The Medal brings back childhood memories

Olympia Billiards, a locale featured in my novel, The Medal, brought back fond memories for Bev, a recent reader. As a child, she lived on a street around the corner from Olympia Billiards. Her father loved the game, but her mother thought that playing billiards was...

What a surprise!

I just received a response to a message I sent eight years ago! In my novel The Medal, I created the character of Sam who is a composite of three Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan. Before the book was published, I wrote to each of their parents to...

Inspiration

Inspiration sometimes comes from interesting sources. When sorting through my library recently, I came across a novel that I’ve kept since my teaching days: Invitation to the Game. Part of the inspiration for my novel, The Medal, came from this book by the late...

The Kensington

Weird expression, eyes closed, mouth open… It seems whenever someone takes pictures of me when I’m doing a presentation, they all have at least one of these features. Thank goodness for digital cameras and ‘delete’ buttons! At least the...

My new bookmark

My new bookmark has had a lot of use. Thanks, Mireille Chiasson. The little turtle reminds me of the ones who plod up from the water to lay their eggs in our lawn each June. And the fact that it’s wood reminds me of my novel, The Medal. Seventeen-year-old Kilian...

Orphan Train

Orphan Train, a best-selling novel by Christina Baker Kline, features an unlikely friendship between a girl in foster care and 90+ year old Vivian.  A community service position helping the widow clean out her attic is meant to keep Molly out of juvie for the theft of...