In the vein of one of my favourite bloggers and “newsletterists,” Austin Kleon, I present you with 10 things about me to get this updated website started!

1. I love sardines, kippers, and other little oily fish.
2. Given the choice of driving, biking, or walking, I choose walking. At least three or four times a week, I walk on some beautiful west coast beaches.—and I’ve written about two of them, Long Beach and Chesterman—and I hike as often as I can. Moving ones body as it’s meant to do, is critical for someone who has to sit to work. (I did try a walking treadmill in the past, but it didn’t work for me and took up too much space in my small office.)
3. I grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers. This year, so many flowers. They bring me great joy, mostly because I’ve grown enough to fill my house with them and to share them with my friends.
4. I drive an old Volvo station wagon — a low rider that feels like a tank, yet is good on gas. I treat it as a farm vehicle.
5. I am an eclectic and voracious reader. At the moment I have these books on the go: River Thieves by Michael Crummey, Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart, At Home on an Unruly Planet by Madeline Ostrander, Fight Night by Miriam Toews, and Year of Wonder by Clemency Burton-Hill. Why so many? One for my book club, one for the couch in the morning, one for bed, one for work, and one by my desk for when I pay attention to the Post-It note on my computer that says “Fill the well first.” (In other words, give yourself permission to read before you write.)
6. I fully embrace the idea of an antilibrary. And because of this, every room in our house safe one (guess which one?) has a bookshelf. Or two.
7. I am a serial blogger. Yes, too many, but, for the record, this updated website is a way to reign it all in and get all of my life wrapped up in one URL. If you’re interested though, I have languishing blogs on: my book Long Beach Wild (this one I am trying to “unlanguish” as it generates great memories from readers, but I can’t seem to log in; it’s on my list to resolve); on writing (Tough City Writer); on my art explorations; even gardening. For years I kept a blog called Heart of Tofino, which was all about—yup, Tofino—but I let that go and the URL is gone. It’s too much and too all over the place, but all of that writing is good for honing the craft. It feels good to wrap everything up here though.
8. My “handle” for most things social media (well, Twitter and Instagram) is Tough City Writer. It’s not that because I live in a place that is tough or even in a city, but there is a reason. I’ll leave it a bit mysterious for now. Perhaps there is a book prize giveaway in my future?
9. I’m all for the underdog—the cracked, the worn, the misunderstood, especially living things we love to hate, or at least grumble about (like spiders or slugs, bogs and rain).
10. I care deeply about our planet and how it will be left for my children and, perhaps one day, grandchildren. I’m trying to tread lightly—if you know better, you do better, right?—but I have a lot of learning and work to do.