I am a wife, mother, and believer.

I am an eating disorder survivor, who makes art with words and paint.

I have two books coming out, this year and next, on the eating disorder journey. The first is ‘Chasing Silhouettes: How to Help a Loved One Battling an Eating Disorder’ (Ampelon, 2012), and the second, co-authored by Dr. Dena Cabrera, is ‘Mom in the Mirror: Body Image, Beauty and Life After Pregnancy’ (Rowman and Littlefield, 2013).

My first book, ‘Save My Children: The Story of a Father’s Love,’ was published by Castle Quay Books in September of 2008.

I am represented by Sandra Bishop of MacGregor Literary. I also serve as a volunteer counselor through FINDINGbalance and am a Navigator with the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).

I am a monthly columnist for the Christian Courier, arts feature editor for TS Poetry, regular contributor to A Deeper Story, and a paid contributor to The High Calling. A former associate editor, ghostwriter and staff writer, I have written for Christianity Today (Kyria), Christian Week, Faith Today, Adbusters, Geez, The Anglican Planet, Focus on the Family, Christian Courier, and In Touch, in addition to having served as copy editor for the Christian Courier.

In May of 2012 my news story for Faith Today, “Parents Forgive their Child’s Abductor,” took first place in the Canadian Church Press Awards. According to Judge Mark Bourrie, “This is a very moving piece. The sense of joy, hope, faith and forgiveness that comes through simply grabs the heart. An inspiring story. Wierenga captures the terror of every parent’s worst fear and tells how the parents of Kienan Hebert’s faith never wavered in spite of the tremendous test that it faced. Told with sensitivity, care and skill. “

When I’m not writing, I play guitar, and I paint. My prints and paintings are sold worldwide, and can be found on Etsy through my shop entitled, CanvasChild.

My husband, Trenton, is a math and science teacher. We’ve been married nine years, have two boys named Aiden Grey (born Nov. 12, 2009) and Kasher Jude (July 25, 2011) and are foster parents to Joey and Jin. We live in rural Alberta, where we snowboard, make wine and go geocaching.

I come from a home-schooling heritage; my mum has overcome brain cancer. She is my song. My dad is her hero. He cares for her daily and pastors a church. I am the eldest of four.

I love to travel. In June of 2009, an excerpt from one of my books secured a trip to a writing workshop in Lake Como, Italy; I’ve also been to the Dominican Republic, Australia, Korea-where Trent and i taught English for a year-Lebanon, Jordan, Japan, China, Mexico, Holland, England and Germany. When I was young, I lived in Africa along with my parents who were missionaries.

Mine is a broken story, shared regularly on my blog.

Thank you, for standing with me in this literary and artistic chaos.

Live in love.

e.

www.emilywierenga.com