I was trained and encouraged by professors to write literary fiction, but I love mysteries. When I first started studying creative writing, my intention was to write mystery novels. I never attempted poetry because I considered it an almost sacred thing only the best writers can approach. But, after writing poetry for creative writing assignments, I found I liked writing poetry more than fiction. After that, I think ironically, I started writing stage plays. I love the theatre, every aspect of it. I consider a stage play script to be the blueprint of any production, so I take my playwriting very seriously and am, by far, my own worst critic. My mother, an American Indian artist (we're Cherokee), and I are about to begin writing and illustrating children's books that tell the Cherokee tales my mother told me while I was a child (and she continues to tell me though I am an adult). I am partial to Stephen King's early works (specifically The Stand and Salem's Lot) and my longtime and current favorite author is Anne Perry. My favorite poets are Pablo Neruda (especially nice when there is no Barry White music handy), Emily Dickenson, William Carlos Williams, and the poetry collections "The Porcine Canticles" by David Lee and "A Life Like Mine" by William Kloefkorn.

Sigma Tai Delta award winning short story "Addicted," 1997.

Semi-finalist in this year's Poetry.com competition for "An Ode to Daisy," which will be published in the anthology "Letters from the Soul."

Civil War Women...They Ain't No Scarlett O'Hara
A site I built during the summer 2001, when I was doing historical research for a story set during the American Civil War and I wanted some outlet for organizing all that research. There's stuff about Abolitionists, Nurses, Spies, and Women who disguised themselves as men and were soldiers (some of them did quite well)

Long Live Theatre
Theatre is a great passion of mine. For 16 years, I have been an actor and I have a fair amount of backstage experience. I funneled all of my knowledge into this page.

Writer'sDigest.com
A great magazine for writers and a great place to find book for all kinds of writing. Their annual writer's guide books are a big help to find publishers, magazines, etc. to submit work to for publication. The site also has articles with writing tips.