Posts in Life, the Universe, and Everything

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  

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

It feels a bit silly doing a New Year’s Post when it’s *checks calendar* January 19th already. But I hit the ground running this year, and this is the first moment I’ve had to pause and catch my breath. ... Read More  

The week between Christmas and New Years’s is always a weird one for me. We’re poised on the brink between last year and next year, reflecting on 2023 and planning for 2024. Caught between leftover holiday indulgences and upcoming ... Read More  

I am beyond thrilled to share that Polar: Wildlife at the Ends of the Earth, is featured in the IndigoKids Christmas Gift Guide! This would be incredible news for any author, but it's particularly special for me. That's because ... Read More  

About 5 years ago, Tech Support and I moved to Ontario. We live in a relatively new neighbourhood, and the first year, there were lawns but no trees. The second year, scattered shrubs and the occasional sapling. Now, almost ... Read More  

OK, I realize it’s mildly absurd to be writing a Happy New Year post in the middle of February, but here we are, so let’s do this!  New Year’s Resolutions Did you make any? How are they going for ... Read More  

It's winter solstice here in the northern hemisphere--the longest night of the year. Tomorrow, and each day after, the light returns, one extra moment at a time. Read More  

Sasquatch celebrated her 20th birthday on May 30. On June 23, we sent her to kitty heaven. She had arthritis and kidney failure and took more medications than I do. But she was as happy and snuggly as a ... Read More  

Every now and then, as a picture book author/illustrator, I do the one thing that I know I should not do. I’m in a good mood, I’m feeling upbeat about my career, and the world is a cheerful, friendly ... Read More  

If you've got young kids, probably pretty recently. If you don't? Was it pre-COVID? Longer? For me, definitely longer. I am a responsible, disciplined, goal-oriented adult. It has been so long since I played that when people ask me what I ... Read More  

Two weeks into 2020-too - how is everyone doing? It's been a mixed bag for me so far. In the YAAAAAAY column, I got my COVID booster (woo vaccines! woo science!) and The Boreal Forest won the 2021 Information Book ... Read More  

Last week was tough, you guys. Last week I told a friend I haven't seen in over two years not to fly out for the holidays, because omicron is blowing up in Ontario and it wasn't safe for her ... Read More  

It seems to be Friday again (already), which means I'll spend tomorrow morning doing what a lot of us do - tidying up the house. Part of my tidying process involves restocking: bringing pantry items from basement storage into ... Read More  

You know those articles about how we should all be getting more sleep? The ones where the first half is dedicated to telling you all the terrifying things that happen to the sleep deprived, and the second half contains ... Read More  

Two years ago today, I submitted the first draft of my forthcoming children's book.* I was burned out and already coughing from what would turn out to be a raging case of stress-induced bacterial bronchitis. And I was getting ... Read More