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EmailSightseeing, shopping snacking and more: Celebrating a mini vacation
Posted Mar 22 2019 in About Jen, Canada, Family, Travel
English Rose had a school holiday earlier this month so we spent a long weekend in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, forty-five minutes by car from where we live. Although we visit Ottawa every few months, it’s usually for medical appointments, brunch with family, or to visit a specific store. And then we go home again, […]
Read More...Celebrating grandmothers
Posted Mar 8 2019 in About Jen, Canada, England, Family, Friendship, Small town life, The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls
Earlier this week, English Rose bounced into the house with the kind of teenage excitement usually reserved for a meme, ‘tea’ (gossip between friends), or afternoon at the mall. “Look what Grandma J gave me,” she said, gesturing to the colourful bracelet on her wrist. “It’s from her trip. She brought back presents for all […]
Read More...My life in laundry
Posted Feb 22 2019 in About Jen, Canada, England, Family, Home
As you may have seen on Twitter, Tech Guy and I got a new washing machine last week. Not only did it mark a milestone in my complicated relationship with laundry but, and in a clear indication of advancing middle age, few things in recent years have brought me so much excitement. The wringer washer […]
Read More...Why do I write?
Posted Feb 8 2019 in About Jen, Reading, Writing, Writing craft
In a Facebook group this week, another writer asked: “Why do you write?” While the answer is different for each writer, the question made me think about the constants from when I first started my writing journey—enthusiastic and starry eyed—through to now—still enthusiastic but more realistic. Making sense of the world Making sense of the […]
Read More...Hunkering down for winter
Posted Jan 25 2019 in About Jen, Home, Reading, Winter
I grew up in a Canadian city (profiled in a documentary “Colder Than Mars”) that is either celebrated, or depending on your perspective, reviled for the harshness of its winter weather. Now I live near a place that this week garnered the dubious distinction as the world’s coldest capital city. Yet, despite proximity to this […]
Read More...A year to cultivate
Posted Jan 11 2019 in About Jen, Cultivate, Family, Friendship, Word for the year
In the past few weeks, my social media feeds have been dotted with posts from those who have chosen a particular word to guide them through 2019. I’ve chosen a ‘word for the year’ since 2014 (read more here), and because I don’t usually make resolutions (and never in January), choosing a special word to […]
Read More...A world of kindness
Posted Dec 21 2018 in About Jen, Back Home at Firefly Lake, Firefly Lake, Kindness, Publishing, Summer on Firefly Lake, The Cottage at Firefly Lake, Wishing Tree, Word for the year
Several weeks ago, and to celebrate the first birthday of Back Home at Firefly Lake, I offered a giveaway on my Facebook author page. For a chance to win a signed paperback and holiday ornament, I asked my readers to leave a comment about a random act of kindness they’d either given or received. With […]
Read More...New hope and Colouring The World Orange
Posted Nov 9 2018 in About Jen, Community, CRPS, Family, Gratitude
Orange is not my colour. At best, it makes me look sallow. At worst, ill. Yet, this month (dubbed NERVember by the International Pain Foundation), I’m taking pride in wearing orange to raise awareness of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS, also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystorphy, RSD), and support those, including English Rose, battling this […]
Read More...Quilts for a cause
Posted Oct 26 2018 in About Jen, Family, Knitting and craft, Quilting
I don’t sew, knit, crochet, embroider or do any of the other handicrafts at which women on both sides of my family tree excelled. In junior high home economics, sewing was painful for both me and my long-suffering mother. Mom made many of her own clothes and was renowned for her knitting, but she’d been […]
Read More...Disconnected from a connected world
Posted Oct 12 2018 in About Jen, Books, Community, Reading, The Cottage at Firefly Lake
If you follow me on social media, you know that I was unexpectedly offline for most of last week when work to lay underground fiber optic cables cut existing cables that deliver landline phone and internet service to my home. As someone who is almost always connected to the wider world, I was all of […]
Read More...The Latest News
- Feb 15, 2019: Penguin Verlag acquires German rights to Firefly Lake series
- Dec 11, 2018: Take Two Characters: Jen Gilroy chooses two of her favourite fictional people — Guest post, author Susanna Bavin’s blog
- Oct 12, 2018: Writing workshop for North Grenville Writers Circle
- May 29, 2018: All About Books — Guest post on Odd Socks and Lollipops
- Dec 18, 2017: My favourite holiday books as a child — Guest post, That Artsy Reader Girl, A Bookish Little Christmas
- Dec 17, 2017: How I find writing inspiration – Guest post, ChickLit Club
- Dec 16, 2017: My favourite fireside reads for the holidays – Guest post, Fresh Fiction
- Dec 15, 2017: Having a happy (British) Christmas in Canada — Guest post, Bookish Jottings
- Dec 13, 2017: What the winter months mean to me – Guest post at Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
- Dec 12, 2017: My favourite holiday traditions – Guest post, Smexy Books
