I first worked as a Secondary School teacher of English writing and literature 29 years ago. But, honestly, the classroom scared me, so I became a wilderness guide and Outward Bound field instructor. The forests and lakes of northern Ontario were my office; the coastal mountains of British Columbia became my daily commuter route.

Eventually, I followed a new path to the Publications department of IBM Cognos as a technical writer and editor of documentation and marketing collateral for business-intelligence software products. Several years later, a course correction set my bearing on a Masters degree in clinical counselling and subsequent work with offenders involved in Canada's provincial and federal justice systems. My experience in these programs and facilities was daunting, although perhaps less perilous than herding a room full of teenagers surfing a wave of blossoming hormones.... 

My next waypoint was positioned in the fledgling dot-com economy of the 1990s. I was manager of sales and customer service at a company which was an early adopter of the cloud computing model. I voyaged with my teams through the uncertain waters of product design, testing and deployment -- as well as the audacious seas of an initial public offering. Ultimately, we were ahead of our time, and behind on our lease payments. The doors closed, and my journey continued.

In 2000, I became a freelance copywriter, author and editor, as well as a teacher of writing and literature.

My work has included direct marketing collateral, sales sheets, emails, newsletters and blogs, website pages, catalogues, brochures, product data sheets, proposals and applications, and even non-fiction texts several hundred pages in length.

The Society for Technical Communication has awarded me for my work; my dogs have told me to stop it and play with them already. A long professional relationship with a gifted innovator in the audiophile industry has been one of my career highlights. As a result, I know something about BLER (block error rates) and the fact that Decca Records turned down the Beatles. Clearly somebody made a poor business decision.

Authoring adventure motorcycling stories for consumer magazines and my blog, Adventure Ride Guide, is my hobby. You’d probably like the post about the time I abandoned my girlfriend in the Mojave Desert. (Remarkably, we’re still together. Patient woman.)

Through all my mood...ahh...career swings, I've never given up teaching. I’ve helped many hundreds of literature and writing students achieve increased academic success, gain lasting confidence and realize their scholarly and vocational goals. That has been immensely rewarding.

I hold an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and a Masters degree in counselling psychology.