Our 2019-2020 White Pines Authors Part 1

The Port Moody Public Library created the White Pines Local Author Collection to highlight and support local authors, poets, and illustrators from our community. We launched the collection in May 2019 with 12 inaugural authors. Over the last year, we have received many exciting, new submissions and now have more than 30 local authors who are a part of this special collection.

You can browse our White Pines Collection online to place holds on items, or in person during our Controlled Access hours.

Over the next few blog posts, we will introduce you to all our 2019-2020 White Pines authors.

Erik D’Souza

Erik D’Souza is an author and publisher living in Port Moody. His written works have appeared in various magazines, anthologies, and literary websites. He is on the executive committee of the Tri-City Wordsmiths, and an active member of both the Port Moody Writers Group and the Off the Page Speakers Group. He organizes and hosts the popular reading series, Writers in our Midst, at the Port Moody Public Library.

Erik is the co-owner of the publishing company Timbercrest Publishing. Death in Halfmoon Bay will be the third book he’s published. Previous titles include: Straight Men in Gay Bars (creative non-fiction/memoir) and New Beginnings (an anthology of BC writers).

To learn more visit timbercrestpublishing.com.

Book: New Beginnings: A Collection of Creative Writing from BC Authors

New Beginnings is an anthology of short stories, poems, and creative non-fiction from thirty-nine BC authors, two thirds of which are Tri-City residents. All profits are being donated to SHARE Family and Community Services.

Borrow New Beginnings from the Library.

What inspired Erik to be a writer and what is his favourite part about writing?

Erik has been a writer his whole life. He still has journals and comic books he wrote in grade school. Erik sometimes reads them and thinks: “I didn’t know how to spell back then either.” Thank God for spell cheek check!

Erik loves writing the first draft. He enjoys the creative process of creating a new world, filling it with characters, and then plotting out how he will make their fictional lives miserable. He enjoys watching them climb out of turmoil and celebrate their victories. Erik doesn’t always enjoy what comes after the creative process: draft after draft of edits. But he does it so that his readers will love his characters as much as he does!

Kasturi Ghosh

Kasturi Ghosh is an International Trade Consultant by profession and a wordsmith by compulsion who lives and breathes words. She has built a career that has let her set up homes on three continents and visit dozens of countries. This has allowed her to observe the intriguing cultural diversity of geographies and the common thread of human emotions that binds us all. All of these experiences and travels form the raw material for her poetry. Kasturi lives with her spouse in Port Moody and can be found on Facebook and Instagram under the handle @kasturighoshconnect.

Book: Parched Paper: A Tapestry of Words

Parched Paper is a collection of poems expressing the many hues of human emotions. This tapestry of words will resonate with you, and leave you smiling or pondering, long after you have shut its pages.

Borrow Parched Paper: A Tapestry of Words from the Library.

What inspired Kasturi to be a writer?

For Kasturi, creating worlds out of empty space, breathing life into blank pages, and quenching parched paper with the ink of life have all led to the creation of her book. Kasturi knows that she is mortal and will fade away into dust and air, but her words will live and breathe and her voice will echo across the void of time and space...and thus, live forever. Parched Paper was born out of that desire to leave behind the essence of her, in ink.

Anya Wyers

Anya Wyers is a Port Moody resident, who was born and raised in Northern BC. She writes a bi-weekly blog about kids, crafting, writing, and life in general and is also a stay-at-home mom to her two kids and dog, Eddie. Anya is currently a student at The Writer’s Studio Online through Simon Fraser University where she is working on her next novel, a fictional story loosely based on her time as a paralegal in Vancouver.

Book: Letters to the Mountain

Growing up in a small northern town was never easy for Anya. Struggles at home were made worse by a close family member’s alcoholism. In the candid words written to her best friend and kindred spirit, who disappeared when they were younger, we are given Anya’s honest recollection of her childhood. While her experiences have crafted the woman that she is today, she has her best friend to thank for enabling her to break through the confines of how she was raised, seek outside help to deal with the shadows of her past, and blossom into a strong and successful woman.

Borrow Letters to the Mountain from the Library.

What inspired Anya to be a writer and what is her favourite part about writing?

Anya’s first book, Letters to the Mountain, was born out of personal journals that she wrote to her best friend following her disappearance. Once she had become a mother and many years had passed since she put away those journals, Anya felt a pull to continue writing to her friend and update her on Anya’s life since she had been gone. Before Anya published Letters to the Mountain, the idea for her next novels (a series of three) was born. There’s no stopping her now!

