Gander, Newfoundland

First time in Gander, Newfoundland! The town, located in the northeastern part of Newfoundland, has an international airport. Thanks to Winterset in Summer Literary Festival, who invited me out to their 2026 literary festival, my family I got to explore the town before heading to Eastport. A great starting point! The visitors’ centre was attached to a lovely gift shop. I always seek out…

Winterset In Summer Literary Festival

My first time in Eastport, Newfoundland! I was thrilled to be part of Winterset in Summer Literary Festival‘s 25th year. Eastport was an hour drive from Gander International Airport. The town is located in Central Newfoundland on the Eastport Peninsula.  My family and I enjoyed the nearby sandy beaches and explored the many coastal hiking trails that offered stunning ocean lookouts. The festival was…

My debut novel turned 10!

The hardcover version of my debut novel, Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety, was released on May 3, 2016. Ten years later, the novel has a new look and feel. My first teaching award. It’s a full circle moment for me. I graduated from the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies’ Creative Writing Certificate program back in 2012. More than a decade later, I was…

Eden Mills Writers’ Festival 2024

Eden Mills Writers’ Festival has become one of my favourite lit festivals! It’s outdoors, and although the weather forecast predicted rain and even thunderstorms on the main event day, Sept 8, 2024, we had sunshine! Spotlighting the authors & their books The first event I moderated was called “It’s A Little Complicated: When life serves lemons, it’s a recipe for humour, whimsy, and delight!”…

Celebrating 20 years of gritLIT!

For 2o years, gritLIT has welcomed readers, authors, and publishing professionals to the City of Hamilton. Established in 2004 by Hamilton author Krista Foss, it started as a small festival at the Staircase Theatre. Since then, the festival has grown and welcomed over 500 writers from across Canada, including hundreds of debut authors. I’ve been happy to serve as a program advisor since 2018….

Favourite Places To Write

With blistering hot temperatures and a finicky air conditioner at home, my daughter and I looked for cool spaces to work. Here are our top picks, from cozy cafes to public libraries, in the north end of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Covernotes Coffee House (Richmond Hill, Ontario) Covernotes Coffee House Books and coffee! We both appreciated the wide variety of coffees…

Q & A with A(ndrew) & A(nn)

Long time members of the same writing group, Andrew Fruman & Ann Yu-Kyung Choi candidly answer three questions about writing and mental health. This post was originally published on the 11th Floor Writers website on December 28, 2020 Question 1: What benefits does writing have on your overall mental wellness? Andrew: It’s a release for what’s going on in my head. So it can…

How a Painting and a Piano Inspired Me to Pay Attention

This post was originally published on The Drake‘s blog, April 27, 2016. As a writer, details are important. So, I was beside myself when I realized that a landscape painting hanging in my hotel room suddenly revealed a great white shark, its jaw wide open, sharp white teeth exposed. I had glanced at the painting several times throughout the day. How had I missed…

The Great Genevieve Graham

I had the pleasure of moderating the Enemies, Allies and Antiquities: From Versailles to Acadia panel with historical fiction authors Roberta Rich, Sally Christie and Genevieve Graham at Toronto Public Library’s Appel Salon.  Genevieve was kind enough to provide responses to several questions I asked, and has given me permission to share them! Genevieve graduated from the University of Toronto in 1986 with a…

Sunday Brunch

I had a wonderful time at the Ben McNally Globe and Mail Books and Brunch event where I got to share stories about my novel and hear about three other works. Kamal Al-Solaylee has a background in journalism and is a professor at Ryerson University. His accomplishments are long and varied. He presented his second book, Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (To Everyone)….