It isn’t about you — One of the first stories I had published was a personal essay, except I didn’t know it was one. I’d never heard the term “personal essay” so I pitched it as my personal story. Which is pretty much what a personal essay is, right? What I didn’t realize is a…

Jonathon Larson’s “Tick Tick Boom” has left me wondering — I assumed the throbbing pain and loud clicking in my shoulder was a simple injury from a fall, but the physio suspects some underlying condition and insists I head straight to the emergency department. First though, I head home. I let my husband know, grab a notebook, reassure the kids…

3 creative side-gigs for you to try too — I’ve been a working writer for over 12 years and the 70/20/10 rule is one I’ve always applied to my time. The 10 part is the most fun. Here’s how it works — I spend the majority of my writing time on work that pays, around 20% on testing out…

Let’s chat — I’ve been in my dream career as a writer for over 15 years. Previously, I was a teacher, with a Bachelor of Education, Post-grad Diploma in Health Science with Distinction, and Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning. I’m currently in my 6th year of tertiary study, finishing off more postgraduate…

The Penguins haven’t even seen humans, but their fate is up to us — Driving a dark country road one night, several years ago, I hit a mother duck. When I pulled over, I discovered a dozen, now orphaned, baby ducklings running into the fields and onto the road. I didn’t know what to do. I could hear their tiny peeping cries, but could…

Should anyone be “Saving Sally”? — Rom-Coms are my guilty pleasure. My two teenage daughters and I indulge in one most Fridays together, accompanied by mandatory chocolate treats. Last Friday, the girls snuggled under a blanket on the couch while I scrolled Netflix, calling out potential movie titles. My 17-year-old shrugged, her eyes on her phone…

But her age has nothing to do with it — Aussie singer, Kylie Minogue, posed semi-nude for September’s Perfect Magazine and it made me mad. 55-year-old Kylie, one of my favorite celebrities as a child, wasn’t the problem. Kylie is ten years older than me and still looks like a 30-year-old. I don’t. That’s what made me mad. The closest…

Fiction and nonfiction books that delighted me this year — This week I finished my 23rd book of 2023. There have been some duds: I wanted to love Mad Honey, Jodi Picoult’s latest, more than I did. But I’ve been pleasantly surprising by the number that have exceeded my expectations and deemed themselves worthy of 5-stars. The last couple of…

For years I was too embarrassed to tell anyone — Reproductive depression is almost unheard of. I’m one of the unlucky women who has experienced it at every stage of my life: my teens, during and after pregnancy, triggered by hormonal contraception, and in peri-menopause. Reproductive depression is the term for hormone-related depression and, for some of us, like me…