The idea for The Tree of Life began in 1999 when the public school my daughters attended held a centennial celebration. The classrooms became decade rooms filled with memorabilia, photographs, letters, magazines, and period clothing. Many years later I decided to take this centennial celebration as the starting point for a novel. What might happen if two eleven year old children, researching the 1930’s were suddenly transported to the end of that decade and given a problem to solve? Might the story just be a dream, an extension of Charlotte’s very active imagination and Henry’s eidetic memory or might it be the truth?

This is where the tree of life brooch makes an appearance. This piece of jewelry is the conduit, a seemingly irrelevant detail but one that will connect Charlotte and Henry to the past and the present and, give credibility to their travels.
The Tower Room, the top floor of the crumbling old mansion where Charlotte lives with her grandfather Leo, also has a part to play, and will continue to be significant in the next three books in this series. The Tower Room is a safe haven for people who have suffered a loss they cannot reconcile. It is also the departure point for a journey back in time with a seasoned guide, and the start of an adventure that might have the power to mend a broken spirit.

Charlotte’s punishment (or perhaps her redemption) occurs because she enters the Tower Room without her grandfather’s permission and is privy to a conversation she was not meant to hear. The task of surviving in an alien world, protecting Henry and recovering and preserving the tree of life brooch become her tasks and will change her in ways she could never imagine.

This series will take place during different periods of Canadian history and will highlight the travels of Charlotte’s family, her grandfather, Leo, her great aunt Dilys and Dily’s father Gus Frank. Charlotte and Henry will be central characters in all of the books. Although they may inhabit different bodies in each story, their personalities will remain the same.  
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I would love to know what you think about The Tree Of Life. Leave your review on Amazon.ca, GoodReads 
or send it to me on my Contact Page. 

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"Fans of magical realism à la Alice Hoffman will feel at home with this story."   -Kirkus Review

2015 Virtual Book Tour

Tuesday, December 1 – Interview at Examiner
Wednesday, December 2 – Guest Blogging at The Story Behind the Book
Thursday, December 3 – Interview at I’m Shelf-ish
Friday, December 4 – Interview at C.A. Milson’s blog
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Monday, December 7 – Book Featured at The Literary Nook
Tuesday, December 8 – Interview at The Writer’s Life
Wednesday, December 9 – Book Featured at Write and Take Flight
Thursday, December 10 – Book Featured at Bound 2 Escape
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Monday, December 14 – Book Review at fundinmental
Tuesday, December 15 – Book Featured at What Is That Book About
Wednesday, December 16 – Book Featured at Ali-The Dragon Slayer
Thursday, December 17 – Book Featured at Crystal’s Chaotic Confessions
Friday, December 18 – Book Featured at Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!
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Monday, December 21 – Book Review at Room With Books
Tuesday, December 22 – Book Featured at My Bookish Pleasures
Wednesday, December 23 – Book Featured at FictionZeal
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Tuesday, December 29 – Interview at Lori’s Reading Corner
Wednesday, December 30 – Book Featured at Sapphyria’s Book Reviews
Thursday, December 21 – Book Review at Celtic Lady’s Reviews