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...

My top three tips for winter coziness, comfort & cheer

Despite living in Canada, I’m not a winter person. While British friends post photos of snowdrops and green daffodil shoots, I look out my window at snowdrifts knowing it will be almost three months before I see any such signs of spring here. This January has...

How book editing is like January decluttering

Hello, 2026 and wishing you all the best for this new year. While the holiday season is over, it’s still Christmas in my world as I’m working on edits for two seasonal books. One is A Small Town Family Christmas (September 2026), third in my Jen Gilroy Strawberry Pond...

All I want for Christmas

For those who mark Christmas, it’s the season to celebrate the Nativity, gather with family and friends, put up sparkly decorations, exchange brightly-wrapped gifts and more. It’s also a time of joy and renewal, love and hope and to observe the turning of another...