Dear Marionette or in your case, Dear Former Marionette,  pull the strings of your memory!  Tell us about yourself and how many Tomes your quill has masterfully inked.

"I am a Saskatchewan native and Ontario immigrant. Some would call me a reverse snowbird, who feels most comfortable surrounded by snowcapped mountains.

Nomadic by nature, I am multifaceted and have mastered many skills. I dub myself  a jack of many trades and master of some. However, because I have acquired a plethora of diplomas spanning the educational spectrum, my mother (May she be at peace) on the contrary would call me a professional student.

 I accredit my adaptability to the training I received as a Canadian Forces medic, and My artistic ability to my family. Both attributes have aided me along my journey from points of homelessness and despair to place of stability and optimism I have arrived at today.

In 2018, I was diagnosed with service-related PTSD, and within the same breath of time became a widow.

Unresolved trauma, and the loss of my husband caused me to skirt the edges of insanity. Faced with losing complete touch with reality,  I returned to writing and art.

In a sense writing and art saved my life, at least that’s my claim. Fortunately, for the world, my choice to embrace creation has led me to captain a new life as a publisher, illustrator, writer and artist. 

I am the author of 20 years of Winter and currently run the publication organization, aptly named, I Ain’t Your Marionette. My  book is an autobiographical collection of poetry and art. I published it in hopes to make a way for others who have suffered similar traumas to feel safe knowing that they are not alone nor are they to blame for their experiences. 20 Years of Winter is Marie’s source of empowerment offered to those victims to stand up to their perpetrators and to speak out against victim shaming. "

Pluck your strings like a harpist in trance and reveal unto us the title of your latest opus—the very quill-scribed creation that skirts the precipice of imagination and madness!  And whence came the  electrician that wired your literary bulb? What whispers of chaos birthed such prose?

“20 Years of Winter” is my latest creation, it is a powerful collection of autobiographical poetry and that delves into the dark and challenging aspects of my life as a soldier. I published it in hopes to make a way for others who have suffered similar traumas to feel safe knowing that they are not alone nor are they to blame for their experiences. 20 Years of Winter is my source of empowerment offered to those victims to stand up to their perpetrators and to speak out against victim shaming. 

Do your wooden sinews harbor peculiar rituals, as your quill--inked in inspiration--dances upon the parchment of your future masterpiece?

"In the mystical realm of my writing, where pens duel with keyboards and metaphors dance with similes, there exists a peculiar creature: The Unfocused Scribe. This elusive aspect of myself, much like a caffeinated squirrel, flits from idea to idea, leaving a trail of half-finished sentences and forgotten plot twists. My inner author is forever galloping after my hyperactive monkey mind with a lasso. If James Earl Jones were to narrate my process with a comical spin, it might sound something like this:

1. The Multitasking Maestro:

   • Our protagonist, armed with a laptop and paper mâché pulp, embarks on a literary adventure. As the words flow, so does the plaster, flour, and glue. Why? Because nothing says “creative genius” like an upcycled monster holding a bookmark.

   • “Ah,” they muse, “this poem needs more depth. Let’s add complicated layers. Make it a poem within a poem. Maybe even art.” And just like that, their poetry collection becomes a string map on a profiler’s board.

2. The Attention-Deficit Alchemist:

   • Concentration is overrated. Our writer flits between tasks like a bunny on an espresso binge. Mid-sentence, they see a dog hair highlighted by the midafternoon sun. So, they pause, grab the vacuum to ward off the impending dust bunny infestation.

   • “Write what you know,” they shout over the wild growls of the Hoover Vacuum. “Yes, yes, write what you know,” the voice of their father chimes in from the internal family peanut gallery.

3. The Permission Slip Enthusiast:

   • “Dear Self,” they write, “I hereby grant you permission to be gloriously weird during the creative process. Feel free to wear mismatched socks, build giant paper mache monsters holding bookmarks, and consult your inner family for plot twists.”

  Cut to:  the writer losing track of thought and chasing a butterfly that fluttered in from a nearby window.

  Smash Cut to: A tale wagging the dog, one would swear it was part cow, barking at its owner to get back on track. 

  Cut to: the chaotic author's inner thought dialogue.......

"Certainly, the inner squirls answer! Let's get back on task and polish up the remaining part of your whimsical narrative:"

  Dissolve to: The remaining narrative on the author’s weird habits—hopefully. 

