1) I love cats! We have two rescue kittens that were so tiny when we first got them that I could pick them both up with one hand. My son named them: Felix Potvin and Jose Theodore. He Cheers for Montreal and my husband cheers for Toronto. I often post pictures of my two little writing buddies!
2) I love dogs! Last July we got a rescue/reclaim dog who is being trained to be my service dog. He is a strong willed, long coat Akita. This big goof tries to sit under my desk when I work. He hasn’t gotten the memo that he is NOT a lap dog!
3) I’ve always had a house full of pets and all my books have animals or pets in them that share character traits from those pets!
4) My son shares my passion for art and writing. I love when we sit together working on either an art project or our writing.
5) I have limited to no musical abilities! My son plays by ear and sings. I could spend all day listening to him play the piano or sing. I have a character that shares his musical abilities in my mg fantasy.
6) I have a middle grade fantasy series all planned out. Book 1 is in for its final proofreading. Book 2 is on chapter 4 and I have so many spin offs in their first outline drafts. I’m super stoked for my mg fantasy. The young betareaders loved it and all but one asked me when book 2 was coming out!
7) I now have celiac disease that was triggered due to my cptsd. Autoimmune diseases suck!
8) Writing my middle grade fantasy got me through the first half of my healing journey after I was diagnosed with cptsd and had my first breakdown. I’ve been off work for 3 years and just now slowly starting to venture out.
9) This month I opened up an online store to sell life inspired book clothes and accessories. I’ve always wanted to do this and my middle grade fantasy lends itself beautifully to all kinds of merchandise!
10) Thanks to Bane’s breeder and trainer it’s also a way to fund Bane’s service dog training and to give back to other people in need of a service dog!
Tanya Packer 