When I was a kid reading opened all the doors. There was a world out there and I wanted in. When I stumbled across Jean Genet (my review of Our Lady of the Flowers pretty much sums up my childhood), it was like being beamed up to another world. I was too young to understand how 'indecent' it was. But I knew it was for me.

By the time I discovered writers like Armistead Maupin and Edmund White, I knew I'd arrived. I read and read until one day I wrote. It was like writing came to me. I feel that even now. Writing is like being possessed, happily possessed (well, most of the time).

I've written nine books: a series of loosely related mysteries (Jordi's Day, Tony's Dream, Beau's Dilemma) that follow the adventures of a stranger in a strange land, and the Pierre & Bill trilogy (Pierre & Bill: A Love Story, Pierre & Bill Now, Pierre Before Bill), that tells the story of an unusual couple along with their friends, lovers and kids. Along the way, I've written another mystery (Van Alone) and a fantasy/sc-fi (Seeing Sean). Both are stories about secrets, but not the same kind.

My latest, Catching Hanif's Eye, is a story about two very different men who find themselves trapped in a web of deceit where only trust can save them. Like all my books, it contains elements of romance, sometimes love, along with wit, sex and adventure.

My goal is to write stories about lives that, while entirely fictional, are rooted in some kind of reality. My characters are imperfect. They make mistakes. Some can be hard to like. Until we find out why. They have problems. They have pasts. Some hide it well and some don't. But they all have one thing in common. They want more out of life. Just like I did. Which brought me here.

I live in Montreal with my partner and not far away from the child we raised. I live in French, write in English, and work in both. I try to bring that experience to my novels. All my protagonists are faced with the challenge and excitement of loving someone from another world. I’ve been there. It’s worth the trip.

[Photo: me getting my just deserts]