ojibway Native Jack, took three months to develop.

“I wanted to portray the universal language of children at play,” Zaruk said.

“It took a long time.”

Alter and Throne took almost two years to complete.

Set in Kenora, Ont., Zaruk developed the Native personalities based on his personal experience there as an aviation mechanic, stories from his mother who lived around Native communities before residential schools and his research.

Ed and Marian didn’t always agree on how the story developed. In fact, his wife demanded one very tragic scene be removed, but Zaruk remained firm.

“I go where the characters take me,” he said.

“The characters are my friends. That scene had to remain in the story.”

Alter and Throne carries the reader through the challenging times when the Canadian government, in partnership

with the church, removed Native children from their historical and cultural roots and placed them in the hands of sometimes corrupt and cruel individuals.

Zaruk weaves his story based on fictional, but authentic characters in an emotionally gripping tale where friendships and family relationships are tested, and sometimes fail.

Alter and Throne is a self-published novel, available through Caryall Books and Cariboo Keepsakes or go to www.edzaruk.com

Zaruk is launching his book with a book signing at Cariboo Keepsakes (old Hudson’s Bay building), Nov. 14, 5 – 8 p.m., Nov. 15, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. as well as the three Farmers’ Christmas Markets Nov. 22, Nov. 30 and Dec. 13 at Arts and Recreation Centre.