Well, well, well. Look who it is. Look who decided to turn up again and finally update her website. (it’s me)

Woof, what a year, huh? I know it’s been a hot minute since I post an update here, or anywhere really. I’ve been trying to make an active effort to take a bit of a step back and take some pressure off of myself to be online. Especially when it’s hard to even just be in general. I’m not going to lie, it’s been an exceptionally hard time for me, and I still don’t feel like I’m close to clawing my way out of things. So I’m not about to come back and make any promises that I’m here to stay…because I mean, I’m like physically here, but planning for updates and trying to share more with you has been a struggle when it’s a lot of the same.

Content warning for the following little bit: pet death

Earlier this year, I said goodbye to my very best friend, Kaylee. It is a loss that I don’t know if I will ever fully recover from. She was 15 years old (a baby) and had been with me since she was about 7-8 months. My most constant companion, purrsonal assistant and emotional support animal, and best baby in the entire world. And while she was a senior girl (and a baby), she still had so much life and love in her, until all of a sudden, she didn’t. The turn was sudden, and my heart broke into a million pieces as I made the only decision that I could: to say goodbye. So on March 11, 2026, a compassionate end-of-life vet came to our home to help us make her comfortable and happy and loved as we said our final goodbyes to her.

My grief is immense and there’s rarely a day that goes by where I think I see her out of the corner of my eye, and for a brief moment, I forget that she’s not here anymore. And then I remember. She was a part of my soul, and when she left, she took that piece with her, and I feel lost and empty without her here. For 15 years, every single thing that I did at home was also with Kaylee. My work, relaxing, reading, sleeping, everything. I even had to get physiotherapy to treat the tendonitis in my shoulder that I got from holding her in my arms while I continued to try to work and have meetings.

She came into my life while I was living in Prince Edward Island, a kitten who had been discarded and was injured and hungry. Even after people had been awful to her, she immediately trusted me and chose me to be her guardian. An honour that I was grateful to have been given from that first moment.

Everyone who met Kaylee fell in love with her. I know that everyone thinks that their pet is the best pet, and I get it…I do. But Kaylee was the best cat in the world. She loved love; being picked up, snuggled, smooched, joining in on a selfie, and being in the room with anyone who would share their affection. She was the most mild-mannered and sweetest girl—up until we got Mac (our dog), I could count the number of times that I heard her hiss on one hand, and even with Mac, she was still so patient and gracious. I could go on and on about Kaylee for the rest of my days, I really could. But I’ve struggled with my grief and feeling like I can give myself the space for this when there’s so much to do, and so much going on in the world.

I miss her every day though, and I would give almost anything to have her back again, healthy and as she was. Processing this enormous personal loss has been consuming this year. But she will always be my very best girl, and there is no pet that could ever come close to the perfection that she was.

The rest of this year has been filled with other struggles too, personally and professionally, and beyond. But there’s also been good parts.

Racc Pack 3: The Bins Breakout came out earlier this year. I didn’t really celebrate the launch (due to the above) but not because I wasn’t extremely proud of this book and the series that Whitney Gardner and I created. I loved how this third book came out and had so much fun working on it, and it never stops being such a joy to know that this is in the world.

Working on The Racc Pack series in general with Whitney has been a highlight of my career and my life in general. This book has so much of our heart and soul in it, and allowed for us to tell a trilogy of trashy (literal garbage trash) tails about these Toronto raccoons (and opossum) that felt like an appropriate homage to them and the city itself. I still hope that it finds a wider audience beyond what exists now, but even if it doesn’t, I am happy that this exists. That we made this. And that the people who have read it, love it. And as a creator, that’s such an honour and privilege. So if you’re someone who picked this up and has supported our series (or any of my books!), I really and truly appreciate you beyond words.

And coming off of that, I returned to TCAF this year as an exhibitor and panelist. I had an incredible time connecting with my pals, peers, and readers at the show, and it truly refilled my cup. Everyone is so dang inspiring at the show, and even while I was struggling with a lot of stuff, it made me feel hopeful and excited to be a part of the comics community. I met Tom Daly, our creative director on Racc Pack, received a hand felted plush of ReRe (Racc Pack) from Christine of FuwariTown, and I was on a panel with friends and idols of the kidlit world.

Beyond that, I’ve just been trying to recover from these overwhelming feelings and some burnout that has come with it too. Which does lead me into what else I’ve been doing over the last little while…namely watching a lot of TV, movies, etc. and diving into media that helps me to turn off my mind. So I thought I’d share some of the TV I’ve been enjoying. And while I don’t really leave reviews, if you’re curious about what movies I’ve been watching, you can visit my Letterboxd page.

