About our Authors

Dr. Aliette Frank is a writer and artist. She loves to be outside; she has spent probably as much time in a tent as in a bed. Her expertise is Interdisciplinary Studies: combining complex scientific information with stories and storytelling, to explore alternative ways of living more sustainably. Aliette calls herself a dreamer because dreams have always been as real and important to her as waking reality—she lives in the dreamtime. Aliette believes that the sustainability of the environment is inextricably intertwined with the sustainability of human populations. She lives with her dog Frankie near the beach in Vancouver, BC. About Chantal van Mierlo Chantal was born and raised in Boxtel, a small town in the Netherlands. She discovered her love for writing at a young age and started to write little stories on a second hand typewriter, which had been given to her as a gift for her tenth birthday. Other activities pushed writing aside temporarily, but the love of books ran like a thread through her teenage years. After her Business and Languages studies, her work brought her to Germany in 2001. Since then, she was assigned several duties in the field of Marketing and PR and dealt with journalistic text and authors on a daily basis as, for instance, chief editor for a customer magazine. During this time, she traveled a lot and gained inspiration for her stories. After a trip to the Seychelles in 2010, her desire to be an author herself was strengthened by a local legend about the pirate La Buse, and she started writing her first book, ‘The Treasure of La Buse.’ Chantal lives in a small village in Bavaria with her husband and three young children. She spends her free time strolling with her dog in the vast woods around her house. About Margit (Mog) Hesthammar Perhaps of greatest significance, given her subject, is the fact that Mog spent her entire 20s panicking about what to do for a living. Paradoxically, she has spent the last 15 years designing and facilitating career transition programs. Her work focuses strongly on the use of attention as a tool of life mastery and her programs have been hailed as some of the best in Vancouver. Feedback from her clients has been consistently stellar and in 2009 she was nominated for the Individual Award of Excellence by the BC Career Development Association. Complementing her experience in the field is a BA in English and Philosophy from UBC and a secondary-level teaching certificate. She is a lifelong student of the psychodynamics of change and is currently active in a school of Transpersonal Psychology. Mog's book, titled Choosing Work Before Work Chooses You, was launched on April 7th. Click here to read Big Spiders, recently published with the New York Times' Opinion Pages. About Dr. Avraham Cohen Avraham Cohen teaches at the City University of Seattle, at the Vancouver BC campus and has a private psychotherapy practice in Vancouver as well. He has published widely in the areas of counselling and education presented his work at conferences and symposia all over the world. In his latest (co-authored) book Speaking of Teaching (2012, published by Sense Publishers in Rotterdam, Netherlands), Avraham wrote about himself that "what matters is what matters. I have spent my life so far following the guiding star of what matters and using my digressions from the pathway as learning moments. I propose that the initiator of humane environments in education is the teacher . . . , who, if not a sage, is alive to the possibilities of living within the process of becoming so . . . and, I have published a lot, read a lot, and talked a lot to others about what matters." Aside from being a prolific scholar, Avraham is a dedicated Vancouver Canucks fan. If you pre-order Avraham Cohen's upcoming book, you receive 10% discount! To pre-order, click here. About Dr. Bea Mackay Dr. Bea Mackay is a Registered Psychologist in private practice in Vancouver, Canada. She works with individuals, couples and families. She also offers workshops in Canada, USA, Europe, and Australia and is a senior trainer with Gestalt Vancouver.  Her book, Two-you work: How to work with the self in conflict is a manual for therapists and counsellors working with clients who are experiencing inner conflict or disowned aspects of the self.  She also has created interactive exercises on the Internet based upon the theory of Two-You Work and resolving inner conflict about career and relationships. Bea loves theatre and sports, especially tennis and enjoys hanging out with her grandson. You can read her blog and do the quizzes at www.decisionquiz.com. Click here to purchase Bea's book