Writing Bio
I've been writing most of my life. I was probably one of the few kids in high school English class, who actually enjoyed the subject. After I graduated high school, I took Journalism Administration at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, and worked within the graphic arts and printing industry for many years.
Tired of the printing industry, I decided to take a computer programming diploma course through DeVry Institute of Technology, and went to work in the Oil & Gas industry in Calgary, where I worked my way up to Senior Systems Analyst with BP Oil and Gas (was Dome, then Amoco).
In the early 1990's, I felt an inner nudge to get back to writing and joined the Calgary Writers Association. I began my author's journey, writing fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Through this organization (now defunct) I was the 1997 recipient of the Calgary Writers Association Brendon Donnelly Award for Children's Literature, and also won third place for the 1998 Calgary Writers Association Sunshine Sketches Award for Fiction Writing.
During this time, I also complete the Writing for Children & Teenagers diploma course through The Institute of Children's Literature in 1994 and followed it up by taking an additional diploma course: Writing & Selling Children's Books from the same institute in 1999.
In 1998, I decided to start my own magazine, Canadian Teddy Bear News, which reflected my love of teddy bears and teddy bear artistry. The magazine became popular across Canada with artists and collectors alike. I also contributed many articles on teddy bear collecting and art to magazines throughout Canada and the United States.
Feeling another nudge, I reflected on some children's stories that I wrote while taking previous courses and decided to leave the magazine publishing industry and to publish children's books. I started Wood Lily Publishers in 2007, with the children's book, Little Blue Penguin, being the first title published. This was followed closely with a second children's book, McKenzie's Frosty Surprise, published in 2008. Little Blue Penguin was nominated Finalist for The 2008 Canadian Christian Writing Awards.
I currently share my passion and knowledge of writing and publishing on my industry blog, aboutwritingandpublishing.com. I've also written a reference book for people who'd like to write for children and teens: How To Write For Children, An Easy Three Step Guide To Writing Children's Books.
A recent challenge involved creating a young adult novel within the time constraints of the 3-Day Novel contest. I hope to turn this manuscript, as well as a couple of other young adult chapter books I've written into an e-book, or have them published.
Working on my writing, web sites, blogs and running a journals and papers eCommerce store keeps me quite busy, but I always seem to delve into new projects that come along. It's hard to say no sometimes...