If you’ve been following me for a bit, it may come as no surprise to you that I continue to watch a lot of reality TV. So in the time since I last updated, I’ve watched: The Challenge S41, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City S6, Reality Check: Inside ANTM…which was a wild ride! I watched The Traitors S4, Neighbors S1, and Taskmaster S21…which I think was fun, but one of my least favourite seasons so far. And I watched the entirety of Summer House, up until the most recent season because I love mess, and I needed context for the Scandoval-level drama that unfolded. I was not disappointed.

I delved into a bunch of true crime too, including: The Scream Murder, Mr & Mrs Murder, Gone Girls, Amy Bradley is Missing, Trust Me: The False Prophet, and while this was more of a movie documentary rather than a TV series or mini, I watched Into the Deep: The Submarine Murder Case, which is something that has genuinely haunted me since. One of the most interesting documentaries I have ever seen, because of how it went from one thing to another and what came of it. You’ll know what I mean if you go watch it, I do recommend it, even after calling it “haunting.”

And then I also got into some detective/crime TV shows too, not content with just true crime! I checked out The Beast in Me (Matthew Rhys is unstoppable!), His & Hers, Deadloch S1, Dept Q S1, Bodkin S1, and How to Get to Heaven from Belfast. Some of these are maybe a little less detective-y than others, but I’m lumping them in together because…well, I feel like it. The standouts from here were Dept Q, and How to Get to Heaven from Belfast.

Lastly, I went through a whole bunch of prestige TV including: The Righteous Gemstones S3-4, Shoresy S1-5…a show that surprised the heck out of me with how much heart it has, especially since it’s pretty much about a hockey goon who’s entire life is about hockey. A spinoff of Letterkenney, which I still haven’t watched in full because it’s way too close to home (aka it feels too real to people I knew growing up in rural Canada). Keeping on with the hockey theme, I obviously watched Heated Rivarly S1, which was fantastic. I watched the mini-series Film Club, which was delightful and endearing, I Love LA S1, which was chaotic and messy, Industry S1-3, which was also very messy (Skins walked so that Industry could run while on a lot of cocaine). I watched The Buroughs S1, and finished off Star Trek Discovery S5.

The remaining two things are my faves amonst these: Hacks S5, which is perhaps a perfect show, which ended wonderfully and felt like everything came full circle in a way that felt organic to the characters and the concept, and I just had such a great time. An all-time great. And lastly, Widow’s Bay S1 was an unexpected joy. A dark comedy horror? With Matthew Rhys? Kate O’Flynn was outstanding, and the writing of the show was clever, engaging, dark, and funny all at the same time. I truly can’t wait for the next season and what they do with this world and characters.

Okay okay okay, I know I said the last things were last but lastly, I went all in on the PWHL and followed the Toronto Sceptres throughout the season, and got back into one of my early loves: hockey. If you saw me around TCAF, you may have seen that I also made my first zines, which I sold at my table. But it’s been so much fun getting into the league and supporting all the women who are making it successful and popular. Can’t wait to see what happens with it this year, even though Detroit (and others) took all of my favourite players. I am UPSET!!!

I want to also talk about the things that I’ve read too, but I fear that I’ve gone on for far too long as it is. So I will try (no promises!) to do a reading recap of the year so far sometime soon. I had some energy today to try to write out some of these things in an update, so here I am, but it’s still a struggle to have a routine in place, which is something that I’m working on.

While I don’t have to tell you about beyond the release of Cat Ninja: The Dog Days, you can see some things that I’m working on if you or the young readers in your life use the Epic app for reading. I’ve been editing on some of the comics there, including Cat Ninja, Animal Rescue Friends, and Kitten Ninja. They’re still being written by some of your faves over there, but yours truly is working with them to take those stories to the next level, and I’ve been having a great time doing it.

I know this has been a bit of a strange update, but I hope (no promises!!!) that I’ll have the capacity and energy to be back at it soon and to be in a better place to share with you all. So in the meantime, please take care of yourselves and those around you, and remember that it costs you nothing to be kind during a time when most of us are feeling some sort of anxiety.

SOCIALS:

I continue to be pretty offline and I can’t promise that things will change anytime soon, but if you want to follow me elsewhere or reach out for whatever reason, you can find me in these places:

Stay tuned for more updates and info in the future.

Until next time…