About Me
I was born in
the city of Montreal, the centre of French culture in North
America. I loved living there but had to leave when I
realized I desperately needed a new psychic space in which
I could, um ... individuate.
My dearest friends are very close to me. I suspect most
would say that I am a private person. They would tell you
that I worry about the future, that I do my best to live in
the present and that my past is a mystery. These three
characteristics ensure this profile will never exceed eight
or nine paragraphs. As an advocate of minimalism, I admire
such brevity.
I took my BA in English at the University of New Brunswick,
earned a teaching certificate at Simon Fraser University
and after teaching high school English for a few years, I
completed a masters degree in Counselling Psychology at the
University of British Columbia. In 1978 I moved to
Victoria, a beautiful seaside community of 330,000 people
where I spent the next few years working in a psychiatric
hospital before taking a break to write my first
publishable novel, Fire Eyes.
I am married and have two children, both now adults. Family
life is the centre-piece of my personal happiness. Somehow,
the four of us maintain a dedication to one another that
does not impede our independent interests and goals.
Achieving this state of grace is the greatest surprise of
my life. I never expected it and often wonder how I have
been so fortunate.
Although I learned to read in the first grade, I wasn't
attracted to books until I encountered The Count of Monte Cristo
at the age of ten or so.
Immediately I understood the power of scenic structure and
characterization. I was hooked. Soon I began to write short
pieces, stories, non-fiction, speculations. On a rainy day
I would shut the door to my bedroom, write a few pages,
staple them together and present them to my parents and two
older sisters. They were kind enough to indulge my need for
praise. A mistake, perhaps.
My first novel, Fire Eyes, was a finalist for the 1987 W.H. Smith
/ Books in Canada First Novel Award. A second novel,
Healing the
Dead (1992), has
been translated into German as Todliche Ahnungen
(1995). Both novels were
optioned for films. The Good Lie was published by Turnstone Press in the
fall of 2007.
While the writing life may appear to be ideal, in my case
such scant production does not pay the rent. Since 1988 I
worked at the University of Victoria where I taught fiction
and journalism for ten years and coordinated the
Professional Writing Cooperative Education Program. From
time to time I've also freelanced as a business writer and
journalist. In the fall of 2010 I completed my stint at the
university so that I could turn my pre-occupation with
writing into a full-blown obsession.
But enough about me. I would be delighted if you spend a
few hours reading my books. There can be no better way to
understand an author's various fixations.
I’m always interested in hearing from readers; feel free
to contact me.
