By Justine Woolcott • SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW

Beckie Jas leads a double life. By day, she works as an environmental specialist with the Halton Region in Oakville; by night she spends her time writing.

The Dundas resident has spent the better part of 15 years working on her craft, and she was recently published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: O Canada, a book for Canadians by Canadians in November 2011.

Jas’s story, From Vile to Vegas, is about her and her husband’s experience with a home bathroom renovation project.

The experience was one “full of drips, drama and dazzle!” said Jas.

The short story takes an honest and humorous approach to the experience Jas had with the project. After her exposure to home renovations, she has her own words of wisdom for those who wish to pursue a similar project.

“It all comes down to communication,” she said. “When you bring strangers into your house, you better talk to them. They become a part of your family for a short, or long, period of time.”

Jas said she wrote the story well before she submitted it to the publishers of Chicken Soup for the Soul for consideration, an idea her writing group, Restless Writers, encouraged.

“The other members of Restless Writers heard me talking about the renovation and encouraged me to write about it,” said Jas.

She said that renovations aren’t typically associated with ‘celebrating Canadian culture’ “but why shouldn’t they be?”

“I think being Canadian is about having a story—and we all have them.”

The entire experience of working with the Chicken Soup for Soul publication was very positive, she said. Since the article was accepted, she has become a part of the Chicken Soup family, and, as a result, she encourages all writers to submit articles to the publication.

In addition to the Chicken Soup article, Jas has also seen her first picture book, A Farewell to Featherwagons, published in May 2011.

She is currently seeking publication of her book Billie Boots, Your Roots Are Showing. She describes the book as a middle-grade fiction novel for teenagers.

She also regularly contributes to Restless Writers, an online writing group she runs with Maria McDonald and Lori Dyan from the Burlington and Oakville area.

The website is a place for the women to blog and critique each other’s work. They also use the website as a resource centre for other local writers who are looking to have work published.