Vanessa is a Nebula Award nominated fantasy author whose life seldom strays from the world of books, especially during winter hibernation. Even her volunteer work revolves around the literary world, recently as co-founder of KW Writers Alliance. She is also a member of SFWA and TWUC. When she's not being bookish, she's into astronomy, hiking, gardening, and has a personal goal to visit all the national parks. Don't ask her about her love of trees unless you've got some time. She loves Halloween and hates to be cold. Vanessa lives in Waterloo (no, the other one) with her husband, daughter, and dogs, where she can be found in her butterfly garden, achieving her final form as a forest witch. To learn more, visit www. thodestool. ca or follow her on social media @VRicciThode