About

A Dynamic Pairing…

Emilie Ryan writes commercial women’s fiction set in some of the best wine regions of the world. Stories focus on love, wine, second chances, and strong characters who rewrite and redefine their lives.

Emilie Ryan is the pen name of Milena Parent and John Kowal, a husband-and-wife writing team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. We met in 2010 and have been telling stories together ever since. The first occurred over a bottle of wine, and that extended to long after-dinner walks where we plotted, argued, and occasionally agreed on what should happen next.

Milena brings the sensory world to the novels through the language of wine, the atmosphere of location, and the inner lives of women navigating choices that matter. An award-winning professor at the University of Ottawa, she has spent two decades in research, academic writing, and media, is bilingual in English and French, and holds a WSET Level 3 Award in Wines.

John is a clinical psychologist who brings a wealth of experience to the characters’ emotional lives, including their challenges and development. A graduate of the University of Ottawa, he has worked in a hospital setting for nearly a decade and now operates a private practice specializing in the assessment and treatment of trauma, chronic pain, and mood and anxiety disorders. He also holds a WSET Level 3 Award in Wines, and when he’s not writing or working, he’s almost certainly on his bike.

Together, we have two daughters and two unrepentantly hedonistic cats, one of whom makes an appearance in Love Decanted under the alias Marley. We travel as often as life allows, visiting wine regions whenever possible and reviewing the wineries we visit on our blog, Behind the Vines.