I received my Ph.D in Canadian Literature from the University of Ottawa in 1993. My thesis, on Canadian women writers, won the Governor General's Gold Medal and the David Clever Memorial award. I have published articles and reviews in scholarly journals and contributed to The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory (1993).

I design and teach a variety of workshops for the University of Ottawa Professional Training Service, including core workshops in practical grammar, clear writing, and advanced writing. We offer these workshops to individuals through our public programs as well as in-house to government departments and organizations.

I began my teaching career more than twenty years ago as a part-time professor in the English department at the University of Ottawa. I still teach occasional courses in Canadian literature, the mystery novel, technical writing, composition, and fiction.

My technical writing experience comes from the ten years I worked full time in high-tech as a technical writer and, after a few years as a writer and "information developer", as an in-house technical editor. I've written technical documents ranging from release notes to user manuals. As a technical editor, I've edited multi-volume documentation suites, developed in-house style guides, designed writer-friendly templates using FrameMaker, and overseen the production of print and online documents.

I have also designed and written many online help systems for software programs and web-based applications.

I have completed many non-technical freelance editing projects including academic papers and theses, articles, and book-length works.

I happen to be profoundly deaf as the result of a genetic trait entailing slow progressive hearing loss. My deafness has so far proven to be no barrier. I work with an interpreter in workshops and classes and communicate in other situations using "whatever works." I'm always happy to give presentations about deafness or answer questions about it.

I'm an avid quilter and, alas, a fabric addict with a passion for bright flannel. I also dabble in fabric and paper collage and love trying out the extraordinary things described in magazines such as Quilting Arts and Cloth, Paper, Scissors.

I love to travel and to explore the food and textiles in the places I visit, but my preferred mode of travel is horseback riding. Places I plan to one day see from horseback include the Rockies, the Yukon, and the Gaspé Peninsular.