My Novels On Sale For One Dollar!

Heads up! Until MARCH 1st, 7 of my novels are on sale for $1 on Amazon platforms!

Get them while you can!

$0.99 on Amazon USA, and the equivalent in every other Amazon country. Here’s a list of the novels on sale:

I Will Tell the Night:

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

Finn Barker escaped his family in Miramichi, New Brunswick, decades ago for the anonymity of Toronto. When he learns of his mother’s impending demise, he decides to make the trip back home to say goodbye. But going back will awaken all the sleeping ghosts Finn’s not quite sure he’s willing to stir. With no time to decide, his split-second decision to jump back in has him driving across the country, with his boyfriend Steven behind the wheel. Along the way, Finn begins to unpack the mess he left behind. There’s the grandmother, MyImogene, he adored, and the twin brother who died of cancer when his own parents would have preferred to lose the other twin. There’s also the huge scandal Finn orchestrated with a teacher that gave him the Dutch courage he needed to flee. It was almost all bad.

Finn makes it in time for goodbyes, but then there’s the still very active strife between him and his father, the funeral, the family, and the secrets that shed new light on the cause of the rift between his parents and his beloved MyImogene. Every family carries secrets. Finn discovers they’re the one thing you can’t escape, no matter how far away you run. Secrets always catch up. Often, it’s death that has a way of bringing them back into the light of day. He was able to make peace with his dying mother, but can Finn make peace with all the rest…or is it time to run away for another thirty years?

Summer on Fire:

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

Zach Carson is a loyal friend. But is loyalty enough to keep best friends together when one of them sets fire to the rural barn they use as the local hangout?

Zach, Jeff Barsell and Arnie Wilson struggle to pick up the pieces when news spreads that a body was discovered in the burnt out shell of the neighboring home. When the word murder is used by the local police, the stakes grow even higher. When the police start searching for their most likely suspect—none other than Jeff’s older brother, and nemesis, Marty Barsell—the boys decide to join forces and come up with a way to prove his innocence.

But just how innocent is Marty Barsell? When Marty admits to being at the scene of the crime, the three friends enlist the help of Zach’s annoying sister, Sherry, as well as the sympathetic town eccentric, Ms. Halverton. But can they keep it together long enough to save Marty, and themselves, from eminent catastrophe? Summer on Fire is the story of friendships, and the lines we are asked to cross in order to keep them.

Pride Must Be A Place

 

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

Ezra Caine is gay. He’s sort of out at school but not at home, where he fears the wrath of his father’s bigotry. When Ezra’s flamboyantly out friend Alex Mills takes one too many beatings from homophobic bully Will Carter, Ezra finally snaps. Fed up with the situation at school, he decides to do something about it. With the help of his BFF, Nettie, and some unlikely allies, Ezra rallies to create their small-town school’s first gay-straight alliance. The Rainbow Alliance Club is formed. But the changes don’t come without hiccups, one of which being a messy scandal involving Alex and a gay hook-up app. As Ezra and his friends attempt to sway their school into an alliance of tolerance and acceptance, Ezra experiences a few surprises of his own on the home-front. He also learns the hard way that friendships out of convenience aren’t always a good idea, just as some enemies might not be as bad as he originally imagined them to be.

Burn Baby Burn Baby

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

Seventeen-year-old Francis Fripp’s confidence is practically non-existent since his abusive father drenched him in accelerant and threw a match at him eight years ago. Now badly scarred, Francis relies on his best friend Trig to protect him from the constant bullying doled out at the hands of his nemesis, Brandon Hayley-the unrelenting boy who gave him the dreaded nickname of Burn Baby. The new girl at school, Rachel Higgins, is the first to see past Francis’s pariah-inducing scars. If Brandon’s bullying doesn’t destroy him, Francis might experience life as a normal teenager for the first time in his life. He just has to avoid Brandon and convince himself he’s worthy of Rachel’s attentions. Sounds easy enough, but Francis himself has a hard time seeing past his scars. And Brandon is getting violently frustrated, as his attempts to bully Francis are constantly thwarted. Francis is in turmoil as he simultaneously rushes toward his first kiss and a possible violent end.

