Frances Greenslade

Follow me on Instagram @franciegreenslade

I was born in the Niagara Peninsula and grew up playing in the orchards and vineyards around our family's farm. I can remember climbing under the thickest cover of grape vines to read and write stories in the long grass there. At about age 11, when we moved to Winnipeg, I wrote my first novel, on a desk made of boards, in the crawlspace of our house. The story involved an attic, a girl and a mystery.

Red Fox Road, a novel for middle grade readers, was written to the girl in the crawlspace, writing her book in a Hilroy scribbler. A story of resilience and survival, Red Fox Road is about thirteen-year-old Francie (of course!) who is stranded alone on a remote road in the Oregon wilderness after the family's truck breaks down.

The survival story is one of my favourite genres, especially ones featuring girls and women.

I'm also fascinated with the idea of home and shelter and how our mothers are our first "home." Lost mothers and relationships with mothers are themes that resonate through all of my books.

My first two books are A Pilgrim in Ireland and By the Secret Ladder, both non-fiction memoirs.

Shelter is a novel about two sisters whose mother suddenly leaves them to billet with a family friend in a small BC town, telling them she's going to cook in a logging camp and then doesn't return.

https://www.instagram.com/franciegree...