What was your dream job when you were a child? Astronaut? Firefighter? Actor?

For as long as I can remember, I have longed to be an author. When I dig through the dusty bins in my storage closet, I can find some true gems, including the gripping saga of Sammy the Scorpion, who just wanted to find some lunch (1989); a haunting ghost tale that my English teacher deemed worthy to share with the Director of the school board (1994); a poem published (with a typo - the horror!) in our high-school collection, Reflections (2000).

But it wasn’t until recently that I became serious about writing. So serious that I’ve taken a year sabbatical from teaching to work on honing my craft. YA fiction is my passion, and there’s nothing I love more than looking up at 3:00 and realizing I have written all day.

Currently I am shopping around my first finished manuscript, Secrets and Sunsets. I’m also working on editing Park Days, a novel loosely based on the crazy summers I spent working at Rushing River Provincial Park. And if that’s not enough, I’m drafting a third novel, Catch and Release as part of the Simon Fraser University Writer’s Studio program, with mentorship from the amazing Roz Nay.