How has your teaching experience influenced the characters you write about? It has definitely helped me make authentic and relatable teen characters because this is who I’m surrounded by everyday. I also have a group of students who generously donate their time as...
Did your occupation as an educator lead to you writing? I grew up in Michigan and came to Canada in the 1960s to attend the University of British Columbia, where I more or less flunked out of my PhD program in Modern Chinese History. This turned out to be a blessing...
Why do you, primarily, write for children? I enjoy writing for children because I want them to embrace imagination. I want my stories to make them happy, be kind, and spark curiosity. Childhood goes byquickly, and I want to play a role in making it filled with joy. I...
Erudite - definition: characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly Throughout our lives we meet people who influence us in some way. Whether it is a particularly wonderful teacher at school, college or university, a relative whose knowledge in a specific...
1. Of the characters you have created or envisioned, which is your favorite & why? Farley O'Charlie McBarley is my favorite character. Not because he was the main character in my first children's book, but because of what he stands for. Farley was bullied by his...
My first ‘public’ acknowledgement of my creativity came at the tender age of seven years old. I was a pupil at a convent school called, St. Finians. Not to be confused with the infamous St. Trinians; depicted in several movies, although we found the exploits of those...