What do books mean to you?
For me, they are gateways to other realms, conversations and adventures with friends, exploration of lives I might have led.
I read fiction to escape and be refreshed, and non-fiction to explore, be challenged and entertained.
I write to transport you too to other times and places, introduce you to characters you will love, and inspire us both to live our best life on this beautiful earth.
Books are my allies in this adventure called life
Cassandra Arnold
If you have already explored this site, then you know I write non-fiction and poetry about my life as a doctor in Australia and working with Doctors Without Borders, and also fiction: romantic, adventurous or speculative, but almost always with an environmental theme.
I was born in England, spent most of my life in Australia (with a year in Papua New Guinea early on), and moved to Calgary, Canada for my partner David Wood’s work at The University of Calgary in 2010.
I have had a greater variety of jobs than I can fully recall before beginning my career in medicine. Loosely from worst to best: mobile ice cream van driver, frozen chicken factory worker, household census taker, babysitter, housewife, leafleteer outside London Underground stations, lunchtime waitress, shop assistant, screen printing entrepreneur, community group leader, government office clerk, domestic violence refuge worker, elected Newcastle City Councillor, Australian emergency and remote area locum doctor, and physician with the international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
I retired from medicine in late 2015.
Current interests: Art and writing of course, Permaculture, digital sketching, illustration, and anything to do with the natural world: ecology, biology, climate change, exploration, geography and history.
When pandemics permit, I still travel frequently to visit family, or with my partner David Wood for his work. If you would like to hear about my new books and adventures, then I invite you to join in through the newsletter below. Each month I send out brief updates on my art and writing, plus resources to inspire you, on topics like sustainability, creative living, and Just For Fun.
