Joyce A. Howe (Hood) was born on the Canada/U.S. border in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, and feels equally at home in Toronto’s river ravines and Los Angeles’s canyons. A long stay in the Kern County Mountains of California inspired her to begin the Joanna Hunter mystery series.Joyce A Howe’s long life is rooted in the oral culture of the northern-most Blue Ridge mountains, a 19th century way of life preserved into the 1930’s; deeply influenced by oral reading of the King James Bible, which led to a love affair with Shakespeare. She was an oldest sibling plunged into mothering early; determined to go to university in spite of poverty; chose teaching over acting for stability (always front and centre anyway in classroom); put children before career, but ended up teaching English, media and creative writing for over 30 years; has lived in more than 20 homes; constant reader and avid fan of mysteries; lover of the Blues; author of an unpublished body of poetry and an e-book Never Tell: recovered memories of a daughter of the Temple Mater (Alternately daughter of the Knights Templar)joycehowe.comThe blog’s name, 115journals quickly became out-dated. There are now 140 journals. This experience has convinced her that narrative is the key to mental, physical and spiritual health and ultimately to the empathetic evolution of humanity.Read more about this authorRead less about this author