Stories and Outtakes
As writers we produce so much that it often doesn’t always fit into a specific category. Here you will find some of my stories and outtakes. Enjoy!
Me: Published Author
Well, the grand unboxing was this morning. I am beyond thrilled!!! The colours came out fairly well and the cover has that sensuous matte texture that makes holding the book feel lovely. I gave up on waiting for traditional publishers to show an interest in my book....
The Call
It's been more than two and a half decades since my mother left us, but the wound still burns as fiercely as it did back then. *** No one steps briskly through the spiked wrought iron gate that leads to heartache. Rather, the Angels of Anguish join forces with the...
Captives – (Short)
I'D WRITTEN THIS A WHILE AGO, WHEN MY DAD WAS ADMITTED TO HAMILTON GENERAL HOSPITAL. AS WE PASS ANOTHER SAD MILESTONE REMEMBRANCE OF HIS PASSING, I'M REPRINTING IT IN HIS MEMORY. WE'RE IN THE MIDST OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS AND HORRIFIC NEWS ABOUT FRAIL SENIORS AND CARE...
Observations While Driving
One I was returning to Toronto from a teaching assignment in Hamilton, and as I drove down the ramp from York Street to highway 403, I slowed for the sharp curve. Directly in front of me was one of those long, waist-high concrete road dividers. Someone had spray...
Origin Stories – Part 2
2023 First Prize Winner - One Book: One Aurora Short Story Contest They settled into the Black community in Montreal where dad worked as a machinist. But he was always restless. I remember him as a melancholy man of few words, solid but distant. The look in his eyes...
Origin Stories – Part 1
2023 first prize winner, One Book: One Aurora Short Story Contest I’ve concluded that our minds are like gigantic cellular cupboards where we hoard memories, good and bad. Even as we chafe at the history that's being lost as the older generation passes away, a snippet...
My ‘Own Voice’ Protagonist
Edited article, originally published in Crime Scene Magazine, A Sisters in Crime Toronto Chapter Publication We've read novels featuring female sleuths like Kinsey Milhone, Mary Russell, Stephanie Plum, Precious Ramotswe and Frankie Drake. None of them resembled the...
The Heroine’s Journey of Discovery
I was doing some computer hard drive house-cleaning. Not that I need the space but it does keep me from doing chores like cobweb-hunting and folding laundry. And I never mind the trip down memory lane of some of the tens of thousands of words I've written. I revisited...
Why Kenora Cooks
Chapter 8 of my novel Kenora Reinvented begins with: When my mother died, I ate. When Ravi kicked me to the matrimonial curb, I ate. When I had to quit the job I'd hated for decades and bills threatened to snow me under, I ate. That's a fairly common...
The Lake Decision – A Story
Today wasn't supposed to happen, but old habits are hard to break, and without thinking about futility and regrets, I knelt for a glance into the familiar shallows. You know the old saying about life flashing before your eyes as you're about to breathe your last? Not...