Tell us about yourself.
I am a Canadian Christian author living in beautiful Niagara region. I'm married with a blended family of four children and two grandchildren.
I've always enjoyed books and writing. When I was eleven, I applied to a writing school. They sent me a polite letter telling to return when I was eighteen. This was 1967. There were no writing or publishing opportunities for kids then.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in an agricultural area of southern Manitoba with Mennonite parents and grandparents.
My faith was a huge influence on my life. However, I was very aware of the differences between my family and other non-Mennonite families. As a child, I found the differences both confusing and interesting.
My parents were very mission minded. Missionaries often visited our church and talked about their life in far-away lands. They inspired my love of travel but my grandparents harrowing stories made me afraid to do so. The Christian faith helped me develop the passion to help others.
I was the only girl in a family of boys, so I learned to carve out my own life away from the male-dominated world. Writing gave the freedom to be myself and explore imaginary worlds.
What was your journey to getting published like?
Scary. I held off on writing a book and publishing for fear that people would laugh at me. Introverts like me don't want to be the center of attention.
I took courses and studied both writing and publishing, hoping to be good enough to publish. Eventually, I hired a publishing assistant to help me jump through those hoops.
What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever received?
My first book won the 2018 Readers' Favorites Silver Award. So that was a really good start to my writing career.
I can't say I've had much negative feedback. I welcome all feedback as constructive and try to learn from it.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Read a lot. Write simply. Learn to plot. Read dictionaries and grammar books. Practice writing and join a critique group. Learn to welcome negative criticism.