Half Dead & Fully Broken

Amazon USA

Amazon Canada

Carter Colby is the most unpopular teen at Jefferson High. This would be easier to deal with if his identical twin brother, Marcus, weren’t the hottest, most popular boy in school. When Marcus is killed in a motorcycle accident, Carter discovers the one thing more painful than trying to compete with Mr. Wonderful: wearing his dead brother’s face. He felt invisible before the accident, but with Marcus dead, everybody turns away from him in mourning. How can he blame them? He can’t bear to look in the mirror. When Carter begins to see Marcus’ ghost, Mr. Wonderful’s quest to save the world and spread happiness may not be over after all, even in death. Marcus knows that Justin Dewar, the boy who drove the truck that crashed into his motorbike, is struggling with the guilt of taking a life. Melanie, Marcus’ mourning best friend, was also hit hard by the tragedy. Marcus wants to make things right before it’s too late. With Marcus’ help, Carter experiences love and friendship for the first time in his life. But is Mr. Wonderful’s helping hand enough for Carter, Melanie, and Justin – three kids fully broken by the tragedy – to save one another?

Sebastian’s Poet

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

Sebastian Nelson is a boy in search of a family. Abandoned by his mother, Sebastian is left with a broken father who doesn’t even seem present when he does show up. Forced to be the main caregiver of his younger brother, Renee, and lost in a sea of indifference, Sebastian only wants to experience the love a real, stable family could afford him.

One morning he discovers the famous folksinger, Teal Landen, asleep on the sofa. Teal’s nurturing nature brings an immediate sense of security into Sebastian’s tumultuous life. But a dark secret looms between Teal and Sebastian’s father of a hidden past. Sebastian is driven to discover their secret, but also he’s aware of how tenuous their hold on Teal really is. He doesn’t want to lose the feeling of home Teal’s presence has brought him.

If Sebastian pushes too hard, he could lose Teal forever. He could be destined to raise his younger brother alone, while witnessing the total decline of his emotionally devastated father. If Sebastian is abandoned by the only healthy influence in his otherwise shaky existence, he will also be forever in the dark about the secret that will reveal so much about his fractured family.

Sebastian’s Poet was the winner of the 2007 Muskoka Novel Marathon’s BEST ADULT NOVEL AWARD.

The Reasons

Amazon USA

Amazon CANADA

With a mostly absent father, a deceased older sister, a younger sister on the verge of invisibility, and a certifiably insane mother, Tobias Reason is forced to grow up quickly. Though he tries to be a surrogate parent to his sister, their broken mother, Maggie, takes up a lot of his time. Annabel falls to the wayside and becomes a ghost in their chaotic existence.

When Maggie flippantly hands her mother’s house over to Tobias, he sees an opportunity to learn how and why his family became so shattered. Be careful what you wish for. When his world begins to collapse from the weight of un-buried secrets, he focuses on a stranger from his parents’ past. Only by eliminating the past, he believes, can he make his family whole again.

The Reasons won the Muskoka Novel Marathon’s 2008 BEST ADULT NOVEL AWARD.

 

7 titles ALL for $1! That’s a deal you can’t beat! Get them now before the sale is over!

What would really make my day, my week, my month, my year is if someone bought all 7! Who has $7 burning a hole in their pocket?! (-;

Just click the links above if you’re in Canada or USA. Search your country’s Amazon to find each title. Thank you in advance!

Come December…Recap of Our 2025!

It’s December once again. It’s been a year. Many blessings amidst the chaos of the world!

As I try to remember everything that happened in 2025, I’m a little flabbergasted. Some of it is so far back in my memory that I would have sworn it happened a year or two ago. But the Google timeline doesn’t lie. Apparently we DID take our grandson on a cruise in 2025…it wasn’t actually in 2024 or 2023. No, it was in fact in January, 2025. Here’s the blog post I created about January as proof of our trip.

On the plane to Florida with Edward…the 13th Birthday cruise to the Bahamas!

It seems so long ago. We had an absolute blast taking Edward on his first flights, first cruise, first outside the country vacation. I know he did too. My only regret is that we didn’t do more with him. He found a friend group early in the cruise and spent a lot of time at the kids’ club. We had all our meals together, and we did the Perfect Day at Coco Cay together. It’s not like we didn’t see him. But he did have a lot of free time with friends. I’m certain he loved it this way. No quiet time at the pool onboard, though. Seems weird in retrospect.

Google tells me we also did Cuba in 2025. In April. That too seems like a year or two ago. I swear, the older I get the more difficult it is for my brain to understand time. Something that happened last week could have happened a year ago or an hour ago. The concept of time just floats through my fingers.

I did in fact write about this amazing trip HERE.

