LOSS On Friday, July 11, 2025, our beloved Oscar crossed the rainbow bridge. That morning when we awoke, he was in the hallway, puddles of urine and vomit around him. We cleaned him up, took him outside where he was able to go to the bathroom...but then he fell to the deck and couldn't move.… Continue reading Loss, Labour (Quitting Writing) & Luxuriation
Author: Vanessa Shields
Writer. Mother. Lover.
Interview with Charis Cotter!
This is award-winning, Canadian author Charis Cotter! Charis and I have been writing partners and best friends for years. This June, her new middle-grade novel Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall released from Tundra, an imprint of Penguin-Random House. Critics are wildly impressed... "Cotter trusts readers with deep descriptions and a languid buildup to the… Continue reading Interview with Charis Cotter!
Love as Activism
Today marks the fifth anniversary of my Nonna's passing. My tummy has been in knots all day. My guts toiled in memories. Today is the last exam for my daughter; her eleventh grade year concluded. Today my son will attend a funeral for a classmate; a bright, compassionate, kind light of a human who passed… Continue reading Love as Activism
VANESSA SHIELDS 