About Laurie

Who knew that buying a drum could lead to a writing career? That’s what happened to Laurie Ness Gordon. That djembe started a chain of events that created a novelist. Of course she’d written things all her life: letters, plays, French-Canadian style poetry, school stuff, but the necessities of living got in the way of focusing seriously on writing – until she retired. Then that drum entered the picture.

The next thing you know, Laurie was writing articles, web text, promotional materials, short stories and finally novels.

Her work has been published in variety of newspapers and in magazines such as Fusion and Women and Environments International. In 2014, her contemporary coming-of-age novel, The Medal was published, followed in 2023, by Finding Home, historical fiction, set in the 1870s.

Can’t figure out how to connect the dots between a djembe and a writing career? You’ll have to ask Laurie to find out.

Short Bio

Laurie Ness Gordon lives on a waterfront property north of Kingston, Canada. She has worked as an educator, consultant, workshop presenter and writer. Her articles and short stories have appeared in newspapers and magazines in Canada and England. In 2014, her debut novel, The Medal, was published, followed in 2023 by Finding Home. Laurie spent several years as a volunteer Project Manager for a touring art exhibition and is currently supporting refugee families. She enjoys making music, travelling, swimming, shoveling snow and being ‘productive’. Her favourite holiday memory is a 5-week motorcycle trip across Canada.

The Writers' Union of Canada

The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) is a national organization representing professionally published writers. Established in 1973, TWUC collaborates with governments, publishers, booksellers, and readers to enhance the working conditions of Canadian writers. With a membership exceeding 2,800, TWUC champions the collective interests of writers and provides value through advocacy, community-building, and access to resources and information.

Writing Credits - Books
  • Finding Home, Laurie Ness Gordon, Ruth Burke Allen, 2023, LauraL Press
  • The Medal, Laurie Ness Gordon, 2014, Borealis Press
  • Beautiful Women Project: The Book, Second edition, Cheryl-Ann Webster, Laurie Gordon, 2009, Henderson Press
  • Beautiful Women Project: The Book, Cheryl-Ann Webster, Laurie Gordon, 2008, Lulu.com
Writing Credits - Magazines
  • Vista, July 2021, Beer and Oysters pp. 9-10
  • Vista, March 2020, Winter Encounter, p. 5
  • Vista, July 2018, Canada Day Reprise, pp. 16-17
  • Vista, November 2016, Recruit. p. 16
  • Vista, June 2014, Selective Hearing, p. 12
  • Real Women London, September 2007, Beauty inside and out, p. 36
  • Women and Environments International, No. 72/73 – Fall/winter 2006, The Beautiful Women Project – Art as Teaching and Healing, pp. 48-50
  • Cahoots, Autumn 2006, The Beautiful Women Project – Two Women’s Journeys, pp. 24-27
  • STEPS, Winter 2005, (Lancaster U.K.) The Beautiful Women Project, p. 15
  • Moxi Femme, Issue 2, March/April 2005, Sculpting Beauty, pp.14-15. 37
  • Fusion – A magazine for Clay and Glass, Vol. 29 No. 2, Spring 2005, The Beautiful Women Project, pp. 18-20
Writing Credits - Newspapers
  • The Scoop, August/September 2015, Old Newburgh Academy solves a dilemma, p. 20
  • The Scoop, Dec. 2013/Jan. 2014 issue, Snug Harbour, p. 8
  • Shoreline Beacon, Tuesday August 2, 2011, Beautiful Women to invade Southampton, p.16
  • St Lawrence EMC, Thursday, October 22, 2009, Gananoque Woman wins prestigious award, p. 26
  • St Lawrence EMC, Thursday, May 7, 2009, Opening of Beautiful Women Project a success, p. 35
  • The Humm, November 2006, Nancy Green’s Fragments and Shorelines, p. 14
  • The Humm, May, 2005, Local artist celebrates nature in new exhibition, p.17
  • The Humm, January 2005, Challenging Media Images of Women’s Beauty, p.4
Writing Credits - Copywriting
  • Cornwall Regional Art Gallery, August 2007, There and Back – An Artist’s Journey
  • Ramsay Media, Feb. 2007, Video Script: Beautiful Women Project
  • TODAY, Breast Cancer Action Kingston newsletter, Volume 12 (2) Spring 2006, The Beautiful Women Project – Reprise
  • TODAY, Breast Cancer Action Kingston newsletter, Volume 12 (2) 2005, The Beautiful Women Project
  • Hands in Clay Newsletter of the Ottawa Guild of Potters, January 2005, Ottawa Sculptor Challenges Media Images of Beauty
  • Beautiful Women Project brochures, rack cards
  • Press releases

Miscellany

Bits and Pieces

Hello out there!

Why am I crawling out of a display cube? It’s installation day at The Ex – Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition. Inside the cubes we stored books and posters for Cheryl-Ann Webster’s Beautiful Women Project exhibition. Her sculptures inspired my earliest nonfiction articles and kick-started my writing career.

You ate a groundhog?

Good job I learned from one of my students how to gut and skin animals. That knowledge came in handy not only in the hunting scene in Finding Home, but also when my husband shot a nuisance groundhog on my sister’s farm. Since groundhogs eat the same food as cattle, and we (who are not vegetarians) eat beef, we thought we’d try cooking it. It wasn’t bad, but cooking it longer would probably have made it more tender.

Such language!

In spite of the salty language in parts of The Medal, my go-to f-word is: fiddle-dee-dee. When one of my teenage grandchildren was asked what he thought of the language in the book, he shrugged and answered, “You hear words like that all the time.” Then he added, “But Grandma Laurie wrote this!!”

Mèsi

In 2010 a massive earthquake struck Haiti. Charities and governmental agencies rushed to provide assistance. I wrote Mèsi (Thank you), a piece of short fiction, to contrast two perspectives on this generosity: an Aid Worker’s and a young Haitian girl’s.

Read Story

Biker Chick

Just because Kilian’s mom left him with his grandfather when she took off with a biker doesn’t mean all bikers should be viewed with skepticism. When my husband and I drove across Canada on our Goldwing, we met wonderful people everywhere along the way. We were even invited to a Sundance in Standoff, Alberta – the only non-aboriginals there. What a privilege.

Non-fiction

My non-fiction writing has focused predominantly on the art world: critiques of exhibitions, stories about the production and impact of the works. My articles have appeared in a variety of newspapers and magazines in Canada and Britain.