About

I grew up in a small town in Canada with a single mom. I moved to the United States in the late 90s to work for a global company, and now reside in the Southern USA with my family.

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I've been a singer/songwriter since grade school and was involved in theatre group productions in middle school and high school. (And a half dozen in the past decade) I was seen by an agency and asked to film a few commercials. I sang on a kids' album, played in a band, and made three of my own albums as an adult. 

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Academics came easily for me throughout my school years. I was able to memorize the daily work for upcoming tests. However, in ninth grade, I struggled with typing—I almost failed a mandatory first-year typing class! At the time, I told myself it was because I was new at it and we never had a computer at home. But this wasn't the case. When I got to university, I was told that writing my papers in cursive was not permitted and typing was mandatory for all my course papers. 

 

During my first year, I was beyond frustrated and embarrassed. No matter how hard I tried, my fingers could not learn the keys on the keyboard without making massive errors. (I might have single-handedly kept the correction fluid industry afloat that year!) I left the University in tears most days. I had no idea that I was dyslexic. I was so distraught and overwhelmed, taking two buses to and from school, then to my night job to pay for the apartment I rented. Following my first year, in the summer, I took a corporate sales job a friend had told me about, wanting to buy a car; I made the decision not to return with a full scholarship. (My mom thought I was nuts!)  Seventeen was the hardest year of my life, for many reasons, and I learned so much about myself, too. 

 

I worked for the corporation for a year, then transferred to the States, and much later, after another transfer and advancement, I met a wonderful man (after many trials and errors), got married, and had children. I became a consultant, hiring and training people, setting up new departments, as it became clear that I could spot the 'why' behind bottlenecks at companies, and I preferred the complex challenges over rule-based, logical thinking. I experienced the positives when these two minds work together... Great discoveries occurred.

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When COVID-19 hit in 2020, we were stuck inside like everyone else. My husband encouraged me to write down my vivid dreams. I was worried, as some of them can be out of the box, and knowing my past issues with typing, I was initially apprehensive. To my surprise, after typing my first novel with my two index fingers quickly, I haven't stopped typing. I'm amazed at how fast I can type with two index fingers, and with fewer mistakes than in my university days!

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After my first novel,  I wrote a two-book whodunit series. And I set those aside when my friend asked me in 2021 if I'd go to Thrillerfest with her in 2022.

 

I took the first chapters of a new story I had started and began writing a dark psychological science-based thriller that became a four-book saga. Growing up, my pet peeve was secrets, so I added one secret after another and hid Easter eggs throughout what is now my debut novel, Viola Ted.​

 

I prefer truth over polished fiction. To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, I prefer living people, not characters, to show human flaws. We all have them. It's important to me to highlight the importance of nature and our human connection to it, and how history repeats itself under the same cultural and societal pressures that have driven humanity's rise and fall for centuries.

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I write every day, visually and cinematically, blocking scenes and noting camera angles as I later translate my stories and short stories into screenplays. I've been taking film directing courses since 2024, filming proof-of-concept shorts and working with local filmmakers, and not only do I love it, but I also feel like I've come full circle in the arts that inspired me as a child.

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​I'm grateful to my family and every mentor and stranger who has impacted my journey. I would not be where I am without your positive encouragement and support. I'm sincerely thrilled to be writing and directing.​ I look forward to sharing my fictionalized stories with you on the page and on screen!

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P.S. 

For those of you who wish to write, whether you're dyslexic or not, write, paint, draw, sculpt, sing, perform, build, create, if that's what you love to do. All forms of story connect us, and usually, the most important connection we gain through our creativity is with ourselves.

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"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." William Shakespeare.