The day my teacher decided to illuminate our young minds on that particular subject, I'd probably skipped school, because my eyes glazed over and my brain went "Oops" as I stared at the blank piece of paper in front of me.

I had a life-changing decision before me. I could either sit for hours in a very uncomfortable hardwood chair and do nothing, or I could emulate the writers I'd recently discovered in the very limited Science Fiction section of the school library. If Bradbury and LeGuin could do it, so could I.

I wrote my first Science Fiction story.

I handed in my essay and caught a glimpse of my teacher's face. She turned rather pale. I exited the room before her ability to speak returned. Once out in the hall, I heard a bark of what I hoped was laughter, but feared it to be an incipient heart attack.

I received my essay back the next day. Across the top I read, 'Don't ever do this again.' Across the middle, 'Well done.' And in the bottom left-hand corner, scrawled in big red letters, the letter 'A'!

That was the moment my career as a writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy began.

I was born in England, grew up in Australia, moved to Canada in 2004 and married the love of my life. I'm a writer and shaman, a bicyclist and a feminist. I've been an architect, a seamstress, an athlete and a field hand.

Writing is my passion and my profession, novels specifically, short stories occasionally, and always with lesbian characters. I write under the pseudonym 'Widdershins' because I am, if nothing else, contrariwise. Also, it's kinda witchy, whimsical, genre-appropriate, and will allow me to write in other genres with other names.

Book 1 of the 'Gallery' series, 'Mortal Instinct' was published in September 2011. Book 2, 'Journey of Echos' is under construction. (correct spelling - it will make sense if you've read Book 1). I also have a short story collection in the works, along with a historical mystery series, and a semi-autobiographical account of my Shaman Journey and Teachings.