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EmailGoing (to my second) home
Posted Jul 6 2018 in About Jen, Conferences, England, Home
If, like me, you’ve spent half your adult life living outside the country of your birth, “home” is flexible. Although “home” for me is wherever Tech Guy and English Rose are, beyond that, I often picture myself straddling a little island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, one leg stretched towards the UK, the […]
Read More...Prayers 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...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...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...Ice cream season is here!
Posted May 19 2017 in About Jen, Firefly Lake, Home, Small town life, Summer on Firefly Lake, The Cottage at Firefly Lake
As you may know, I like ice cream. Although I’ve indulged even when wearing my parka, it’s summer when ice cream comes into its own as my treat of choice. Ice cream features in my two “summer” books. Strawberry Sensation has special memories for the hero and heroine in The Cottage at Firefly Lake, and […]
Read More...“You’re not from around here, are you?”
Posted Nov 4 2016 in About Jen, Home, The Cottage at Firefly Lake, Writing
I often describe myself as linguistically confused. Although I grew up in prairie Canada, I haven’t lived there in many years. As Tech Guy would attest, and except when I’m speaking with old friends, any remnants of my childhood Midwestern twang have long since disappeared from my everyday speech. In various day jobs, I’ve written […]
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...Letting go
Posted Sep 9 2016 in About Jen, Family, Home, New beginnings, Word for the year, Writing
“You’re the writer. Spin it.” I didn’t appreciate it then, but those words, spoken by a sales guy with a swagger, a bespoke suit, and a Porsche, marked a defining moment in my life. Although I’d dabbled in fiction, I wasn’t writing it seriously. Instead, my days were filled with crafting sales, marking and PR copy. Or speeches where […]
Read More...The Latest News
- 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
- 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
