nina waddington

I notice things and write them down — that’s really the beginning of it all. I write the truths I stumble upon day to day, the ones that tap me on the shoulder when I’m not looking. I am always reflecting on my days, and love sharing the stories of the people, places, and small, surprising things I’ve stumbled upon along the way.

My first novel, The Memory Keepers (2017), grew out of my fascination with how memories hide in the most unexpected places — in the smell of toasted pecans, in a shooting star, in the soft echo of someone we loved. My newest upmarket fiction novel, Midlife Unfogged (2026), leans into reinvention and the wild, hopeful clarity that can arrive halfway through a life.

When I’m not writing fiction, I’m usually blogging about the beauty tucked into ordinary days — the kind you only catch when you slow down long enough to look. My work tends to wander toward wonder, toward the magic in the mundane, and toward the belief that our stories are always trying to lead us somewhere true.

Painting is a relatively new endeavour for me; I stumbled upon it by accident after breaking my ankle in 2021 and needing something to pass my time. I spent my summers as a youth enjoying the gorgeous lakes and white quartzite LaCloche mountains of Killarney Provincial Park. So, when I took up painting, these places were my inspiration. I like to highlight the movement and line in nature, especially found in the Canadian Shield, the rock formations of Georgian Bay and the Hamilton Escarpment, and the windswept pines also found there. I love the details of what collects in the crevasses between the roots and rocks of the trees. I use watercolour or acrylic paints, then I return to add the fine details with ink.