About Me

My name is Samantha (Sam) and I am a writer. I am currently attending college, in a professional writing program, and mainly what you will find me posting here, at the moment, are my reflections and thoughts pertaining to aspects of my program and the various assignments I am doing, with perhaps the odd creative piece sprinkled in. That likely will change as time goes on, but, hey, I must start somewhere.

A little bit about me, since a bit of biography might serve as context when reading anything I write. I am in the middle stage of my life, assuming an average Canadian female lifespan. I was born in Montreal, grew up in Nova Scotia, attended university in New Brunswick, and have called Ottawa, Ontario, my home since my early twenties. I was married for twenty-five years, but lost my husband to cancer. When I started dating again, I lost my first serious boyfriend as well. However, I continue to live and love, and am ever thankful for my time with them, and the lessons in life I learned from them and through losing them. I am a weirdly optimistic sufferer of depression and anxiety.

I am an avid reader (like many writers), a video game player, a lover of cats, and I love driving fast on a track. I read many genres, with fantasy, science fiction, and most anything else speculative being my primary go-to reads. That said, I try and read a few of the books up for awards in general fiction each year, as well as works from authors living in different parts of the world. I love travelling. I have been across Canada, save for Newfoundland, the NWT, and Nunavut. I have been to Alaska, California, Florida, New York, several Caribbean islands, Italy, France, and Great Britain. I am a first generation Canadian, of British parents. I enjoy being outdoors, and early fall is my favourite time of year. If you must offer me a hot beverage, make it a tea, as coffee and I have never gotten along. I have also completed five half marathons and have run a ten-kilometre race at temperatures near minus thirty Celsius (colder with windchill) not once, but twice.

I have worked as a stained-glass artisan, sales person (in a used-book/antique store, convenience store, clothing store, and craft/gift store), optometric assistant, pharmacy assistant, and (for the majority of my working life to date) a quality assurance engineer in high tech. It's a rather diverse resume, to be sure, but I've certainly learnt an assortment of skills, and had some interesting experiences- how many people can say they have been robbed at gunpoint by a masked assailant? I can.

Everything to date in my life has shaped who I am, and colours my perceptions of the world. It also does the same for my writings. I don't claim to have any answers, or any solutions, but perhaps I might have some experiences and insights that resonate with some of you, or maybe a story of mine might lend you an escape for a while. If so, wonderful, but mainly I write because its how I process my experiences, and what is happening around me, and because sometimes characters and events appear in my head that demand I record them and tell their story.  If I can make a living through this, what I love, that will be the icing on my cake.