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EmailNew 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...Back to the barre
Posted Sep 28 2018 in About Jen, Ballet, Gratitude, New beginnings
For most of my adult life, a pair of worn ballet slippers has lurked at the back of my wardrobe—a poignant reminder of something that was important to me as a book and dance-loving child and teen, but that I’d lost sight of as the years slipped by. Those shoes might have stayed tucked away […]
Read More...Lessons from my daughter
Posted Sep 14 2018 in About Jen, England, Family, Gratitude, Kindness, Motherhood, Summer on Firefly Lake
English Rose celebrated her fifteenth birthday earlier this month. Although it seems like yesterday she marked that milestone first birthday, my ‘baby girl’ is becoming a young woman and, more and more, I glimpse the person who will soon be not only my daughter but also a friend. This week, during one of our bedtime […]
Read More...Going on a road trip
Posted Aug 17 2018 in About Jen, Family, Gratitude, Travel
When I think about summer (and especially during a long, cold Canadian winter), one of the first things to come to mind is the road trip. Growing up, summer road trips were a highlight of my year. With my parents and the family dog too, I crisscrossed Canada and sometimes the US, exploring wilderness areas, […]
Read More...Love is…a few of my favourite things
Posted Feb 16 2018 in About Jen, Family, Friendship, Gratitude, Home, Reading, Small town life, Writing
Since February is the month of love, it’s a chance to celebrate a few of my favourite things and remind myself to be grateful for blessings big and small. 1. My family Tech Guy buys me chocolate “just because.” And when I’m on deadline, English Rose makes sure I remember to eat. In these and so […]
Read More...Happy first birthday to The Cottage at Firefly Lake!
Posted Feb 2 2018 in About Jen, Back Home at Firefly Lake, Blue Ridge Literary Agency, Firefly Lake, Gratitude, Publishing, Summer on Firefly Lake, The Cottage at Firefly Lake
This week I marked a very special anniversary. It’s been a year since my first book, The Cottage at Firefly Lake came out, and I realized my childhood dream of becoming a published author. Publication day, 31 January 2017, was a day of excitement and a profound sense of achievement, mixed with a big dose of […]
Read More...Thank you to my readers…and a giveaway to celebrate kindness
Posted Apr 7 2017 in About Jen, Authors, Back Home at Firefly Lake, Firefly Lake, Gratitude, Summer on Firefly Lake, The Cottage at Firefly Lake, Word for the year
It’s been a little over two months since The Cottage at Firefly Lake was published. In that time, many of you have taken my story into your lives and hearts. Thank you for buying my book and asking for it in stores. Thank you for asking your local library to order it. And thank you […]
Read More...Thank you…
Posted Dec 30 2016 in About Jen, Back Home at Firefly Lake, Friendship, Gratitude, New beginnings, Summer on Firefly Lake, The Cottage at Firefly Lake, Word for the year
The week between Christmas and New Year is a punctuation mark at the end of the year. For me, it’s a lull before launching headlong into the blank calendar pages to come. In a year that’s been more surreal (dictionary company Merriam-Webster’s word for 2016) than sparkly, I’m ending it with a different kind of […]
Read More...Hope, love and the meaning of life in a Christmas cactus
Posted Dec 16 2016 in About Jen, Christmas, Family, Friendship, Gratitude, Word for the year
The past year has been difficult for many of us, and my word of the year, “gratitude,” has taken on a poignancy I could never have anticipated when I chose it last January. In some ways, I’ll be grateful to see the end of 2016 for it’s been a year of turbulence and loss both […]
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...The Latest News
- May 01, 2020: Reading (and Writing) for Hope, Comfort & Happy Ever After: Guest post for Women Writers, Women’s Books
- Apr 22, 2020: Author Q&A: Chatting with Anita Kushwaha about ‘The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls,’ favourite authors, lockdown life & more
- Mar 10, 2020: Penguin Verlag buys German rights to The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls
- Mar 06, 2020: Celebrating Women’s History Month & ‘Women who have gone before’: Guest post on Mel Greenberg’s ‘Notes from the Nest’
- Mar 05, 2020: Paperback of The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls releases April 12, 2020 & now available for pre-order
- Feb 26, 2020: Meet me at the Local Author Showcase, North Grenville Public Library, February 29, 2020
- Dec 20, 2019: Talking about life & writing on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat
- Nov 18, 2019: Chatting with author Maggie Blackbird about my writing life & ‘The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls’
- Nov 15, 2019: Interview with author Susan B. James about ‘The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls’
- Oct 30, 2019: Asking ‘what if’ and building a book: The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls