Pear Tree Corner

It was my father who gave me my name. Mama said it came to him at a place called Pear Tree Corner – “whispered by a tree so old it knew all the secrets of New York.” The apothecary who owned the storefront there told my father that he could ask the tree any question he liked and if he listened hard enough it would answer. My father believed him.  – from The Virgin Cure New York Minute # 3 – Pear Tree Corner Several readers of my novel, The Virgin Cure have recently asked, “Was there really a Pear

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The Amazing Moth Girl!

New York Minute #2 – The Amazing Moth Girl (or, “Crazy Canadian writer girl catches a moth in Manhattan.”) This post is part of my ongoing feature New York Minutes. To see the other posts in the series, click on the “New York Minute” category in the sidebar labelled “Stuff I blog about, a lot.” Whenever I’m in New York, I spend at least one day walking around the Lower East Side. It’s become a bit of a pilgrimage for me, since that’s where my great-great grandmother got her start as a “lady” doctor (and as a kick-a&& rebellious young

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The Central Park Crooner

The US publication of The Virgin Cure is only 3+ weeks away (June 26th!), so in anticipation of the big day I thought I’d start a new feature on my blog to share some of my favourite memories from the time I spent researching the novel in New York. In a series of “New York Minutes,” I’ll be posting moments from the past couple of years – snapshots, quotes, audio and such. I hope you enjoy them! New York Minute #1 On a rainy morning in May, while my husband Ian and I were strolling through Central Park, we came

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