I was first published in grade three when my teacher submitted one of my short stories for a young authors anthology. The story was about a cavalier whistling fish who didn’t know when to zip it. This led to his untimely end as dinner for some hungry sea creatures. Dark, I know. My writing tends to be a tad more cheerful nowadays. Eventually, school got real – like grade six real – and reading and writing for fun took a back seat to getting good grades.

After I graduated with my nursing degree, I went to teach English in Japan – naturally. When terrible budgeting skills left me broke, I required free entertainment. That’s when I visited a local Hiroshima library. The English book selection was limited, but destiny – or my nasty shopping habit – led me to Harry Potter. And so, my love affair began. With books, that is. Harry’s just a fictional character (don’t tell him I said that).

My mantra became “just one more page.” Reading books (that weren’t school textbooks) inspired my overactive imagination. I wanted to move people the way my favorite authors moved me with their words, so I began to write. Four years later, I was invited to Seattle as a top-three finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. It got me the attention of an agent who worked with me on a new project, and I finally scored my first publishing contract. I hope to be writing stories that make people smile and help them escape for a long time to come. 

I live in Southern Alberta with my family. I’m a true geek at heart. Anything goes, really: Star Wars, superheroes, video games, comic conventions. As a jack-of-all-trades (master of none), my resumé boasts registered nurse, heavy equipment operator, English teacher, photographer, and commercial extra (it was just the one time and I was cut, but I got paid so it totally counts), just to name a few. I like to think it was all part of a master plan. All these years, I was just doing intense research for future novel ideas. 

Love: writing, reading, traveling, crocheting, knitting, photography, rom-coms, and antiques. 

Hate: wearing high heels, watching sports on TV (live is fine), spiders, and horror films (my imagination is way too powerful – they haunt me).

Countries I’ve visited: Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, England, Wales, Scotland, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, America, Greece, and hopefully many more to come.