Are you a plotter or a “pantser” (do you heavily outline/plot or just go with the flow?)

I am a pantser who wishes she could be a plotter. It would make my life much easier, really. My idea of plotting goes something like this:

1) Pick a historic time/event that interests me and research everything there is to know about it

2) Find the main two characters then find more as I go along, weaving everyone into the history

3) Come up with problems and solve them **** This is the tricky part

4) Aim for a happy ending

What first made you want to write historical fiction?

I enjoy most genres, but I fell in love with historical fiction. Historical fiction is more than fictional stories; it is learning and understanding as well. I was never interested in history until about fifteen years ago, so the past is new to me, and it’s fascinating.

What are you currently reading?

The Bachelor Girl

What period in history fascinates you the most?

At the moment, the beginning of the twentieth century is calling to me. I suppose that’s because Canada is a relatively young country, and while there are many, many rich stories from earlier times, I am currently exploring the mid 1800s to mid 1900s. Five out of six of my Canadian books (I’m working on three right now) are set in that time period.

What is the number one thing you learned about wartime Canada while researching for Come from Away?

I learned so many things! But to pick one, I guess I’d have to say that I hadn’t realized just how instrumental Canadians were to the Allies winning World War 2. In my book, I mostly focused on the naval side of the conflict, and by the end of the war, the Royal Canadian Navy was the third largest Navy fleet in the world. The “Battle of the Atlantic” lasted from the first day of World War 2 to the very last day, and if it hadn’t been for the supplies transported across the Atlantic by over 25,000 Canadian Merchant Navy ships and their accompanying Royal Canadian Navy ships, I feel certain Britain would have fallen.