Though an avid reader since pre-school age and always the recipient of the highest marks in my language-related courses, I didn't consider the possibility of writing professionally until I went to work for a local newspaper during my second year of college. I was hired as the newspaper's bookkeeper. Little did I know that a bookkeeping job would completely alter my course in life. Over the next couple of years I learned nearly every job position's duties well enough to fill in wherever I was needed. My penchant for language presented itself along the way, which led to the editor asking me to cover stories here and there as a part-time staff writer. (Wherever you are, Al, I thank you for noticing and giving me that chance!)
Needless to say, I caught the writing fever in short order and changed my major at school. My senior year of college found me working for publishing companies in a new city, after which I began my "career" -- first as a staff reporter and then as the editor of a newspaper back on my home turf. I turned to freelance work, much thanks to a recommendation from the newspaper publisher who got me started as a stringer with UPI, when babies entered my family picture and some lifestyle changes needed to be made.
For the next 20 years I continued to do freelance writing and editing work but fell back on a full-time career as a licensed tax accountant and investment advisor. As a result, my publishing credits include articles in numerous regional and national (U.S.) trade publications for accountants and financial workers. Other topics of interest to me include travel, cultural diversity and history. My published works reflect those interests as well as a few other topics, including life in the Alaskan bush country where I lived for several years ending in the mid 1990s.
My real interest is people-watching: sometimes I watch them in retrospect (the historical stuff) but I'm always watching the world turn around me on a daily basis. The most ordinary life experiences have led me to some of the most extraordinary personal experiences a human could have in one lifetime. It is from those experiences that I draw my ideas for books and stories.
One final note here: If you ever speak to me in person, you may wonder how I've been able to get so many things published. I don't know why it is that I can write well but have such a hard time with the spoken word, but most people get quite a kick out of the contrast. To summarize, I'm the queen of malaprop when it comes to the spoken word...
Accomplishments: Scripps-Howard scholarship for journalism excellence, awarded back in the dark ages -- my senior year of college. I've won minor writing awards and honorary positions, but am still waiting to become such a popular author that my writing merits a Lifetime Achievement Award...
