14 June 2023

April 27, 2023. That was the last time I finished a writing project. June 14, 2023. Finally, Halcyon makes its way to the finish line. The last six weeks have challenged me in so many ways when it comes to my writing. The tough questions about writing for myself or others surfaced and capsized my…

27 April 2023

Flâneuse is a word I’ve always loved. It has such a different connotation that its Baudelairean counterpart Flâneur. I’m pretty sure that the French poet hadn’t intended the whole flâneur thing to be a feminine pastime. Baudelaire’s The Painter of Modern Life relays the nature of wandering without intent—for men. However, the Flâneuse is not…

19 April 2023

I have always wanted to write a novel in which a chatelaine played a key role. So, when my partners in novel research, Tiffany and Steve Warmowski, travelled to Bucharest, Romania earlier this year, Tif did a little scouting for me in the costuming department. She discovered a bit of incredible jewelry from the mid-19th…

17 April 2023

Sacred space: two words I spent a lot of time with even before I found myself gifted with a ticket to see Elizabeth Gilbert speak last Friday in Vancouver. My kids know not to pass beyond the sacred shroud (a curtain that divides my office from the rest of the house) when it is pulled….