My personal story has been strongly influenced by a sense of place. During the 1930s, both sets of my grandparents moved from the drought-stricken prairie of southern Saskatchewan to the more hospitable parkland of the northwest. I grew up there, raised on the land that dad acquired from his parents.  Later, after four years at university, I returned home with my husband to become part of the third generation on the Ternier farm. Aside from a dozen years on an acreage near Saskatoon so Doug could work with our son, I’ve lived there ever since.

When our son and daughter were both in school, I returned to university, living in Saskatoon three or four days a week and returning home on weekends to husband and kids. Seven years later I obtained a PhD in English from the University of Saskatchewan.  Subsequently I worked as a sessional instructor, teaching from September until April either on campus or at the local regional college. I continued to teach part-time until my retirement in 2019 (?)

The dichotomy between urban academic and farm homemaker shaped my life; it also provided the context for my novels. Until recently, I spent the five months from spring until fall planting and tending large gardens and preserving the winter’s supply of produce. During the rest of the year, I combined domestic life with writing and teaching.  My protagonist, Jeannie Wolfert-Lang, follows a similar pattern—although her medium is canvas and paint rather than words.

I started creative writing in the late 1990s, soon after I co-founded Cochin Community Players. Most of our actors were middle-aged and older women. I needed scripts with good roles for them. Soon I was writing plays and comedy revues for our local stage. Then, when I retired from teaching, I turned to fiction. I wrote the first two drafts of Grounds for Murder as my Covid project. Now I am hooked.  Encouraged by the acceptance of my first novel by ECW Press, I’ve started on its sequel. A Clear-Cut Case, like my earlier work, is set in the fictional community of Bunchgrass, whose landscape bears a strong resemblance to my own.

Jeannie Wolfert-Lang’s cat is based upon a lovely Maine Coon named Diesel who lives with Doug and me.

I am a member of the National Farmers Union, active on the steering committee attempting to set up a farmland cooperative in Saskatchewan. I also belong to the Saskatchewan Writers Guild and the Crime Writers of Canada.

Doug and I are in our early seventies. Neither of our children wants the farm.  Inevitable changes will soon make our lives . . . very interesting.