Children by Marie Wilson

These are some of Marie Wilson’s photographs of children. Black and white film – remember that?

Marie is one of the founding members of aamora. She has a novel being published by Harper Collins in August 2013. Asked to tell us something about herself, she writes:

“Born to a paint merchant and an Olympic runner in Vancouver, B.C., I entered the world with a caul over my head which was supposed to bring me good luck.

My mother (the track star) was the second daughter of Royal Wells Borden, bear hunter, beekeeper and descendant of the infamous Lizzie Borden. In her track and field days my mom was known as the Queen of the Cinder Track.

My paternal grandmother, Olive Valentine Auchterlonie, was a tea leaf reader and conjurer of fairies. She lived in an enchanted house on Pender Island with a blind cat named Percy and a whistling ghost. Her girlhood sobriquet was Queenie.

Royal, Queenie and the Queen of the Cinder Track: there’s blue blood coursing through my veins (ignore that Lizzie Borden part) but, crimson or cyan, Douglas Adams got it right when he claimed:

“Writing is easy. You only need to stare at a piece of blank paper until your forehead bleeds.”

But remember, my forehead was covered with that lucky caul in the beginning.

I’ve been published in some reputable rags (see CV), appeared in some decent shows (see CV), had a handful of good reviews, met some great people, found love and birthed a trio of geniuses. And, with the exception of that last achievement (geniuses take extra hemorrhaging), the blood loss has been minimal.”