I live in a bachelor suite in a high rise apartment building in the trendy Oliver area in Edmonton, Alberta. My desk sits next to a large window that overlooks downtown in this city of approximately 1 million people. As a self-employed author and businesswoman, I work from home. My desk reflects that, being a large cherry-colored slab of wood from IKEA, well organized in a corner of the living area, with computer monitor, keyboard and mouse, speakers, two telephones, a remote control, a scanner, a black & white printer, a bookshelf and a small filing cabinet. Everything I need is within arm's reach.

There's plenty of lighting. A green and oak Circa clock on the wall faces me and the blue office chair in which I sit. A giclée print of the north Saskatchewan River with downtown Edmonton in the background hangs above the clock, as well as an old Coca Cola trivet, my business license, and a plaque that says, "First My Sister Forever My Friend." The stereo speakers are to the right of my desk and a lovely round terrarium sits on one of them, threatening at some time, I suppose, to drown my music system.

Though I was born in Toronto, Ontario toward the end of WWII, my mother set forth west when I was six weeks old and eventually we settled with my soldier/farmer father in the Peace River district of northeastern British Columbia. I was raised on a small mixed farm in an isolated hamlet called North Rolla, approximately 23 miles north of Dawson Creek, B.C. The majority of our neighbors were of Norwegian descent and we were Canadian Scottish ancestry, which put us at odds with the predominant culture of the district. There was a little Lutheran church in the area that we did not attend, and many of the otherwise fun activities that take place in a small community weren't participated in by my parents.

I attended a one room school called North Rolla Elementary, with about 12 students from Grades 1 to 8 attending, and one sometimes novice teacher to control the classroom, which was easily done in those days because the teacher ruled the classroom and was an important part of the community. I studied well on my own while the teacher attended to more needy students or the older students as I progressed through the ranks.

I think the fact that I was isolated at home and given the role of supervising my two younger brothers and younger sister influenced me to a great extent and I began writing and telling stories as a way of escaping the lack of excitement in my life and to entertain my siblings and classmates. I early learned to focus my attention and entertain myself by creating stories in my head and on paper. Initially, writing and telling stories were almost an escape from the tedium of life on a small, isolated farm. To this day I entertain myself very well and often lose myself happily for many hours, usually at night, in a solitary activity such as writing.

I can't remember a time when I didn't tell stories to my siblings to entertain them, and when I learned to print and write words at age five or six, I began to write them down. My first effort I remember was a poem rhyming "stars" and "Mars", which I wrote on a blackboard at my cousin's house, which, if I recall correctly, adequately impressed her at that tender age.

SpaceHive will probably always be my favorite novel as it's my debut novel and written with a great deal of editing and rewriting. I learned a lot from writing it, and have my first publisher, Cheryl Tardif of Imajin Books, to thank for her patience and skill helping me hone the manuscript until it was acceptable. My favorite character is probably not the protagonist Jason Anderson, but Aadab Ali, the South Asian young man who befriends Jason. Together they battle the ominous giant alien wasp General Vard and his Black Watch, who are intent on destroying humanity and colonizing Earth. I have a B.A. degree in anthropology (1975) and have always been intrigued by other cultures and different ways of thinking, thus Aadab Ali, as a Muslim and South Asian citizen of the future, also captivates my imagination. I researched the Urdu language which Aadab speaks and was told by a knowledgeable source that the Urdu I used is correct. I hope my research of India and that continent is also reliable. It was a lot of fun to research and write.

Some years ago I was stung by wasps in a friend's backyard. She also was stung and developed a scary anaphylactic reaction, causing an ambulance ride to the emergency ward of the nearest hospital. I began to wonder what would happen if the Earth were invaded by giant alien wasps and how we would defend ourselves. I initially wrote double the number of pages as an adult novel, but my publisher convinced me it would make a better young adult story and as such would be better as a shorter novel that would be compatible with young adult interests. It was a number of months before Cheryl accepted the manuscript and when she did, it was to offer me two contracts, one for an eBook and one for print. This is my first published book.

The act of writing itself is the greatest joy, creating a world from nothing so to speak, or from my mind and brain, my experiences, my joys and deep wishes for the future and wisdom from the past, my concerns and interests, all spread out like butterfly wings on the pages to mold into something that hopefully brings happiness and perhaps knowledge to others.

Hmmm. There are so many. I think Gertrude Stein, Sigmund Freud, and Adolph Hitler. I would serve fig tarts, a South Asian dish like lamb Rogan Josh, tabouli salad, a cooling cucumber and yogurt raita, grilled garlic naan bread, and steamed asparagus. I'm making that for friends today. To drink we would have flavored water and tea. A nice orange sherbet (sorbet) for dessert. Adolph might like some peppermint schnapps.

Or maybe we'd have take-out Brooklyn pizza from Dominoes…I'd hide the boxes. LOL