Blog
Life lessons from dance…And a quick favour, please!
In working towards and then being on stage for my ballet school’s end-of-year performance last month, I learned lessons beyond actual steps. As I repeated dance sequences and made notes to review and remember what I was supposed to be doing and when, I realized that...
“A Surprise for the Single Dad” is almost here: How I wrote it & what it’s about
My next sweet small-town contemporary romance as Jen Gilroy, A Surprise for the Single Dad, hits digital shelves May 26. Although second in my Strawberry Pond series for Harlequin Heartwarming (following The Hero Next Door) it also stands alone. A Surprise for the...
Dogs in my life and books
I’ve owned, or rather ‘been owned’, by two dogs. And both have enriched my life immeasurably. First was Ladybug, a white and brown spotted floppy-eared mutt. Adopted from a farm, she joined the family soon after my ninth birthday. Smart, active and curious, she’s part...
Springtime in Canada: Otherwise known as ‘whiplash’ season
It’s been a long, hard winter here in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Except for the Pacific coast, Canadian winters are known for being cold and snowy, but the winter of 2025-2026 has seemed especially severe. And while the calendar says spring, winter still hasn’t fully...
Do you feel ‘quanked’ too? The joy of unusual words
As an author, I love words. In fact, my family might call me a bit of a ‘word nerd.’ From subscribing to Dictionary.com ‘Word of the Day’ emails to looking up new-to-me words used in books, news articles or conversation, I’ve rarely met a word I didn’t like. This week...
Down the high school yearbook rabbit hole
High school wasn’t the best time in my life, so I don’t often think of it. Yet, when I was recently in search of character names beyond online sources and a baby name book, I turned to a stack of old yearbooks—and took a stroll down memory lane. Long-forgotten...
Persistence pays and how I manage stressful times
I’ve never been a sporty type. From lurking (and surreptitiously reading!) in the outfield during a middle school baseball game, to spraining my back when I first attempted a forward roll and huffing and puffing in the gym as classmates ran around me, my lack of...
Book inscriptions and untold stories
I’ve collected vintage books since childhood, and you may remember a post from last year, For the Love of Old Books, about that collection. Lately, given several recent "finds", I’ve been thinking about the untold stories bookplates and inscriptions in old, often long...
For the love of libraries: Guest post by Eva Glyn, author of ‘The Croatian Island Library’
This week I'm delighted to welcome my British author friend Eva Glyn (who also writes as Jane Cable) to my blog. Eva has a special post for you about what libraries mean to her and how they feature in her recent book, The Croatian Island Library, a moving contemporary...
Photo by Robin Spencer, Spencer Studio