Janine McCaw - Bio

OLIVIA'S MINE marks Janine McCaw's debut as a popular fiction writer. For the Vancouver-based novelist it is the beginning of a dream, and the fruit of years of working in a different creative realm.

McCaw's deep understanding of compelling plots, widely appealing characters, natural dialogue and strong story arcs comes directly out of her early career in the film and television industry. McCaw's skills as an observer started early when her family uprooted from the City to small town Ontario - and she became the classic fish out of water. Writing down her thoughts became an outlet as she scribbled her way through childhood, while she also developed her observational skills and visual eye with photography. A die-hard hockey fan, McCaw studied Cinematography at Humber College, and was headed for a career as a cameraperson covering professional sports when she landed an internship in a broadcasting services company.

McCaw excelled in the television distribution arena. She joined Thomas Howe & Associates and moved with that company to Vancouver, where she distinguished herself with her talent for identifying the right product for the right market, and her people-skills in negotiating contracts. After furthering her professional development with several high-profile Canadian entertainment companies, she parlayed her reputation as a leading Cable Programming specialist into her own boutique firm. Formed with a partner, Dark Horse Entertainment specialized in finding, and selling, niche Canadian television series - entertainment, information and variety - around the Globe. McCaw also acted as an independent executive producer on award-winning television Classic Car series, CHROME DREAMS, and as a distributor for series including ENTREE TO ASIA, and AT HOME WITH HERBS.

In high demand as an insightful, humorous and engaging guest speaker, juror and analyst for festivals and trade forums around the country, McCaw also spent large amounts of time traveling abroad to television markets. Writing relieved the stress of constantly being on the road. Increasingly, she turned her main hobby into outlines for novels, and finished fleshing out the characters, plot and dialogue for OLIVIA'S MINE, a fictional account of a young bride's struggle to make a life for herself against the backdrop of the disasters that hit Britannia Beach, British Columbia in the early 1900s.

Encouraged by the strong response she received from peers and established writers, McCaw became frustrated by the long timelines involved in traditional publishing. She turned her technological savvy, research skills, and her careerlong ability to get things done, to fast-track the process.

"The feedback I received was tremendous," McCaw explains, "but the process was excruciating. It seemed so odd to me that if you are a musical artist, and you negotiate an exclusive deal through Starbucks, you are trendsetter, on the cutting edge of distribution, and in control of your art. If you are a film producer, and you beg borrow and steal from your friends and relatives to produce your first feature film, you are a financial genius, on the cutting edge of distribution, and in control of your art. However, if you are a writer and you publish your own book yourself, you are...well, you're so vain! I just don't buy into it. In the Entertainment Industry, artists are increasingly maintaining creative control, and finding audiences, via the Internet. Virtual libraries and books-on-demand are even becoming the norm for established publishers. Given my background, that's where I want to be right now."

OLIVIA'S MINE is due for release in the Spring of 2006. McCaw is also currently developing eight other stories for novel form. All set on the Pacific North West and in Canada's North, they include the murder mystery A LITTLE FIRST DEGREE, a feel-good trilogy THE INN AT HAZY WATERS (Northern Exposure meets Fantasy Island), and PUMPER an action romance that has already garnered interest as the basis for a feature film.