Hey! Quite a bit has happened since I last posted. I was at the annual Pirate Festival in Guelph, I ran a panel on World Building at Toronto FanExpo, and I received some great updates on some upcoming books that I have coming down the pipeline. So, where do I begin? 

FanExpo was a lot of fun this year. The panel I ran featured myself, and fellow authors Jen Frankel and Sarah WaterRaven. If you haven't had a chance to check out their work, please go and do so. Seriously. These ladies are extremely talented. Our panel ended up being standing room only, which I was completely gobsmacked to see. (Imposter syndrome, I see you.) My daughter, Hailey was with me, and she turned to me to say "These people are here for you?" Children, keeping you humble. It was an amazing experience, where we ended with a great Q&A with the people who came to see us. We talked about where to begin building a world when writing, if characters influence the world you create or vice versa, and then we talked about how to apply these skills to gaming or being a DM. After the day at the con, we all went to dinner where the conversation continued, and I truly got to catch up with everyone. All in all, a great con.

While all this was happening, I got some fantastic updates from my publisher for The Ghost in the Garden, Crimson Dragon. I can not wait to have this book be out and about in the world! Ghosts in Stratford. I have been slaving away on my Canadian ghost story, and I have seen it's cover! It is truly one of my favourite things, and I cannot wait to do a full on cover reveal for this little book baby. Also, I have seen the interior layout. The truth is, I have never before realized how a layout can truly influence a reading experience. This book is beautiful. I literally ran around the house showing everyone the glory that is the little swoopies that are section breaks, the font, the paragraph spacing, and since this is a modern day story with modern day teenagers in it who love their cell phone... TEXT BUBBLES! Yes, I got excited over text bubbles. But it's the little things that make a big thing like a novel come to life on the page. So... stay tuned for more on this. I will probably be screaming about text bubbles some more down the road.

Speaking of down the road, (not my best segue. I know.) I have some news. See how I title this post Updates and Upcoming Appearances? Well, let's talk about those upcoming appearances, shall we? From October 12-15 I will be a part of New York Comic Con's inaugural Writer's Block! I am so excited for this. I will be at table 7 at NYCC for all four days of the con with all of my released books (as well as some surprises!) and I couldn't be happier about this! So, please, if you're in the area, come on by and say hello. See what I have in store for the Big Apple. As my daughter's favourite singer says "Welcome to New York!"

It has been a hard few weeks over here. It is never easy for anyone to say goodbye to a pet. It is even harder when you're a child, and the pet in question is wholly your own. 

On October 31, 2021, the wonderful organization Teeny Snoots Rat Rescue came to our home. Joseph was going to be adopting two rats. He climbed right into the playpen with them, and was on cloud nine. The first rat to approach him, climb him, and ultimately choose him was a large grey dumbo rat. Joseph adored him. This rat would be then named GusGus. GusGus was everything a kid could possibly want in a pet. He loved to cuddle, be pet, and would take treats from Joseph's hands. Joseph called him his "chonky boy". This little animal was bright-eyed, intelligent, and loved to give kisses to the tips of your fingers, and to the tip of Joseph's nose.

GusGus and his brother Loki would spend the time out of their cages in a playpen that Joseph had for them, running around a cardboard rat maze, and while Loki isn't particularly good at staying still, GusGus would love to perch on Joseph's shoulder, much like a pirate's parrot. 

They say that a pet's life is never long enough, but it feels as if we didn't get even close to enough time with our GusGus. It was ultimately discovered that the weird honking sounds he sometimes made when he breathed were due to cancer in his lungs. A cancer that had spread to grow into a tumour on his foot. 

Even though he still gave us kisses, and took treats from our fingers, he began to spend more and more time hiding under the blankets in his cage. Joseph and I made a last trip to the vet, and we had to ultimately say our goodbyes to our beloved chonky boy. 

This rat, along with his brother Loki, inspired Joseph. They taught him responsibility, how to care for an animal on his own, and they were and are a comfort in his room. They inspired him to write, and he is grateful that GusGus will live on in some way in his story ​Lucky at Bat. 

