Stena Holmes: Putting A Story To The Dark Side Of Life

We were introduced to Steena quite by chance.  It was in discovering that she donates half of all her earnings for some of her series to desperately needed social causes like suicide prevention.  Upon reading her books, one finds that deep, heartfelt compassion for all people who go through hardships radiates throughout every word and makes up the very essence of the author, herself.  Although extremely well-known in her native Canada, we felt it important that people everywhere get the chance to know this amazing woman and the incredible stories she writes.

InD: Let's start in Canada, on that cold, dreary night when you were born.
SH: [laughing] Actually, it was in the summer and it was hot.
InD:  Where in Canada were you born and raised?
SH: I was born in Hanover, Ontario. It is close to Kincardine, which is where my book, "The Forgotten Ones" is set.
InD: Did you live there through all of your growing up years?
SH: From my teenage years and on. We moved a lot when I was a kid. My dad was a truck driver, so we moved all over the place. We finally settled down when I was in grade 6, which was nice.
InD: Is it a large town?
SH: It is a tourist town but has one of the ten best sunsets in the world, or so I’m told. It is beautiful, right on the shores of Lake Huron.
InD: Was your childhood a happy one?
SH: No one has ever asked me that! It was good. It was a normal, teenage, living-in-the-country-with-busy-parents life. Though, I would never want to go back.
InD: One of those “Nothing to do, let’s go steal the stop sign” kind of places?
SH: [both laughing] Yeah! In the middle of the night, my girlfriends and I would go and lie in the middle of the highway and play chicken. Stupid little things (kids, don’t do this…it totally wasn’t safe!). We are in the country and there is nothing else to do, though.
InD: Growing up, did you like to read?
SH: Oh my, was I a reader! My second home was a library. Whether it was the town or the school library, I just loved to read. It was my place to escape. I could be someone I was never before. I could go and visit countries and be those people on those adventures. I just loved it! I wanted to write, but I didn't believe in myself enough. I used to write poetry and essays. I would win contests, but I was never really good in school, so I just didn't think it was possible. I never really pursued it until I was around 35 and my husband was like, “Don't you think it is time you start living your passion and doing what you want to do?”
InD: You said you did not do very well in school, but you loved to read…now that is kind of weird. Why do you think that is?
SH: I don't know. You are asking some very good questions. I loved English and History, but I skipped math and I hated science. I hardly passed those. I think my teachers did not want to see me again, so they helped me pass. I was just an average student. I would rather have read than anything else.

Read the entire interview in the October 2018 issue of InD'Tale magazine.

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