Toews, Rita Y. 1949-

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Toews, Rita Y. 1949-

PERSONAL:

Born March 14, 1949, in New Westminster,British Columbia, Canada; daughter of Gerard (an oil field worker) and Rosa Alice (a homemaker; maiden name, Delisle) Briere; married Daniel Bernard Toews (a sales manager); children: Martin William, Britany Ying-Ying. Education: Attended University of Winnipeg.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Manitoba, Canada. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Birds Hill Publishing, 9 Esker Pl., EastSt. Paul, Manitoba R2E 0K2, Canada E-mail—r. [email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. Worked as legal secretary, 1972-86, and sales secretary, 1987-91.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Clara Award, Carnes Foundation, 2001, and Eppie Award, Electronically Publishing Internet Connection, 2002, both (with Alex Domokos) for The Price of Freedom; shortlisted for theMargaret Laurence Book Award, 2005, for Body Traffic.

WRITINGS:

Kelly's Baby Brother (juvenile e-book), Writers Exchange E-Publishing (Atherton, Queensland, Australia), 2003.

Christmas Stars (juvenile e-book), Books Unbound E-Publishing, 2004.

The Bully: A Discussion and Activity Story, Birds Hill Publishing (East St. Paul, Manitoba, Canada), 2004, 2nd edition, 2005.

(With Alex Domokos) Body Traffic (novel), NeWest Press (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), 2005.

E-books with Alex Domokos include The Price of Freedom (memoir), released as audiobook by Blackstone Audio (Ashland, OR), The Centurion (novelMasquerade (novel), Prometheus (novel), and a short-story collection, The Chocolates from the Box.

SIDELIGHTS:

Rita Y. Toews told CA: "I think I was born reading. By the time I was in grade four the librarian had me reading books and doing book reports so she could classify the books for the higher grades.

"I started writing my first book when I was twenty-three and actually got the first chapter written. For some reason I thought that if you had a good idea for a book, then sat down and started writing it, the story would just flow out. Boy, did I get a surprise!

"When I was forty-nine, I decided that if I had an ambition to write, then I had better get serious about it. While taking a writing class with the University of Winnipeg, I was asked if I wanted to help an older gentleman with his memoirs. That was the beginning of a wonderful relationship with Hungarian author Alex Domokos. To date we have collaborated on several books. He jokes that he gives me the bones of the manuscript and I supply the flesh and blood to bring it to life.

"In 2003 a software company asked me to write a children's story to showcase their product. I chose to write about bullying and kept the rights to the story. As payment for the work, the company allowed me to use their software to make the story available as an e-book on my children's Web site. I soon began getting calls from teachers and community workers asking if the book was available in print. When I received an order for 200 print copies of a book that wasn't available in print, I knew it was time to find a publisher!"