PAQUET, Laura Byrne 1965-

(Laura Paquet)

PERSONAL: Born July 5, 1965, in Brampton, Ontario, Canada; daughter of Peter (a teacher) and Helen (a nurse; maiden name, Patterson) Byrne; married Paul Paquet (a writer), September 14, 1991. Education: Carleton University, B.J. (journalism), 1987.

ADDRESSES: Office—372 Rideau St., Suite 215, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 1G7. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Journalist. Ottawa Business News, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, reporter, 1986-88; Capital Publishers, Ottawa, editor, 1988-92; Cornerstone Word Company, cofounder. Editors Association of Canada, directory chair, 2002-03; Accera (training center), Ottawa, writing teacher.

MEMBER: Travel Media Association of Canada, Society of American Travel Writers, Romance Writers of America.

AWARDS, HONORS: Several awards for travel writing.

WRITINGS:

(With husband, Paul Paquet) Write Better, Right Now! (style manual), Cornerstone Word Company, 1997.

(As Laura Paquet) Lord Langdon's Tutor (romance novel), Kensington (New York, NY), 2000.

Secret Ottawa (travel guide), ECW Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

(Editor) Ottawa: A Guide to Heritage Structures, City of Ottawa (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

(Editor) Secret Guides (travel guidebook series), ECW Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

(As Laura Paquet) Miss Scott Meets Her Match (romance novel), Kensington (New York, NY), 2002.

(As Laura Paquet) Mr. McAllister Sets His Cap (romance novel), Kensington (New York, NY), 2003.

The Urge to Splurge: A Social History of Shopping, ECW Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

Contributor to romance anthology June Brides, Kensington (New York, NY), 2003; contributor to periodicals, sometimes under the name Laura Paquet, including National Geographic Traveler, Islands, Ottawa Citizen, Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Province, Globe and Mail, and Canadian Living.

SIDELIGHTS: Laura Byrne Paquet told CA: "My first encounter with journalism was not an auspicious one; my hometown newspaper, the Brampton Daily Times, published my birth announcement in the classifieds under the heading 'Livestock for Sale.' I recovered from this early slight, however, and moved to Ottawa to study journalism at Carleton University. I graduated with a bachelor of journalism degree in 1987, and worked in several staff jobs before becoming a full-time freelance writer and editor in 1992. I had always wanted to freelance, craving the freedom and diversity freelancing offers.

"In my career I have written about topics as diverse as cell phone technology, bargain shopping, an anti-litter crusader, and a firm that sells custom-made suits of armor. My specialties include business and heath topics. One of my passions is travel—a bug I caught young from my parents, who took me and my sisters on frequent trips. I have gone as far afield as Germany, Scotland, Cyprus, Spain, Turkey, and Japan on assignment.

"I am also a partner in Cornerstone Word Company with my husband, Paul Paquet. We write, edit, and proofread a wide range of materials for corporate and government clients. In 1997 we co-wrote a book on writing and editing, Write Better, Right Now! I use this book as a textbook for the editing courses I teach at Acerra, an Ottawa training centre. … I am now an acquiring editor for the 'Secret' series of guidebooks, and I have copyedited a number of books in that series. In my spare time I watch old Jimmy Stewart movies, cater to the whims of my three cats, and hang out at bookstores, buying more books than I'll ever be able to read in this lifetime."