We are delighted to have Tim Welsh join us today to speak about history in his extraordinary debut novel, Ley Lines (May 1, 2025, Guernica Editions).
Set in the waning days of the Klondike Gold Rush, Ley Lines begins in the mythical boom town of Sawdust City, Yukon Territory. Luckless prospector Steve Ladle has accepted an unusual job offer: accompany a local con artist to the unconquered top of a nearby mountain. There, the duo finds a seven-foot human ear, floating in a halo of light. This mysterious discovery briefly upends Sawdust City's fading fortunes, attracting a crowd of gawkers and acolytes, while inadvertently setting in motion a series of events that brings about the town's ruin.
Welcome, Tim!
Q: Would you tell us about writing this trippy story in a historical setting?
A: A benefit of writing fiction with a historical setting is that it gives you a larger palette of words to play with. One of the joys of writing Ley Lines was melding the language of 19th-century prospectors with my own style. The goal isn’t necessarily to be historically accurate (if it were, the book would be a failure on multiple levels, lol) but to create a distinctive experience for the reader.
To me, style is the thing that makes literary fiction unique as a form; it’s the difference between writing a novel and, say, relating the plot of an imaginary movie (which is how I would characterize a lot of bad fiction). To the extent that the book works, a large part of that is because the language itself—slightly absurd, slightly psychedelic—mirrors and complements the narrative as a whole. I wouldn’t write this way if I was writing, say, a tender, realistic, coming-of-age drama; conversely, Ley Lines wouldn’t be Ley Lines with any other style of writing. You’re either in for the ride or you’re not.
More about Tim Welsh:
Tim Welsh was born in Ithaca, New York in 1980. He was raised in Ottawa, Ontario, and attended Queen’s University and Carleton University, graduating with an MA in English Literature. Since then, he’s lived in New York City and Oaxaca, Mexico, played bass in a punk band, and managed a failing art gallery. Tim Welsh lives in Toronto with his wife and two children. Ley Lines is his first novel.