I wrote my first novel in a 32-page Hilroy notebook in Grade 4. On the pale green cover, I crossed out the heading “Name/Nom” and replaced it with “Author.” The story was about a girl named Karen who started her own rock band. It was mostly 32-pages of exclamation marks and attitude (Duh?! I was 10!!!)! But I was an author, and I was proud enough to carry the now discoloured, food-soiled notebook with me as I moved from Uranium City, Saskatchewan, to Mackenzie, BC, and to my current home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Now that says something, don’t you think?

I recently retired from a career in education where I worked as a teacher, teacher-librarian, and school principal, to begin a new chapter as a writer. I have now completed three manuscripts that I hope to someday publish: a picture book, middle grade novel, and young adult novel. I love writing for children because kids make the best story characters. They make every day fun and yes, sometimes unusual.

One of my favourite quotes came from a kindergartner: “Mme Denomy, how can you live with all this chaos?”

The answer is easy. I go home and write about it!