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EmailPrayers for Humboldt
Posted Apr 13 2018 in About Jen, Back Home at Firefly Lake, Books, Canada, Community, Family, Firefly Lake, Home, Prayers for Humboldt, Small town life
A week ago, on a remote Saskatchewan highway, sixteen people were killed and thirteen others injured in a crash between a semi-trailer truck and a bus carrying players, coaches, a trainer, a local radio announcer and others associated with a Canadian junior (ice) hockey team, the Humboldt Broncos. Before then, Humboldt was a small […]
Read More...Springing forward
Posted Mar 2 2018 in About Jen, Canada, England, History, New beginnings, Spring, Travel
When February slips into March and, irrespective of whether the new month comes in like a lion (as it has for my friends in the UK), or a lamb (here in the Rideau Valley), it’s the time of year when my thoughts always turn to my life in England. Although there are many things I […]
Read More...Family ties
Posted Oct 20 2017 in About Jen, Canada, Family, History, Home, Small town life
My mom grew up in a picturesque Canadian village in rural eastern Ontario—twelve miles from where I now live. Dotted with stone buildings and tucked into a rolling landscape of century farms and historic waterways, it’s a place that shaped me as a person, as well as the writer I’ve become. Several weeks ago, […]
Read More...In search of comfort food
Posted Oct 6 2017 in About Jen, Canada, England, Food, Home
“When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.” Or in my case, shopping for comfort food. As the weather cools, and darkness comes earlier, it’s the time of year for comfort food. However, in addition to childhood favorites like chicken pot pie, macaroni and cheese and hearty vegetable chili, when life feels uncertain, I […]
Read More...My reading life
Posted Sep 22 2017 in About Jen, Authors, Canada, England, History, Reading, Travel, Writing
Long before I became an author, I was, and still am, an avid reader. Since early childhood, reading has been a huge part of my life—so much so that I’m always perplexed when asked how I find time to “fit” reading in. How could I not fit it in? Reading is almost as fundamental to me […]
Read More...Endings and new beginnings
Posted Sep 8 2017 in About Jen, Back Home at Firefly Lake, Canada, Family, New beginnings, Summer on Firefly Lake, Writing
The leaves on the maple trees are changing from green to red, yellow, and orange here in the Rideau Valley, and as another summer transitions to autumn, endings and new beginnings are much on my mind. English Rose started high school this week, a major life milestone for her and me as well. In what […]
Read More...Gratitude and new beginnings
Posted Oct 7 2016 in About Jen, Canada, Community, Family, Gratitude, Home, New beginnings, Small town life
My small town has recently welcomed a Syrian refugee family. Soon after their arrival, the newspaper ran a picture of the mom, dad and their three young children playing in the local park. It was an ordinary, yet also extraordinary scene. Our new neighbours have spent the last three years in a refugee camp not […]
Read More...Family reunited
Posted Sep 23 2016 in About Jen, Canada, England, Family, Home
If you read my blog regularly, you know that when my daughter, English Rose, and I moved to Canada from England in July 2015, we left a very important person behind. For the past fourteen months, my husband, Tech Guy, has remained in England, working to support our family and waiting to be able to join […]
Read More...Be careful what you wish for…
Posted Aug 26 2016 in About Jen, Canada, England
The summer of 2016 has been my first full summer in Canada in almost sixteen years. When I lived in England, I often thought about Canadian summers with wistfulness. As gusts of cold wind buffeted my umbrella, and I sloshed through puddles on my way to my day job, I remembered halcyon summer days of […]
Read More...The tale of a travelling china cabinet
Posted Aug 12 2016 in About Jen, Canada, Family, History, Travel
This week, a moving van arrived at my home. It brought a china cabinet that’s been in my mother’s family since the mid-nineteenth century. In the furniture world, the cabinet is a stately dowager duchess or grizzled elder statesman. Made of solid wood, it sits on substantive claw feet and features a mirrored shelf and […]
Read More...The Latest News
- 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
- Dec 08, 2017: Interview with Suzy Approved Book Reviews: My writing life & Firefly Lake books
- Dec 07, 2017: Chatting with Debbie Mason on USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog
- Dec 04, 2017: “Back Home at Firefly Lake” chosen as one of Amazon’s best books of December 2017
