I came to writing for children late in life, well after my own children had grown and left home. But books and stories have always been a big part of my life, even before my mother taught me to ... Read More  

I'm back from a whirlwind trip to Boston, where Tech Support and I took in the sights, and where I - with author-friend Rochelle Strauss and teacher-friend Chris Carlton - presented at the National Council of Teachers of English ... Read More  

Like most authors, I use the world around me - especially my own world of experience – to create stories for young readers. So it’s not hard to identify the spark that ignited my latest Middle Grade novel, After ... Read More  

Happy I Read Canadian Day, everybody! If you’re not familiar, today is the day we celebrate Canadian stories by reading a Canadian book for 15 minutes. All forms of reading count, and you certainly don’t have to stop after ... Read More  

Playdates at our home got my super-social daughter, Annaliis, excited. She also loved going to birthday parties, but an even bigger highlight was a playdate at a friend’s home. However, these were rare as she was born with disabilities ... Read More  

Creating new things. Sometimes beautiful things. We rarely know the deep origins, or why a particular “something” begins to wiggle, and then morph into a new creative work. Read More  

Autumn is creeping up on me. It's getting dark earlier and there are more cloudy days, neither of which my light-sensitive brain is very happy about. But as things get a little greyer, I've been gifted two enormous reasons ... Read More  

My Grammie’s House (Tundra) beautifully illustrated by Skye Ali, was inspired by the best kinds of childhood memories- the ones that bring back a sense of comfort and contentment. The child in the story gives a tour to potential ... Read More  

I began writing Amelia & Me, the first book in the Ginny Ross Series, when Amelia Earhart dropped into my family history. The convergence of Amelia’s history with my own was an opportunity I couldn’t ignore. It was 1932, ... Read More  

The hot weather seems to make people interested in cool reading: Polar has picked up three more award nominations!  Read More  

A mother and daughter love to canoe on the little lake at their family cabin. With her mother expecting a new baby, their paddling time together provides a perfect opportunity to explore local flora and fauna and for the ... Read More  

Apparently Science Rendezvous Kingston was SIX WEEKS ago, and I haven’t posted about it yet?! In my defence, COVID took up two of those weeks. I’d managed to avoid catching it up to this point, but after getting up ... Read More  

Take a deep breath in. Now hold it. You probably know that you have the trees to thank for that breath you just took. Trees and other plants provide the oxygen that makes Earth habitable. But they don’t work alone! The ... Read More  

For most of my life, I’ve actively avoided writing poetry. There are SO MANY bad poems in the world. But poetry has always been a huge part of my life. I studied calligraphy when I was young, eventually becoming a ... Read More  

Food allergies seem like a big bother when you can’t bring your favourite sandwich or have a special treat day at school. But how much bigger is the bother for the person who has the allergies. Imagine trusting people ... Read More  

Well, that was a whirlwind! Experienced authors warned us newbies that Canadian Children's Book Week was both incredible and exhausting, and they were... not wrong. I crashed pretty hard after my last visit Friday afternoon and am just now starting ... Read More  

Happy Earth Week, my friends! Tech Support and I celebrated Earth Day by doing our annual "stick it in the ground and hope for the best" spring planting in the back garden. So far, the neighborhood bunny - affectionately ... Read More  

I know I am a guest on a scientist’s blog today, but I have to talk about something that doesn’t quite fit in with scientific theory. Or does it??? Psychic powers? Synchronicity? Messages from beyond? Prophetic dreams? Dowsing? Far-seeing? Read More