Hello friends! For the last year or so, my friend and sort-of co-worker, Mike Tanner, has been telling me I need a new website. For those who never saw the old one—it looked like this:

It was pretty and functional. I liked it a lot and I didn’t really want to let it go. But as Mike pointed out (so, so many times), it represented a long-ago version of me and my work, and didn’t include my books at all. It hadn’t kept pace with my career, and I didn’t have access to the backend, so I couldn’t update it myself.

Over time, Mike became so frustrated (possibly even enraged) by the fact that such an out-of-date website existed on the internet, that he offered to build me a new one. He’d just do it! And still, I carried on, with my old website and its cute Calliope illustration.

But then I got an email with some top-secret news. In preparation for this top-secret news, which will be revealed in just a few days, I needed a new, up-to-date website. It goes without saying that Mike was overjoyed. He was possibly less thrilled when he found out that it would need to go live within three weeks. I dunno, you’d have to ask him.

To help me cope with the loss of Calliope, I got in touch with Mei-Li Nieuwland, a super-talented artist I met at the Toronto Comic Art Festival, and asked her to create a cartoon version of me, surrounded by books, for the homepage. Did I mention Mei-Li’s incredible?

Then we added a few images taken by Nicola Davison of Snickerdoodle Photography. If you ever need headshots, or event photography, or anything really, call her. She has a fantastic eye for light and candid shots. (She’s also an excellent writer).

And voila! A shiny new author website, brought to you (and me) by a bunch of talented folks, but especially Mike. Thanks Mike.