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.
My quads have recovered from last week’s travelling lunges…I’ve been doing them all week trying to loosen up my thighs. They were pretty tight for the first few days. Through the miserable weath...
Yes, I think I am. Last night I joined the first session of an eight week running club with friends and acquaintances from my church. I have been jogging for a long time, but I’ve never run with a g...
It was a difficult pregnancy. Not only was I continually nauseous, but I had back pain. I was sleepless, every night tossing and turning in an effort to find a comfortable position. The baby was press...
I wish I were a better gardener, because there is nothing in the world like the satisfaction of harvesting food that has been planted and grown in one’s own backyard—to see the magical transformat...
This morning, my oldest child headed out to her last-first day of high school. It’s hard to believe she will graduate this year, and even though I still have two more children with plenty of growing...
I think guys working at repair shops sometimes have difficulty with the concept, “making an appointment.” Or maybe they think customers need to learn that the word appointment really means “pr...
On this, the last day of her television show, Oprah might say her plan all along was to become an invisible conduit through which you, the simple viewer, could just believe in yourself—but don’t y...
A funny thing happened while I was writing today’s main blog about Randy Pearlstein’s Writing for Comedy workshop. I was in the public library, intending to write over my lunch hour and headed for...
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.
