A lot of stuff, you may, or may not want to know about Irene.

Hey, there. Thanks for visiting!

Did you read Nancy Drew books? How about the Hardy Boys? And Trixie Beldon? And when you were even younger, Harriet The Spy?

I've always loved a good mystery. I'm assuming if you’re reading this, you do, too.

When I was a kid, I read before school and after school. Often during school…

…sometimes I got away with it and sometimes I got caught.

Like the time in grade 7, I pulled out a book when the Geography teacher was lecturing (this might explain why I can rarely answer a geography question in a Trivia game).

Anyhoo, I got caught up in my Nancy Drew book and didn’t see the teacher sneak up on me. He slammed his pointer down on the desk beside my book—talk about a heart-thumping experience.

Funny, how that’s the only thing I remember from that geography class.

My mother used to read to me and my siblings and we loved it!

Here's a grainy picture of her reading to me and my only two siblings at the time. That’s me in the plaid dress hanging over the book.

One day, when I was five years old, my mother sat me down and placed the book, Peter Rabbit, in front of me. She patiently taught me to read (even though she had a 4-year-old and a 2 1/2-year-old to look after).

I am forever grateful and thankful for that time with my mother who passed on her love of reading.

When I wasn’t reading, I was daydreaming, making up stories.

But I didn’t start writing until later in life because of the limiting belief…

…that real writers just went into a cabin in the woods somewhere and there, surrounded by nature, magically spewed out a book. Something I could never do.

Then at fifty years old, I found out that writing is a craft one can learn and jumped all over it (because it’s never too late to follow your passion).

In 2019, I entered the Daphne Du Maurier Writing Contest and was thrilled to be a finalist. That gave me the courage to publish. And I've never looked back.

The cat Shadow in my Olivia Twist cozies was inspired by my real-life Cornish Rex, Neo. 

The Olivia Twist cozies are not paranormal, but often Shadow inadvertently provides Olivia with a clue when she's working on a case. 

Neo was with me until July 2022. He loved to sit on the floor in front of my old fireplace, but when I got a new one, the heat didn't reach him, so I bought him a chair.

He was 17 years old when he passed and I still miss him. I didn’t think I’d ever want another cat...

I now have  3  female Cornish  Rexes, named:

Razzle (I kept the name she was given because I love it.)

Annie (named after my character's best friend Annie Parker)

Shadow (named after Shadow in my cozies)

Their antics, like Neo's, often end up in my stories. 

...you might enjoy my Olivia Twist cozy mystery series that take place in the fictional small town of Shadow Falls.

My books are a feel-good, many think are humorous, read with a touch of romance–nothing graphic.

What does my character Olivia Twist have in common with me?

Although all characters are fictional in the series, Olivia’s personality-reading skills and chakra knowledge are based on my real-life learnings at…

…a three-year intensive program at The Rhys Thomas Institute, a ten-day psychosomatic intensive with Carole Maureen Friesen and my mentorship with Margaret Lynch Raniere.

(The picture of the cat in the towel has nothing to do with any of my courses. But it always makes me laugh.)

So much so that I am now volunteering at a cat sanctuary.

I first heard about the sanctuary after a friend 's daughter (who worked for  a veterinarian) volunteered to take two found kittens  home, only to discover they needed more help than she could provide.

The woman who owns and runs the sanctuary hand fed the kittens every 2-3 hours, day and night, until they were old enough to eat solid food. They were later adopted. 

The sanctuary provides a forever home for animals that are not adopted. 

(As you can see in the picture, many of them love watching videos.)

It's a heartwarming volunteer job.  

As of January 2026, I am working on my next Olivia Twist cozy. There will be at least three more, then I will start another series. 

If you decide to read one of my books, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

Thank you, 

Irene