I have always loved sharing stories. When I was out with my children, driving in the car or waiting in the grocery store lineup, there wasn’t always a book handy so I started to tell stories without a book. For many years, I shared tales as a storyteller at schools, libraries, conferences, festivals, and on radio and television. I’ve told stories in an Arabian harem and from inside a bear’s belly - but that is a story in itself! I told lots and lots of stories until my brain filled up and there was no more room. That’s when I started to write my stories down; I needed to make room in my head!

I write about disasters that happen somewhere, sometime in Canada. Sometimes people call me the “Disaster Queen.” They say that’s an entirely appropriate description of me. I know it’s a little gruesome, but disasters seem to happen whether we want them to or not. The trick is doing something about them. I tried to imagine how I would feel if I was a kid and something bad was happening. I know I’d want to help, but would I know what to do? What if the grown-ups told me to stay out of the way?

That’s what happens to Jack in “Peril at Pier Nine.” I was really interested in this story because my father lived on Ward’s Island in Toronto Harbour every summer when he was a boy. He was there the night the Noronic burned. Like Jack, he was an ace sailor. Like Jack, he had a tendency to get into trouble. (Sorry, Dad!) If you want, you can see pictures of my Dad and the Noronic on my website at: http://members.shaw.ca/pennydraper, along with pictures from my other books.

I like to ski and figure skate; my favourite books when I was a kid were Enid’s Blyton’s “Adventure” series, and I like the colour blue. I wear glasses, had braces for seven years and always thought that one day I would be a hero. That day just hasn’t arrived yet....