She can picture it already: Alex, laughing as he tells her how no one believes his mother invented Pep Talk Paul, the app that saved the world. And she’ll assure him that it’s true, but she won’t tell him it’s also the reason she gets to be his mother, because by then he won’t remember that there was a time when someone else was.

Set on a Newfoundland ferry and written by the narrator Pauline from an imagined future perspective where she is wealthy and successful—and a good mother—No Wake Zone is the story of a young woman and an old man realizing a deep affinity for one another, and a timely exploration of the nature of guilt and hope, of responsibility and tenacity, and of connection with self, others, and technology. In the end it reminds us that we’re all flawed, but that we’re also all heroic.

JP Rodriguez grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He studied in Thunder Bay, Vancouver and Toronto, taking more courses than he suspects anyone ever has en-route to a teaching degree. Following his studies, he spent seven years abroad, and those experiences greatly influenced him and his work. He began writing fiction in Japan, while teaching English to students ranging in age from three to eight-eight. After five years living in Tokyo and traveling extensively, he and his wife moved to London, England, for two years. They returned to Thunder Bay, and jp began to rethink a teaching career, deciding to focus on social work. He now works in that field. JP is passionate about social justice and global politics, and these interests inform his writing. He has written and published many short stories, and The Space Between is his first novel. Although writing is what he loves most, he also enjoys painting, making music, photography, cycling and skiing.

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