How do you find time to write?

To be honest I don’t find time to write.  Writing is a compulsion.  I can’t “not” do it.  So the time finds me.  Sometimes (actually often!) I’m at my laptop when I should be sleeping.

Did you always want to be a writer?

Yup. Forever.

How many rejections have you had?

Oh wow.  Do you really want to know?  Too many.  Like stacks. They’re better when they’re personalized…

Do you bring your writing to other parts of your life?

I really love kids. There are four small-ish boy-ish ones in my house. A lot of my current writing is inspired by their zany ways. I love how kids see the world. I used to teach HS, too – and I have a lot of respect for teens. So I’m working on some projects for the YA group, too. But, really – anything that makes me FEEL – I like to write.

Do you have an agent?

A great one. Elaine Spencer at Knight Agency.

How did you feel when your first book came out?

I don’t think there is any better feeling than to be in one of those moments in life when you know you are exactly who you wanted to become and doing exactly what you wanted to do.

Where do you write best?

I do my best writing at the kitchen table – I’m really big on collaboration, too. So I try to utilize the talents of a lot of really gifted people I’m lucky enough to know. That can happen anywhere.

Have you had the opportunity to meet with a lot of other writers?

Yes.  The writers I’ve met along the way have been a wonderful, eclectic mix of personalities.  Here are a few of them:

• Robert Kroetsch:  [A celebrated Canadian poet, Governer Award Winning novelist - My Editor!! for West Wind, North Chatter.  He's such a kind, wise, and brilliant man].
• Hiromi Goto: [You've never heard anybody read aloud like this woman does... breathtaking.  We read together @ the Vancouver Public Library]
• Tompson Highway: [We toured together in northern Alberta.  He has the most wonderful laugh]
• John Seagrave: [Another wonderful man I toured with in northern Alberta - absolutely genuine.  Sadly, John has passed away.  His voice lives on in his book Hudson's Bay Boy.]
• Barbara Kingscote:  [I met her at a reading in Edmonton - riveting life & beautiful story.]
• Alison Preston:  [We read together in Calgary.  Lovely woman.]
• Barb Howard: [Another great person I met in Calgary!]
• Margaret Macpherson: [Alison Preston & I drove to Calgary in her car... it was fun.]
• Beverly Lein:  [A big-hearted woman.  A NeWest author.]
• Sparkle Hayter: [I took her for a short, bumpy drive in my car.  Long story.  She's got amazing life stories as well as many in print.]
• Dymphny Dronyk: [An advocate for the arts and for artists - Grande Prairie's own!]  Author of Contrary Infatuations.
• Alexis Kienlen: [Grande Prairie writer.  I got to listen to her read from her book She Dreams in Red.]
• Linda Smith: [Grande Prairie writer and advocate for writers and the writing community.]
• Glen Sorestad [A poet who was the director of Thistledown Press.  I got to listen to him read & then chat with him about the crazy writing life.]
• Robert Stallworthy: [A poet who we've invited to do workshops at my school.  The students really learn a lot from him.]
• Gail de Vos, Merle Harris & Celia Barker Lottridge: [three fabulous women, each of them an amazing writer & presenter. I toured with them and they let me into their chatting circles...]
• John Gould: [His Kilters was shortlisted for the 2003 Giller!  We read together in Vancouver @ the library.]
• Suzette Mayr: [We read together in Edmonton.  Her anecdotes about the writing process were illuminating.]