Non-fiction BOOKS

I've had two non-fiction books published so far, one for Grades 4 to 6 on the history of radio and the other for anyone interested in how philanthropic gifts influenced a major shift in how physicians were educated and trained in the 20th century. 

COMEDIES  

As a playwright, I've written a number of plays and have had them read, performed and, in the case of Ashes to Ashes and The Influence of Beauty, remounted in various venues in Toronto and Oxford, UK. 

"Glenna, my play partner, and I both loved Ashes to Ashes.  It’s a fast-paced, well written and well performed play about siblings getting ready to scatter their mother’s ashes.  We both thought that it was a bit like a Noel Coward play or a zany 1930s film comedy.  It will go places.  Maybe to a Mirvish theatre?  Anyone at Mirvish reading this?"  Sam Mooney, 'Mooney on Theatre', March 2010

Crystal Clear – ten-minute play - People’s Choice selection, InspiraTO Festival 2012
A man tries ice fishing for the first time.  It seems too warm.  The ice is cracking.  And the fish talk back.   Crystal Clear was picked up by Shadowpath Theatre for a four-performance run in 'Plays in Cafes' in 2012.   

DRAMA

The Influence of Beauty deals with the role of women in war and professionalization of women in the early 20th century.  The play, set in Serbia and Italy from 1915 to 1917, is based upon the war diaries of Dr. Dorothea Clara Maude (1879-1959).  Maude left her Oxford medical practice to serve as a volunteer field surgeon/doctor with the Serbian army during World War I.  The play was researched and written as part of a Wellcome Trust Alchemy Award outreach grant.  (For more information, click here for BBC web article)

Where Do You Get Off? – one-act short drama - published in The Longship Review, vol. 2, pp. 19-29 (2011)
Early one morning, racing to St. Joseph's Hospital on the Queen Street streetcar in Toronto, Ella must decide if she will consent to her mother being taken off life support so her mother's organs can be donated.  A chance meeting with Mina, a fellow passenger, makes Ella's decision even more challenging. 

Writing 2050 - one-act drama/comedy
The year is 2050.  The country is Canada.  Art and culture are at their nadir.  The state has abolished literary prizes and controls publishing; it only supports the arts based on ‘outputs’.  Writers are evaluated each year, purely on their productivity and all written work is under surveillance by the Cultural Productivity Police (CPP).  Having been told that her recent output does not qualify her for support, Taryn is cut off – she will get no money and is not eligible for any other work.  If Taryn cannot convince her partner Leo that her decision to write works that mean something to her is the right decision, she risks perishing for her art.

The Gift of the Magi – one-act drama
An adaptation of O. Henry's short story.

When Grandpa gets a cough and the doctor is called, the whole family weighs in on potential treatment by the local doctor.  Set in Ontario in the 1860s, this play was written as Reader's Theatre for teachers/students wishing to learn more about 19th century medicine.