About Gwen
Ever since reading Laura Ingall Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series while growing up next to my grandparents’ dairy farm, I’ve loved historical fiction and learning about people’s lives from long ago. As an author and descendant of Irish tenant farmers and English Quakers, I appreciate how such stories allow us to explore current issues through the lens of the past. Every question I ponder plants the seed for a new book.
Today, I write and live on a 1-acre homestead with my best friend and husband, Eric. We grow and preserve enough vegetables to sustain us year-round. One day, our modest orchard will do the same. Our hens—Gertrude, Rosie, Buela and Penelope—entertain and keep us stocked with eggs.
I enjoy collecting small antique books, tablecloths, crockery and kerosene lamps. It feels like I’m carrying someone else’s story forward through the stewardship of these items. Simple living and peaceful days fuel my creative life.
The Rest of the Story
My formative years were spent on the rural outskirts of a small southern Ontario town. I attended a three-room schoolhouse situated on a dirt road originally cleared by Quaker settlers. During recess, I’d pet the velvety noses of cattle gathered along the playground fence.
From a young age, I fell in love with the way books transported me to other places or times, lighting pathways to hope.
For several years, difficulties forced me to set aside books and beautiful words. In the end, a book—quite literally—saved my life. When the seas further calmed, I dove headlong into the nurturing practice of reading again. Narratives revealed how one might author their future. Protagonists proved that antagonists could be defeated by wit if not by might. I happily report that the same principles apply to real life.
Perhaps tale telling is in the blood, as my fifth great-grandmother earned her keep by regaling hosts with Irish songs and lore. I remained an undiagnosed writer until one day in my forties when I dreamed a story too big to silence. I gave myself permission to fully unlatch the door to my imagination.
My pen has been busy ever since.