People ask, "when did you start writing and telling stories?" Or, "when did you start painting?" I made up stories almost as soon as I learned to talk. "Too much imagination," my dad said. Once I learned how a pencil - or crayon - could make words or draw pictures, I never stopped. I learned to read early, and went through my parents' books and magazines. As a kid, I hid my story books around the house, so I could disappear into a magical world at any time.
I earned a Double Honours B.A at Western University in Visual Arts and English Literature. Afterwards, I completed a double specialist in Visual Art and English Language, and a B.Ed. at The University of Toronto.
For two decades, I taught High School Visual Art and English. By going to night school, and summer school for two years, I earned a M.Ed. in Curriculum Design from Brock University. Additional courses in Primary Education, Special Education, Literacy and School Administration went into my toolbox. As an Elementary Principal, I worked with special needs students, their teachers and families.
At first, my family lived on the outskirts of a small town, later we moved to a small fruit farm. We shared a tiny, rustic cabin on a small lake in the north woods with my grandparents. My parents were fantastic role models. I have a great family and a yellow lab. Those things influence my writing. Put me in a quiet, rural setting - and the words and pictures flow like magic!
'The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.' Pablo Picasso
WORDS - I write in a variety of styles and genres. As an intrepid high school kid reporter, I wrote for the Beamsville Express, St. Catharines Standard and the Niagara Advance. I've been published in the Lake Report, in on line publications in Canada and the US, and in several anthologies. I've done public readings in school classrooms, at the Niagara Falls Public Library, the St. Catharines Public Library, the NOTL Strawberry Festival and other local venues.
Some past published works:
December 2023 - Winner Adult Short Story South Simcoe Arts Festival 'Dry Bones'
Spring/Summer 2023 - CBC Recommended Middle Grade/Young Adult Book List
December 2022- 'All She Wanted for Christmas' published by CommuterLit e-magazine
2022 - Winner Muskoka Novel Marathon with YA novel, 'Rainbow Fire.'
2020 - Winner Muskoka Novel Marathon with YA Novel 'The Sound of a Rainbow' (to be published by Latitude 46 in 2023)
2019- 2nd Place Rotary Stratford Writers Festival, Fiction 'Twelve Stops to Airport'
2019 - Short List Non Fiction Eden Mills Writers Festival 'Just a Cuppa Coffee'
2019 Winner Muskoka Novel Marathon with YA Novel ' A Chain of Broken Hearts'
Non-Fiction: 2019 International NOWW Creative Non-Fiction Shortlist 'Just a Cuppa Coffee'
2019 - South Simcoe Arts Festival Fiction Winner 'Moonlight with Tom Thomson'
Fiction: 2018 - EMWF Fringe Festival Winner - 'Fairy Castle in the West'
Poetry: 2018 - Canadian Author's Niagara Branch, The Bannister, 'Modern Love'
Fiction/Non-Fiction/Poetry - Rising Spirits NOTL Writers Circle Contests, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
National Award (USA) 2014 in online publication Stage of Life with 'Stepping into a Lifetime' Personal Essay
CommuterLit - frequently published
EDITOR
2019 - Fifteen Stories High - Anthology for Canadian Authors Association Niagara Branch
2018 - Ten Stories High - Anthology for Canadian Authors Association Niagara Branch