Madelon Smid

Born and raised in small town Saskatchewan, Canada, Madelon Smid is a child of the prairie and truly at home when the sky makes up two-thirds of the landscape. A sixth generation Canadian, she takes pride in her country. She studied Interior Design at the University of Manitoba, married and moved with her husband, a pilot and Air Traffic Controller, to Swift Current where she worked as Design Coordinator for a large department store. They raised their son and daughter in Saskatoon, then lived in Winnipeg, until they built their dream home on a large lake in Saskatchewan. Writing from the kitchen table with toddlers playing beneath, Madelon sold her first contemporary romance, Star Bright to Zebra’s Lucky In Love line, eons ago. She served as President to the Saskatoon Writing Group and co-chaired many writing conferences and workshops to help other writers. When a subject sparks her imagination she goes after the details, delighting in finding answers to her many questions. Madelon is the co-author of National Bestseller, Smart Women: Canadian Entrepreneurs Who Make Money, MacMillan Canada; and the revised updated, Smart Women Get Smarter. She has spoken to the media and entrepreneurial groups across Canada on maximizing output through meshing the needs of small business and the needs of the entrepreneur. The huge success of Smart Women led Madelon into a career in nonfiction. Her articles appear in a wide range of national and regional periodicals. She influences others to draw from their potential to contribute to the whole. Through her e-learning Armchair Writers website, she enabled many writers to meet their goals. As well, she taught adult courses through the local college. She enjoys helping writers, at any level, find their voice and learn how to shape it. In order to create a support group, Madelon and several of her intrepid students formed the Prairie Quills Writers’ Group for Swift Current and area. Under her leadership, it expanded and now provides workshops, readings, mentorship and funding for children’s writing programs, as well as supporting and spotlighting its members. Every second year they publish a themed anthology of their work. Madelon returned to her first love, romance, in 2012, writing and selling Climbing High to The Wild Rose Press in New York. High Ground is the second book in the series, with High Seas following closely. Reaching High and High Risk will be available in 2016. Always she draws inspiration from nature, liking nothing better than to interact with it. Her love of kayaking, skiing, hiking and delicious food all find their way into her books. They are the things that give her the energy to sit down at her laptop and bleed her imagination onto the page.