I’m a west coast girl, born in Victoria, raised in Vancouver, and now living on beautiful Bowen Island, a 20-minute ferry ride from West Vancouver.

Credentials-wise, I have an English degree from the University of Reading, a teaching certificate from Durham, an MA in Drama from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from Edinburgh Business School. But that was a while ago, and now I spend most of my time making up stories about women who paint, compose, sing, act, and do artsy stuff.

Career-wise, I taught high school English and Drama for three years, then spent 22 years as a college instructor at Capilano University. I also wrote more than sixty textbooks on business communication and computer applications and facilitated business communications workshops all over British Columbia.

Since leaving Capilano University in 2008, I’ve devoted most of my time to writing, traveling, and connecting with other authors. I love to mentor new authors whenever I get the chance.

I’ve published five award-winning novels: The Towers of Tuscany, A Woman of Note, and The Muse of Fire (my Women in the Arts trilogy), Love Among the Recipes (a contemporary novel about food and Paris), and my newest, The Choir, set among a working-class women’s singing competition in 1890s Yorkshire.

I’m also the founder of Art In Fiction, a curated database of 2,700+ novels inspired by the arts, and host of The Art In Fiction Podcast, where I interview fellow arts-inspired novelists. Finally, to share my love of travel, I write about arts and culture travel on Artsy Traveler. If you also enjoy planning trips around museums and cultural experiences, you’ll find plenty of useful tips and destination ideas.

I live on Bowen Island, BC, with my husband, painter Gregg Simpson. We travel frequently to attend his exhibitions in Europe and so I can research my latest travel posts and novels. We have a grown-up daughter who I also frequently travel with because well, she’s awesome.

Come say hello at a book club or a writers conference.