Daddy's Little Girl

I grew up on the east coast. Having a desire to help people navigate the many complexities of grief, I became a funeral director. I quickly realized that my body, spirit and highly sensitive personality were suffering from taking on the pain of others. I knew it was time to make some drastic changes, so rather than think if through logically, I hastily embarked on a cross-country move to beautiful British Columbia – a journey that proved to be short-lived.

While living on the outskirts of Vancouver, I sold books; a quaint, romantic notion, but in reality, it was corporate hell. I also became an apprentice body piercer, and because I was still struggling financially, I was forced to work a third job at a pet store. A couple of those avenues (tattoos and fish food) led me to a man named Chris Walter. Ever passionate about writing, I was impressed by the fact that Chris was making a living as a self-published author, and thought that maybe, just maybe, I could make a go of my writing in some capacity.

I ended up not finding what I was looking for in Vancouver, so I moved to Toronto, hoping for a fresh start. Then one day, Chris was looking for submissions for a book about tattoo shops, and I thought it might be a good opportunity to tell some of my stories. Rather than interview me over the phone, as he did with the other contributors, I opted to submit written content – I have a slight phobia of phones and given the rather unusual content matter, thought I was best suited to write the story myself. If you read between the lines, you will see my prose come through, peppered with some minor revisions and additions from Chris. He told me that he liked my writing and wanted to read more of it. I thought he was just being kind, or humoring me. After all, it’s not every day that an author you admire compliments your style.

We stayed in contact and became better friends. Then one day, I sent Chris a sample that really piqued his curiosity. As if struck by a lightning bolt, he proposed that we work on a project together, and so Daddy’s Little Girl was born. It was a steep learning curve for me. It taught me a lot about where I was at, how far I’d come, and challenged me to see how far I was willing to go. I was even invited to do a book reading by our mutual friend, Mark Sanders, at the legendary Cadillac Lounge. We opted to not print any physical copies of the book, but to keep it available for download. I’m very thankful for the opportunity I had to work with Chris. I encourage you all to check out his work if you haven’t already, or better yet, download a copy of Daddy’s Little Girl.

Thanks for reading!