She fell in love when she first saw him on the television screen. From that moment on, Nicole vowed to become an actress. Decades later, when Gary and Nicole meet by chance, Gary doesn't fall in love with the real Nicole Graham, just a sanitized version of her. Since childhood, Nicole has had a cross to bear that nobody knows about except her mother, Reba, but she can't tell anyone….anymore.Through years of diaries and letters hidden in a secret trunk, Gary learns the truth about his beloved. As he reads the story of her life in her own words, Nicole clings to life after being involved in a near-fatal plane crash. But will he still feel the same about her, even if she survives? Can he forgive her for all the lies?This book was written in memory of one of my favourite actors, and to remind us that not all illnesses are worn on one's shirt sleeves. Some have said that if you see me on the street (usually with a book in hand or a laptop fired up), I appear a cold, hard-fisted person. However, once we've spoken for five minutes or less, you'll have laughed at least once. That is, provided you appreciate sarcastic, self-deprecating wit.My first short story was penned in middle school and I was hooked ever since.I graduated with honours from Humber College and began working as an Administrative Coordinator for a large, multinational corporation shortly afterward. Quickly learning that the corporate world, despite the love I had for my job, is a slow killer of creativity, I chose to quit during maternity leave in 2006.Difficulty thinking outside the box soon evaporated when I received something that didn't come in one: my first child. While at home with the baby my imaginative energy got the better of me and my first memoir was written. It had been a dream of mine to write about my late father, who passed away from alcoholism in 1992, and it took me two years to compose a fifty-page manuscript, but I did it.After my second daughter was born in 2008 I had more fuel to write, and felt it necessary to voice the challenges and inherent gifts I acquired during my struggles with Scoliosis. Hence, my second memoir was born. The words flowed out of me with such ease I shocked myself.My love for words grew with each book I read and every word I wrote. I soon realized I had no more material to write non-fiction, which led me to take a stab at fiction. The next two books were such a revelation: it became more and more clear what my true calling was. The rest, as they say, is history!
