A Bit About Me...

   I was born in 1968 in Leoben, Austria. I was an only child then and I

   still am now. My parents brought me to Canada when  I was only 9

   months old and I’ve lived here ever since. I became a Canadian citizen

   when I was a teenager and now I live in Mississauga, Ontario with my

   husband, our three kids, our dog, a bearded dragon, and a leopard

   gecko. 

   When I need to take a break from writing, I love to spend time on a

   boat or at an amusement park - I love going on rides and eating

   caramel apples! I also love to paint, draw and watch movies. My

   biggest fears are snakes and sharks! Oh, and spiders, too.

   I enjoy spending time with my family and good friends. But,

   sometimes I'd rather just be by myself to read and write.

   I wrote my first novel, Smudge’s Mark, in a closet.

                                                                                                                                                 Q&A

Here are some commonly asked questions. 

How did you become a writer?

By writing. Seriously. I've always loved writing, as a kid and even as a teen. I continued writing into my early adult years, but all of it was only for personal use. I especially liked to write short skits, poems and reflections. Sometime during those early adult years, I started feeling the need to write something more substantial, but it wasn't until 1999 that I finally put my mind to it. And, having a personality that tends to lean towards obssessiveness, I haven't stopped since.

Did you always want to be a writer?

Not in the professional sense of the word. It's just part of who I am. I need to write. I must write. If I don't, I get all restless and feel like something's missing, like I'm not doing what I should be doing. So I don't think it's that I always wanted to be a writer - it's more like I just had to figure out how to cultivate and release what has always been inside me.

Where do you get your ideas from?

Good question! I don't know. Well, I kind of know, but not really. To be honest, I don't ever really start with good ideas. The ideas come when I write - as I write. My writing is very character driven. I just follow where they want to go. They're the ones with the ideas! But I do believe that you write what you are. By that I mean your writing is rooted deep within yourself, from the miriad of experiences, observances, relationships, attitudes, inner monologues, and feelings you've had throughout your lifetime. As human beings, we are very complex and if you can get in the right zone and allow yourself, you can tap into any experience or emotion you've previously had. I use those to feed my writing - my characters. It's just as easy for me, when I'm in the zone, to pull from my dark side as it is my good side. (And to be honest, pulling characters out of my dark side is so much more fun!) So, I think any writer gets their ideas from the sum of their life's experiences. You just can't give, or write, what you don't already have in you. But that's not to say that a writer who creates a character who is a murderer is a murderer her/himself. It's the stored-up emotions, knowledge, observances, and opinions that writer has about murderers that feeds their ability to make that character believable.

What are some of your favorite books?

I love Sally Gardner's books; I, Coriander and The Red Necklace. I also adored Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, Neil Gaiman's Coraline and The Graveyard Book, and C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. Growing up, I absolutely loved Dr. Seuss! To be truthful, I didn't actually start loving reading until I started getting serious about writing. I read time and time again that if you want to be a writer, you must first be a reader. And that's so true. Oh, I've read a lot throughout my lifetime, but there's a difference between reading a story and entering a story. It took me the first 30 years of my life to figure that out and now that I know the difference, I'll never simply read a story ever again.

Do you have any advice for someone who wants to become a writer?

Like I said above: enter the stories you read. Experience what the author truly wants you to experience. That way, you can add those experiences to your own and the pool of creativity and ideas that you need to pull from when you write will grow and deepen. Also, interest yourself in anything and everything in the world around you. Use your senses and commit to memory certain smells, sounds, tastes, sights, and textures. Practice writing descriptions of those things as if you had to describe them to someone who'd never experienced them before. How would you describe the sound of snoring, the taste of a pomegranate, the smell of a sewer? You must also be a very keen observer of people. Study how they interact, walk, talk, eat, sit, sleep, cry, laugh... you get the picture. And then your head will be so full you'll just have to write! Just do it.

Are you going to write more books?

Yes. I've started a sequel to Smudge's Mark. I also have a few other ideas tucked away for later...

Do you follow a routine when you write?

No. I wish I could offer you a fail-proof writing plan, but I can't survive with routine for very long - it suffocates me. I need to live within a certain degree of chaos. That's how I operate. The only thing I can tell you that would be anywhere near routine would be that I have a big mug of coffee every morning. (Although, some people may consider that an addiction, not a routine ) A friend of mine has a great motto: Make a plan, change the plan. But most times, I don't even get to the "make a plan" part!

Which of your characters is most like you?

All of them have a bit of me in them. I can't say that any one of them is more like me than any other. (Although, I do constantly have internal monologues like Smudge does!)