​But what ultimately hurts is that Loki no longer has his brother, and Joseph is missing his piratical friend. Seeing Loki look to see where GusGus has gone, while not understanding what has happened is so sad. Joseph wishes he could explain. Now, what Joseph wants is for more understanding for these animals. They are intelligent, caring, and cuddly. Nobody who witnessed Loki watching over GusGus through his last days could possibly deny that. ​

What we want is for GusGus's influence to live on. So please, if you can, donate in his name. Maybe even adopt some of these wonderful animals yourself. If you aren't close enough to Teeny Snoots area, look up the rescues closest to you. Help in any way you can. 

Here's the link- Teeny Snoots Rat Rescue

​We will forever miss our cuddly chonky boy, GusGus.

When I pictured myself as a parent many moons ago (not admitting to how many moons that is), I pictured myself as many things. I saw myself in the audience of school plays, community theatre productions, dance recitals, and maybe even gymnastics meets. What I didn't picture is learning all the rules to baseball, understanding the difference between a shooting guard and a point guard in basketball, and knowing the names and stats of a whole bunch of players in a whole bunch of sports. We can ignore my sojourn on the Leo Baeck Day School's girls' basketball team. To be honest, I only got on because every grade 8 was put on the team if they wanted, and the position I played was bench warmer.

As a kid, I knew a little bit about hockey, because well, I'm Canadian, live in Toronto, and my dad liked to take me to Leafs' games. I consider myself to be a semi-realistic fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I want them to win, but I understand how highly unlikely that is to ever actually happen. I like to blame the referees, but I also acknowledge that I don't have a lot of understanding of what truly happened in the game, but it is fun to yell along with my kids. 

My children have not just waded in, but dove headfirst into the wonderful world of sports. I am very much being dragged along for the ride. My foray into baseball is not just for show, so that I can write convincingly for Lucky At Bat, but because my sons play the game. They are on a team this year, (positions to be announced soon, I think?) and we also have tickets to the Blue Jays. Joseph is convinced that this is our year. I say, we'll see. I know several players on other teams. Phillip also plays Rep basketball, and has been thrilled with his first year playing at this level. His enthusiasm is something else, especially considering his team's record of 0-34. Let's go Avengers! 

I truly hope that nothing changes Phillip from who he is. He likes what he likes, loves what he loves, and doesn't care what others think of it. To give an example: he is the only one I know who will attend a Toronto Raptor's game wearing a Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry jersey. Were we even playing the Warriors that day? Nope. He just loves his favourites that much. The day we attend a Jays vs. Padres game this season, he will be surrounded by his family wearing our Jays gear wearing a Fernando Tatis Jr. Padres jersey with pride. Never change, Phillip. 

A couple weeks ago, I drove Phillip to Niagara Falls for his first ever basketball tournament. Yes, they lost every game. But you know what? They played hard, and I couldn't have been prouder of his effort, his optimism, and his spirit. I think it's just as important for a kid to learn how to take a loss (or 34) as it is for them to learn how to win graciously. When the tournament was over, Phillip wore his commemorative sweatshirt with pride. His take away was that they lost the last game by 30-35, but the first couple games of the season, they lost 53-9 and 85-14 respectively. To him, this was certainly a win, and it's an attitude I wish I had some days. 

We celebrated by wandering Clifton Hill, and Phillip went to his first wax museum, I continued his losing streak by crushing him at air hockey, and at a shooting game, and then at a rousing game of dinosaur mini golf. His strategy of shooting like Happy Gilmore backfired spectacularly, but he didn't care. As it should be, it was all about having fun. 

As a triplet mom, it's rare to get these moments where it's just me and one of the kids. I treasure them when they come. Come this baseball season, the boys will be playing baseball on the Twins, Hailey will continue horseback riding, and I will be cheering them all on, win or lose, no matter their team's stats, as I should be.

Do you want to know something funny? When you tell people that you're a writer, they kind of assume that you can write just about anything. Need a contract drawn up? Well, that person is a writer! They can do it! Need a lease written? Ask the writer! Business email? The writer will whip one up for ya! How about a grant application? Writer! Well, I'm here to tell you that this is very much not true. (At least it isn't for me. If there's some sort of wünderkind out there who can do it all, I very much envy you and hate you at the same time.)

