Her writing style is a slice of Canadiana which offers a unique look into the culture of Northern British Columbia.

Margo Bates uses humour to bring historical fiction to life, teaches writing and media relations workshops, does public speaking, publicity and photography. The author of P.S. Don't Tell Your Mother, she is currently writing The Funeral Follower. Margo is President of Canadian Authors Association —Vancouver, its Program & Publicity Committee Chair, the CAA National MarComm (marketing & communications) Committee Chair, and is an alumna of Erma Bombeck Humor Writers Workshop, University of Dayton, Ohio. And, she’s a darn good cook.

Margo has captured the idioms, slang and expressions — the very nature of northern life — because she lived it. She got an early start to her writing career when she was ten-years-old. Her pioneer grandmother began a correspondence with her that lasted for over thirty years. The results: P.S. Don’t Tell Your Mother and A Queen of the Gated Community. Both stories are part fact, part fiction.

Readers quickly become immersed in the comical, quirky, and irreverent stories which chronicle the life of Maggie Mulvaney and her grandmother Nana Noonan, somewhat of a local legend in the town of Telkwa, British Columbia, Pop. 852. read more

Margo's second book in the P.S. series is A Queen of the Gated Community. It's at the edit stage.  Nana Noonan and Maggie Mulvaney are back together, closer than ever.  They even end up sharing Maggie's bedroom.  Not by choice. read more

Funerals are taking on a life of their own in Canada's Pacific Northwest. In Margo's latest book The Funeral Follower, she tackles a serious matter that is on most Baby Boomer's minds: death and how the dearly departed is honoured. The story is set in present day, and Maggie Mulvaney, now 54 years old, is the social columnist for the Terrace Herald Newspaper. Maggie spends most of her time writing obituaries. It isn't until her boss dies and she has to arrange his funeral that she realizes you learn more about people after they're gone than when they were alive. A lot more.

Margo is a darn good cook. She's updating a cookbook she wrote for her family and friends a few years back.  There are a lot more recipes, including some that were discovered in a box left to Margo by her late mother, who owned and operated a popular cafe in Telkwa, BC.  Good Cookin' at Marge's Diner will be ready in time for Christmas 2013. 

 

 

 

NEWS + EVENTS

Canadian Authors Vancouver - Monthly Meeting - Wednesday, June 12

Trish Webb, The Long Road To Short Story Writing Trish will talk about her first incarnation as a writer, including being short-listed for the 1995 CBC Literary Award for Poetry, then her 15-year hiatus from the craft until 2011. read more...

Workshop: Research strategies for writing fiction and non-fiction - Friday, June 14

Canadian Authors national CanWrite! Conference - Orillia, ON - Workshop: Research strategies for writing fiction and non-fiction with Margo Bates read more...

Excerpt from Margo's New Book: The Funeral Follower

Funerals are taking on a life of their own in Canada's Pacific Northwest. read more...

Summer Dreams Literary Arts Festival Sat. Aug. 24

Canadian Authors Vancouver - Margo Bates Reading from "The Funeral Follower" - Main Stage - 3:05 PM to 3:25 PM read more...

Book Clubs

Margo is available to speak to Book Clubs in the Metro Vancouver area, or via Skype. read more...

P.S. Don't Tell Your Mother a story of love, tolerance and lessons learned between a 13-year-old girl and her Irish-Canadian Nana

Margo Bates' debut novel brings to life the rough-and-tumble world of Canada's frontier northwest in the late 50s and early 60s. read more...

Review on PS Don't Tell Your Mother

Anyone ... gets the real picture [of life in a small town] in this story of the petty quarrels, competitions, and surprising human tenderness that reveal the way life flows with lots of ripples in Telkwa BC. ... Fun and easy to read ... read more...

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