I was born in Don Mills in 1953. I never dreamed of becoming a writer. As a teenager I hoped to become a pediatrician, but suffered from a bad case of wanderlust - a need to travel. I left home at 17 to milk cows on kibbutz in Israel, then worked in England, a Jean Vanier home in France, and California. I returned home at 22 to complete a B.Ed. spending summers in Quebec and France learning to speak French. I loved working with children and happily became an ESL and French teacher. I taught  in Cree communities of Northern Quebec until my hip dysplasia (the same condition that cripples golden retrievers) forced me into Montreal General Hospital to have my right hip rebuilt. After 9 weeks in a body cast, months in a wheelchair, then crutches and canes – I walked again! My favorite thing to do: Read My favorite place: A mountain top. My favorite people: Librarians Our last family trip: Cuba Our next family trip: Egypt Favorite book 2005: The Kite Runner Recommended: Carver: A Life in Poems Three steps to becoming a writer: Read-a-lot. Write-a-lot. Submit-a-lot. I returned to Toronto to complete a M.Ed . . . only to get itchy feet again. All set to teach English in China, love finally interfered: a wonderful man  proposed to me. Thirty-two years old, I got married and immediately had four children in less than five years. My husband wanted a baseball/hockey/basketball team, but I said, “Four’s perfect!” Besides, I suffered from a new passion: Writing! I couldn’t travel with my feet but I could travel with my imagination. Every evening  in our house was, and still is, devoted to reading.