But Google doesn’t lie. Cuba is definitely in the 2025 timeline. We visited the LGBTQ friendly hotel Gran Muthu Rainbow. It was our second visit…and we absolutely love it there!

As much as 2025 was not much of a year for writing, it was a year in which I released my latest book. This one won the 2016 Muskoka Novel Marathon’s Best Adult Novel Award. I WILL TELL THE NIGHT. One of my biggest thrills of the year was when my new novel was reviewed in the Miramichi Reader! I’ve been a longtime fan of this publication. My family is in the Miramichi…I began with that connection, but quickly fell in love with the publication for all the usual literary reasons. Here’s where I wrote about the review, with a link to the review itself in the post.

Miramichi Reader!!! I made it!

I also wrote a piece for the Miramichi Reader‘s WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK column. I was thrilled to have both a piece and a review in the Reader! Doesn’t get much better. Here’s a link to their ISSUE 45 WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK column.

We had a great time, once again, with our annual trek to NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE! Always an amazing time winery hopping! Such a lovely city…and great company!

Trius Winery – Niagara-on-the-Lake

Other highlights of 2025 include several visits from our cousin Jordanna! And 2 of those were with lovely Aunt June in toll!

May, 2025 – We had an amazing time with Jordanna and Aunt June at the 25th Anniversary party at BIFF’S BISTRO downtown. This is one of our favourite Toronto restaurants! Great company too!

Earlier in the month, we toured Chinatown with Jordanna and Stephen.

Egg Tarts procured! Chinatown, Toronto. May, 2025.

In October, we had an amazing time at Grossman’s Tavern in Chinatown. Jordanna and Aunt June met us there for an afternoon of Jazz! So much fun. I would not be lying if I said our little group danced the conga through the tavern on our way out. Yummy all-day Dim Sum was had for supper that day. Another great visit with family from Nova Scotia! Always great to see Jordi! And Aunt June!

Grossman’s Tavern.

There is also September, of course. Michael and I once again walked the Camino de Santiago. We had to get back to the Camino Frances. We missed it so much! This time we walked from Leon to Santiago de Compostela. Just a quick wee walk of 310ish kms. We stayed in some incredible places this time around! And once we landed in Santiago de Compostela, we finally made a trip to Finisterre and Muxia! Those two iconic beautiful ends of the world are definitely worth seeing in one’s lifetime. And I guess that’s what we’re doing when we travel, no? Collecting all the things we want to accomplish in our lifetimes. In the end, our regrets are most often the things we didn’t do…not the things we have done.

I wrote ALL ABOUT OUR CAMINO. I kept a daily journal on this website. YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO GO TO DAY ONE FROM LEON TO SAN MARTIN DEL CAMINO.

At the end of each day’s blog, there’s a link to the next day…all the way through to the end of the world!

Oops, we did it again! Holding our Compostelas at the end of the yellow brick road!

Not a lot has happened in the past couple of months. I’ve been writing again. I’m working quite diligently on my mid-grade novel and just beginning to feel like I’m getting back into the swing of writing. It’s at least tickling at the senses. Hopefully the desire builds. I really think that you lose it if you don’t use it. Like every other muscle, writing needs to be exercised. I’m finally doing that again. We shall see, we shall see.

I did have a night out with the girl child! We did a quick movie night for Halloween. ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW at the Biltmore Theatre in Oshawa! What a night!

Creatures of the Night at the Biltmore bar…
With Ashley at the Biltmore, pre ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW! Can you see us shiver with antici—pa—-tion?
There’s a light…

I was going to write about the books I read this year, but I think I’ll have to save that for another post. I’m almost up to BOOK 80 for the year and there have been some really great reads. But that’ll wait for closer to the end of the year. We’ve had a great year!

One more thing to add! TODAY IS GOTCHA DAY for DollyAnn & LollyPop! They have officially been with us for 5 years today! Our little pandemic babies…they’ve been a blast!

DollyAnn & LollyPop

They’re a lot bigger now, and maybe a bit more chaotic. Riding in cars with pugs is a LOT!

The Pugs
THE BOYS, at the back of a streetcar, coming home from the CNE in August! Another great day trip of 2025!
US, with THE BOYS. August, 2025. They’re getting SO grown up!

