This month Susan begins work on a new non-fiction project with another writer.

Researchers say the difference between an optimist and a pessimist is simply attitude toward possibilities – an optimist sees them everywhere.

Last summer, in the heat of my marital meltdown, I met Olivia McIvor. We were seatmates on a flight from Vancouver to Chicago. I was enroute to the RWA conference in DC. We exchanged the usual pleasantries and she shared the purpose of her trip: she was on her way to Morocco to volunteer in an orphanage.

Then a strange thing happened. I quoted a story from a book I had just read, The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die by Dr. John Izzo.

“Yes,” she said. “I did the interview.”

What were the odds? It turned out that Olivia had conducted about two hundred preliminary interviews for the book. This was one of those rare occasions where the flight was far too short. We had so much to talk about.

I returned home to a marriage in freefall. My days were bloated with counselling visits, appointments with a divorce lawyer and discussions with my realtor. The house was made ready for sale and sold.

The second time I met Olivia McIvor was in the middle of this mayhem. We met for lunch at The Naam, one of my favourite vegetarian restaurants in Vancouver and, as it turns out, hers. Olivia brought along her pictures from the trip to Morocco. She told me more about the business workshops she conducted all over North America. She had published one book – delightfully, on happiness in the workplace – and was working on her second book. We agreed to keep in touch.

My marriage limped to its conclusion.

“What will you do now?” people asked me.

“I don’t know,” was the only honest response I could give.

The third time I met Olivia McIvor was in March, about five months after our last meeting. She had completed her second book about four generations in the workplace. I had an idea for a new non-fiction project. Would she be interested in a collaboration? We met at The Naam again and by the time we said our farewells we were both giddy about working on the manuscript together.

Which is how it came to pass that the fourth time I met with Olivia McIvor it was for a full weekend visit at my home in Whistler. We stayed up until one in the morning that first day, brainstorming and reworking my outline. Our styles are distinct but complementary. We agreed to work on the manuscript together this summer during her hiatus from business travel.

I can’t wait. It will be a treat to work with someone who is so open to possibilities.