Roma Colbert, has been a resident of Cobourg since retiring in 1999. Since then she has volunteered with the Northumberland Humane Society, Habitat for Humanity,  PrimRose Donkey Sanctuary,  Cobourg Ecology Garden and Cobourg’s Communities in Bloom Committee. She is passionate about animal welfare, the environment and her chosen community.  Roma’s interest in writing stems from her love of reading, which led to a love of words. Her desire to talk about the many community needs and animals in care she encountered through her volunteer work, led her to worry she might be monopolizing conversations.  Putting pen to paper seemed a sensible solution.  And she found she loved it.   Writing and revising and trying again, trying to paint pictures with words and in doing so, strengthening her bonds with the community and its inhabitants.

Part 1

Part 2

Marnie Hare Bickle has been fascinated by words and music for as long as she can remember. She studied piano and voice and taught herself to play the guitar so that she could perform her own songs at school, church and community events. She wrote her first poem for her parents when she was eight years old. Her work in early childhood education sparked her interest in children’s literature and she used her own poems and songs for teaching. She still runs a music studio with ove20 students in Port Hope, but that hasn’t stopped her from  editing  the memoirs of John David Ford, a relative of her husband’s, whose long forgotten memoirs were found in the attic of her home. It’s been three years since Marnie was here to tell us about finding a treasure trove of John Ford’s papers in their attic and now her book is about to be released by Blue Denim Press.

Part 1

Part 2

This week we welcome back Cynthia Reyes and Lauren Reyes Grange. Her new book, Myrtle the Purple Turtle, was inspired by an experience her 4-year old daughter Lauren had at school. As with all her books so far, Myrtle originated in Cynthia’s family. Cynthia’s books for adults are about unusual homes, the people who love them, and the life events connected to these places. She is the author of the bestselling A Good Home, and An Honest House, winner of the Diamond Award for Book of the Year (2016). Her children’s picture book “Myrtle the Purple Turtle” has received acclaim from parents, teachers, librarians and most important of all, the book’s target audience: children.

Lauren Reyes Grange is Cynthia’s daughter and the recipient of the original Myrtle story. But she not only prompted the story, she is now a strong force behind the marketing of the book.She is a Toronto-based marketer with more than 8 years experience.

Part 1

Part 2

Sharon Ramsay has lived a very varied and multi-faceted creative life. She has been a poet, a teacher, a potter, a painter in watercolours, a maker of drawings, collector of words and a raconteur.  Recently she has turned her attention to creating children’s stories. Her first book, Edward Covered is now in print and her second story is to be released shortly.

Part 1

Part 2

 Cindy Stone divides her time between writing and practicing as a registered psychotherapist /Ericksonian hypnotherapist and Reiki Master. She is an advanced student of Baguaquan, an internal martial art, Qi gong and meditation. Cindy has always been fascinated with transformational journeys and the incredible power of the mind. She is the author of, The Incidental Guru: Lessons in Healing from a Dog, published by Stewart House, and Fitzhenry & Whiteside. She co-wrote the screenplay for Expecting, a “Dram-edy” directed by Deborah Day with an ensemble cast including; Colin Mochrie, Deb McGrath, Barbara Radecki and Valeri Buhagiar. Cindy’s debut novel, SCORPION from The Myriad Series won Book of the Year, from Book Talk Radio in the UK and was chosen as one of 12 Best Book Picks for 2018 by Spirited Women Inc, in LA,; a global Women’s Empowerment Group.

Part 1

Part 2

Meet Grace Young who has been blogging weekly at IntoFullBloom.net for over two years now.  She has self published one book The Crow and the Dove and is planning to release a second in the near future. Grace is 19 years old and trying to make her dreams come true by becoming a full-time author and spreading her message of hope and positivity.

Part 1

Part 2

Ted Staunton has written more than 40 books for young children, middle grade readers and young adults and has received prizes for many of them. He was born in Toronto and studied at the University of Toronto. When he went back there to teachers’ college in 1981, he wrote a story called Puddleman for one of his courses and rather to his surprise it was published.  Puddleman was a picture book but he has since written many stories for older children and young adults. Some of the most recent are Who I’m Not which won him the John Spray Mystery Award, Jump Cut, and Power Chord. Ted speaks and performs at schools and libraries across Canada and frequently takes his banjo with him. He also teaches courses on Writing for Children at George Brown College and the Haliburton School of the Arts.

Part 1

Part 2

Heather Chisvin was born in Winnipeg to Jewish parents, whose own parents emigrated from Russia to escape the pogroms there. She studied at the University of Manitoba and worked as a print journalist in Winnipeg and then with CBC as producer. She moved to Toronto to become a researcher with W5, then moved back to CBC and produced radio documentaries. Later she went into advertising as an Associate Creative director and taught advertising copywriting at OCAD before going freelance. Ten years ago she moved to Port Hope with her partner, novelist Kurt Palka. Heather has just published her first novel.

Part 1

Part 2

This week meet Reva Nelson, the author of Risk It!, Bounce Back! And, her latest book, ‘Hippie Chick Abroad’ which is her successful memoir of the last year of the Sixties. She has been an actress, a teacher-librarian and ESL teacher and was the owner of “Words Worth: Keynotes & Seminars”for over 20 years. Reva’s clients included several Government Ministries, the Human Resources Secretariat, IBM, CIBC and CIBC Mellon. She has delivered workshops and keynote speeches internationally. A couple of years ago Reva moved to Cobourg to enjoy the lake and small town life. She now facilitates groups and provides personal coaching on life changes and challenges. As wel as writing for local media.

Part 1

Part 2

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific crime writers. Under the name of Eva Gates, she has published 3 Lighthouse Library mysteries with Berkley Prime Crime, and her fourth book in that series, The  Spook in the Stacks, was released this June.  Her newest cozy series, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries, began with Elementary She Read, the third in the successful series Cat of the Baskervilles was released in February 2018.  She writes in several different subgenres: cozies, standalone novels of suspense; traditional village/police procedurals and the lighthearted Klondike Gold Rush series.  Vicki began her writing career as a Sunday writer: a single mother of three high-spirited daughters with a full-time job as a computer programmer. But in the end the three daughters flew the coop, leaving Vicki more time to devote to her writing. She now lives in Prince Edward County and writes whenever she feels like it. And, this year, is one of the chief organisers of the second Women Killing It conference taking place in Picton on  Labour Day Weekend.

Part 1

Part 2