About me

I grew up in Gilbert Plains, Manitoba in the heartland of Canada. Even though my father was a teacher and not a farmer, we lived on a quarter section farm just a few miles from town. I always loved the wide open spaces, vast blue skies and waving grain fields on the prairies that are vividly portrayed in my novels.

I married in 1978 and my husband and I raised three children while operating a large grain and beef operation. I was a full-time Mom and worked part-time at our local newspaper, doing everything from writing stories about local events, doing layout and photography. I served as a school trustee and a representative on provincial agriculture boards, while writing free-lance pieces for regional newspapers.

In 2007, I decided to return to university full-time to finish my Arts degree after a thirty year hiatus. In my creative writing class, my classmates chose my short story, Fence Lines, to be published in a year-end collection. They were interested in my main character, Caroline Webb, and wanted to know more about her. She was so completely alive in my mind, I knew she had a much bigger story to tell. Thus began my novel, A Strange Kind of Comfort. I enrolled in Humber College's Creative Writing Program, working with renowned Canadian writer, Sandra Birdsell, and finished a first draft.

I achieved a life-long dream when Dundurn Press, Toronto, Ontario, accepted the novel for publication in October, 2018. It was published in January, 2020. I was able to launch the novel in my hometown and Winnipeg but the COVID pandemic disrupted my subsequent planned marketing and book-signing events. During the pandemic. I began work on my second novel, On Veil Creek.

On Veil Creek is a deeply personal story. Our granddaughters, aged 4 and 6, were killed by a drunk driver on August 16, 2019. I could barely function, let alone write, for a long time but, in the isolation of the pandemic, I started to tell Tommy and Marissa Nychuk's story. It deals with themes darker than I expected, but I was able to confront my debilitating grief and exorcise some of my deepest rage against the man responsible.

In 2024, I started my own publishing company, Scarlet Sky Press. I hope to give new and emerging writers from my part of Canada a chance to tell our stories. Scarlet Sky's first publication will be On Veil Creek. I plan to publish two titles by other writers in 2025. Visit scarletskypress.ca to learn more.

In addition to writing, I love exploring new countries and cultures with my awesome husband, and spending as much time as possible with our children and grandchildren.

Wayne and I live along the picturesque Valley River. The photo on the homepage is the view that gives me inspiration as I write.