Louise Ells grew up beside the Ottawa River, then combined random jobs (chef, caregiver, co-pilot on a submarine) with years of travel through the Caribbean, Europe and Asia, including an overland trip from London to Kathmandu.  She earned a PhD from Anglia Ruskin University, and was a Hawthornden Fellow in 2017.  Her debut collection of short stories, Notes Towards Recovery, was published by Latitude 46 Publishing in May, 2019.  She lives in North Bay, on the edge of Lake Nipissing.