I was born in Killarney, Manitoba and moved with my parents and sister from the prairies to Toronto by train in 1952 when I was three. Though an imaginative shy child, I was also given to performance and oration.  And I read voraciously, especially children’s adventure  and wolf stories.

In high school, English teachers recognized a writing ability and were encouraging.  I was not a particularly good student in other subjects as I was often dreaming in class and living partly in my dream world of romantic adventures.

Eager to be in the working world, I did not go to university wanting rather to experience life.  (Always in the back of my mind was the desire to be a writer) I wanted to understand people, love, life and death.  I met a lot of people, studied different religions, and worked at clerical and secretarial jobs, then returned to school to study some nursing.  At this time, I wrote a lot of poetry inspired by nature, romance and the metaphysical.

In 1986, I left Toronto to start a new life in the Collingwood/Wasaga Beach area.   I worked different jobs including sales and senior care while enjoying this beautiful natural spot where we had cottaged as a family years ago.  This area now stimulated my imagination over the next few years resulting in “The Belle of Collingwood”.

My favourite books now were quality historical romance such as those written by Catherine Cookson and Daphne DuMaurier.  I am also since a child a devoted classic movie fan.  I love show business! (Errol Flynn was a childhood crush in his swashbuckling pirate movies.)

In 1996, the year my dear father passed away in the month of May, I started writing The Belle of Collingwood.  It was in July that I felt determined to start this project.  All I knew was that I wanted to write a romantic historical fiction book set in the 1800’s.

I had been thinking about it, jotting notes, and doing a little research for a couple years on this time period.   Sitting on a lawn chair in the backyard, I didn’t feel inspired, only determined at this point.  With pen and pad in hand I wrote about 30 pages of seeming nonsense and then, as I pressed on, a story started to emerge.  A story of three women.   After the first chapter, the story took on a life of its own and seemed to write itself.

People inspired me.  I interviewed older local people including a great lakes captain’s widow who was a friend, and a 103-year-old farmer who was a most amazing man.

It took a few years before I was able to edit and re-edit the book to completion.  It was shelved a few times when life took priority.  In 2002, the Print Shop in Collingwood agreed to print the book and John Haines, a talented local artist and friend, to do the cover artwork.  I had tried to interest traditional publishers a few times without success and decided to just go ahead on my own.  I was eager to see my labour of love in print and hold a copy of the book in my hand.

My mother who was in her early eighties offered to read and edit the book for me.  She was an avid reader herself and had significant writing ability as well. She went through it and loved the book the way it was.

After publishing The Belle of Collingwood, I promoted it locally.  I was not yet computer savvy enough to organize a web site or figure out how to sell it online.  But the feedback from people who bought the book and read the story was so good, I knew I had made a wise decision to have it printed up.

Last year, fourteen years after publishing it the first time, I decided to republish the book.  Technology had changed a lot in the last few years.  I found Xlibris Publishing on the internet, and decided to go with them.  This time, The Belle of Collingwood has its own website, YouTube video, is available for sale online and is being publicized worldwide.