Retirement gave Mawhiney space to write her own story

Anne-Marie Mawhiney, a retired Laurentian University academic from Sudbury, began writing during the COVID-19 pandemic and has published three climate-themed novels; she is now working on a fourth book.

Anne-Marie Mawhiney retired from Laurentian University in 2018 and found a new direction during the COVID-19 pandemic when she began journaling. That first sentence she typed grew into her debut novel, and she continued to write while walking her dog and attending a Humber College writing workshop. Mawhiney published three novels that touch on climate change and community, and she now has a fourth project underway. She lives in Sudbury and spent 40 years in academia as a social worker, professor and senior administrator. Key details: - Mawhiney retired on Feb. 1, 2018 after a 40-year career at Laurentian University. - She began writing during the pandemic; the opening line she typed became the start of Spindrifts. - Her novels include Spindrifts (2021), its sequel Spelldrifts (2022), and Fugitive Rifts, published this past summer. - Spindrifts was shortlisted for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in Literary Fiction and was a finalist for the Whistler Independent Book Awards. - Fugitive Rifts and Spelldrifts are reported as available at Indigo and at local Sudbury shops, and Mawhiney has engaged a publicist to help promote her work. - She has written three chapters about a character named Alice and is working on a fourth book that explores that backstory. Summary: Mawhiney's retirement led her from a long academic career into fiction writing, producing three published novels that engage themes of climate and resilience. She continues to promote her books and has hired a publicist to navigate publishing and sales. She is currently working on a fourth book focused on a character from Fugitive Rifts, and further developments are unfolding.