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I was born and raised in the Netherlands. I am a full time social worker since my mid-twenties, and recently also an author. My pleasure in writing turned into a passion three years ago when I completed intensive summer creative writing courses with author Laisha Rosnau at UBC - Okanagan and with Dona Sturmanis at Okanagan College to hone my skills. Since then I had some success with my stories: finalist in the local short Story contest (sponsored by UBCO, OC and CBC-public broadcast network; finalist in Canada Writes, the national CBC writing contest 2012; finalist in the Glimmer Train Magazine short story contest for new writers Feb 2012.
Some stories were published: MTLS issue #9, 2011 Fort Good Hope (ISSN 1916-341X) and # 12, 2012 Without a Home (ISSN 1916-341X); Sageing with Creative Spirit, Grace and Gratitude, Issue 4, Summer 2012 (ISSN 1920-5848.
I self-published a novel-in-stories inspired by my life adventures as an E book in 2012: On Thin Ice. http://www.babyboomerwrites.com
The cover of this book awarded “sophisticated” in the Book Designer’s Book Cover Awards (Joel Friedlander) May 2012.
I am working on a second novel, to be published in spring of 2013; http://www.LosingDadFindingDad.com
I also blog: http://www.babyboomerwrites.worpress.com
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
We first meet Adrienne in On Thin Ice when she's a young adult of 28 in Amsterdam. She's had two relationships: Harry, her first, a gentle soul of a man who doesn't seem to make her swoon, and Ethan, the son of a wealthy candle manufacturer, who introduces her to the finer things in life, including passion. Adrienne becomes more worldly through these experiences but really comes to life when she travels to northern Canada to visit her childhood friend, Hank, at the site where he works. After the crowded and limited landscape of Europe, the wide open spaces, flocks of wildfowl and chains of rivers and lakes of Canada stun her with their magnificence and make her their own. Adrienne, with the help of Hank and a new love interest, Bert, another worker at the site, is granted permission to establish residency in Canada provided she marries within three months.
Johanna Van Zanten has created an intriguing view of a baby-boomer generation woman who has a background that is both sheltered and cosmopolitan. She is most alive when exploring, especially in her trip to the First Nations meeting, and when she sets up her garden, where she enjoys the visits from a local bear and marvels at the Aurora Borealis. She is less successful with her love interests. Bert, her husband, opts for a long-distance job oversees and forms an attachment to an Italian woman. When their marriage ends, she becomes a match maker for her friends and marvels at the reasons why people who seem perfectly matched can't seem to get past one or two dates. Her efforts are likewise flawed, from the stiff and co-dependent British gent to the 70-year-old pensioner from Boise who takes out his hearing aid at every concert they attend. Her dating life is sad and funny all at once, but what really stands out in this entertaining piece is the lyricism when the reader sees Canada for the first time through her eyes.
