I like floating in warm water.

            I write about birth and death and the unpredictable years between.

            As we move through life, step-by-step, so I move through my projects, word-by-word, until I’ve captured a small piece of the human experience on the page.

            Alongside me, always present, are my readers. Together, we delve into the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual elements that define a life lived.

            My favourite word is “why.” Curiosity is my natural state. My passion is exploring human behaviour and my joy is sharing it with the people who read my books. Life is a series of beginnings and endings. It is random and messy, complex and sometimes frightening. Through my writing, I try to impose some order and understanding on the chaos that is our daily existence.  

Curious? Check out my latest book here

If it went on forever, I wouldn’t complain.

Of course, there is much more to the Nocefresca artist residency than these small observances, but I thought them worth a mention, because food and wine and sparkly drinks are social interludes necessary for my creative process. This is the time to exchange ideas, to get to know the other artists, and to discover how we all live different, yet oddly similar lives in distinct countries around the world. This is only one of the myriad of gifts at the Nocefresca. Each day is full of new discoveries, both professional and personal.

Each Nocefresca residency has a theme. Ours is The Journey of Water, but how we interpret this subject is up to the individual. For me, I think of connection and flow, movement and change, calm and turbulence. When I arrived here, just over a week ago, I didn’t expect the theme to influence my writing, but I was mistaken. It has, and what I thought I would write about is not what I am working on at all.

This time isn’t about deadlines or preconceived ideas. It’s about the freedom to create and to experiment without boundaries.

And so, something new is coming to life. I don’t like to talk about my ideas while they are still being formed, so I won’t say much more, except, when I am up here in my roof-top studio, serenaded by birds and wind and church bells, my thoughts flow onto the page with incredible ease.

I am grateful to Nocefresca for this gift of time and personal space, for the many opportunities to explore the secrets of this magical island and to meet local people doing amazing things. I have found a rhythm here, a flow to my days that I feared I had lost over the past six months. I have also discovered the best olive oil and citrus fruits in the world.

It’s not all work!

People often ask me about residencies. A vacation? A retreat? A learning experience? A challenge? Frightening? Rewarding? Solitary? Social? Rewarding? It’s all of that and much more.

Imagine how I feel! For the next month, it’s up to me to create and design my existence according to my rhythm. I know the world beyond my current (pink) doorstep is chaotic, but for a time, I can choose to turn away from all the global noise and create in an atmosphere of beauty and peace.

And, of course, enjoy the riches of Sardinia.

After the storm

But they are filling up quickly. Follow this link to sign up!

Bowen Writer’s Festival 2023

Those attending my workshop on Bowen, might find this interesting. I worked hard to create a complex character for this book. Radclive, my hangman is strangely likeable, despite his gruesome profession. People, on and off the page, are complicated!

Click here to see the full review!

Workshop 1B: How to Bring Characters Alive in Fiction, Non-Fiction and Memoir with Julie Burtinshaw

Time & Location

Sep 16, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Bowen Island, 439 Bowen Island Trunk Rd, Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G0, Canada

Register here, for this interactive, and stress-free workshop in creating believable characters. Together we will write on one the world’s most treasured islands, just minutes from Vancouver.