Write what you know!
From an early age I started writing. When I was 11, I entered an essay contest in our local newspaper writing about our town. I won a bike in that contest - first place! In high school I had a few English teachers who liked my style and encouraged me to keep at it. But I had so many other interests: teaching, drama, art, cooking, travel that sitting at a typewriter or with a notebook was something I relegated to short term projects like short stories, song lyrics, and plays for my students.
I began my career as an elementary teacher and principal; I ran my own private school in Kingston, Ontario. I use the suburbs of this small city as the setting for “Daisy Chains”. The idea for “Daisy Chains” came from a need to tell the stories of many, many children, all in one central theme…and it turned into all on one day! Most of the characters in this novel are based on actual children and teens I have known or taught.
Perhaps being the daughter of a professional artist rubbed off on me from an early age. I have alway been one to draw , paint and turn my hand to crafty pursuits. Today my art is a reflection of life in the country and recollections of times gone by.
While working on the building of our house in Sydenham, a recurring theme was "it would take twice as long and cost twice as much." How true! What emerged was a semi-fictionalized account based on the real house building project, with the tongue-in-cheek title "Sex and the Country". It was fun!
I have previously written articles and stories that have been published in our local newspaper, The Kingston Whig-Standard. Since 2010, my life took a change of venue that led to a house on a lake with more time for writing. I always believed in the words of wisdom- “write what you know”, and wrote my first novel based on the students I taught who loved reading about other countries. I had travelled to Singapore, and was able to weave a story around adventurous children magically transformed around the word. The Stickered Suitcase was born!
Cooking is another one of my passions. In the summer of 2013, I was offered an audition on the first ever MasterChef Canada. From the time of the phone interview and the actual audition, I had a long wait. I decided to finally start a blog, but all that was on my mind was cooking for the show. So I wrote about cooking, and what emerged was a book, a memoir of sorts about all my adventures cooking with kids, particularly getting my own two boys adept in the kitchen. It's called, "No More KD!"
So, it would seem I have a book for three audiences : a couple of contemporary novels, a children’s chapter book, and a memoir/cookbook. I hope you enjoy each, or all for their differences as I had bringing them to life. I also continue to help other authors as an editor, proofreader and ghostwriter.
What am I working on?
Volume 2 in the “The Stickered Suitcase Series” takes place in Brazil. It’s called “Carnaval and Crocodiles”.
I began my career as an elementary teacher and principal; I ran my own private school in Kingston, Ontario. I use the suburbs of this small city as the setting for “Daisy Chains”. The idea for “Daisy Chains” came from a need to tell the stories of many, many children, all in one central theme…and it turned into all on one day! Most of the characters in this novel are based on actual children and teens I have known or taught.
Perhaps being the daughter of a professional artist rubbed off on me from an early age. I have alway been one to draw , paint and turn my hand to crafty pursuits. Today my art is a reflection of life in the country and recollections of times gone by.
While working on the building of our house in Sydenham, a recurring theme was "it would take twice as long and cost twice as much." How true! What emerged was a semi-fictionalized account based on the real house building project, with the tongue-in-cheek title "Sex and the Country". It was fun!
I have previously written articles and stories that have been published in our local newspaper, The Kingston Whig-Standard. Since 2010, my life took a change of venue that led to a house on a lake with more time for writing. I always believed in the words of wisdom- “write what you know”, and wrote my first novel based on the students I taught who loved reading about other countries. I had travelled to Singapore, and was able to weave a story around adventurous children magically transformed around the word. The Stickered Suitcase was born!
Cooking is another one of my passions. In the summer of 2013, I was offered an audition on the first ever MasterChef Canada. From the time of the phone interview and the actual audition, I had a long wait. I decided to finally start a blog, but all that was on my mind was cooking for the show. So I wrote about cooking, and what emerged was a book, a memoir of sorts about all my adventures cooking with kids, particularly getting my own two boys adept in the kitchen. It's called, "No More KD!"
So, it would seem I have a book for three audiences : a couple of contemporary novels, a children’s chapter book, and a memoir/cookbook. I hope you enjoy each, or all for their differences as I had bringing them to life. I also continue to help other authors as an editor, proofreader and ghostwriter.
What am I working on?
Volume 2 in the “The Stickered Suitcase Series” takes place in Brazil. It’s called “Carnaval and Crocodiles”.