4. The Coffee-Stained Oracle:

   • Coffee fuels their imagination. It also drenches manuscripts, but who needs pristine pages when you can have caffeinated epiphanies and coffee-stained pages to use for multimedia art? Each spill becomes a Rorschach test:

     • “Ah, yes, that blot looks like a puppy going through a midlife crisis.”

     • “And this one? Clearly a plot twist involving time-traveling marionettes set on rescuing the child version of themselves.”

5. The Concentration fairies:

   • In the quiet hours of midnight, our writer hears them—the elusive concentration fairies. They nibble at their brain cells, leaving behind fragments of ideas.

And so, dear reader, if you ever encounter a writer surrounded by paper mâché pulp, stringing a sculpture’s armature with garbage, and wearing different-colored socks, fear not. For they are simply channeling the spirit of creativity—one oddity at a time."

 String freshly snipped, hinges screeching and wood creaking I ponder:  What ink-stained tales' puppeteer the strings of your imagination?  Whose words influence your quill?  Speak, fellow marionette of mind-molding tales--what authors inspire you?

"In the worn chambers of my beating heart,  where hope whispers and ink nourishes my soul, I secretly shelter a love for words. As a child, I spun my imagination with the golden threads of prose, lost in the dark fairytale realm of Rumpelstiltskin,  or the horrors of John Grisham. For me books were my secret doorways, portals to secret gardens and realms of mystery.

But now, I find myself a Ferryman of voices—the guide of narratives, the oarsman of reality. For I publish the words of others, those brave marionettes who bare their heart on the paper. 

1. Michael Falls: His sentences are like symphonies, each a masterpiece of harmony.

2. Alycia Hodge: She grills emotions with metaphor -- her lines sometimes medium rare and other times raw enough to stake a vampire.

3. Emma Hilson-Gregory: Her rhymes free the soul from darkness.

4. Joe Mykut: writes with child-like wonder.

5. Marten Hoyle: He gives voice to the lost souls of imagination.

Together, they form a constellation of inspiration—a celestial library where honesty and creativity dance, where ink-stained hearts find solace. And so, dear interlocutor, let us turn these pages together, for within them lies the magic of countless worlds."

 What are you currently spinning with your golden thread?

Oddly, a children’s book titled “Miss Sally Anne.” It’s loosely based on my childhood   And the title is a nickname I was given because I wore hand-me downs and unbranded clothing. 

Do you have any advice for future Marionette's wishing to put quill to parchment?

" Well, I guess my best advice would be to....

Ignore the Naysayers:

1. • Don’t give up! Your story is like that elusive sock that everyone swears was snatched by some supernatural beast in the dryer—eventually, the sock resurfaces. Trust your inner storyteller; it’s got better fashion sense than Steve Urkel.

2. Write What Makes You Excited:

   • In my world, creativity is like a cosmic ketchup—sticky, unpredictable, yummy on a cheese burger but occasionally messy Let yourself get messy,  and water down or wash away any of your writings perceived errors with vinegar.  Research what you don’t know and remember: patience is the secret ingredient. Just keep shaking that ketchup bottle, success with splatter eventually.  And if it doesn’t, flip it upside down and let gravity take over.  Eventually, you will get a squirt of inspiration.

3. Make Art That Is Meaningful to You:

   • Write what resonates with you. We’re all on our own literary road trips, and sometimes the GPS takes us leads us to what seems like a dead end.

 So, dear new authors, pack your metaphors, embrace your weird, and remember that your story matters—even if it involves parking your car at the dead end and going for a walk."

Embrace your tangled threads and spill the milk on the best advice you have ever heard.

"The best advice I ever heard was in 1992, when my dad threw my fantasy novel in the burning barrel and told me to write what I know. The burnt manuscript was tragic but the advice was golden. "

Now,  dear masterless marionette, what does the future hold for your quill?

Maybe sci-fi fantasy? That is if I were to grant my daughter, Sammy, her wish to have me publish one in the latter mentioned genre.   Or maybe, the ramblings of my minds untethered squirrel.  

Oddly, a children’s book titled “Miss Sally Anne.” It’s loosely based on my childhood   And the title is a nickname I was given because I wore hand-me downs and unbranded clothing.