Hello, I’m Victoria and I’m pleased to meet you. I’d
rather get to know you than have to write about myself but as my publisher Books We Love suggested we share something of ourselves so our readers can get to know us, I’m creeping out from under my
writing stone.
You can take it from that statement that I’m something of
an introvert, a trait I believe many writers share. However, I think I came by
that attitude as a form of defence. Being a first born I had something of a
Type A personality, taking charge even as a child. Once, on overhearing my
parents discussing how they were to get to an upcoming regimental dinner and
dance, I marched from my grandmother’s house several blocks to the taxi
driver’s house and promptly ordered a taxi for them. I was five years old.
But, being constantly on the move as an army brat drove me into myself and my books. My Dad was classed as a Permanent Staff
Instructor to Territorial Army units, but we were anything but permanent. After
the third move when I was about eight, I can clearly remember thinking there
was no point in making friends. In a year, or less, we would be packing up and
moving on again. I started making myself as inconspicuous as I could at each
new school I arrived at and although friendly, I chose to not make close
friends. As such I was considered something of an oddity and left pretty much
alone. Because I read so much I usually had an answer for everything in class,
something else that did not endear me to my class mates although my teachers
praised my efforts as they totted up my house marks.
My biggest passions were reading and horses. My parents
could never understand where this passion sprang from and were less than
understanding when I left home to work in a hunt stables. I was in my element
with four horses in my string and loved everything about them from Thor's weird sense of humor, Doctor's pleasure in cuddling, Zulaika's fascination with birds and Tangerine's inability to walk, he was a constant jogger. I was at the
age, of course, where boys and horses were on a par, until one boy beat the
horses by a head and we were married. We produced three children, before
parting company fifteen years later.
I’d tried writing as a teenager, lurid tales about
Virginia, Girl of the Golden West. Virginia was my alter ego, the girl I would
loved to have been. She could ride, shoot, was incredibly brave and did
everything I would never have dared to do. I wrote about her freedom with utter
longing. Unfortunately, my parents read one of my scribbled stories and laughed
until they cried. Probably rightly, but it was a long time before I took up the
pen again.
My working life after the horses and the family was a
series of office management positions, some interesting others not. In my
mid-30’s I took up horse riding again and gained a great deal of pleasure from
being around them again. In between times I had variously been on one committee
or another, starting with the PTA, then Cubs and Scouts for my boys and Junior
Red Cross for my daughter. I was on our family horse riding club committee for
years, helping to organize and run shows.
After meeting and marrying a Canadian, I made Calgary,
Alberta my home. While my immigration processing proceeded, I volunteered for
various organizations until I was able to legally obtain work in my new
country. This time I went into apartment management, something that never had a
dull moment. You never knew what people were going to do next from the super
nice, young professional man who was arrested for drug dealing, to the cheerful
hooker I had to evict under the ‘wrongful use of premises’ clause in the lease agreement. After the
apartment buildings I managed properties for a self-storage company. No lack of
stories there I can tell you! I guess my childhood managing ways came to the
fore in the end.
These days I can look back on my varied positions and see
how each one involved record keeping and writing of some kind, usually reports.
I ran my riding club’s newsletter for a couple of years, wrote a book for my
daughter and finally, with huge encouragement from my new husband, took up
writing for myself. With my first writing group I was membership director and
assistant newsletter editor, then editor for about two years. As such I
attended most board meetings. With my second writers group I again managed
memberships before moving on to Program Director for monthly meetings and
workshops. Whereas some people are intimidated by organization I find great
satisfaction in working out all the parts of the whole and making them work
together. I guess that five year old still lurks beneath my skin!
These days, and fortunately retired from formal
employment, I continue to write, read and volunteer at Spruce Meadows, the
world class equestrian centre just south of Calgary. I enjoy hiking and trail
riding in the summer. I snow shoe in winter. I’m involved in the AMBER study, a
five year study being conducted by the University of Calgary on the effects of
diet and exercise on breast cancer patients.
Yes, I’ve beaten that beast twice now. I was first
diagnosed in 2006, had treatment in 2007 and had follow up hormone therapy from
2008 to 2013. One year after that it was back again. In 2014 my course of
treatment was very different as I refused chemotherapy, radiation and hormone
therapy. Instead I chose surgery for a complete bilateral mastectomy and
altered my diet and lifestyle. All the reading and research I did during my
first course of treatment convinced me it was not the best for when I faced it
again. Along with discussions with my own doctor, my surgeon and oncologist, I
consulted with a naturopath and nutritionist. I researched several clinics that
were having huge success in treating their cancer patients with alternative
therapies. My friend Maxine helped me enormously in researching various
superfoods to help boost my immune system. And from my early 30s, when one
riding instructor recommended I take up yoga, I still go to class and practise
at home most days a week.
I’m happy, healthy and love my life. I have a super group
of friends, I visit my family in England as often as I can and have a great
deal to be thankful for. While some women worry about maturing (hey, that’s
what fine wine does!) I wouldn’t want to be any age again. Been there, done
that, I’ll just enjoy now and what’s ahead.
