About Me
“Looking back on where I grew up, there was no way to avoid it—escape it or try to resist it—being raised in the 1980s nestled in the thick Manitoba forest, north of the 55th parallel, in a place where winter could and often would stretch into ten long months.”
I vividly remember walking to school—not quite a mile and not quite uphill—in the shadows of the longest seasons, shortest daylight hours. Back in those days, my only connection to the outside world was two TV channels and two radio stations. It would only be a matter of time before I became an avid reader. Devouring books that would transport me to far-off places, into different worlds, taking me on wild adventures while introducing me to fascinating characters—an escape of sorts. And, within the pages of all those books—beneath the blanket of the darkest hours of my childhood—my ambition of becoming a writer took root and grew.
“Just Write” What You Know
In my twenties, I wrote my first book—a true crime story based on “one of the coldest murder cases in Manitoba history.” But as I wrote, the words eventually trailed off and suddenly stopped—with the murder unsolved—the untold story had no ending. The manuscript would then be tucked away impatiently waiting for a justifiable ending—for a justice that still has yet to come.
After becoming a mother, I turned my writing focus inward and penned a memoir—sharing my truth—explaining a life-altering decision I had made once becoming an adult. The burden of that decision weighed heavy on me as I came to understand that the choice I had made would eventually pass onto the shoulders of both my children.
In my forties, I opened up my imagination to write two fiction novels. Both plots based on my experiences and the harsh life lessons I learned while growing up in a diverse community, racially divided and socially devastated by generations of trauma that I would come to learn about years later. Growing up where I did wasn’t always easy, but it wasn’t always awful. Both my novels focusing on the beauty of the people who lived in the north while reconciling the truth within my childhood memories.
My Debut Book
Remember that first book that I had tucked away in my twenties? The story with no ending? I felt compelled to finish in my fifties. Choosing instead to focus on the girl Kerrie Ann Brown once was instead of the monsters who took her life. In writing about Kerrie, her friends, and the moments we shared before her murder and the year that followed in remembrance of her. The Deafening Sound of Sorrow, my debut book, will be released in collaboration with Black Rose Writing on October 16th, 2025.
Now
As a published author, my dream is that my stories will transport readers too far-off places, into different worlds, taking them on wild adventures while introducing them to fascinating characters—an escape of sorts.
“Making my wannabe writer’s dream become my author’s reality.”