What’s to say? I have a million stories, and the only one I want to tell- is the one I’m living now.
I’m a writer, poet and general lover of words. Now that doesn’t mean I’m a linguist, so if you meet me in person, don’t judge my pronunciation, or misuse of a word. I have my own struggles, and perhaps if we engage in a deep enough conversation, you’ll learn some of those. Otherwise, I’m still learning, everyday feels like a new day. I’m described often as the girl next door, kind, soft spoken, shy, nervous, and also genuine, honest and creative.
I have heard there are three items required in a personality to be a writer- imaginative (obviously), courageous (this is where fake it til you make it comes in) and a little naive (because otherwise understanding ever single thing in life will take over the willingness to put yourself out there.)
So that is where I am, I can make up a pretty wild story, I’m bold enough to post it and dumb enough to not think through all the repercussions.
If you notice, my book cover has been redone in the last year. My original cover was a photo I took at Hudson’s Hope (on the Peace River) but the feedback I had was that it didn’t match the genre (YA dark fantasy) and the picture ‘screamed’ self published. Well, my book was self published (vanity press, it cost me a pretty penny) and so when I decided to remake the cover, I figured why not make it look even more home grown. I painted the picture (each image separate) and placed them together with Canva, so yeah, it will look self published…but so will the sequel 😉
I’m not much of a visual artist, but I do try. Although there are easily repairable errors on the novel cover, I accepted them and moved on because my passion lies between the coloured pages, in the words. I love creating characters, worlds, and adventures; the heart lies in that. I only hope one day (soon!) I will find an agent who can help me get my novels professionally published, so I have lovely, neat, professional book covers.
The art posted on my website is created using ChatGPT, as AI is here to help us, right? So, I uploaded my book cover into the app and requested that the images show parts of my book in a nicer, more polished image than my scratchy, painted images.
No, I did not use AI to write my book. No, I do not use AI to write any of my writings (novels, shorts, poems, blogs.) And no, I do not use AI to find my ideas. It all comes from inside my mind, drawn from the wild adventures I’ve embarked on in my life.
I do use AI to inquire about things such as- would an astronaut hear the wheezing of oxygen in his helmet while standing on the moon? And could he see the curvature of the moon since its such a smaller rock than Earth?
I hope you enjoy the website and look at some of my current works. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns, or drop me a line to let me know you’ll be attending my next bookie event! I love selling books at artisan markets, bookstores, crystal stores, libraries, art gallery readings and more!
In the meantime, subscribe to my mailing list to stay up to date, and so I can share the excellent news of my next novel with you!
So pick a date, plan an adventure, and come meet me in person to have a book signed, or just to say hello!
If you’re looking for the basic biography- I’m 41 years old, she/her, born in BC, raised in Alberta. I studied pharmacy in Vancouver, worked my career up to mix chemotherapy in a northern hospital before leaving my twenty year career to run a foodbank and be a peer support worker for the people no one like talking about- the low, the sad, the schizophrenic, the addicted and the damaged, but they’re all someone’s child too and I gave my heart and soul to The Salvation Army for several years before settling in a cushy government desk job. I have four grown children, grandchildren, dogs, hedgehog and a healthy bag of anxiety I carry from my own past experiences, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
So until next time, stay kind.
Much love,
Norma Rrae
Norma Rrae 