Currently, I am up to my eyeballs in filling out some serious applications. Yes, it has to do with my writing, but writing about my writing? It is both ugh, and help! My problem is that I have this innate need to turn everything into a story. I get descriptive, and flowery, and in the process of using all this lovely language, I lose the focus required to actually answer the question! If this was a story writing competition, I feel it would be in the bag. But it's not. It is my two least favourite things: 

1. Sell us on your work.
2. Sell us on yourself.

So... help! 

So, here I am at my daughter's riding class trying to fill out an... application... and instead turning to this blog to vent my frustration with it. And this is a couple months before I need to turn to *gulp* grant writing! I know there are others out there who feel my pain. How do I condense literally years of writing and rewriting, edits and workshops into little sell yourself bite size businessy quote-ables that fit into boxes that cut you off when you reach an arbitrary character count?

I don't know how the successful do it! For me, the cutoff comes just as I'm getting to the meat of my point. The I get to do the fun bit. (Said in all sarcasm.) I get to go through what I've written so far, and cut out all the lovely language I've spent ages anguishing over, and make myself sound dry and to the point. They say to kill your darlings, but this feels like a mass murder. By the end of the process, I don't even know if what I've written makes a lick of sense. Also, the applications and grants that don't tell you the word or character counts in the little boxes? I hate those! So you go along writing your answers, thinking "Finally! I can say exactly what I want, how I want!" And then, all of a su-

You see my point? Once, I was writing an answer on one of these things, and I didn't even look at the screen. Just tap tap tapping along, and I didn't even notice it had cut me off. A whole paragraph of text went by, and I hadn't even realized that none of it had registered. I felt mighty stupid that day. 

I really should go back and finish what I started. But thank you for listening to me venting process. Have you dealt with this process? How did you cope with it? Any ideas to help a girl out? I'd love to hear from you.

Okay, so I suck at posting on a regular basis. So sue me. Actually, scratch that. Please don't do that. But really. I will try to do better. Is that fair enough?

Do I have anything to report in the world of writing? I do actually! There are two new developments. Development number one... Lucky at Bat is an official Finalist in the Book Excellence Awards! Cue happy dancing! Who would have thought that out of all of the books I've worked on, the little book about rats and baseball would be the winningest? (It's a word. I swear!) 

Joseph. Joseph would have thought that, and he's here in my corner telling me "I told you so" in the loudest possible voice. I am really proud of my little weirdo. 

In other, also very exciting news, my Middle Grade novel The Ghost in the Garden has been picked up by a publisher! Even after writing umpteen books, it's still a whole ordeal to get them placed in the right hands, and I still get the joy of dealing with submissions, cover letters, and the long wait. But I am very excited about this one. The Ghost in the Garden will be coming out with Crimson Dragon Publishing. And I can't wait to see their funky little logo on the spine of that book. I love writing weird tales about things that interest me, and finding out that I am not the only one to find these things interesting. In this particular case, this is a ghost story, but it's firmly set in Stratford, Ontario. I researched Stratford, and put some of my favourite landmarks in it, and talked about quirky things I've noticed about the place in the many many times I've been there. If you haven't been, I can't recommend it enough. And not even just for the theatre. All the places the characters go in the novel are real, and are awesome. I can't wait for the updates on this one, from cover art, to edits, and for it to finally get into readers' hands! According to my daughter (also known as my unpaid Beta reader), Sophie Madison is her favourite character that I've created. So, tons of pressure on me there for this book to succeed. 

I am currently working on edits with Hailey on our novel The Kimmy Girls, and then it will be once again back to the land of submissions, cover letters, and waiting (not in that order. The cover letters come first!). It's a never ending cycle when you're a writer and my kids are learning this the hard way. Except for Phillip. Phillip is knee deep in basketball land. And that's great too! I believe in following one's passions, even if that is all things sports. I have learned a lot about sports from my kids. I think I can even passably ref a game or two if I had to. The hand signals are kind of fun. (Rolls hands to show 'travelling'). We will be heading out to Niagara Falls in April for a tournament, and then I get to show him the awesome weirdness that is Clifton Hill. Can't wait to show the pictures that will come from that day!

Until then! (Or sooner, if I get my act together.)

I really need to get better at updating here. We are in the midst of birthdaypalooza here, and the kids have turned twelve, and I have turned... forty (or as my friend calls it, 39+1). Since I've last updated, we went on vacation to New York to meet my new nephew, and Lucky At Bat has been out and has been garnering accolades much to my and Joseph's joy.

