Fantasy is more real than you think…
Welcome! I’m a science fiction and fantasy author and writing instructor who believes there’s always hope. Sometimes you just have to dig a little harder to find it.
In a world that can be dark and brutal and unfair, hope is one of our most powerful weapons. Hope is the certain expectation that something better is coming if we don’t give up.
I write novels that encourage people to keep fighting. I want to let them know that no one is beyond redemption and that, in the end, good always wins.
As a farmer’s daughter, I grew up loving the peace and sincerity of the small town life and dreaming of heroism and adventure. I still live in the country with my former Marine husband, human-sized Great Dane, six cats, and a budgie, but now that I’m grown up, I can also indulge in the occasional adventure, including scuba diving with sharks, climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, and playing my flute in public. Maybe that last one’s only scary for me.
I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Social Psychology from the University of Western Ontario and my Master’s degree in Theological Studies from Heritage Seminary. I came away from all that education with an intense curiosity in human nature and history, a faith that makes me want to be a better person, and a start on my journey to becoming a professional writer. As soon as I graduated, I began writing magazine and newspaper articles and editing for individuals and small businesses full-time.
In 2007, I won the suspense/thriller category of Writer’s Digest’s Popular Fiction Competition, and in 2009, I won the grand prize. In 2011, I received an award for a short feature article in the Canadian Christian Writing Awards, and have since been nominated and short-listed for numerous other awards.
Currently, I write mysteries under a pen name, but that’s a secret. Shhhh…
In 2018, I’ll be launching my science fiction and fantasy under my real name. If you’d like to know more about that, the best way is to sign up for my newsletter.
Next to writing my own fiction, what I love best is helping other authors polish their books and short stories, and I teach classes and write books about the writing craft to do that. A new round of classes will begin in 2018, but in the meantime, you can check out my bestselling Busy Writer’s Guides series. Each book in the Busy Writer’s Guides series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don’t, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story with an editor’s-eye view. I cut the fluff so that you can have more time to write and more time to live your life.
My blog is currently on hiatus, but there’s a ton of material in the archives for you to look through.
I’ve written posts about the place where fantasy, science fiction, and real life collide. I don’t believe that fantasy is about escaping this world. The best fantasy helps us see life in this world in a new way and gives us a safe place to explore problems that might otherwise be too difficult to face. It shows us the worst of humanity and also the heights of love and sacrifice that good people can reach when they overcome their fear. Want a taste? Who’s Your Unicorn?
I’ve also written about writing. I post on craft, editing, and publishing as my way to give back to other writers. Do you know the 10 Writing Mistakes that Kill Your First Chapter?
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