Unlock Your Hamster Workbook-Volume One Life gets busy, doesn’t it? We have less time for the important things and too much to get done in so little time. It’s just how it goes. When is the last time you had a break or took some time to think about your life? Have you shared all the stories? In today’s world we’re busy paying the bills, working, taking care of children, home schedules and obligations. We move so fast nowadays that I wonder, do we really take time for ourselves or the people in our lives? With technology, we email and text, but it’s pretty hard to text a defining moment or life altering decision. And what about the people we see every day, how many opportunities have we missed to share the most important thing in this life-WHO WE ARE! Name one achievement you’re proud of. What are your dreams? How about your favorite memory? Does anyone know everything about you? We are all an accumulation of moments that make us who we are: Where we’ve been, who we’ve met, things we’ve done, what we’ve learned and decisions we’ve made. Some things are great, some, are not so good, but we are who we are and we should be proud! We are all products of our experiences. Our differences make us unique. We all dream, hope, learn, fail, foible, love, wish and make mistakes…just like everyone else. We have so much in common and we all matter. Grab a pencil, sit back and enjoy the journey! Blessed with three siblings and parents who supported my hopes, I was raised in a small Canadian town, in an average middle-class family. I've married, divorced, dated, loved, lost, struggled, worked, succeeded and failed. I really am an everyday type of person. Single at age forty-something, I'm still figuring life out daily. I would define myself as being analytical, a realist and a dreamer, so you can only imagine the confusion that goes on sometimes. The dreamer starts to write fiction thinking of the happily ever after, but then while editing the realist comes out. My analytical side comes from being a go-to person over the years so I've learned to see things from many angles, knowing that circumstances affect us all individually. To be honest, I'd never written more than a grocery list until 2009. It came out of nowhere as I sat at my computer one night following an idea. The 'Sit N Do Nothing Hamster Series' is my attempt to bring us all a little closer in this technological world. Using humor, comparison, and pull-quotes, the workbooks of self-discovery are a way to share tidbits of who we are, in the here and now. Each of the seven volumes, designed for a specific audience, asks the reader about their lives. We are all an accumulation of every moment from birth until now and it's important to share that. I have many more ideas to expand the series because this hamster never quits. Finding my inner voice, I decided to try my hand at a fiction. 'And When' was written from September 2010-January 2011. Posting a partial on a website for writers, it rapidly rose up the ranks. Receiving many reviews, the story resonated with many, often bringing them to tears, laughter or needing a cold towel. Taking months to edit the final draft, I began to miss that creative energy and 'Now What', the sequel, was started in 2011 and published in 2013. The story continues to place difficult hurdles, forcing the characters to veer from their chosen paths. All in all, my life would be nothing without the people who have touched my soul. Friends, family, co-workers, relatives...have all been there through the good and bad. Everything takes hard work and nothing ever comes easy. Well at least not in my life. I firmly believe that karma plays an important role and that it brings us the people we are meant to meet, challenges we have to overcome, lessons we need to learn, and dreams we are meant to reach for.