Author, Blogger, Book Designer
This book wasn't supposed to be scary. When I set out to write 17 Weddings, I intended to put some space between myself and my writing. I was determined to avoid the depth of self-reflection that I'd experienced while writing my debut novel, Goodnight Sunshine. I hadn't intended my Goodnight Sunshine protagonist to be a [...]
I've always considered myself an entrepreneur. But lately I've been questioning what that means ... and why it matters. A quick Google search produces many similar-but-subtly-different definitions of the word "entrepreneur", such as: a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so. a [...]
I attended my 30-year high school memory test on Saturday. I wasn't sure what drew me to it, but I'm sure glad I went. I expected my first reunion to provide some foggy recollections of the large brick building I graduated from in 1987 -- the school I drifted through like the wind for three [...]
It's official! The Cameron family is embarking on another camper van journey in June. This could be our last big adventure in our 19 feet of paradise on wheels -- if we can bring ourselves to let go of the van that has been our "second home" for almost one-third of our lives since 2010. Yes, that's [...]
I am quite certain that I have Tourette's Syndrome. As a child, I frequently exhibited odd little tics: excessive blinking; strange breathing patterns; unnecessary throat clearing; and various other twitches, grunts and squeaks. Watching my son exhibit similar tics, which tend to last from a few days to a few weeks, I see a reflection of [...]
It seems appropriate that my uncle sent me a wonderful article about my great-grandfather this morning. You see, my great-grandfather, Samuel Clarence Nickle, was an oil man. One of the most prominent business people in western Canada from the late 1930's to the early 1970's, he was instrumental in the development of the Canadian oil [...]
I'm blaming my lack of posts this summer on pie. And bread, and cookies too. Add in a few dozen buns, crackers and one experimental batch of baklava, and you know what The Cameron Family Bakers have been up to every Thursday and Friday since mid-May. There were many reasons for committing to a summer of baking [...]
It's human nature to want for more. We live in a growth paradigm. Grow or die, as the saying goes. Never mind that it can't be sustainable, no matter what our politicians and CEOs say to defend the status quo that feeds them wealth and power. Growth in perpetuity is a nonsensical concept -- at least within the [...]
It wasn't my idea to not school our kids. When it came time to enrol Iris in kindergarten, Sheila simply couldn't do it. She checked out all of the local schools, but homeschooling seemed right to her. I was Sheila's sounding board, but I was too buried in "The Machine" to understand the shape of an average [...]
I don't mean to deceive anyone. It's just that it's so much easier to write about my highlights... and make light of darker moments. Okay, so "fraud" is too strong a word... but it made for a catchy title. (See! You can't even trust my blog posts!) The fact is that while I am, in fact, "living [...]
Mark of Words 