It’s almost a wrap on another year around the sun! It’s hard to believe we both turned 59 years old this year. Time just keeps on ticking…marching forward with no concern whatsoever. In 2026 we turn 60!!!!!!!! We will have to celebrate that milestone! Perhaps in Hong Kong? (-;

 

The Cape at the End of the World…

While the snow accumulates outside, I thought it was a good time to revisit the end of our trip to Spain this past September. The trip was not yet over when we walked into Santiago de Compostela at the end of the Camino Frances. Our walk–our Camino–was over, but not our exploring.

There was still the END OF THE WORLD to see. My 4th time in Santiago de Compostela and I had yet to make the trek to either Finisterre or Muxía. Though we did not have the time needed to walk there, it was time to rectify things. We had to get to the end of the world before crossing back across the Atlantic to the New World.

The Cape of Finisterre in Galicia was once considered the literal end of the world. This is what the Romans called it, believing there was nothing beyond it. Nothing but water. The name Finisterre itself comes from the Latin FINIS TERRAE, meaning “end of the earth”.

There is an add-on Camino that takes in either Finisterre or Muxía…and some even do both. Being short on time, Michael and I instead booked a bus tour of the two places. I’ve been looking forward to seeing these two iconic Camino locations since I first learned about the Camino de Santiago. Just the idea of walking across Spain and coming upon the ocean at a time when you thought it the end of the world! It’s incredible. The two places must have been such reverent destinations back then. I can’t even imagine!

Making stops along the way to Finisterre, Spain. This was a waterfall we stopped at prior to reaching our destinations.

The first of the two iconic destinations to visit was Finisterre.

The milemarkers on the Camino usually count down the KMs left to Santiago de Compostela. This one at Finisterre counts the fact that there is nowhere else to go. You’ve reached the end of the world.
Maybe one day we’ll walk it. For now, just being there was a huge thrill!

Nothing but water…

Trying to imagine what the ancients saw when they looked out into this vista is literally impossible. Today, we see only the suggestion of home at the other side of the water…
Such a vast space…it’s awe inspiring to look out upon.
The iconic bronze boot statue on the rocks at the end of the world. It was once a custom to burn one’s clothing upon arriving at the end. And perhaps their footwear as well…

We were thrilled to be in Finisterre.

After a stop for lunch, we headed to Muxía. Of the two places, Muxía is quite possibly the more iconic. It was made famous outside Camino circles when TOM (played by Martin Sheen) spread the ashes of his son DANIEL (played by Emilio Estevez) into the water at Muxía at the end of the movie THE WAY. This is one of my absolute favourite movies. I’ve seen it countless times. Being there was an absolute dream come true!

Muxía, the other end of the world…
Same same, but different. It looks like the same photo as above, but it’s a totally different location. Here we are where Martin Sheen stood saying goodbye to his son in the movie THE WAY.

Yet another 0km milemarker to reach…

…the end of the world as they knew it…

There’s something beautiful about the monolithic sculpture found in Muxía alongside the 0km milemarker. A Ferida (English: The Wound) stands more than 36 feet high and weighs 400 tons. Created by Alberto Bañuelos Fournier, it is the largest sculpture in all of Spain. It was inaugurated on September 12, 2003…and serves as a tribute to the volunteers who helped the people of Galicia after the Prestige oil spill of November 2002.

The Wound is such a simple but elegant monument.
The famous lighthouse in Muxia.

Beside the iconic Wound monument is Virxe da Barca Sanctuary. This church is from the 17th Century…

Virxe da Barca sanctuary
The inside of the church…

Of course, the spot where these things can be found were already iconic prior to Christianity coming in and rewriting history. Isn’t that ALWAYS the way. Where the church is now was a pre-Christian Celtic shrine and sacred spot.

I HAD to climb down below all the rocks on the shoreline and put my hands in the water. It was necessary!

I dipped my hands in the water, after a slightly dangerous journey to the shoreline…

If you find yourself in Santiago de Compostela at the end of your Camino and you don’t have enough time to walk to Finisterre and/or Muxía…do yourself a favour. Find a bus tour that will take you there. It took us one day to see both places and so much more. It was so worth it! We loved seeing these two iconic Camino de Santiago landmarks. Just imagine getting to these sacred places at a time when they were considered the literal end of the world! It’s unfathomable. They both had the air of sacred about them. So many thousands (millions) had come before us. What they felt when they looked out at the water! It must have been a profound mix of fear and exhilaration. Don’t miss the opportunity just because you don’t have the time to walk it. Take that bus!

 

We were back in Santiago de Compostela in no time!