Mile High Apple Pie

Laura Langston

I was born in Victoria, B.C., grew up in Vancouver and spent five years on the prairies before returning to Vancouver Island. I live in an old white house with my husband, two kids, an overfed Beagle who steals food, a feral cat who brings me oak leaves instead of mice, and a lizard named Freddy who eats live crickets and worms.
I wanted to be a writer by the time I was in Grade Four. It's my mother's fault. She kept our house loaded with books and trips to the library were considered Very Special. She still brings me books which helps keep my house loaded with them and I still consider trips to the library Very Special.

One of the greatest things about my mother (other than her butter tarts) was that she encouraged me to read everything. When I was a kid, I loved Anne of Green Gables (she had an attitude and red hair, how exotic) and Emily of New Moon (she wanted to be a writer, how smart). Eventually I found a series of books about Sue Barton, a visiting nurse (she saved lives, how important) and Donna Parker who spent time in California with rich relatives (how lucky for her).

I knew I wasn't going to move to California and I had no rich relatives, but I thought maybe I could grow up and become a nurse. Sick people were okay as long as they weren't bleeding too much. But nurses took orders from doctors. I didn't like taking orders from anybody. I thought of being a doctor but I'd never heard of a woman doctor before. Besides, doctors had to cut people and deal with blood. In rather large quantities.

Being a writer was the best choice. I loved to read and I had a whole group of imaginary friends who loved my stories. The problem was, I couldn't figure out how to write and get paid for it. So, two weeks after I got out of high school, I became a bank teller. Unfortunately, I'm lousy with numbers and I was terrified the place was going to be robbed.

I wasn't a bank teller for long.

After traveling through Europe and Russia in an Austin mini van (which is like trying to sleep in a Hot Wheels car), I came home (missing most of my underwear - it was stolen off a laundry line in Norway) and studied journalism.

Because I love meeting people and I'm basically nosy, reporting for the CBC was a great job. Except for one thing. Okay, two things. First, I kept getting recognized when I went to buy underwear (underwear seems to be a theme in my life). Secondly, I had to tell the truth. I kept thinking the story would be better if I could, well, change the ending.

Journalists aren't supposed to do that. Journalists aren't even supposed to think about doing that.

And so I wrote my stories down.

Nowadays, I keep up my journalism ties by writing a garden column about quiet, well-behaved plants for Canadian Gardening Magazine. But I also love writing fiction where no one is ever quiet or well-behaved.

When I'm not writing or reading, I like to do author talks and school visits, play in the garden, drink dandelion tea, jump on my trampoline, spy on people at the grocery store and make Very Special trips to the library.