Surviving Hollywood North: Crew Confessions from an Insider (Published June 2017)
Back in the 1990s, I worked on a TV series with Tony Scott, laboured on a script with Patrick McGoohan, chatted with Margot Kidder and John Ritter, and was surprised at how short David Bowie was in “reel” life. My irreverent memoir, Surviving Hollywood North: Crew Confessions from an Insider, reveals the ups and downs I experienced as a script coordinator in the flourishing film business in Montreal.
From insecure screenwriters to harried producers to eccentric directors and actors, I met and worked with all sorts of film-industry folks on a wide variety of productions, which taught me how to wrangle quirky film types as well as tricky computer programs. Somehow, I survived it all.
In the U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073BVHYZS/
In Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B073BVHYZS/
First Kiss and other True Fiction
(Published October 2017)
This story collection touches on themes I’m sure we can all identify with: early childhood fears, disappointments and growth; adolescent angst and discovery; and adult anxieties and small triumphs.
The pieces are a mix of fiction and non-fiction. I’ll leave it to the reader to try to discern which is which – not that it really matters, in the grand scheme of things, right? What happened, happened – or perhaps I only imagined it did.
Most of the stories have appeared in my blog, a couple have not.
One was nominated for a National Magazine Award. Another won an online short-story contest with over 200 entrants. Many have been published before in a variety of publications.
A great stocking-stuffer! Now in paperback and eBook formats.
In the U.S.: amazon.com
Canada: amazon.ca
How to be an (Almost) Perfect Parent
(Published November 2018)
Do you want to be a better mom or dad? Or you think your adult son or daughter could be a better parent to your grandkids? Perhaps you think some tips could be useful for a friend or relative? My book can help!
During the 1980s, I worked as a social 
counsellor here in Montreal. At the Parent Enrichment Project and later at Ville Marie Social Service Centre I was a family support worker helping families in difficulty and teaching parenting skills.
I saw quite a wide range of parent-child interactions during my home visits, as I strived to teach people how to become better parents. The Dos and Don’ts offered throughout my book are drawn from my time spent with some of these families.
Later on I taught “Introduction to Intervention with Families” at Dawson College’s Social Service Department.
And somehow, my two children and I managed to survive in a single-parent household. My daughter, Kathryn Presner, and son, Jeremy Presner, are doing great!
How to be an (Almost) Perfect Parent is available now on Amazon (in the US, UK, Canada and other countries) as a paperback or as an eBook, which can be read on a Kindle OR any device via the free Kindle Reader app.
What’s Wrong With Me?!
My little medical saga began life as a blog post. It soon grew into the whole story, as I found it rather cathartic somehow to relive it all.
Later I realized the story had a nice dramatic arc to it: puzzling beginning, painful middle, and an ending that was a relief in more ways than one.
So I decided to put it all into a short book.
At Amazon.com and Amazon sites in many other countries.
This Will Only Take a Minute
Do you like *very* short fiction? I’m happy to say that one of my flash fiction pieces, “Stung,” made it into the This Will Only Take a Minute – 100 Canadian Flashes anthology published by Guernica Editions. It’ll be available this November (2022), but is on Amazon now for pre-order. Here’s the link:
Crossed Eyes and Dotted Tees 