Right person, right book, right time
Last Saturday, I attended a couple of workshops in Woodstock presented by the Writers Federation of New Brunswick during their annual WordsFall festival. Not that it matters, but I had to venture out...
Could the shocking bequest in Grandma Runa’s will be the key to unlock Melinda Hall’s mysterious past—and her future?
Brace yourself for monsters brought to life by talented Atlantic Canadians—Rhonda included—in this 2023 anthology, by Partridge Island Publishing.
If you don’t like Brussels sprouts, here’s a fun, fractured fairy tale explaining why–it’s all Sog’s fault.
Adults and children alike will enjoy this light-hearted picture storybook about self-perception and elusive dreams.
Last Saturday, I attended a couple of workshops in Woodstock presented by the Writers Federation of New Brunswick during their annual WordsFall festival. Not that it matters, but I had to venture out...
Trailing, draping, curling, twisting tendrils of flowering or fruiting vines—I love them, running riot over fences, arbours or trellises. Just a few streets over from my place is a brick house cover...
Trea (pronounced Tree-a) was 11 years old when we put her to sleep this morning. She was a purebred Cairn terrier complete with an award-winning lineage and papers....
Tonight, as my oldest daughter graduates from high school, I realize my most significant period of influence in her life is over. The thought strikes me with force. If I failed to live in the moment i...
The WFNB presents workshop on publishing: A June 16, 2012 workshop in Fredericton, NB, may help realize your dream!...
Come on, admit it. Are you addicted to technology? Do your hands start shaking if you’re torn away from your handheld device for more than a few hours? For an introvert like me, social media has fit...
One can never underestimate the self-sabotaging power of procrastination. I spent four days this week at a remote retreat center near St. Martins, New Brunswick called In the Stillness (www.inthestill...
Listen, folks, I am no wallflower. I breezed through the dissection of a fetal pig in my high school biology 122 class; I clean fish without batting an eye; I’ve watch cows being butchered, carried...
A few things about me.
I am a New Brunswicker, born and raised. I’ve never lived anywhere else except to go to college. I could have stayed in Ontario after I graduated. I might’ve made more money. I often wonder what my life would have been like had I gotten a job in Toronto and made my life there.
There’s quite a bit of me in The Widow & The Will.
As much as I like cities, I felt strongly that I needed to come home. Perhaps it was the crashing waves of the Bay of Fundy that were calling me back. Or the brightly-coloured fishing boats at the wharf in Alma. Or the sparkly Richibucto River on the Acadian shore, where I spent my childhood summers. I watched the moon rise over it at night, and in the sunshine, I picked the wild blue irises (my grandmother called them Blue Flags) that lined the dirt road leading to the cottage.
Over the years, my husband and I toyed with leaving the province for other opportunities. But all the memories are here. Our friends, our family, the salty-air landscapes, the familiar mixes of language, of culture, of ideas…
It’s all different out there, you know.
My background is in public relations and freelance writing and promotional work, but these days, I’m working as an arts administrator – something I sort of fell into by accident — and I have learned a great many new things in this position. And there’s so much more to learn!
I am a wife of more than 30 years, mother to three grown-up kids, and now a small grandson has joined our little circle. He lights up everyone’s world. Other than writing, I love to paint, sing, bake, hike (after I eat what I bake). I like camping in the rain, but I’d have to do it alone. The family likes hotels.
I’d like to hike the Fundy Footpath—in theory. I hear it’s not for beginners.
I love historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, fantasy/science fiction, dystopian, and the biographies of interesting people. And a really, really good love story never goes amiss.
Thanks for visiting! Feel free to check out my books, available for purchase. You can read my blog posts on the writing life, a little bit of fiction, plus some family & personal stuff. I hope you find something here to entertain, challenge or inspire you.