Our little ratty book has won the Mom's Choice Award and the Firebird Award! We are both so proud of our accomplishments so far. Joseph is thrilled that his idea has taken off in this way. 

Joseph has now given his first radio interview, and I am hard at work on several projects. I always seem to have something up my sleeve. 

Our trip to New York was something. It was the first time we's ventured out to the U.S. since the pandemic had started, and it was great to have a vacation as a family, and to meet my new nephew Ezra, and see family. The kids were especially happy to enjoy their winter break away. 

As is usual for us, we saw some shows while in New York. I took Hailey to her first non-musical production, and we went to see Leopodstadt, which was an incredible experience for her. She was in awe at the kids onstage, and was taken in by the story and the history portrayed therein. It was an amazing night of theatre. Where were the boys? Well, that night the Toronto Raptors were in town, and they were at Madison Square Garden cheering them on as they defeated the New York Knicks! That's where.

As a family, we took the kids to see Wicked, which they all loved, and Into the Woods, which Phillip proclaimed had "too much singing." Dude, it's a musical. But he enjoyed the story. 

New York has always been one of my favourite cities. There's just something about its energy, and what it offers. We took the kids to the Natural History Museum, and ate Schmackary's Cookies. We tried different restaurants, and the kids had a blast at the Stardust diner watching the singing staff perform. Honestly, I can't wait until our inevitable return to New York!

Okay, so it's a lot less than a week. It's actually... four days! Four days and one of my kids can call themselves a published author! That's right, on December 20, Lucky At Bat will officially be out, just in time for the holidays! It will be the third night of Chanukah, and four days before Christmas Eve. So, you all know you want to preorder your copy. Right? (*wink, wink, nudge, nudge*) So, hop on down to Amazon, or to Barnes and Noble and get your orders in. I mean, look at that little face. How can you say no to it?

There's also the added bonus that a portion of all proceeds is going to Teeny Snoots Rat Rescue. Doesn't that just give you the warm fuzzies? You get the gift of literature, and you get to help these adorable little animals. What's not to love about that?

In other bookish news, I have finished going through my substantive edits of The Crash of Worlds. So all followers of the Sitnalta saga are finally going to see what happens next in the Kingdom of Colonodona. This book has been a long time coming, and I have worked so hard on this particular manuscript. I can't wait to take the story where it's headed next. My plans for Book Four are quite different from anything else that my characters have had to face before. Could it be... Sitnalta the Horror Story? Or maybe more of a mystery? It's all a surprise. Revel in the suspense!

It's December! In exactly two weeks, Lucky At Bat will have its official release. That's right, December 20, 2022 is the date that this book will be officially out in the world. As of right now, you can pre-order the book on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. So, please do, and help the little ratties at Teeny Snoots Rat Rescue! Because, as I've said before, a portion of all proceeds goes to help them stay open, and help more of these little animals. 

What's happening as we gear up for release day? Well, Joseph and I will be participating at the Leo Baeck Day School book fair! I am ridiculously excited for this. As a Leo Baeck alumni, the book fair was my absolute favourite time of the year. I would show up with my allowance, and a little extra from my parents, and I would browse the displays set up in the school gym, buying the latest Goosebumps or Fear Streets (when I was a bit older) as well as stickers and cool looking pencils. I never once thought that I'd be an actual part of it one day. But we will be there with all of my books, as well as a Leo Baeck exclusive! Joseph and I will be setting up with Advance Reader Copies of Lucky At Bat! So to help both the rats, and the Leo Baeck library, we will have ARCs on sale at the fair for whoever gets there first. 

Joseph will also be doing readings for the first time ever. He is a bit nervous about this, and I completely understand. I still get butterflies every time I have to stand up in front of an audience and read from my books. But I know that he will be awesome. 

​Anyways, check out baby me! 

Can you find me in this picture? Here. Let me help you a little bit...

I look ridiculously happy about something. I have no clue what it is. All I know is that I'm currently thrilled that ancient photographic technology means that this is in black and white, and you don't see my braces in this blur, or the fact that at age thirteen, I thought it was the height of fashion to match my braces elastics to the season. Since class photos were done usually in the Fall, I was probably wearing a pattern of Halloween black and orange on my teeth. Wasn't I the absolute coolest? (Insert eyeroll emoji here.)

