Blog: Notes From the Blanket Fort

Registration is now open for Memoirs I: Finding Your Voice at Pencil and Prose. Everybody’s got a story. I know this because I am a writer, and by writer I really mean a sort of magpie — you know those birds that fly around collecting all the cool and shiny bits they find? Yeah, that’s me, but instead of shiny bits, I collect snippets…
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Lovely people of the internet! My latest novel, the third book in the Stafford Falls trilogy, is now available for purchase in print and ebook on Amazon. If you’re in Canada, you can go here to buy: The Spaghetti Supper Sangha In the US, you can go here to buy: The Spaghetti Supper Sangha More nostalgic thoughts later, but in the meantime here’s the…
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So. I finished the manuscript for The Spaghetti Supper Sangha around 11:30 this morning — more about that later — and I felt that after 109,000 words (and all this time) this event merited a little celebration. (Little is the key word here — I was home with the dogs on a day of pouring, cold rain and was still in my pyjamas because…
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Amazing things often begin as tiny moments. One of those moments happened last July, while sitting at a picnic table in Stratford, Ontario, basking in the morning sunshine. My oldest and dearest friend Sonia and I had gone there — an annual pilgrimage that Sonia made for 30 years with her mother, who died last year. I am there to try to fill that…
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So, you probably thought I was dead. And I’ll admit, there were a few close calls. (Is it just me or have people recently become really terrible drivers?) But no, the rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated and no doubt have been fuelled by my seeming disappearance from the interweb spaces. To be honest, I didn’t have much to say (I still…
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He was called by a great many names — around our house he was known variously as Mr. Gavin, Gavers, Captain Fancypants, Buddy Boo Bear and even Mr. Boo, but I don’t think any name suited him quite as much as the one my D&D group gave him: Sir Gavin the Stouthearted. And stouthearted he was — fiercely protective, constantly vigilant (he saved us…
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Are you missing Stafford Falls? Could you use a great big comforting dose of Nana’s wisdom or maybe an afternoon spent hanging out at the Second Chance Café? Well, I’ve got good news. As of today (and just in time to celebrate Pride Month) the audiobook version of The Date Square Dharma is now available at these fine audiobook retailers: Audible Amazon Chirp Kobo…
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I’ve been thinking a lot about vaccines lately. Mostly I’ve been thinking about how soon my mom can get hers — my mom who is 79.50 years young and who has weathered this pandemic with the help of Louise Penny novels, jigsaw puzzles, daily Zoom calls with her best friends and sheer determination. But I’m also wondering when my partner, who is an essential…
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Have you heard the one about the guy who was trapped in a raging flood? He scrambled onto the roof of his house as the water rose threateningly all around him. A guy in a kayak paddled by and yelled to him, “Buddy, the water’s rising, hang on to my kayak and I’ll paddle you to safety!” And our guy said, “Thanks, mister, but…
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So, I really wanted to give you something for Christmas, because if ever there was a year when we could all use a bit of pampering, I’d say this is it, wouldn’t you? I thought about baking you all some Christmas cookies, but I’m not much of a baker. Then I thought you might like a colourful scarf to keep you warm on blustery…
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