I ’m thrilled to be joining the Stiletto Gang and to be making it my mission to bring mystery, humor, romance, and high heels to the world. You’ll be hearing from me the third Thursday of each month – but comments, questions, and ideas are always welcome.

As a first step, I thought it would be great to get to know one another. I’m a new mystery writer. My first book, Hung Out to Die, was published last spring, and my second book Conflagration!, a historical mystery, is just out.

I was recently interviewed for the Crime Writers of Canada by Bob Harris, a Vancouver writer, book promoter and publicist.

Below is the section on my life as writer and reader. How would you answer these questions?

The Writer and Reader

Please enlighten me on when you think you realized that writing was your destiny, even though your website bio states, “I don’t’ know that there was one definitive moment, event, or experience that led me to conclude my life would be shaped by words.” 

Growing up I wanted to be a lawyer. I started university prepared to be a lawyer. Then I was introduced to academia and research. I wanted to teach at a university and publish papers in esteemed journals. Then I had a scholarship to get a PhD. I was thrilled. I turned it down. I had a chance to go to Harvard to research perceptions of time. I was thrilled. I turned it down. Clearly something else was at play. I finally realized what I wanted to do with my life was write.

Describe the genres you have pursued.  What is your preference?

I have published poetry and literary short stories. I have published thousands of articles in magazines and newspapers, online and in print. I have published personal essays, usually humorous. More recently, I have published non-fiction books and my first mystery novel as well as two mystery short stories. Whatever I am working on at the time is my favorite.

Who and what are your influences and why? And mentors?

My mother taught me to love language – and to respect it. She cared about words and getting the words right. She was my greatest influence.

When I was about eight or nine, a next-door neighbor tossed me a Nancy Drew book. She thought I might like it. I sat on the curb between our two houses and read the entire book cover to cover. I loved the puzzle, figuring out who dunnit, and being propelled into a world outside my own.

That same year someone gifted me Charlotte’s Web, and my life was forever changed. Not only could words transport you to new worlds, they could become a part of your heart, change you in ways you could not have imagined. I wanted to do that.

As a book reader, what genre appeals to your personal taste? 

I really like mysteries. When you’re busy, career focused, juggling meetings and deadlines and interviews and research and editing and teaching and scurrying to find something for dinner, there isn’t a lot of time for reading. As wrong as that is, it is also a reality. So, I embraced the mystery genre and read as much as I could as often as I could. That was sheer enjoyment.

I also wanted my ideas to be challenged, my senses to be assaulted (gently but definitively), and my heart to be broken. So, I read as many novels, especially Canadian novels, as my mind, heart, and spirit could bear.

Do you have an ideal reading experience?

There is no special place for me when it comes to reading. Whenever I have a chance to engage with a book, that is the most special of all places. Like a curb. My mother told the story of one Christmas when I was about five. Turkey is in the oven, tree is lit, gifts are being opened, bows and paper everywhere. It was all a little too much for me. She turned to find me curled on the couch reading. I loved that couch.