I was born in Thunderbay, Ontario, the great white north of Canada. At the time, it was two cities, Fort Williams and Port Arthur. So I was really born in Fort Williams at McKellar Hospital in 1958. I can remember my Dad building us three kids an ice house for us to play in. I was happy back then with lots to do.
In 1962, Dad retired from the RCAF and we moved across the country to White Rock, BC where we stayed until I was about 21. My parents chose White Rock because my Mom's parents lived there. When we first arrived, Dad did not have a job right away so Mom went to work. He tried salesman and Mom worked as a waitress. I stayed with my grandparents all day for four years, going home at night with Mom. I played all day with my grandfather and was happy.
When I went to school I stopped staying at my grandparents. I did well in school until about grade eight, then I began to slide. I took a lot of art classes and did a lot of writing and was proud when my English teacher said my stories were the best student compositions she'd ever read.
After grade twelve I moved to Vancouver and then on to Ottawa, where I have lived since 1979. In 1980, I met my lifelong friend, David Dubie. We are now room mates and take care of each other. I have never been married nor do I have kids. My parents are both dead now and it's just the three of us kids left, with our families, of course and also my Dad married again after my Mom died and so I have a wonderful step-mom.
I hope to stay with MuseItUp Publishing and write many more books. You can buy The Mountain City Bronzes here , and you can visit my blog ,
Q: What inspired you to write this story?
A: I was working in sculpture and painting in the 1980s and I wanted to do something about visual artists. Plus, I thought I'd like to try my hand at a dark story with children.
Q: How long did it take you to write this story?
A: I began this story in the early 1990s. I took writing as a correspondence course and this was one of my first stories. I had some trouble finishing back then because the course was over before I was happy with the story. So I put it away for some years. Then I got on an online critique site and brought it out to work on. I re-wrote and re-wrote and finally I sent it in to an online publisher so many writers on my critique site were talking about, that was MuseItUp Publishing. The day they accepted it was the happiest of my life with only one downside, and that was that my Dad, who had supported my writing for years, had just died in September. I was accepted just two months later. I'll always regret that he missed it. This is all for him. I dedicated my story to him.
Q: What is your favorite thing about writing?
A: There's so many perks to writing, and I mean emotional perks. There's the fact that writing is a type of play. I mean the making up of characters and plot. Of course, once you work it up so someone else may read it, it's hard work. Then there's also the 'high' when you work and it goes well but the best thing is when someone else reads it and they like it. I think any writer would tell you of the happiness when they get a letter or an e-mail from someone who was moved by their work. That's the best.
Q:What is your least favorite thing about writing?
A: When you work and work and it just doesn't click. The self-doubts that come with those days are a drag. It's a good thing I have support.
Q: If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
A: Isabella Bird. Because if I had to be someone else, why not be extraordinary. It would be so much fun to travel to the places she did on a horse when the world had more nature. I found 'A Ladies Life In The Rockies' to be a phenomenal travel tale.
Q: What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
A: I'd be afraid to tell you.
Q: What can readers expect from you in the future?
A: I would like to write all other genres, historical and humorous etc. I don't want to be known for just one genre. I hope it's not writing suicide.
