Q: How long have you been in Ottawa, and what first brought you here?
I was eighteen years old, studying Physics at the University of Waterloo, and came to Ottawa in January 1989 for my first 4-month co-op work term. I stayed with my older brother, sleeping on his couch in his little bachelor apartment on York Street in the ByWard Market. I remember that I could look out the window and see the Chez 106 DJ working in the building across the street. Most of my other work terms were in Ottawa, so when I graduated in 1993, I came here to again to sleep on my brother’s couch while looking for a job. Jobs were scarce in my field, so I flew out to Vancouver where they were supposed to be more plentiful and while there, landed a job back here in Ottawa. I’ve been here ever since.
Q: How did you first get involved in writing, and subsequently, the writing community here?
I always loved reading science fiction as a kid and wanted to be a novelist someday. During my university years and afterwards, I collected books on how to write a novel and would dutifully write story outlines and plot points and character profiles . . . and never actually wrote any novels. It wasn’t until I read Stephen King’s book On Writing, in which he said that the only thing that ever worked for him was to just sit down and start writing, that I tried just that.
In 2005, my oldest daughter was seven and had read all the Harry Potters novels. I wanted to write a YA novel that she and her younger sister would like, where the main character was a girl. So, I started writing it in my spare time. I wasn’t persistent, though, so chapters were written sporadically over the years. I eventually stopped writing it altogether and spent a few years creating a book called The Scooter Diaries, based on an old manuscript my late father had written shortly after his scooter adventure with my mother down in South America in 1960. I joined the Ottawa Independent Writers Facebook group and once attended an actual meetup of writers for drinks at a pub. I think, though, that I felt like an imposter—not a real writer like them—so I never went to more.
A few years ago, I had a few months off between jobs. For the first time ever, I could spend every day doing anything I wanted to do. I chose to write all day, every day, and finish off my YA novel. I discovered that I’m never happier than when I’m writing. Since releasing it recently, I started a new routine of waking up at 5am every day to give myself at least an hour or two to write.
Q: How did being in such a community of writers shift your thinking about writing, if at all?
In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t been such a loner and had instead participated more in Ottawa’s writing community. Maybe it would have inspired me to write every day. Maybe I would have learned more about the craft and about the business side of things. Maybe I would have made some writer friends. In the past few months, though, I’ve gotten to know some Ottawa authors on Twitter and I’m getting a feel for what I’ve missed out on. Hopefully, I can make up for lost time.
Q: What do you see happening here that you don’t see anywhere else? What does Ottawa provide, or allow?
I’ve always loved Ottawa for its diversity and multiculturalism. People tend to think of Ottawa as being a sleepy political town—but being the National Capital, people come from all over to live here, which makes the city a dynamic, interesting place to live. It has lots of big-city festivals but a small-town feel. I love its Ottawa International Writers Festival, its book fairs, and independent bookstores. I am just now learning of its close-knit writing community and I really do hope to become a part of it.
Q: Have any of your projects responded directly to your engagements here? How have the city and its community, if at all, changed the way you approached your work?
My debut novel Fractured, the first book in the Telepath series, begins in the Byward Market during the Canada Day celebrations. I like it when Canadian authors set their books in Canada, and I knew from the start I wanted to do likewise.
Q: What are you working on now?
In addition to trying to figure out how to promote my debut novel, I am hard at work on the next book in the Telepath series. The first book might have taken 17 years, but I hope to have its sequel out within a year.
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