Stephen King opens his book On Writing with three forewords. It’s a lot of preamble for such a slim volume, but it makes sense — writers often feel the need to explain how they got to their station in life.I didn’t study writing formally. I didn’t even go to J-school. I just wrote. And wrote. And wrote. At the University of Toronto, I found my way into one of the student newspapers, which opened a Window to that world. That’s when I started exploring the “how-to” of writing through the voices of Hunter S. Thompson, Carl Hiaasen and, of course, King. They became my early foundation.But my origin story goes back further. I’ve been creatively writing since I was seven. In Grade 3, when my teacher asked us to make a small book, I placed myself and my friends in the world of Magnum P.I. to solve a crime. (Hey, it was the 1980s.) I still have that little book somewhere — a powder-blue fabric cover with white polka dots. It was the start of my dream of authorship.Reading didn’t come as naturally. I was a reluctant reader, drawn more to atlases, paranormal books (thank you, Usborne), and wildlife tales. Eventually, King, Thompson and Hiaasen pulled me in along with others like Franz Kafka, Joseph Conrad, Richard Matheson and Elmore Leonard.The other thing that set me apart? I was fascinated by the paranormal. Through high school I carried that enthusiasm, even when it branded me as weird. When I graduated from U of T with a specialist in archaeology and minors in English and geography, I chose journalism because it was practical and because I already had newsroom experience.For years I kept my interest in the paranormal quiet, afraid it might derail a career built on logic and evidence. Two decades later, I’m still working in news media, but that tension — between skepticism and curiosity — became the foundation for my paranormal website, The Superstitious Times, and for my first book, Eerie Whispers: Canada’s Reluctant Relationship with Its Ghostly Lore.Why are Canadians so hesitant to explore what happens after we die? Why do we keep uncanny experiences tucked away, only sharing them around campfires, at Halloween or during kitchen parties?Eerie Whispers isn’t just about retelling ghost stories. It’s about seeing how those stories are made, and why Canadians are so careful about when and how we share them. It’s my attempt to bridge that gap between logic and wonder — the same gap I’ve been straddling my whole life.,