Every story starts somewhere. Mine started with a desire to write a light, entertaining tale for readers to while away the hours. I fell in love with Prince Edward County the way many do — slowly. Summers with our children meant sandy beaches, dune-scrambling, and the bracing chill of Lake Ontario in June. Over years my husband and I kept coming back; each year the landscape shifted. Winding drives past fledgling rows of vines turned into to tasting some of Canada's finest wines at working vineyards. Small towns with magnetic charm host shop owners and gallery keepers who know you by name. Farmstand owners sell you picnic fixings and fresh-from-the-oven sugar donuts. Tucked down a back road a fromagerie owner pairs the perfect cheese for the bottle of wine you just bought. The County has a way of drawing you in, especially in the off-season, when locals are unhurried, entertainingly opinionated, and make you feel like you belong — even when you've just arrived. It's a perfect setting for a story.

Bella Stewart is a nurse I know well. Career-driven, precise, drawn to critical thinking and skills demanded by an ER ICU or OR—building confidence by informed decision-making under pressure. I understand those rhythms, and the meaning of reinventing yourself. When Bella trades hospital corridors for vineyard rows, she faces the unknown with a mixture of loss, uncertainty, and determination. The perseverance and stubborn belief that starting over isn't the same as starting from scratch.

Growing up in Montreal, I was steeped in multicultural traditions and charismatic characters. Infusing that spirit into folks who've migrated from to the County makes the story distinctly Canadian. Trouble in the Terroir is filled with opinionated, eccentric locals who gossip instead of text, are nosy because they care, bluntly honest, and generous in ways that cause a lump in your throat.

Woven through the present-day murder mystery is the thread of family. I believe in honouring historical family roots but ponder on unanswered ancestral trivia — fragments of a name on a military record, crinkle-edged photos with no captions, juicy family gossip with no one left to tell the finale. My current quirky family members also inform my writing. They read peoples’ energy, consult oracles, and trust intuition the way I trust a well-researched diagnosis. They've taught me that profound truths live just beyond reach — ethereal, mysterious, and wonderfully unsettling.

I hope you join me in solving the mysteries, haunts and intrigues in the County Cozies.

Trouble in the Terroir-Influences