About Barbara McDonell I live on the west coast of Canada in Victoria, British Columbia. That's located on beautiful Vancouver Island which is so large that it takes eight hours to drive the length of it. Wildlife is abundant - sometimes even in the city. Once upon a time, a cougar walked into the Empress Hotel for afternoon tea! I’m crazy-nuts about animals so it was destiny that my first job would be working in a pet hospital. Despite long hours and minimum pay, I loved it...but the veterinarian told me I got too emotionally attached to my patients. For several decades I was an administrative secretary, which is where I learned the importance of organizing chaos into calm. Later, I used that knowledge to reinvent myself by taking a leap of faith from a secure 9-5 job to operating my own business as a professional organizer. Because I adore organizing, I cannot stop myself from sorting groceries into categories (fruit, vegetables, tinned goods, etc.) while waiting in the check-out line. I totally reorganized a toy store display because it hid the cutest teddy bear in the world under a mess of games. To my delight, a young couple immediately nabbed that teddy. Then I spent a half-hour reorganizing the whole art section because it was so jumbled that I couldn't locate the size frame I wanted. I love variety so have a broad range of interests. Therefore, I’ve published magazine and newspaper articles on hugely diverse subjects such as cats, soppy Dobermans, hiking, hang gliding, travel fun, Victoria’s colorful history, housing issues, the making of artificial eyes...and even a short erotic piece for “Playgirl” magazine. I began writing novels on a manual typewriter. What was I thinking? Eventually, shaking in my boots, I bought a scary computer that sat on my desk in its unopened box for several weeks before I was brave enough to even unpack it. I'm always writing something. Sitting in front of my computer is where I am the happiest.
