This terrifying twisted tale, set at a fancy boarding school in Virginia, USA, will keep you reading until the bitter end. Why? Because, well, you just have to know what’s really going on. Are these macabre monsters real? And if so, how will they be contained? CG Drews has a talent for creating gruesome Young Adult stories. After reading Hazelthorn…

As I read Hazelthorn I searched for the right words to describe it: unique, original, addictive, disturbing, psychologically horrific … tragic. It’s has “a terrible beauty” as Keats or Yeats might have said. It’s the most superb gothic romantasy I’ve ever read—something Byron and Shelley might have devoured. Really, words are inadequate. You’ll have to read it yourself to understand and feel its effects.

As some of you may know, I practice the craft in a very low key, quiet way on my own. Estrada, Sensara, and Hollystone Coven are not quite that quiet and practice their theatrical rituals together as a powerful coven in a nearby wood by a lake. Over the winter break, I felt the urge to learn more. I'd discovered a TV show on Crave called…

Wouldn’t you love to own a curiosity shoppe crammed with all sorts of treasures, perhaps some that are even magical? This is what our feisty seventeen-year-old hero, Willow Stokes, inherits when her father dies. The problem is, nothing seems the least bit magical so nothing’s been sold for decades, and Willow’s about to lose the shoppe. She can’t pay the rent.

Reader Beware: This fast-paced Young Adult novel contains several graphic, disturbing scenes of indescribable gore and violence. Actually, I shouldn’t say “indescribable” because it’s Sutherland’s sensory play-by-plays that push it over the edge into the HORROR realm, giving Stephen King a run for his money. Quill & Quire’s called him Canada’s answer to R.L. Stine. If the macabre is not to your taste you might want to give it a pass, but if you’re intrigued by Halloween horror, …

This book is subtitled: “Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.” It’s a wonderful book; one I’ll add to my library. It’s about changing attitudes, rediscovering nature, and learning gratitude. If anyone can save the planet and ameliorate this current crisis, it’s Indigenous teachings and children—coupled together this book creates a lifeline to hope. My understanding is that Monique Gray Smith took the teachings offered in…

I read A Discovery of Witches years ago but it wasn’t the right time for me. Reading can be like that. Something you read and love today might not work for you five years from now. In my case, it was the opposite. I consumed this lengthy, detailed novel—almost six hundred pages—in a matter of days and emerged amazed by Dr.

Phaedra Luck may be no Greek princess like her mythical namesake, but she’s one fierce female protagonist. When we first meet “Fade” she’s sleeping rough in a cemetery. Like her missing great aunt Madeline, Fade survives on society’s fringes, woven into nature like other wild things—wolves, women, rabbits, and black bears. From the dark, disturbing prologue (listen to the author read it…

Some time in your life you must have been hugged by a poem written by Mary Oliver. Upstream was published in 2016, not long before her death on January 17, 2019. It is both a memoir and an homage to her chosen town: Provincetown, Massachusetts. She moved there with her lifelong partner and soul mate Molly Malone Cook in the mid 1960s, and these essays celebrate fifty years of life lived in this artist haven at the northern tip of Cape Cod. 

Stephen King is a little like cilantro—you either love him or hate him. Maybe he even tastes like soap to some people … or something worse. Personally, I think he’s brilliant. I read The Green Mile the past five nights before bed (430 pages). He is a tad long-winded at times, but he also rounds out his complex characters to the max.

From the masterfully crafted opening line to the cheeky last comment, The Never Witch will keep you spellbound. McLean has a talent for creating unique supernatural worlds, so real they could actually exist in contemporary Vancouver. In this, the first of the Thorne Witch series, we’re introduced to a sophisticated world order of witches and warlocks who intermingle with humans. That in itself may not seem new—we’ve certainly met them before—but McLean’s world-building is complex, intelligent, nuanced, and, naturally, political.

Friends and Neighbours. I hope to see you at my first winter market this year! I'll be chatting with readers, as well as signing and selling books.

Two years later, thirteen-year-old Emma Sharpe is back aboard The New Adventure (having saved her parents from the Poor House and set them up on a farm using her share of the cursed loot) when they’re attacked by a French ship. Emma awakens on the inhospitable island of Samana, finds an injured Jack, and meets quirky Warren Shivers (who’s been living in a cave with a skeleton woman for two years).

Atkins says his inspiration for this middle-grade adventure novel was Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, and I can believe it. The narrative sounds akin to novels of that era. The diction and tone strike me as similar to other Victorian novels written for children; meaning there is a formality to the language, a sense of propriety even at the worst of times, and the children are treated like grownups.

Explore the maze of local vendors as you shop for the holidays. I'll be signing books over the whole weekend. This market is a Lower Mainland Legend!  Read more here.

I've adored Holly Black's books since her Valiant Series in the early 2000s. This book is similar in language and story—the collision of humans and otherworldy beings in a lavish natural world. There are several cruel princes in this book: Balekin, Dain, and the youngest and most handsome, Cardan. I imagine the title refers to Cardan who despises and terrorizes our protagonist—good fodder for a love match, don't ya think?

It's always exciting to see how many published authors live in the neighbourhood (Port Coquitlam - Coquitlam - Port Moody. The Port Moody Library celebrates these authors by including their books in their White Pines Collection. Each year, they hold a wonderful gala to introduce the authors and their books to the community. Here's a photo of all the authors who we celebrated last year!

This is my first summer vending at Pagan Awareness Day in Vancouver and I'm excited! If you're curious about Wicca or Druidry or just love all things spiritual and metaphysical, this is the place to be on August 23rd. I'll be there with my Hollystone Mysteries and a few print copies of The Man in Black series, as well as LURE, and Writing with your Muse for all you writerly folks searching for new ways to inspire creativity.

I was sucked into the current of this unique and memorable historical novel when I heard the author read the beginning aloud at a gathering of local writers in B.C. “It was a bitter afternoon, during one of the worst winters the province had ever seen. A ten-year-old girl walked into the forest with her two brothers and didn’t come out again.” Although it starts with a weather report—which authors are advised NOT to do—the question “what happened?” hooked me and hooked us all.

Greetings from the sun-dappled BC south coast as we roll towards the Climax of Light. The Solstice connects us, as it occurs all around the Earth in the same instant. It’s only our manmade calendars that separate us. And, of course, because of the Earth’s tilt, our topsy turvy world opens up our northern hemisphere to the sun’s infrared heat while the southern half faces away and celebrates Winter Solstice.

I don’t know how I missed reading this book. I’ve been a huge fan of Louise Erdrich’s work since the 1980s. Love Medicine, one of my other all time favorite books won the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award. I also loved Tracks (1988). Erdrich writes of a fictional reservation in Minnesota/North Dakota and her characters often dance between stories.

Bill Arnott’s latest “Season” memoir takes the reader on an emotional armchair journey through British Columbia’s iconic Okanagan Valley. But it needn’t be armchair for long. This delectable morsel may inspire you to shift from recliner to car seat or bus or even plane. In this historic moment, when Canadians are exploring our nation more than ever before, this wee gem is a must.