"What would you be up to if you were a beaver?"

For the past two years, I have been writing a novel. In September 2023, I embarked on this adventure in complete secrecy, gradually sharing it with my partner, family, and friends. It's all about beavers. 

Don't you think that they are underrated animals? I do. I think there's much to say about them. They don't look like much, they are quite vulnerable, and yet they are one of the rare species to shape their habitat as much as humans do. They bond with a partner, forming lifelong relations, and busy their days with all sorts of odd jobs to maintain the dam that ensures their subsistence. They are industrious, smart, and forward-thinking. Deep down, I believe that they're closer to us than we'd like to believe. 

So, one night, after twisting and turning under the blanket, looking for a rest that wouldn't come, I wondered: "What would I be up to if I were a beaver?". 

That initial question took me to uncharted territories—tale-telling, creative-writing, beaver ecology, geology, diving, and linguistics. It's been one of the most pleasant meanders of my life. I had so much pleasure inventing the story of Bernard (Bernie) Beaver and his friend Hector Castor. Narrating their quest to find iron for Bernie's brother, who suffers from an iron deficiency that prevents him from regrowing his teeth and fitting in with the community, has been a source of immense joy.

But it has also been a challenge. Writing in English, an active choice as it is the modern Lingua Franca, has been a daunting task for the Frenchman that I am. Finding time to lay down hundreds of precious words a day consistently. Overcoming the difficulty of narrating scenes that sounded wonderful in my head but turned out to be excruciating to write. And perhaps the most humbling one: discarding months of work after an honest review. 

The keen reader will find obvious similarities with Watership Downs, Redwall, The Peasants, and even Revolutions, the podcast by Mike Duncan. They will also learn the hay trade in the Dale, the dynamic between the Capras and the Heartbees, the Spring-Fallers and the Crayfish, and a very plausible explanation as to why beavers and bears have so much beef. 

I hope that a physical version of the book will be available before the end of 2025. I can't wait.