Bio
Jean Mills is the author of the YA novels Wingman (Orca Books, 2023), Bliss Adair and the First Rule of Knitting (Red Deer Press, 2023), The Legend (Red Deer Press, November 2021), Larkin on the Shore (Red Deer Press, October 2019), Skating Over Thin Ice (Red Deer Press, June 2018), The Toymaker's Son (Pugwash Publishers, 2009), Abby and the Curling Chicks (Pugwash Publishers, 2003), as well as Wild Dog Summer and The Legacy (Nelson Canada, 1990, 1991). She's also written three books for younger ESL readers (Caramel Tree) as well as short stories for younger readers.
Jean's essays, features, short stories and reviews have appeared in various publications across Canada, including The Globe and Mail, Quill & Quire, Canadian Geographic and Kayak: Canada’s History Magazine for Kids. She's a freelance writer and editor, with clients that cover a wide spectrum, including textbook publishers and national sports organizations.
Jean also has a teaching résumé: she developed and taught writing and communications courses at three Ontario community colleges for 15 years. She also taught Middle School Language Arts for one year at St. John's-Kilmarnock School, and she used that classroom experience in her position as Writer-In-Residence at both SJK and Hillfield-Strathallan College, and as a writing workshop presenter at the prestigious Eden Mills Writers Festival.
Before stepping away from the workplace to focus on her fiction writing, Jean was an editor/writer on the Media & Communications team at Curling Canada, where she was able to indulge her love of sports with her love of writing, producing feature articles and reporting from the media bench. She brings this media experience to her books, some of which include a sports element.
