I love reading, writing, eating and gardening.
I hate swimming, sewing, liver, and lima beans.

     That's why you'll find lots of stuff here on reading and writing, maybe a little on eating and gardening, but nothing at all on sewing, swimming, liver or lima beans.

     Well, unless one of my characters decides he likes liver or lima beans. Or swimming or sewing. Then I might have to mention them.

     Instead I'd rather talk about you. If you have questions about writing or my books, send me an email. Or, if you like entering contests, click the 'Email Laura' button at the end of this page. Let me know that you would like to win a copy of one of my books. I'll collect names and be drawing a winner every month.

     Erin Morris is back in The Trouble With Cupid. When a dog food company announces a competition for the “new face of CheeseBarkers” ad campaign, a school committee is formed to train Cupid, a stubborn bulldog who happens to be the school mascot. This is the perfect opportunity for Erin to show off her talents as a dog trainer and impress school hottie Zach Cameron at the same time. Trouble is, Cupid is more interested in eating and sleeping than performing on cue. And Zach doesn’t know Erin is alive!

Cupid might be lazy and overweight but not all bulldogs are. They are fiercely loyal, loveable, and generally docile. If you’re interested in bulldogs, go here: http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/bulldog.htm

     American readers might want to check here click here.

     For a quick overview of the bulldog breed, go here click here:

     Perfect Blue is an updated reissue of Taste of Perfection, book one in the Erin Morris series. Perfect Blue features Mr. Lavender Blue, and is set in Courtenay on Vancouver Island. .

     To find out more about Courtenay, B.C., where Erin's grandmother lives, click here, go to regions and follow the Central Island links to Courtenay.

     To see pictures of the Puntledge River where Erin and Cassie have their picnic, click here:

     And keep your eyes peeled for fossils. An 80 million-year-old fossilized skeleton of an Elasmosaur was found there in 1988. People continue to hunt for more remains.

     To connect with the Canadian Kennel Club, go here:

     For information on the World Kennel Club, click here:

     Lesia's Dream is the story of fifteen-year-old Lesia Magus who, along with her family, leaves Ukraine in 1914 and flees to Canada. Dreaming of fields of wheat and wealth and security, Lesia's family look forward to life free from hunger and poverty and rumors of war. But the 160 acres of uncleared prairie they buy in Manitoba look nothing like the wheat fields of their dreams. Not only that, life in her adopted country holds unspeakable horrors. But, as Lesia fights to survive, she discovers that even in hardscrabble land, flowers do open and dreams can come true.

Picture book readers curious about the internment of Ukrainians during World War 1 won't want to miss Silver Threads by Marsha Skrypuch (illustrated by Michael Martchenko).

For older readers who like stories of immigration and farm life, check out Promise Song by Linda Holeman. Set in 1900, it follows fourteen-year-old Rosetta Westley, an English orphan who is separated from her younger sister and sent to work on a backwoods Ontario farm.

Another excellent bet is A Prairie As Wide as the Sea by Sarah Ellis. This fictional diary recounts the life of Ivy Weatherall who leaves London for the promised riches of Canada's expanding west.

     For more information on the internment of Ukrainians, click here:

     And to learn a little about Ukrainain culture, go here: