Generally, I would describe myself as a realist (some might say pessimist, but I would argue against) but when it comes to celebrating the beginning of a brand- new year, I am one of those upbeat annoying people who forces everyone to stay up till midnight to clink with champagne and share highlights and goals. There is just something so refreshing about New Years. I can’t help but feel optimistic about a blank slate. Some of you might remember Rayna, the main character in Silver Heights, feeling similar when reflecting on New Year’s Eve:.

Rayna loved New Year’s Eve. She liked the symbolism of the end of something turning into the beginning of something else. She always felt like she could really start fresh. Shake off her old self and begin again. The year ahead seemed to stretch in front of her with mysterious possibilities. Her optimism admittedly would fade after a couple of days when the disappointing realization sunk in that, although the number at the end of the date had changed, nothing else really had. Still, there was something about tonight. Something that made Rayna sure this year just might be different than the rest..

One of my favourite quotes that I often tell myself comes from L.M. Montgomery and her beloved novel, Anne of Green Gables. “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”.

When my list of regrets, social anxiety moments, worries and stresses weigh me down I like to remember this quote. It fills me with the same hope that celebrating New Year’s does. No matter what today brings, we have a blank slate waiting for us tomorrow. It is never too late to start something, to finish something, to become something better or find the peace we have been searching for.

I am so excited to share that The Widows’ Pact is now available!

I've had the plot for this novel in my head since before I completed Silver Heights. To finally have it done and out in the world is so exciting.

The idea hit me way back in 2015. I was living in Red Deer at the time, and my husband worked away during the summers, so I was often alone. I went to the movies by myself almost every week on cheap Tuesdays. One night when I was there, I noticed an elderly lady in line in front of me, also by herself. I wondered why she was there alone, and started imagining different scenarios of what her life was like. I went home and wrote what (after many tweaks and drafts) would become the first chapter of The Widows' Pact. Initially I planned for it to be a short story, but when I really started working on it I saw the potential for a full novel.

I love the characters in this book. It's a story of an unlikely friendship, healing, and secrets.--with many laughs in-between.

While this book is completely fictional, there are little crumbs of my life living in Red Deer that I sprinkled throughout; I used the condo my husband, Matt, and I lived in as the inspiration for where the main character, Lena lives. She also works as a newspaper receptionist, which is a job I had for a bit (we have different feelings about it!). I also set the novel in Red Deer, so the characters visit some familiar places to us local people, such as Bower Ponds.

There are other fun little things I worked in, some I didn't even realize I had until I read the story again months after finishing it!