Hello and Welcome!

Most of my work is nonfiction, grounded in research and lived experience. I spent several decades immersed in academic research, publishing in peer-reviewed journals and editing journals and collections. My work focused on burnout, workplace bullying, emotions at work, pedagogy, organizational and managerial psychology, and a scattering of other topics that happened to interest me. I received research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (and others) and published with publishers including Sage, Wiley, the American Psychological Association, and Science Direct. I was also inducted into the Royal Society of Canada, Social Sciences Division. 

Along the way, I spent a great deal of time mentoring researchers and students, helping them translate curiosity into research and published work, and organizing and participating in conferences and events where people could share their work and learn from one another. About a decade ago, I began moving toward writing that translates research into practice.

That shift led to several books on leadership and managerial competencies, along with related work on minimalism. I’m a retired academic and have recently published Surviving Academia and The Research Productivity Toolkit, both shaped by decades inside the system. A couple of my books have been used as university textbooks for over a decade. As a gift to my students, I transformed one of them into an open-access resource:

https://pressbooks.pbuq.ca/101-exercices-leadership/

Although I’ve been approached by traditional publishers, I mostly self-publish so I can keep my books accessible and affordably priced. For me, the real payoff is the writing itself and the possibility that my work might be useful to others. I’ve spoken frequently at conferences about my books and the feedback they’ve generated, which has been one of the joys of publishing.

I have two nonfiction series on the go. The Civility series includes books on civility in the classroom, the workplace, dating, and condominium living, with several more planned. I’ve also launched Random Notes, Alphabetically Organized, a series that explores a wide range of topics, from sleep and relationship readiness to Jesus, animals, and much more. Plus, at the moment, I’m working on a research-informed book on managing diabetes.

Although nonfiction is my comfort zone, I’ve also started dabbling in fiction, and I love it. My first novel is an island retreat psychological thriller called The Silence Rule. I’m currently writing fictional short stories about the unfortunate romantic experiences of "Lea" through the Deadlines for Writers challenge, with plans to shape those pieces into an anthology titled Left for Dead in a Mexican Forest. I’ve also written a couple children’s books for family and friends.

I write in English and French, and my books have been published in English, French, and Spanish. I’m driven by curiosity, still learning as I go, and convinced that good writing, shared generously, can make life and work a little better.