Category Archives: Inspiration

The Blessing of the Boats

The Blessing of the Boats

Fishing is an industry on Prince Edward Island, the setting of Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog. Many people earn their living this way. In Chapter 4, Pastor MacDougal performs The Blessing of the Boats at the beginning of the lobster season on May 4th. In honor of that day, here is a poem… Read More


P.S. Write Soon

The Lost Art of Letter Writing

In The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, Annabelle can figure out parts of the mystery because she reads letters written by her family members. There’s no way to do that with texts and e-mails. How will we solve our mysteries? Writing letters to family and friends is a way of saying how much you care about someone,… Read More


Planet Earth

Our Home

It wasn’t until I was a cottage owner on Prince Edward Island that I became acutely aware of the global effects of climate change. When my husband and I purchased a ramshackle cottage on PEI’s south shore in 1997, we had approximately 40 feet of property between the end of the deck to the red… Read More


A Writing Prompt

I’ve shared that one of my favorite places to visit is Prince Edward Island, so much that I wrote an entire book set there! Here’s a slideshow of some of the photos I’ve taken over the years. Is there a place that has a lot of meaning for you? Good memories? Beautiful vistas? Tourist attractions… Read More


Throckmorton S. Monkey

Sew-Your-Own Sock Monkey

When I wrote The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, I often thought of my own sock monkey. There are many sock monkeys in the book, of course, so I asked my friend Millie Dosh to sew more monkeys for me. I have quite a group. Some nights I could swear they’re having a party. Are you inspired by… Read More


Sock Monkey Goes to Hollywood

A Celebrity Sock Monkey

Find yourself in need of more books starring sock monkeys? Cece Bell has a trio of books starting with Sock Monkey Goes to Hollywood: a Star is Bathed (Candlewick, 2015) that are fun. In this first, Sock Monkey, who is an actor, is nominated for an award. To attend the ceremony, he must take a… Read More


Anne’s Avonlea

Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog is set on Prince Edward Island, a locale I’ve visited many times, encouraged by reading L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables books. Here are some beautiful photos of Prince Edward Island  from Victoria magazine.


Do you have a dog that would save your life?

In Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog, Tango learns to be brave. Even though they’re quite small compared to some dogs, Yorkshire terriers are loyal and smart. Yorkshire Terrier Saves Owner From a Bear  A different bear story: Yorkie Fights Off Bear  Spunky Yorkshire Terrier Saves Her Owner’s Life  Yorkie Doodle Dandy: A Canine… Read More


The Longest Night

Lighting the Winter Dark

Augusta and McKenna make enchanted candles for the tourists in Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog. Perhaps you’d like to make your own for the darkest night of the year, the Winter Solstice on December 21st. Here’s a video tutorial on making your own pillar candles. Have fun! And here’s another book for your… Read More


Lupines

A Time Between Tides

It was June, 1974, and the lupines, I remember, were in bloom. Six months earlier, on the way home from a party near dawn, I’d totaled a white Volkswagen Beetle. Somersaulting through the convertible’s rag-top roof, twenty-three years of life flashed before my eyes; and I didn’t like what I saw. Too late, I thought.… Read More