But I digress. School book fairs were the best. Weren't they? I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow. The me in that picture would be beside herself with joy if she knew what her future held in that regard. Let's go!

This week was Halloween. The kids went trick or treating for the first time in two years. Phillip ended up going later than his siblings, because this year he's on a rep basketball team for the first time, and his team had a practice. 

So, Hailey took Joseph around the neighbourhood with their bubbie. I say that Hailey took Joseph because, while she was practically dressed as Robin from Stranger Things, Joseph was an inflatable T-Rex. The costume wasn't the most practical for climbing up and down porches, and visibility wasn't great, but he was determined that this was what he was going to be, and stuck to it.

I took Phillip around after his practice, and we hit up the few houses that were still doling out candy. Happily, his coach had provided loot bags of treats for the kids at practice, and some came in costumes, which were discarded as soon as practice formally started. Phillip said that Halloween was fun for him. Any day that he gets to play basketball is a good day for him. 

What Monday also was, was Loki and GusGus's Gotcha Day. Last Halloween, Teeny Snoots Rat Rescue came to our home, and Loki and GusGus chose Joseph as their boy, and our house as their home. Here's a bit of what that looked like in 2021.

Each of the kids celebrates the day they got their animal in their own way. Hailey celebrates her hedgehog Sonic in July, and gives him treats and extra cuddles. Phillip celebrates his gerbil Stitch in August, and gives him new toy chewies that he goes through quickly (the little guy loves to chew!) and lets him climb all over his shoulders in a game of tag where Phillip is it, and the course for Stitch to run all over. GusGus and Loki celebrate with cuddles, and many many extra little ratty "doughnuts" (treats for small animals that are crunchy and good for them).

We all celebrate our pets in our own way. Simba, our dog gets special treats on his birthday every year, and gets lots of pets. What do you do to celebrate your furry little (or big) family members?

Well, it's crunch time as we gear up for December 20, and the release of Lucky At Bat! But guess what? You don't have to wait until that day to order the book! What's that? Oh, yes, the book is available right now on PRESALE!  You can just hop on over here and preorder your copy! This way you can rest easy knowing that you've done your part to support a young author (Joseph, not me, as he keeps pointing out with regards to my age.) and you have supported a wonderful rat rescue in Teeny Snoots.

I really should write commercials. 

Now, what else am I up to besides shilling my books? Well, now that the school year is in full swing, this means that I am back to my other job of being an unpaid taxi service for my children. This year, they switched schools, and can no longer walk themselves to school. So, every morning I drive them, and every afternoon I pick them up. I am also driving Phillip to basketball practice several times a week, and Hailey has taken up riding.

I am very proud of Phillip, as he has made a Rep Basketball team for the very first time! He is an official team member of the Avengers! (I question the legality of this, but then he also tried out for the Warriors and I wonder how these little leagues get away with this, and then my head hurts.) Joseph is trying out for each and every team possible at his new school. He is also a part of the school play and he and Phillip are part of the school's Dungeons and Dragons club. (Which to their eternal disappointment is NOT called Hellfire.)

This year was also our first year as season's tickets holders for the Toronto Blue Jays, and the kids loved being able to take turns seeing the games, watching their team work to get to post season. Joseph and I were at the last game we played in the WildCard series. Here is us, as the game started:

So excited in our jerseys. Mine said Romano on the back, and Joseph's was for his favourite player- Teoscar Hernandez. We started out that day so happy. We got to the stadium early, watched the Jays do some batting practice. Joseph got to meet Hazel Mae, and told her all about how he's a catcher for his Little League team. The game started and our team was doing so well! And then...

I don't want to talk about that. I did not take a picture commemorating the end of the game. But, there's always next year! Right? Right?

At least Joseph and Phillip ended their season champions. Let's see what that looks like:

Look at these boys! So happy! So winning! So Champions!

Now we're focused on Phillip's basketball season, and Joseph is excited for Loki and GusGus's gotcha day. Halloween has become so much more festive now that our little ratties have joined the family. 

So, in honour of Halloween, and Loki and GusGus, why not pop over to that link in the first paragraph and do your thing?

​(Nailed that commercial!)