Atlantic Ocean

Fraser McKinnon

Three generations of fishermen, a decade in Alberta oil, and stories as unforgiving as the sea itself.

About

Maritime novelist chronicling the harsh beauty and buried secrets of Atlantic Canada—where the sea is a character, not a backdrop.

Blood & Salt

  • Three generations of family worked fishing boats out of Peggy's Cove
  • Returned to Nova Scotia after a decade in Alberta oil fields
  • Writes from a weathered desk overlooking the North Atlantic

The Work

  • Literary fiction with Maritime grit
  • Working-class narratives, regional voices
  • No sentimentality, no guaranteed redemption
  • For readers who appreciate Proulx, McCarthy, and unforgiving truth

The Life

  • Offshore rig experience meets dockside stories
  • Plays poker in Halifax underground rooms
  • Searches for shipwrecks along Eastern Shore

Philosophy

The best stories, like the Atlantic itself, are beautiful, brutal, and utterly indifferent to what you think you deserve.

Stories should hit like weather—inevitable, impersonal, transformative. The natural world is an indifferent force. Beauty exists within brutality. Regional specificity creates universal resonance. And the sea? The sea always wins.

Thematic Territory

Working-class Maritime life
Generational debt & inheritance
Man vs. nature (nature wins)
Economic displacement
Small community secrets
Weight of family history
Oil economy vs. fishing economy
Canadian stoicism & its costs

Get in Touch

For inquiries, readings, or correspondence

Fraser