Anya enjoys when she really gets into the zone and can feel the words flowing from her fingertips before she can even register in her brain what they are. Writing has been such a cathartic experience for Anya, even when she is writing fiction. She enjoys being able to see her words develop, created from nothing but a blank page and a blinking cursor.

Leigh Anne Higgins

Leigh Anne Higgins has published a romantic suspect book called Whisper to the River and is currently working on a romantic comedy.

Book: Whisper to the River

Past mistakes have a way of catching up to Maggie and Jake, no matter how hard or fast they try to outrun them. As danger closes in, they’re going to have to work together, and that means telling each other their secrets – not easy when they’ve both been victims of betrayal before.

Borrow Whisper to the River from the Library.

What inspired Leigh Anne to be a writer and what is her favourite part about writing?

Leigh Anne decided to write simply because it was something she always wanted to do. Her favourite part about writing is getting to live different lives through the characters she creates.

Kailey Veenstra

Kailey Veenstra is a writer, speaker, and content creator. She uses the medium of story for connection and healing, giving voice to our shared human experience. She aspires to connect one with their soul’s purpose and to the Living Reality of Love — especially in dark times. She has self-published three books, facilitates local workshops online and in person, and works by day to assist small businesses with their marketing and communications. You can find Kailey online at: www.KaileyVeenstra.com, on Instagram: @KaileyMichelleVeenstra, and on Facebook: /KaileyVeenstra.

Book: You Can Change the World

This children’s book explores the simple yet profound truths of love and service to the world and what it looks like on a practical level. No one is too young to make a difference! This is a love-based values story created for children aged 4-10 years old that will deeply bless the child, while inspiring the adults in their life also. The book also features local, Port Moody photography.

Borrow You Can Change the World from the Library.

What inspired Kailey to write and what is her favourite part about writing?

Kailey wrote her children’s book You Can Change the World specifically for her daughter. Kailey hoped that it would inspire her daughter to perform random acts of kindness and courage, as well as provide practical ways of expressing love to the community and her family around her.

What Kailey loves most about this book is the fact that it is paired with her photography of the beautiful city of Port Moody. Kailey is fascinated, continuously, by the nature that surrounds her, and all of us. She’s lived in Port Moody for twelve years and says that it never gets old.

Debra Purdy Kong

Debra Purdy Kong’s volunteer experiences, criminology diploma, and security work inspired her to write mysteries set in the Lower Mainland. She has published short stories in a variety of genres as well as personal essays, and articles for publications such as Chicken Soup for the Bride’s Soul, B.C. Parent Magazine, and The Vancouver Sun. She is a facilitator for the Creative Writing Program through Port Moody Recreation, and a long-time member of Crime Writers of Canada. More information about Debra and her books can be found at www.debrapurdykong.com.

Book: The Blade Man: A Casey Holland Mystery

Who is the Blade Man and why has this mysterious loner been attacking Mainland Public Transport bus drivers? The company's president suspects an inside job and orders security officer, Casey Holland, to launch an internal investigation or face termination. Convinced that she's being set up to fail, Casey feels the pressure. As more employees are attacked, and the president forces Casey to take deeper risks, Casey starts to wonder how much is too much, and how far she must go. Find out in this explosive installment of the Casey Holland transit mysteries.

What inspired Debra to be a writer and what is her favourite part about writing?

Debra is a lifelong reader and was a huge Nancy Drew fan when she was a kid. Books were her favourite form of entertainment, and in those books, Debra became fully immersed in solving the crime - enjoying that things were always resolved in the end. Her passion for the genre and a love of writing stretches back to her elementary school days, and eventually led to becoming a novelist, something she wanted to do since her mid-twenties. She is still passionate about writing four decades later.

Debra really enjoys plotting a new book. As the first idea pops into her head, more ideas quickly follow until she winds up with a few pages of notes that include a theme and reasons for the actions and behaviour of her characters. Debra finds that even when the note making stops, thoughts keep unfolding while she’s doing household chores. Connections and causes are always being made and refined throughout the early drafts.

About the White Pines Local Author Collection

The Port Moody Public Library created the White Pines Local Author Collection to highlight and support local authors, poets, and illustrators from our community. We launched the collection in May 2019 with 12 inaugural authors. Learn more about this collection and how you can become a White Pines Local Author.

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